Mai Robotto

Not your typical waifu post here. Take nothing away from appealing 2D women of all looks, personalities and ages, but I can’t turn a good mech down.

Hard mode: No Gundams. I’ve done a separate post on them anyway!

Cencoroll’s Awkward Charm

Cencoroll is a nifty little specimen. It’s got the indie feel working for it, with most of the work done by a certain Atsuya Uki. It’s still impressive, though. My eye for animation has leveled up in years, and the monster scenes are very smooth and clean. I guess it’s easier to animate transforming blobs with eyes than people? It knocks a bit on the E7/Xam’d monster aesthetic too.

Totally dig the colors used for the explosions here.

There’s one thing that stands out, too: much of the interaction between Tetsu, Yuki and even antagonist Shuu is awkward. Short, snappy answers are the norm, and nothing really gets revealed about the monsters and electric ahoges. Some people might not like this, but I find it fits for the context of the show, since it’s a rather uncanny, lifelike portrayal of high schoolers who just met each other. Being cranky and uncooperative works perfectly for Tetsu’s annoyed personality, while Yuki is merely a normal girl with abnormally high affinity for blobby things. It’s not like they’ve been seeing each other for years!

Quick-thinking AND intrepid. Beware.

Isn’t it refreshing to watch an anime that doesn’t feature characters with warped, extreme personalities? And Yuki is sweet, in her own unsaccharine way.

Two Top 5 Anime Lists

[Sauce]

I have two Top 5 lists in my head, both of which have entirely different criteria. Can you spot them on your own?

Zambot 3

The past few days of Internet-free existence have been largely alleviated by a good amount of backlogged anime. I finished the OVA and TV specials of Macross 7 (which I chalk up to careless neglect rather than disinterest), and watched Zambot 3 with my brother. Oh, and Cross Game–I’ve got said brother and another friend hooked on it, the latter being ahead by 10 episodes by now.

So, on to the post.

Zambot 3 is one pioneering anime which successfully proved that mature drama could exist and flourish in the medium. Despite being a super robot show, it tells a grim story with tragic scenes that put it on par with Zeta or Victory Gundam.

If you’re still doubting me, the villain’s name is Killer the Butcher.

Aside from that, it has…

Toshokan Sensou: Two Storytellers And One Teacher

Perhaps my favorite scene in Toshokan Sensou is the Chief Librarian Practical Exam in episode 9, in which our three junior librarians are tasked to read books to kids. Each of them take their own tack, which reveals something about themselves.

Those Clumsy Mecha… Mou~!

Armor Hunter Mellowlink, being a man vs mecha show, depicts frequent instances of Armored Troopers (ATs) being taken out in a myriad of ways. Only in this show can you see a mech blow up after losing its footing while skidding along the ground at high speed, or get defeated by a truck.

It really happened.

I wonder if this is Ryousuke Takahashi’s way of reminding us of his no-nonsense “real robot”-ism. ATs are closer to tanks than standard anime mechs, the former infinitely more prone to being blown up. I haven’t seen past episode 3 of VOTOMS, but if Mellowlink’s representation of these roundheads are taken for consistency, then kaboom, there you go.

Yuri’s Compass

One favorite Planetes plot thread of mine is Yuri’s search and eventual disposal of his dead wife’s keepsake, a compass that which she wore around her neck for good luck. It went missing along with his wife’s body, and night after night Yuri checks the debris catalogs of every other debris collector out there to hunt for it.

Enjoying Sports With Sports Anime

I am not an active person. I used to detest PE classes, because I perform below-average in most sports (except badminton, which I did enjoy enough to not suck at). I wanted to play with my more athletic classmates, but as jock mentality goes, they do not want wimps fumbling the ball around in a loose game of basketball.

But that doesn’t mean I hate sports. If anything, I got a kick out of Slam Dunk’s >9000 runs, because it was quality entertainment. It managed to make basketball look twice enjoyable, and the protagonists gave everything they got for the game. The scene where Akagi refuses to stay on the bench with a bad ankle injury because this might be the last game he would ever play is forever etched into my memory. Srsbzns, guys.

After that memorable experience with Slam Dunk, I did not hunt down sports anime on my own. Maybe it’s because I thought that all sports shows had the same slow pacing as Slam Dunk. It makes for good weekly watching, but when I’m catching up on, say, Major, it would be a long long road ahead. I might try Major in the future, but I’ll have to level up on lighter baseball shows.

These are some sports anime that I really enjoyed.

Astro Fighter Sunred 2 Blows Me Away With This New OP

Astro Fighter Sunred is having a 2nd season with more of the same jokes, which is all good with me. The clincher is, it has this wonderful Weather Three OP featuring a giant robot. Now, I think I’ve seen that giant robot somewhere, but who cares, Red and his friends are piloting a giant robot. Now, who could pose enough challenge for Weather Three to bust out their trump card, I wonder. I just hope it gets used in a gag or something.

If you’re a fan of tokusatsu or sentai, you should watch this. Especially you, Filipino anibloggers. I’m sure I’m not the only one who cried when the first Yellow 4 died in Bioman…

From Up Here, You Can’t See Any Borders…

In episode 11 of Planetes, Mr. Temara peddles his spacesuit proposal to Technora, where he is met with a string of failures. Nobody wants his ugly spacesuit, and the fact that he hails from the poor nation of El Tanika doesn’t help, either. But Hachi offers to test it for him.