seitokai yakuindomo : early impression

SEITOKAI YAKUINDOMO
studio : GoHands
director : Hiromitsu Kanazawa
serial run : July 3, 2010 - ongoing
total episode : 13
hime's priority rank : 10

LOLWUT-

mmm before i go any further i would like to state it here that i don't really fancy female characters with blatant pervertism, which is why i wrapped up my watch on b gata h kei at episode 2. kuroko [ of the railgun-fame ] however is an exception, and so does with both shino and aria of seitokai yakuindomo here.

by overall glimpse the series at first kinda feels like seitokai no ichizon, in the sense that both title revolves in a series of meetings / conversation between its primary characters within the setting of a student council room, only differs greatly in that while seitokai no ichizon mainly features references / parodies to other fictional work [ mainly animes ], seitokai yakuindomo on the other hand mostly pokes at dirty humors, thus making it absolutely inappropriate for younger audiences below 18 years of age. more interesting is that the series has made this clear from the opening montage itself where you get to see a number of 'toys' subjected under your friendly mosaic.

the primary focus of my attention [ into the series ] is shino, the kaichou / student council president of whom at first glance [ from the first episode ] seems like a responsible one just like you maid-cosplaying other kaichou misaki ayuzawa. but don't be fooled, as your initial expectation will soon be crushed and grinded down to pieces once you get introduced to the real her. the moralfag kind of attitude and look she had on the outside were just a mild facade [ her moralfag-ness however indeed is a genuinely integrated part of her character, and weren't just made up to conceal the ultimate true her ], as the true her inside are much, much, much, more beyond the words i could ever find to describe, best for you to watch and get to know of her by yourself :E

like other 4koma-based anime, seitokai yakuindomo is presented in the same taste and fashion, with title cards representing each arc / chapter after every gag. nicely enough for me, the series can hold itself pretty well with its dirty comedy interspersed with a milder slice of life portion that is less perverted than the primary content. but more pleasantly, unlike b gata h kei, seitokai yakuindomo's dirty humors doesn't sound really forced out, and were featured more naturally and less irritating to my nerves. between the two, seitokai yakuindomo is the better dirty sitcom and thus it flat out win my attention as well as affection enough not to be dumped right after 1 or 2 episodes :3

also, it has a slightly better [ visual ] look and design too, compared to its mentioned counterpart :3 [ no offense meant to fans of b gata h kei v.v ]

seikimatsu occult gakuin : early impression

SEIKIMATSU OCCULT GAKUIN
studio : A-1 Pictures
director : Tomohiko Ito
serial run : July 6. 2010 - ongoing
total episode : 13
hime's priority rank : 04

TEH HORROR~! IT IS SO [ FABULOUSLY ] HILARIOUS~!

anything with the word 'occult' embedded into their title will definitely warrant some level of attention from me, since i was once an occult freak, and i still think that i am, as of now :E but anyway... seriously peeps, seikimatsu occult gakuin hands down is one of the strongest yet most overlooked title for summer, despite being produced by the same studio that gave us some big shot titles like kannagi and working !! among many, and thus for you to miss this one out just because it didn't get that much of attention will surely score a great deal of loss on your part :3

anyway, have i already mentioned that the series were so [ fabulously ] hilarious ? well it surely is, and as far as the series has progressed itself at this current point of time [ episode 04 ], seikimatsu occult gakuin has yet to fail in cracking me up to several fits of inelegant great laughter, proof that it is among those series that should be given the utmost attention to while it is still fresh / here to stay. also, the series is made of a fresh-tastic plot / theme that successfully blends together occultism / horror with comedy, while not forgetting its remarkable [ yet hilariously ] uncanny cast of characters, most especially those of the recurring ones like the overly pathetic time agent fumiaki, the guy with the huge spanner and that huge, queer-looking guy with the deep crimson hair.

not to mention, i greatly find maya's character to be overly charming [ +uber-sexy ], in a unique way [ +1 for yoko hikasa as she did her job great with her assigned character ]. well, to label her as a tsundere may seem a little bit incorrect - i guess, maybe... but there are times when she did acted herself that way - especially when it comes to occult-centric topics being mentioned right before her. other than that, she had the classic 'that hurt' punch, and this has added in more love points into her character from my perspective - as i have mentioned long before, i certainly do fancy fictional girls with killer punches, especially one such as maya :3

the character design were indeed good, and the overall visual execution is great as expected of a-1 pictures... but so does the direction as well as the director surely knows how to get the jokes done best within their respective mood / situation without compromising much of the mystery / [ mildly ] darker side of the story.

