Ohana is excited at first, but her granny quickly disowns her—the blood of her wayward daughter is no blood of hers—and puts her to work at her traditional inn. Where fellow workers alternately abuse (temperamental cook's assistant Minko), patronize (assistant cook Tohru), or ignore her (timid fellow waitress Nako; basically everyone else). Not what Ohana had in mind. She's a strong girl, though, and circumstances can only keep her down for so long.
The bad news: every premonition of sliding quality from the past couple of volumes is confirmed. The good news: it only lasts two episodes. Then the fun starts again. But before you can get to it, first it's necessary to slog through the series' sometimes tedious, sometimes infuriating, consistently disappointing climax. To be sure, there are moments of genuine pathos. Kouhei's reaction to seeing Hazuki with the jougan hurts, and Hazuki's resolution at the end of episode 23 is simply heart-breaking.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Hanasaku Iroha Episode 12 watch online
Hanasaku Iroha is a straight-up youth drama: no super powers, no supernatural forces, no ninjas, no fights with the fate of the world at stake—just a girl trying to make her way in a new and hostile environment armed only with her determination to change for the better.
But the causes and consequences of each moment of honest emotion are deeply dissatisfying. Both moments ultimately pen Hazuki into the role of damsel in distress, an entirely passive role ("Help me Kouhei!") that leaves a nasty taste in the mouth. And Kouhei's jougan, while giving rise to one affecting scene, is obviously a giant deus ex machina cop-out in the making.
But the causes and consequences of each moment of honest emotion are deeply dissatisfying. Both moments ultimately pen Hazuki into the role of damsel in distress, an entirely passive role ("Help me Kouhei!") that leaves a nasty taste in the mouth. And Kouhei's jougan, while giving rise to one affecting scene, is obviously a giant deus ex machina cop-out in the making.
Hanasaku Iroha Episode 13 watch online
That may sound bright, but to begin with it's actually pretty grim going; mainly because the cast is seemingly composed of total jerks. The inn's staff is uniformly disagreeable: Minko is a witch, Tohru is a dick, Nako is a doormat, and Ohana's grandmother is a special kind of monster, an unyielding, intolerant old bat with the kindness and warmth of a crowbar to the head. Their treatment of Ohana is callous and unfair (she's beaten for inconveniencing a guest) and worse yet, thoroughly unrealistic.
Maybe the strangest thing about Saturn Apartments is the idea that future humans have mastered extraterrestrial living, but not economic justice. Shouldn't they have fixed the gap between rich and poor by now? Yet this odd social structure tells a more universal truth about human nature: that no matter how much we advance as a civilization, there will always be differences between us. And it is how we bridge those differences—like a certain window-washer's encounters with his clients, his co-workers, and his friends—that shape society. So while this slice-of-life excursion sometimes stumbles over the storyline, and stops short of greatness in the art, the underlying message about people connecting with other people still rings true. In a technologically advanced future, our humanity is more important than ever.
Maybe the strangest thing about Saturn Apartments is the idea that future humans have mastered extraterrestrial living, but not economic justice. Shouldn't they have fixed the gap between rich and poor by now? Yet this odd social structure tells a more universal truth about human nature: that no matter how much we advance as a civilization, there will always be differences between us. And it is how we bridge those differences—like a certain window-washer's encounters with his clients, his co-workers, and his friends—that shape society. So while this slice-of-life excursion sometimes stumbles over the storyline, and stops short of greatness in the art, the underlying message about people connecting with other people still rings true. In a technologically advanced future, our humanity is more important than ever.
Hanasaku Iroha Episode 10 watch online
Life with her irresponsible mother is comfortable enough for teenaged Ohana. Sure she has to do all the cooking and cleaning and her allowance is crap, but she has her friends and her routines and a general sense of security. Which turns out to be mistaken. Drama-loving Ohana is about to get a bellyful of the real thing. First her mother's equally irresponsible beau gets in deep with the wrong kind of lenders, necessitating a quick escape, and then Ohana is informed that instead of going on the run (dramatic!) she'll be remanded to the custody of the grandmother she's never met.
Crushed by Kouhei's terror at seeing her via the jougan "purifying eye," Hazuki is thrown again into conflict with the vampire agents of her father. An act of betrayal, and Kouhei's inability to control his gift, lead Hazuki to make a decision that will sacrifice everything she has gained. Her friends, however, are unwilling to let her go without a fight. After, Hazuki must deal with being a big sister, and—weirder still—with being stranded at sea.
Crushed by Kouhei's terror at seeing her via the jougan "purifying eye," Hazuki is thrown again into conflict with the vampire agents of her father. An act of betrayal, and Kouhei's inability to control his gift, lead Hazuki to make a decision that will sacrifice everything she has gained. Her friends, however, are unwilling to let her go without a fight. After, Hazuki must deal with being a big sister, and—weirder still—with being stranded at sea.
Hanasaku Iroha Episode 9 watch online
In 2010 I gave Surprise of the Year honors to Asobi ni Iku yo! for its unusually and unexpectedly high level of cleverness and general quality. Astarotte's Toy is not on that same level – especially not on visuals – but still more thoroughly defies initial expectations on the positive side than any other new title so far this year (except possibly Puella Magi Madoka Magica). Don't let the apparent lolicon flavor or first episode deceive you; it is a better and generally more decent series than that.
