The dregs of a good season...

The start of sola leaves me rather undecided on this series. The characters look like they may have potential, but the series also looks like it is unlikely to step above the average bishoujo anime. The fact that the writer of D.C. ~Da Capo~ was involved leaves me with little confidence either, given how low my opinion of that was. Still, the visuals were nice, and it does seem like the male protagonist has a little more presense than normal, so perhaps it is worth waiting a little longer to make a decission on this.

The first episode of El Cazador de la Bruja, on the other hand, gives me little confidence. I know I had low expectations of it from the start, but even then I am underwhealmed. It is more like NOIR and MADLAX than I had expected (and I knew it was just another remake to begin with), but it does not even seem to have an awesome soundtrack to `save' it. It looks like Bee Train have yet another miserable disaster on their hands here.

On the other hand, Seirei no Moribito went off to an interesting start. The visuals are positively gorgeous, and the characters seem like they have some real potential. The plot seems somewhat familiar, though I cannot place why; despite this, I have high hopes for it. This series could easily turn into a massive disappointment, but I have some high hopes for what looks like a better-than-average fantasy-series-in-a-world-baring-more-than-a-hint-of-China.

Bokurano started off with less promise. While the basic plot seems like it could be interesting, and there is plenty of room for interesting character development, I was left less impressed than I had expected. The shonky super robot scenes were bad enough, but I kept getting the feeling that GONZO were going to untimately ruin this. Perhaps I may just turn to the manga in the end, as I have heard many good things about it.

DARKER THAN BLACK went off to a interesting start, but I cannot yet decide whether it will be any good or not; making the first episode a two-parter seems like a rather poor idea to me. The characters and world seem like they have some potential, but it is hard to say what way they are going to take things. The visuals were quite nice, but that alone cannot clinch the deal. I shall definitely have to watch the second episode to make a decission on this one.

Romeo x Juliet is another I cannot decide on based on the first episode. There is no question that Shakespeare is being butchered here, but I cannot decide if the result is palatable or not. The series does not seem like it is much at all, but I am somewhat intregued as to what they plan to do with the series having changed it so much.

Volume four of Karin was a reasonable read. Karin realises her feeling for Usui, though after she almost bites him --- clearly they are leaving this device, and its results, until much later on. Meanwhile, Ren almost attack's Usui's mum, but is stopped by their father. The story is coming along at a decent pace here, but the comedy seemed a little less prevalant here; on the other hand, the fanservice increaced a touch, which was a tad disappointing.

With volume four, I completed R.O.D READ OR DREAM. I was a little surprised to find that elements found in R.O.D The TV were to be found here, but they were handled well, and with far more comedy. Anita's origin was also touched upon, though I felt it was not developed properly. In general, this was a reasonable read, but it fell far short of R.O.D READ OR DIE. The characters were good, and there were some interesting developments, but it never went anywhere, and much of the comedy became predictable.

Volume four of Rozen Maiden was a decent read, though much of it was a little slow. The battle with Souseiseki was very surprising, in both it happening as well as the result, as was the scene where Jun restored Shinku's arm. Things are very different from the anime already, though it does look like the second season was designed to bring things back in-line for a possible third season that continues the story properly.

Volume nine of RG Veda was quite good though, with the story rushing towards its conclusion. While some of what happened with Ashura was to be expected, the result is actually somewhat more dire than I thought. As they rush the God-King's castle, the proverbial has hit the fan for both sides, however, there seems to be a lot more behind Taishakuten and Kujaku than originally thought. How things will conclude in this series I cannot say, but I sure look forward to it!

Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor continues to be quite good through episodes 15-30, though as the Shaft company becomed more prevalant in latter episodes I am finding the series becoming a little less enjoyable. It is also a little disappointing to see Kanuka go, not least because Kumagami is nowhere near as good a character. Despite this, most of the time the comedy focus of the series makes it thoroughly enjoyable. Well, the Yakuza episode was a little wierd, but still...