Episode 12 was really metaphysical but sweet and fun nonetheless. I’ve forgotten some of the earlier storylines so I’m wondering if this episode and mainly, Akiko, was suppose to have more meaning. I gotta recap the earlier parts of this series, heh.

Episode 13 was a nice mini-recap and solid round-up of the series. With the way it ended, this entire series seems more like it was a huge prelude than anything else. That remains to be seen depending on the direction the sequel goes. It’s just the feeling I got at the end of this episode, especially with the flashing of the “Welcome to Aria Company” sign at the end. Nice touch, regardless of what it meant.

Auguri, Buon Anno!

This was a refreshing series. Aria managed to make me feel good. I got all mushy and sappy while watching this series.

I’m not sure if all that is a good thing yet…

OK, honestly though, I really enjoyed watching this series. It had an incredibly relaxed pace and much of it involved Akari (and in turn, me) learning about Aqua and Undines and everything else in this near-magical world. It’s ironic that a world created by man can hold such a magical and meaningful history.

Overall series score: 9.2 out of 10

There is so much still left undiscovered for Akari, in both the past and the future.

I look forward to seeing it play out.

Episode 11 was especially nice.

This is such a feel-good series.

I almost feel guilty watching it. I could be watching something with more drama or angst yet I choose this one. I suppose “feel-good” also means “safe,” haha. Well, ya can’t blame me. I gotta work myself in slowly.

I can’t rag on this series anyway. It’s good. It’s all about discovery and friendship and other sappy stuff. How do you hate on sappy stuff! You can’t, I tell ya.

Episode 10 was so-so but I really enjoyed episode 11. A bit of Athena’s backstory plus some overall feel-good moments between the girls. Ahhh… so sweet.

While watching these episodes, I kept thinking how familiar they seemed. Then it hit me, I read some of the manga, haha. It’s silly that I recalled it so late (about halfway through episode 11). I knew I hadn’t watched these episodes yet and I still had that inkling like I knew what was going on.

Alright, time to wrap up this series.

Of course, this series is way cuter and sappier.

Not that it’s such a bad thing.

It’s been over two years since I last watched Aria so this episode didn’t have quite the impact it should have. I’ve lost touch with all the characters and the mood.

Still, it was enjoyable. I’m sure the heartwarming feelings will come back in due time… provided I keep watching more. Which I will… probably…

Srsly… probably…

And Shion is so cute!

Really, I love the ending song.

…

Did I mention I love the ending song? Cuz, I do.

That’s all I need to talk about. Who cares what happened in these episodes! I love the ending song.

LOVE IT!

In fact, I’m listening to it now. I have been for the past few minutes. Over and over and over… LOVE IT!

OK OK OK… fine! About these episodes…

Good series so far. I’m a bit confoosed on where the story is headed but it’s a fun watch. I’ll try and figure out how a show about shougi can entertain me later, haha. Well, Shion being so cute helps. It doubly helps that she’s voiced by Kawasumi Ayako. Best. VA. Evar.

I exaggerate but she’s still one of the best.

So, back to how I’m confoosed…

Mainly, I’m trying to figure out where the “Shion is playing shougi to find her parents murderer” part comes in. That was the tag-line I read before this series came out and, like… it’s nonexistent. Shion didn’t remember that sordid day until the 3rd episode which was already six months after the start of the series. It has me boggled.

Then there’s the blond tabloid freak… his appearances and his “master plan” seem so ominous but I have no idea what the hell is going on with him. My only interest in him is that he could be the killler. It’s kinda obvious but he fits the profile. And, well, he’s ominous and stuff. Of course, they made it seem like the stalker kid was the killer too, in quite an obvious fashion, and he turned out to be a careless idiot stalker freak so… hmm…

So this blond tabloid freak, he’s got the same necklace that Shion has. Does that mean he stole it from her back then? If so, since he’s so curious about her, does this mean he’s a super stalker freak who’s been stalking her since she was a child? Or maybe he’s got some ‘take over the world’ or ‘make hella hella monies’ plan that involves Shion winning… or losing… ahh confoosed.

Alright, enough of the confoosed shit. The series is good. At the least, I watch each episode just so I can hear the ending song again. Disregard the fact that I can fast forward or that I have the song in my winamp. Yes, totally disregard those facts.

Also, I’m waiting for Shion to win. She hasn’t won yet! Maybe she’ll beat Saori in the next episode… nah. Shion’s gotta be buffer! She needs to go Kamayamaya on them bitches.

Oh, can’t end this w/o mentioning the cross-dresser, can I? I must have been drunk or something when I watched the first episode cuz I totally didn’t catch that Ayumi was a dude. How the hell did I miss that? As weird as he is, his story is the saddest. Shion’s back story is tragic but she’s doing fine in the present, minus the super stalker blond tabloid freak. Ayumi’s going through some tough shit.

Despite being confusing and weird, this series is still interesting.

And the ending song kicks ass.

Did I mention that?

Hot damn, has it really been that long since I watched anime? Wow. It still boggles my mind as to how I can simply up and quit all anime then months later, oh hey, look, I feel like watching anime again.

Really, what the hell is that about?

As the intro pic shows, I watched Mushishi. Yes, watchED. The whole thing. All 26 episodes… over the course of a few days, of course. My comp has been giving me shit for the past two weeks (long story) so yeah, had the urge to watch this show. I wasn’t particularly thinking about gettin’ back into anime but you know how it is… well, you know. How it is… that is… you know…

I’m also a lil buzzed at the moment, haha… so my attempts at being creative while blogging don’t even make it to the starting line right now.

