Just finished viewing this episode of Over Drive, and I have to say this is one of the best episodes I’ve seen this year. It’s really a turning point in the series. Without getting too specific, the cycling race is still ongoing, but Mikoto does something that surpasses everyone’s expectations.
The morale of this episode is that hard work and diligence will eventually pay off.
Kaiji is anti-hero show about a loser named Itou Kaiji who is jobless, a bad gambler, and defaces luxury cars for fun. He gets his day of reckoning when he’s visited by a gangster trying to collect on a debt Kaiji co-signed for a former co-worker after the debtor bails. Trying to pay off a staggering debt of 3,850,000 yen, Kaiji is coerced into boarding a cruise ship, and try to gamble his way out of debt.
The show really reminds me of Gantz, in the sense that the protagonist is a loser who is thrown into a desperate situation with little chance of escape. The character design is rather ugly, but the main appeal of Kaiji is the story itself, and how Kaiji will try to get out of this mess.
And in my opinion, this show can be seen as implying that those who stray from the path of order and society will live miserable lives.
Blue Drop is a sci-fi horror show about the sole survivor of a tragedy five years ago. This survivor, Mari Wakatake, lost her family and her memories. And she spent those five years living with her grandmother.
In the first episode, Mari is transfered over to Kaihou Academy, and she feels abandoned by her grandmother. But she meets Hagino Sekonji, a perfect student with a dark secret. And the episode ends on a cliffhanger!
I’d admit that I don’t like the character design. It looks too plain and simple for my taste. But the show seems to have a lot of drama and suspense. What really happened five years ago? Why is Mari no longer cared for by her grandmother? What’s the secret behind this academy? And just who the heck is Hagino? Plenty of questions set up by just the first episode.
I’m hoping this will be an intelligent, dramatic, and entertaining show.
Here’s the first of a bunch of series I’m checking out this fall. Bamboo Blade is a fairly original show, about a high school kendo club. The club coach makes a bet with another school coach on which club will win the girls kendo team practice match. Only problem. . . just one girl is in the club currently and five members are needed for the match.
So we know where the show is heading—find the girls to fill the club, get training for new comers, and have the match. It seems very straight forward so far. And we’ll see what kind of conflicts come up to make the show interesting for the entire 26 episodes.
Over Drive is one of those anime shows where you can easily lose patience watching the stupid comedy and overall wuss-act by the supposed main character in the show. Reminds me of Love Hina in that sense. But if you stick around for a while, it’ll eventually get to the good stuff, and make you appreciate the show a bit more.
Backtracking for a bit, Over Drive is a cycling racing show (think wannabe participants in the Tour de France) where a high school student lived a monotonous existence until the girl of his dreams ask him to join the school’s bicycling club. The first half of the show is about the kid, Mikoto Shinozaki, learning how to ride a bike and training with the club. The second half shows the club participating in a local race.
I’ve seen up to episode 17 so far, and as I said I’m appreciating the show more and more. It’s fascinating how much dreams surround the relatively simple act of riding a bike, and how seriously bicyclists take the race. I’m looking forward to seeing how the anime show turns out.
The anime series Claymore reminds me very much of the Marvel Comics’ X-Men, where the protagonists are outcasts of society and yet needed for assistance against greater horrors. The world of Claymore is a dangerous, medieval place where humans are preyed upon by demons or “Yoma.” And a secret organization created half human, half yoma beings called Claymores to fight against these Yoma.
The series follow the adventures of Clare. It starts out by showing the present, and then jumps back to Clare’s past, and resume with the present timeline. The series explain why Clare decided to become a hated Claymore, and her desire to become strong enough to kill a particularly powerful being.
The series faithfully follows the manga (as far as I can tell, since Viz released only up to volume 9). There are 26 episodes in all, with the last story arc giving Clare what she desires.
The last episode finishes the storyline, but doesn’t answer many questions, such as how the Organization came into being, and how Claymores are created. Furthermore, far too many flashback scenes were tossed into this episode, thereby killing the dramatic and momentum during this episode. Episode 26 is an ending, but some fans may not be satisfied with it.
Nonetheless, Claymore is a good, sword action show that will appeal to fans of Berserk and the like. And I think the chance of the license for this series getting picked up for North American is better than 50-50.
Animenewsnetwork posted a message from Geneon USA President indicating that they are internally exploring distribution options. As a fan from the Pioneer days on vhs tape (El Hazard Magnificant World, No Need for Tenchi, etc.), I certainly hope Geneon will find a way to resume distribution its excellent library of anime products.
Keep your fingers crossed! 
Heroic Age has been another excellent show this season. As a sci-fi show, episode 26 continues to display the nifty computer graphics that we’ve come to expect to see in every episode. But more importantly for fans is the resolution of this series. An underlying theme of this show is the possibility of reconciliation and peace, after war and conflict. And that’s what we get in the finale.
Another theme is the importance of keeping promises, and the characters in this show go out of their way, and try hard to keep their promises. By keeping her own promise to Age, from the very beginning of the show, Deianeira’s wish finally comes true.
The finale is a wonderful and appropriate wrapup to Heroic Age.
Has 50 episodes of hard hitting martial arts action already gone by? For a while, it seemed like History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi would never end. Who knew what to expect from Kenichi Shirahama when he truly started learning martial arts, to become stronger?
After watching the 50th and final episode, my reaction is “elation.” From episode one thru fifty, the show pounds out many principles: hard work exceeds innate talent, strength comes from protecting your loved ones, and friendship matters. The screenwriter, Yoshiyuki Suga, does a phenomenal job in putting these concepts into action in the show. And watching Kenichi Shirahama slowly turn into history’s strongest disciple in the series finale is a payoff that fans will appreciate and talk about for years to come.
History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi stands for the notion that even the least amongst us can achieve greatness.
Having seen the 24th and final episode of Kaze no Stigma, I have to admit I’m disappointed with this show. It started off great: supernatural action, comedy, and romance. The viewers learned early on about Kazuma’s conflict with the House of Kannagi, and how it drove him to become a wind user. Cast from the house in disgrace 4 years ago, he’s returned to Japan. . . for payback?
The show moves along at a decent pace, with some background stories on heroine Ayano, and supporting characters. A big “in” gag for the production crew seems to be flashing Ayano’s panties every now and then (but no, the fanservice isn’t high quality >_> ).
And then all of a sudden the fun and games stop, and the show takes on a very, very dark tone. The last storyline arc of the series goes deep into Kazuma’s past, and explores why Kazuma decided to seek power and became a wind user. This arc has a high violence quotient. The final episode resolves the immediate crisis in this arc, but leaves too many loose ends for my taste. In the end, the characters don’t really change much.