The character designs are also something of a love-it-or-hate-it affair: cute at first glance, but infuriating as one starts to realize that everyone has the same meatball head and button eyes with only hairstyles and relative heights to tell each other apart. (The fact that everyone from age 6 to 60 has the same childlike build doesn't help, either.) So while the art is very distinct and detailed, it also has certain stylistic quirks that end up being limitations.
The character designs are also something of a love-it-or-hate-it affair: cute at first glance, but infuriating as one starts to realize that everyone has the same meatball head and button eyes with only hairstyles and relative heights to tell each other apart. (The fact that everyone from age 6 to 60 has the same childlike build doesn't help, either.) So while the art is very distinct and detailed, it also has certain stylistic quirks that end up being limitations.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Hana-Saku Iroha Episode 4 English sub
The story centers around Ohana Matsumae, a 16-year-old Tokyo native who ended up working at a onsen ryokan (hot spring inn).
Related anime:
Hana-Saku Iroha (manga)
Alternative title:
Hanasaku Iroha (Japanese)
Азбука цветов (Russian)
花咲くいろは (Japanese)
release date: 2011-04
Opening Theme:
"Hana no Iro (ハナノイロ)" by nano.RIPE
Ending Theme:
"Hazy" by Sphere
watch Hanasaku Iroha Episode 4 part 1
watch Hanasaku Iroha Episode 4 part 2
Hanasaku Iroha OP – Hana no Iro [nano.RIPE]
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=U1Y09M2P
Within the first five minutes of reading Love Hina, volume 1, I found myself engrossingly entertained by just about every single joke read. Love Hina is a highly entertaining romance comedy about a loser boy named Keitaro Urashima and the problems he face when he becomes landlord of the Hinata House.
First off, Love Hina is definitely not a Manga to be taken too seriously. Although there are a few parts here and there where there is supposed to be a serious romance theme being put into play, the use of comedy 95% of the time drowns out the romance theme in the series almost entirely. With that being said, Love Hina is certainly one of the funniest Mangas to come out in recent times.
There are a variety of female characters to deal with in Love Hina. Every girl has her own key personality trait, which is what gives the series a lot to work with. You can basically slap one adjective to describe each of the female characters in Love Hina. Examples include shy, energetic, smart, and strong. Blending all these character traits together, along with a loser boy main character who always gets "caught" in the wrong place at the wrong time, makes for a lot of comedy!
Related anime:
Hana-Saku Iroha (manga)
Alternative title:
Hanasaku Iroha (Japanese)
Азбука цветов (Russian)
花咲くいろは (Japanese)
release date: 2011-04
Opening Theme:
"Hana no Iro (ハナノイロ)" by nano.RIPE
Ending Theme:
"Hazy" by Sphere
watch Hanasaku Iroha Episode 4 part 1
watch Hanasaku Iroha Episode 4 part 2
Hanasaku Iroha OP – Hana no Iro [nano.RIPE]
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=U1Y09M2P
Within the first five minutes of reading Love Hina, volume 1, I found myself engrossingly entertained by just about every single joke read. Love Hina is a highly entertaining romance comedy about a loser boy named Keitaro Urashima and the problems he face when he becomes landlord of the Hinata House.
First off, Love Hina is definitely not a Manga to be taken too seriously. Although there are a few parts here and there where there is supposed to be a serious romance theme being put into play, the use of comedy 95% of the time drowns out the romance theme in the series almost entirely. With that being said, Love Hina is certainly one of the funniest Mangas to come out in recent times.
There are a variety of female characters to deal with in Love Hina. Every girl has her own key personality trait, which is what gives the series a lot to work with. You can basically slap one adjective to describe each of the female characters in Love Hina. Examples include shy, energetic, smart, and strong. Blending all these character traits together, along with a loser boy main character who always gets "caught" in the wrong place at the wrong time, makes for a lot of comedy!
Friday, April 8, 2011
Kirakira 100% Chapter 7 read in work time
Now, not to nitpick too much, but the choice of title for this volume couldn't more inaccurately describe the content of this disc. A scarred man does appear, possibly of eastern heritage, however, we're never given a name or much of an introduction to this character. Luckily, the profile in the excellent DVD insert booklet provides his name, Scar. He does appear to be someone who will give the Elric brothers trouble later, so he may be something to look forward to next volume.
The real meat of this disc is the history behind Ed becoming a State Alchemist at the age of 12, why Alphonse doesn't become a State Alchemist and how Ed came to earn the name “Fullmetal.” While there is a brief introduction of Scar, his influence on the events of these episodes is relatively small.
http://www.mangafox.com/manga/kirakira_100/
The real meat of this disc is the history behind Ed becoming a State Alchemist at the age of 12, why Alphonse doesn't become a State Alchemist and how Ed came to earn the name “Fullmetal.” While there is a brief introduction of Scar, his influence on the events of these episodes is relatively small.
http://www.mangafox.com/manga/kirakira_100/
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