Umineko no Naku Koro ni – Episode 01

Now, chances are, if you’ve taken a look around the blog, you probably know that I’m a huge Higurashi fan (*looks up at the banner*).  As such, Umineko no Naku Koro ni was easily the most anticipated anime (for me) of the season (maybe even year).  Although I didn’t get a chance to announce it, I did decide to blog this show come hell or high water.  With such high expectations, I was setting up the perfect trap for myself to be dissapointed.  Thankfully, that never happened.

Hanasakeru Seishounen Episode 3

Hello friends!  Here I am again with another episode of Hanasakeru Seishounen.  Sorry it’s been so long.  In this episode we continue to plumb the bizarre depths of Eugene’s suicidal tendencies and Kajika’s…attachability?  Li Ren is pissed at Eugene and locks Kajika up to keep her from seeing him, some weird business stuff is going down in Malaysia, Eugene plots to get Kajika out, Li Ren sets the entire NYPD on them, Eugene is an exceedingly sad panda, Li Ren calms the fuck down, Kajika goes to Paris.  There’s your summary.  For bitchin’, continue on.

Check it out guys, I used VLC this time, now the collage is all pretty

Hanasakeru Seishounen Episode 2

I can’t tell you how much I’ve been looking forward to watching this episode and writing about it, since it was so much fun last time.  Actually, though, Episode 2 wasn’t nearly as full of wtf as Episode 1 was.  We meet Mystery Man #1 (or #2, if you count Li Ren), we learn a little more about Li Ren and Kajika’s relationship, we hear a little more about the relevant parts of the business world, and we get a better sense of just how batshit insane Kajika is.  Yeah, Kajika?  Totally nuts.

Now with more pets reincarnated as potential boyfriends!

Spring Pilots: Hanasakeru Seishounen

Hanasakeru Seishounen was my reason for coming to this blog.  When Tekky invited me, he mentioned that there was a particularly ridiculous-looking shoujo series coming out in the spring, and that he wanted someone to blog it.  “Me,” I said instantly.  “I’ll take it.”  From looking at the art, I knew it was going to be overblown, dramatic, and hopelessly sparkly.  What I didn’t know until now (but really should have guessed) was that it was also mysterious and somewhat homoerotic!  In short, this series plugs right into all the pleasure receptors of my brain.

Here have an ugly screenshot collage I made with MSPaint

Here’s the summary.  Kugami Kajika (let’s not talk about her full name) is the daughter of a powerful American businessman, who has just called her back from Japan (where she was living for some reason for a few months) to pick a husband out of three(?!) guys he deems worthy.  If Kajika falls in love with any of them, that man (and her father) will win the “game.”  Somehow this scheme has something to do with the murder of Kajika’s mother a number of years ago; at this point, the only thing we know for sure is that Kajika is beautiful, brave, and probably also a genius.  The author would really like to have us like Kajika.  A lot.  Do you like Kajika yet?  Might as well hop on the train, because it is clear that every single person in this series is going to fall in love with Kajika.  Some people might hate her and try to kill her, but those will probably be either 1) unreformably evil, or 2) eventually converted to moist-eyed Kajikaism.  So…if you think you might not like Kajika…well, you’re weird.  Sorry.