asobi ni iku yo ! : early impression

ASOBI NI IKU YO !
studio : AIC PLUS+
director : Yooichi Ueda
serial run : July 10, 2010
total episode : 13
hime's priority rank : 06

A CAT IS [ DEFINITELY ] FINE TOO ! x3

[ i kinda love the original art so allow me to keep it as the header for this post :3 ]

it seems to me that aic has taken quite a great fondness into cats lately, weren't they ? :3 . okay, so i've been looking forward for the series to be presented in a highly playful mood, and how am i very well pleased to see that it is indeed served just as how i wanted it to be; very cheerful and playful [ despite the brief 'serious business' twist ] as a healthy cat can be, and thankfully the main female focus of the series [ eris ] has excellently managed to hold the whole free-spirited / playful mood of the series well by not reverting into some sort of a badass battle mode [ we do get to see this often from certain animes which follows in the same path as this title; sora no otoshimono and omamori himari for most recent example ]... well maybe not yet, but that would certainly spoil the peaceful and tranquil image i has of her at the moment IF, she were to so :333

honestly said, asobi ni iku yo ! is your typical boy meets alien girl harem for as far as i can see, still what held my interest well into asobi ni iku yo ! were the growing randomness though it may not yet be as much as those seen in one of my spring 2010 favorite, mayoi neko overrun !, yet :3 . anyway, coming from aic, the overall art and visual design were pretty good, and i certainly approve the art style and color palette applied for both foreground and background. well everything were rendered nicely and so far i haven't seen any noticeable flaw nor design / visual inconsistencies as explicitly witnessed from several scenes in the aforementioned mayoi neko overrun !; i-i-it's not that i chose to compare the two, but i do believe that if mayoi neko overrun ! were to be given the same full care in its visual execution then it could've been just as better as asobi ni iku yo ! :3

among the major things i come to love the most about the series were eris' constant approach in understanding / adapting to the alien surrounding she is currently within - how she interact with the people around her as well as her attempt to familiarize both herself and kou to the ensuing intergalactic contact between the two worlds. if only all aliens were this benign then the universe will be a great place to live in :3 . oh and btw, the assistadroids were so lovably charming... really, really charming. and i really do love them much x3

kyou, koi wo hajimemasu ova

KYOU, KOI WO HAJIMEMASU OVA
studio : J.C. Staff
director : Shigeyasu Yamauchi / Naoto Hosoda
serial run :
total episode : 01 [ maybe, i guess :P ]
score : ***1/2

KISS SPAMS, IN MY SHOUJO-

it is greatly suggested that you first read the manga before giving this ova a watch, or else you'll only confuse yourself for the first half of the ova as a lot of things weren't properly explained there. oh, and in case you're the kind who's quick to catch things up [ like myself :3 ] then you may as well proceed as is^^. but anyway, despite the massive plot hole i must say this very well here that i sincerely find myself to be greatly drawn upon this ova... and with that said, i am now hoping for j.c. staff to reconsider on producing this title here into a full fledged tv series just like the wonderful kimi ni todoke [ correction, i had totally forgotten that kimi ni todoke was produced by production i.g. :P ] was; of course it doesn't necessarily have to be 26 episode long but at least it should flesh out a bit more events and details between the two leading characters; how they both met each other as well as a comprehensive record of their love / relationship progress.

the overall art and character design were done in full, highly delightful shoujo glory [ inclusive of the glitters, sparkles, bubbles etc. ]; and thus for those who couldn't tolerate such style of visual presentation might find the ova's to be a direct overkill. the camera works too were just as pretty and very pleasantly well done, if not splendid... and i must state it here that i am very well fond of both the 'planetarium' scene and the sunset shot within the library; these two scenes were both hands down gorgeous and much of the romantic aura of the ova were concentrated here. well judging from this ova alone, i can pretty much say that it certainly has potential, but only if kyou, koi wo hajimemasu were to be given a proper chance to shine a little bit more in the form of the aforementioned regular tv series. as for that to indeed happen, well we can only hope so for now :3

just as mentioned in the first paragraph above, the story were kinda nice but too confusing in the first few minutes. however, as the ova proceeds further, those with quick understanding of things will surely be able to pick a portion of the story up without much ado, although still the most noticeable flaw of the ova lies here indefinitely, despite it wasn't much THAT lethal to me as some has thought it were for them :3

to love-ru second season : this october

to love-ru will be back on air this fall~! . excited ? well indeed you should be since we greatly do over here... except for zange-chan since she's not quite into harem, i guess ? :P [ heads up via shinwa | click here for the initial announcement ]

kaibutsu oujo : ultimate ova this december

[ sauce : official kaibutsu oujo : ultimate site | official pv for kaibutsu oujo : ultimate ]

recently i've discovered that tatsunoko will be producing a reboot [ complete remake, not sequel ] ova for kaibutsu oujo [ aka princess resurrection ], featuring new character design [ which doesn't strike much fan in me, yet ] and a wholly revamped seiyuu cast. and to my greatest disappointment, the production committee has decided to swap ayako kawasumi with saori hayami [ musubi in sekirei / ikaros in sora no otoshimono ] for the role of the titular character hime. being a massive fan of the series, i simply couldn't get myself to accept the change over hime's seiyuu, especially since ayako-san has already shown herself to be of a great fit for the said character.