Well, anyway, Mushishi was incredible. Absolutely brilliant. And you know I liked something when I actually describe it with the word “brilliant.” I surely hope they’ll make some more of this anime in the future. It’s based off a manga that runs in Afternoon, which is a monthly publication last I recall, so yeah… a one chapter per month manga is kinda tough to animate when you have to wait so friggin’ long for material.

It seems the manga is up to around 9 volumes and this series covered most of all the volumes up to volume 5 and a chapter in volume 6. Or something like that… I looked it up the other day but it’s a bit hazy now, heh.

The point being is that they should have enough manga to do a short series (12-13 episodes) or an OVA but probably not enough for a full 24-26 episode season. Hell, then again, I’m merely speculating (and supremely hoping) this will have more anime for it so who knows…

Hella hella good stuff. Hella… HELLA!

Oh, and I never thought of blogging it so I didn’t take screenies or jot down any notes. This series would have made a great series for blogging but alas, all I got is that snazzy pic of Ginko up there… and I took that screenie just before I started typing all this up, hahaha.

Okie, that’s that. Maybe I’ll come back and blog this, who knows? Well, I do, actually… given how many times in this blog I’ve said “I’ll get back to blogging this later” or something thereof, this series has a 99.999999999999% chance of being forgotten in the annals of shit I never blogged. I may never utter the name Mushishi ever again.

…except for the occasional blurb and reference in the future.

…and except for when I feel like being silly and I do somemushishithing like that.

…and probably some other exceptions.

OK, maybe it’s more like 95%.

And since there’s a high chance I won’t bring this anime up again, I’ll give it a score for completest sake.

Overall series score: 9.7 out of 10

That is the highest score I’ve given to any series to date. There are a few series from back in the day, well before this blog, that would have a score that high or higher but hell if I’m gonna troll through all the anime I’ve watched and give them scores. Like, that requires work and stuff.

I also tagged this as a “mini-review” even though it’s not. I scored an anime, I have to put it in the “mini-review” category. I just have to. Blame the OCD.

I have plenty of shit to sort out for this blog, like the sidebar, since much of it is not accurate anymore. I went through it a lil bit but I’m too lazy and also, what the hell was I thinking when I wrote up some of this CSS. It’s so convoluted and, well, straight up retarded confusing.

Anywhooooo… we’ll see where I go from here for this blog.

Maybe I’m here, maybe I’m not.

Seriously. Eventually.

Srsly.

Games, anime, manga, and anything else that can be thrown in… they just don’t mix. I truly cannot balance them. Part of it is cuz I get so sucked into whatever it is I’m doing.

It’s probably a curse but honestly, I rather enjoy losing myself in my interests.

Usually.

In case it wasn’t obvious, games are winning lately.

No, that’s not true. Being lazy and fuckin’ around wasting time is winning.

Games are second. Among them, Odin Sphere is leading. The game feels like such a throwback to the old school shit yet it also feels so refreshing. For one, I would’ve never expected 2D to impress me so much.

Umm… there is no “for two.”

I’m sure I’ll watch something… eventually.

It wasn’t bad, though.

First and foremost, I love the ending song. What is it about me and anime songs today? Anyway, the opening song isn’t too shabby and ZOMG, like, there’s English in the lyrics and it’s actually pronounced properly. Now, back to the ending song, I really dig it. It has a poppy R&B sound… two different worlds yet that’s what I get out of it.

On to the actual series… it’s definitely darker and more serious than I thought. I wasn’t expecting another Hikaru no Go since Shion’s shogi playing origin is much darker than Hikaru but I still presumed a lil more light-hearted mood alongside the dark stuff. There was like, zero light-heartedness in this first episode. Saori provided that initially then did a 180 to keep up with the rest of the mood.

Also, Shion is younger than I assumed as. My assumption was purely based on the pictures I saw prior to watching and I totally didn’t peg her to be in elementary school. Hell, she might be as young as 10 years old and I put her at least around 14-15. She’s still a child… is she really doing all this to find her parents killer? She seems too young to really have the drive to play shogi for that reason.

Did I mention how dark this series is?

I think part (if not all) of my minor disappointment is due to what I expected. I suppose I can’t blame the series for that.

If anything, I must keep watching to hear more of Kawasumi Ayako’s kiddie voice.

Of course, I already had it… wahaha.

Let’s start off on what’s most important. The ending song continues to be fantabulous. Additionally, now that I’ve heard the opening song in a clean format, it is also fantabulous. That makes it doubly fantabulous!

No wait!

The ending song was already doubly fantabulous! This means this is thrice the fantabulousness!

No, wait yet again!

The opening song is at least doubly fantabulous! That is quadruple-ice the fantabulousness! …shit, I should have stopped at “thrice.” I don’t know the right conjugation for “quadruple” in this silly ass thing I’ve been doing.

But seriously, the opening and ending songs are both great.

The episode itself was mellow. I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first episode since it featured more characters. Sora and Hazuki (what little of her that was shown) continue to remain fun characters while the others have yet to shine. I suppose it couldn’t be helped since the show has to involve the rest of the named characters somehow.

I want more Hazuki moments. Her quirkiness… nay, her downright silly thoughts have the potential for some utter hilarious moments. I want more scenes like that udon scene in episode one.

This show is extra interesting since I can relate to some of Sora’s thoughts. It’s unusual to watch anime and go “Oh hey, I do that too!”

I hope this show will last.