Mixed responses to the new season...

Episode three of CLAYMORE cements its position in this season for me. Though still remaining tightly with the manga, the visuals are bringing the series to life enough to make up for a lack of surprises. Whether the series eventually diverges from the manga or not is yet to be seen, but I would imagine it does not move into the current story arc --- I doubt they would have the episodes. Whatever it does, I shall definitely follow it.

Episode two of DARKER THAN BLACK, however, still leaves me pretty unsure. While the series seems like it may have some potential, it is not jumping out to grab me. The visuals are very nice, and the main character is well presented; his supporting cast seem interesting too. Despite this, I never once got the feel that the series was heading anywhere interesting. I would say it is doubtful I will pursue this series.

Episode three of Hayate no Gotoku! proved it to me: this series is stupid enough to work. There are definitely going to be plenty of surprises when the series can safely put logic out to lunch, and the references to other titles are also quite fun. I am still certain this will never develop into anything exceptional, but it is definitely enough fun to follow the whole way through; I may look into the manga someday too.

Episode two of Lucky Star was also able to show that this series could work, though it will not be quite as good as I had hoped. Though not the funniest series I have ever seen, the jokes work in much the way they do in Sakigake!! Cromartie Koukou. The characters are all stupid, and we can enjoy their stupidity, and even if the joke does not work it does not detract from this overlying stupidity. It would be nice if the series were to step it up a little from here, but it is passable.

Episode two of sola, on the other hand, leaves me rather lost. While it does seem half interesting, with characters that show an awful lot of potential, I get this awful feeling that it will never rise above D.C. ~Da Capo~. I am not sure what it is, but there is something about the slow pace of the short series that feel like it will be ultimately unsatisfying. I had my initial hessitations about this title; I should have followed them.

Episode two of Kami-chama Karin was a load of fun. The visuals were goofy, the characters plain stupid, and all the charm of the original manga has poured through perfectly. If, as with PitaTen, they take the strengths of the source material and run with them, this could develop into quite a good series indeed.

Episode two of Bokurano, on the other hand, left me a little tentative to follow further. Though I do not doubt this will change, it has been awfully predictable so far, and it is strugging to hold my interest at all. The characters look like they have some potential, but I do not have high hopes for them. Indeed, I think it could quickly turn into The Lord of the Flies! Perhaps another that will slip off my radar.

I was also a little disappointed with episode two of Seirei no Moribito. While it maintained the beautiful visuals, the pace was a little slower here, and there were no really interesting developments. We are now set up for what will definitely be a good action sequence, but I have developed some initial doubts about the level of the plot development. Hopefully they shall be soon enough allayed.

Episodes three and four of Fushigiboushi no Futagohime were more bright, bubbly fun. Fine and Rein are both out-there enough to make this series work, and even Poomo is not anoying enough to detract from them. Their `Princess Level' is growing awfully fast over these two episodes, so I guess it plays a smaller part than I had originally anticipated. Perhaps there shall be a shift in the series once they reach their `level-up'? Whatever happens there, we have so far been able to see the Fire and Sunny Kingdoms, which are both rather well developed and are getting unusually well fleashed out. It should be quite interesting to see how this series continues to expand its world, as well as what happens with the main cast.

Taking a brief peek at the first six episodes of Saiunkoku Monogatari, I was pleasantly surprised. I cannot believe I put this series off so long! Far exceeding my expectations and immediately allaying any fears I had about it, this series has presented something unique and exciting. Bright and elaborate visuals are met with an odd-ball cast and an unusual plot. The series features a well balanced mix of comedy and drama, and is throwing in important developments so quickly and readily that I am anticipating something huge to occurr later on. I have very high hopes for this series to grow into something special!

Starting the second act of Mahou Sensei Negima!, I quickly poured through chapters 169-171. The characters are all preparing to set-off on their journey with Negi, and as such everyone is training their abilities to the full. We are also learning a heck of a lot more about Asuna, which was a little unexpected. Once again, it looks like this series is going to push the benchmark further out and redefine its boundries. I can hardly wait!

With episodes 31-47, I completed Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor. Though there were a lot more `serious' episodes later on, and that whole dream sequence in New York was so over-the-top it was boring, over-all the series managed to maintain its unique charm and wonderful character-driven comedy. The way it ended, with the Ingram's challenged by a new unit, but Noa proving Alphonse still has what it takes, was very appropriate, but, in the end, just an off-the-cuff comment from Goto is all it takes to make this series work. Though not as good as the original OVA, the TV series was definitely worth watching and maintained my interest most of the time.

Lupin III Napoleon no Jisho wo Ubae was a reasonable special. Despite its slow start, it built up nicely in the middle, and featured perhaps the most grandouse conclusion of any Lupin III title I have seen. The scenes where Lupin and Zenigata were `swapped' were particularly entertaining! I was not too appreciative of how much they changed the original Arsene Lupin for this movie, but that was a minor point in the way of an entertaining piece of viewing.

I also finally got back to work on my Super Sailor Moon kit. Before cleaning, I used heat to warp the shoulder pieces slightly, for a better fit --- I was a little concerned about them popping off while glueing. Priming the kit mostly went well, though my latest method of holding smaller pieces --- with toothpicks and bluetack --- had mixed results. Some pieces were fine, others got stuck to the bluetack and needed to be reprimed. I also ended up getting a rougher finish than normal all-round, though I am not sure what caused this yet. I also painted the undercoat, leaving the kit ready for the real paint job.