as noticeable from the promotional video, the series will retain its violent and bloody nature - most apparently the contract between the royalty and their undead subject will be made through the [ canonical ] royal blood instead of the flame of life-whatever [ cue shakugan no shana ] seen from the madhouse-produced tv series. regardless of this cool revelation however, i STILL [ capslock'd nau to better emphasize my discontentment ] couldn't get myself enthusiasted much due to the exclusion of ayako-sama from the cast *insert multiple headdesks here*.

anyway, the dvd comes out on december 9, 2010, but seriously i am most likely to give my coldest welcome to the ova, though i will try to give it a watch once it has been released later. ← tsun much eh, hime ?

intermission : back on the serve

sorry for the lack of updates / hiatus recently, i got myself too caught up on playing games that i had almost abandoned this blog here for my dearest game console. well, good thing is that something had knocked a little bit of sense into me and so i've decided to put on some work for the handful of pending first impression drafts we had here before the coming of august; the month of which we'll be celebrating +ophanium's second anniversary. gotta put more substance into the blog so to make the celebration seems worthy.

there's been a number of summer series that i am currently following as of now, but some of which has either been dropped or being put on hold for not being interesting / amusing enough to my personal preference. still, initially i first came to think of the summer 2010 to be of somewhat unappealing, but once i had savor in some of the series that were freshly aired for the past 2-3 weeks, my summer impression was quickly overwhelmed with a new found enthusiasm, and i am very much glad over this as it proves that summer will as well be another interesting season for me, and i am hopefully looking forward to be pleasantly amused as how i was in winter / spring^^.

as mentioned in the first para above, gaming has become an integrated part of my free time as of current, with me being hugely adamant on catching up with all those titles i had missed the moment i loaned my beloved console to my little brother. personally i mostly dig into the j-rpg genre, mainly because i'm the kind of person who find their love within the magical fantasy world / setting, and for the highly elaborate designs seen in most of them. that aside, i myself as well had some interest into the flight simulator genre, with my particular favorite as of now being the ace combat series.



as always, i will try not to write in too much for intermission posts so i guess i'll have to stop myself here, and get the work done on the more deserving first impression posts we had in draft. until then, the blog may seem kinda deserted at times but believe me, it will remain alive and kicking for as long as i am still around, breathing :3

p/s : i forgot to welcome back our dearest editor, zange-chan. WELCOME BACK, ZANGE~! :3 - /hime/

ookami-san to shichinin no nakamatachi : first impression

OOKAMI-SAN TO SHICHININ NO NAKAMATACHI
studio : J.C. Staff
director : Yoshiaki Iwasaki
serial run : July 1, 2010 - ongoing
total episode : 13
hime's priority rank : 03

TORADORA 2.0 NOT

ookami-san basically is a retelling of some of the fairy / folk tales we've heard and known since our childhood into a somewhat more modern and slightly refreshing setting. but more surprisingly, it seems that there aren't many people who favor this series here as apparent from the amount of haters accumulated right from the first episode [ some of which were remnants of kuroko's haters back in the railgun days ]. well anyway, ookami-san - for short - is done by the same j.c. staff team that gave us toradora and to aru kagaku no railgun [ and technically is my favorite production team within the studio ], thus it has as well brought forth the same art style / design and visual direction / execution seen from both toradora and to aru kagaku no railgun.

okay, so once again we get to see a merry party of slightly odd and not-so-peculiar characters, and this somehow reminds me of the not so captivating series mamoru-kun megami ni shukufuku wo [ both series however seems to make very good use of very long titles for themselves ]. but the uncanny 'otogi bank' party aside, my interest were grounded more into the leading trio, most especially the titular star of the series, taiga ookami-san and her pushy loli companion komoe-sensei ringo; very interesting to note [ well some of you should've already known this for ages now ] is that both leading females were directly inspired from the classic fairy tale 'the little red riding hood', although both of their roles in this series seemed to breakaway greatly from their classic folktale counterparts :3

among the major key elements which held my interest high into the series was the loose narration by satomi arai-san, which were both funny and dramatic [ especially when arai-san had it done in the same style / mood / tone-whatever as kuroko's ], as well as the narrator's quirk of inducing several 4th wall breaking gags from the characters due to her insulting commentaries laid on them. +not to mention her narrations added in some sort of interactivity between the characters and us, the audience :3 . oh, and yes my dear people, i may have not being quite fond of kuroko's way of speaking back when to aru kagaku no railgun were still airing [ in case you've read my first impression post on the said series before ] but since then i've grown to love and became more attached to it, and thus to be listening 'kuroko's return' as the narrator [ +having parts of kuroko's personality intact within the narration ] definitely is some sort of a blessing for me.



i guess we can now resign ourselves from reminiscing on working !!, as ookami-san to shichinin no nakamatachi for one is a pretty solid comedy series for this summer if i must say myself - just like the former, for me that is. and regardless of the hate it gets at the moment, well frankly speaking i am wholly impressed by the first episode, alone. period. well haters definitely gonna hate, and let's let them be :3

p/s : oh and btw, neko knuckles ? *thumbs up*

high school of the dead : first impression

HIGH SCHOOL OF THE DEAD
studio : Madhouse
director : Tetsuro Araki
serial run : July 5, 2010 - ongoing
total episode : 12
hime's priority rank : 01

U'RE GONNA GET NOMM'D

seriously, i kinda had this complicated love x hate relationship with madhouse, but thankfully i was able to work that out and give the studio another chance this time around, and god knows how i am now able to forgive madhouse [ not entirely yet ] for the sins it has done to some of its budget titles in the past [ among which was 'kaibutsu oujo', which happens to be my favorite manga~uguu ]. rants aside, this definitely is going to be the series i would look forward to the most for summer 2010.

anyway, the series kicks off pretty strong in action, with the usual vibe you get from splatter / zombie fictions; a group of survivors trying to save their necks from the hordes, only for them reach the dilemma point later once one of their dearest member got infected and were turned into one of the zombies. not quite refreshing, yes. but high school of the dead did quite a splendid job with the first episode if i were to say myself. despite the same recipe tasted from the oh so many zombie / splatter fictions, high school of the dead maintained a very good pace in its storytelling; brief it may be but the short introduction as narrated from the main protagonist point is more than enough to let me in to the drama he had in his life prior to the zombie swarm outbreak; all that's left now is for the mysterious zombifying plague to be properly demystified later on, since i has yet to cover the manga the anime was adapted from.

the first episode also touches slightly on few quirks within the society norm, but what took me in the most was the scene where there's this two random girls pronouncing their BFF-ness [ yea right ], only for one of them to be betrayed a few seconds later, and the betrayer gets nomm'd soon enough wahaha- ← this, is the truth of the world we're in, peeps >3

the character design looks great, and definitely is within my area of preference. the overall art and cinematography direction were splendid, and i certainly love the director's idea and vision for the series; the backgrounds / settings alone were wonderfully breathtaking and simply were sights to behold. also, as with dragonaut and seikon no qwaser [ to name a few ], we got a series that is blessed with aplenty of magnificent boobs but fret not, it doesn't seem to be somewhat overdone unlike dragonaut. well really, high school of the dead does seem to maintain a healthy balance between gore, action, romance and fanservice, as seen and tasted from the first episode to date.



highly recommended for those who have not seen it yet, as well as to fans of splatter animes such as claymore, shikabane hime and mnemosyne -mnemosyne no musumetachi- :3. oh, and before i forget this, nice job on the ED, i definitely will be looking forward to the complete version of it to be released somewhen soon~! :3

[ cosplay ] midori kanda : nodoka haramura

layer : Midori Kanda
character : Nodoka Haramura
series : Saki
score : *****

NODOCCHI~!

okay so let's leave her chest aside [ don't mistake me, nodoka's chest indeed is the most crucial part of her character, but not all layers were able to fulfill that without faking the size up :3 ], this definitely is a nice splendidly wonderful nodoka-get for as far as i am concerned, and i dare say so as midori-san finely nailed the look and the feel of her character very well, from her overall appearance down to her gestures and poses; very elegant yet so very natural, just as in the same case with our yun-san miku-get feature below :3

pay enough attention to this nodocchi-get of her and you will certainly get to feel the 'lovely yet hard to approach' [ elegant princess-like ] aura which often surrounds nodoka's character as seen and felt in the anime.

[ all images are property of kimokamehiro ]

[ cosplay ] yun kousaka : miku hatsune

layer : Yun Kousaka
character : Miku Hatsune
series : Vocaloid
score : ****1/2

yun-san was among my earliest discovery on the japanese cosplay scene [ aside from ibara-san and himeno shirayuki-san ] after being infatuated for long with kipi and arisa mizuhara. and it certainly was her miku-get [ wasn't this set which breaks her through my attention, however ] which has opened a direct path for me into becoming her fan.

now frankly said as always, i'm often mostly in love with her every miku hatsune photoshoots; the materials for her costume are certainly well chosen, and she even got her accessories done right according to the original design. also, her miku-get looks perfectly natural on her, as if she's the actual miku herself, and this firmly proves just how magnificent the performance value for this cosplay-get of hers was - well, she's won't be a cosplay idol for nothing :3

intermission : hime's little 'start of summer' rant

NOZOMI'S HERE TO WELCOME YOU PEEPS TO THE SUMMER EDITION OF +OPHANIUM :3

once again we survived another anime season; spring has recently left us in the care of summer, which in turn doesn't spark much enthusiasm from me as of yet. sure the current season was just starting but my excitement level weren't as huge as how i was at the start of spring 2010, but still i hope for this under-excitement of mine would soon dies away once 5-6 of the summer series were to kick in in the 5-7 days to come :3 oh, and despite the current season, we will be keeping our current mayoi neko overrun ! theme for this blog, especially since peco-sensei's art matches really well with the overall mood and atmosphere of this blog here :3

okay so right now we're busy preparing ourselves for quite a bulk of post[s] to be made in the upcoming weeks, especially our usual 'first impression' commentaries. also, i [ as of current ] will be working on my own in maintaining and delivering the usual updates on this blog here as our chief editor zange-chan will still be away due to her other commitment somewhere else, and thus, i will personally be covering both the writing and grammar checking / editing process, the latter of which is zange's role within the team - looks like more stress for me, and i seriously hope that i won't burn out before zange-chan's return :3

i guess i have nothing more to key down here in this post, and thus i shall leave you peeps with my warm welcome for all of ye to the summer edition of +ophanium, and have a nice summer to all~!^^

+ophanium's summer 2010 watchlist : prelude to first impressions

before i went on with our usual first impression commentaries i would first like to post in a quick compendium list of the summer 2010 series of which i will be keeping close track on based on summaries / those that i have seen so far. as usual, these lists are subjected to future changes.

HIGHEST PRIORITY
description : these are the series of which i'll be following very dearly week after week without fail; a slight miss on one episode will possibly result in multiple head-desks on my behalf.
- highschool of the dead
- black rock shooter
- ookami-san to shichinin no nakamatachi
- seikimatsu occult gakuin
- amagami ss
- asobi ni iku yo !
- sono hanabira ni kuchizuke wo : anata to koibito tsunagi
- kyou, koi o hajimemasu
- sekirei -pure engagement-
- seitokai yakuindomo

MEDIUM PRIORITY
description : these are the series of which i'll be following week after week without fail just like the priority set above, however i won't be giving myself multiple head-desks should i forgot to get myself updated on the new episodes of those listed here; in fact i'd rather marathon a number of episodes in a go- :3
- strike witches 2 [ currently put on hold for complete season marathon later ]
- the legend of the legendary heroes
- shiki
- aki sora : yume no naka

LOWEST PRIORITY
description : being the lowest priority set, these series risks themselves of being deported to the on hold / dropped list based on their respective performance[s]. however, i will still be giving them minor justice by forcing myself to keep on watching them just to fill in the void left in-between the release of new episodes of the two priority set above.
- shukufuku no campanella

WAITLIST / WISHLIST
description : those listed here were either sequels which i have yet to watch over the previous season they were continued from or just those poor underdog titles which has yet to be picked and subbed upon.
- hen zemi
- osaka hamlet
- mon hun nikki pokapoka airumura

to love-ru : new anime series announced

yeap, this announcement came to my attention about a few hours earlier on twitter; as mentioned in the latest issue of weekly shounen jump, it seems that xebec will be producing another season [ ? i greatly hope for it to be more of a reboot close to the manga ] for the winning harem [ i am referring this to the manga it was based from as well as the ova series, not the original 26 episode tv adaptation which was jam-packed with fillers ] series by kentaro yabuki-sensei, featuring the same character designer / OP-ED director [ yuichi ouka-sensei ] and seiyuu cast from the original tv + ova series, as well as a new director, otsuki atsushi who previously directed ecchi-centric titles such as kanokon ~manatsu no dai shanikusai~ and ladies versus butlers ! - and thus, with said director in the production team we might as well be expecting a much more explicit, fanservice-tastic direction and content in the new TL-R :3