Kurosaki Ichigo, Kuchiki Rukia, Inoue Orihime, Sadou Yasutora, Ishida Uryuu, Abarai Renji

Ayakashi Ayashi / Bleach / CODE GEASS / D.Gray-man / DEATH NOTE / Kanon / Miscellaneous / Negima!? / Pumpkin Scissors / Random Musings / Soukou no Strain

Random Musings – The Big Winter Break II Edition

Come this time of year, most anime series take a week or two break (last year was no different). To clear up any lingering schedule uncertainties that you may have, here is a table of what’s airing and what’s not for shows that I’m currently blogging.

Series This Week (12/25 to 12/31) Next Week (1/1 to 1/7) Following Week (1/8 to 1/14)
Pumpkin Scissors Episode 13 on Monday No Episode Episode 14 on Monday
D.Gray-man Episode 13 on Tuesday No Episode Episode 14 on Tuesday
DEATH NOTE Episode 12 on Tuesday No Episode Episode 13 on Tuesday
Negima!? Episode 13 on Wednesday Episode 14 on Thursday Episode 15 on Wednesday
Bleach No Episode Episode 109 on Thursday Episode 110 on Wednesday
Soukou no Strain No Episode No Episode Episode 10 on Wednesday
Kanon Episode 13 on Thursday Episode 14 on Thursday Episode 15 on Thursday
CODE GEASS No Episode Episode 12 on Thursday Episode 13 on Thursday
Ayakashi Ayashi No Episode Episode 13 on Saturday Episode 14 on Saturday

Please make particular note that Negima!? and Bleach will be airing episodes on Thursday, January 4th. They are being preempted from their normal Wednesday spots on January 3rd by an Enka New Year’s Special and then the Japan vs. Mexico Boxing Grand Prix. Unfortunately, this means that that particular Thursday will be completely hellish for me since it’ll be four shows on one day (maybe even five if I end up watching Saint October). And on that note, you can probably expect the Winter 2007 Shows Preview to go up sometime later this week.

Bleach / PV

YUI – Rolling star PV (Bleach OP5)

Rolling star is YUI’s second song for the anime Bleach, and, in my opinion, the better of the two by far. Life is decent, but I’d only rank it in the middle of all the songs that the series has had. In comparison, I’d say that Rolling star is my favorite OP so far (TONIGHT, TONIGHT, TONIGHT previously had the honor) and my second favorite out of all the Bleach songs, behind maybe only Houkiboshi.

Bleach / Kamisama Kazoku / Miscellaneous / NANA / Random Musings

Random Musings – Brand New Morning Edition

A few random news bits/things I have to say:
-With the release of the KamiKazo DVDs, I’m finally able to listen to the full Kamisama Kazoku OP and ED (creditless OP/ED sequences are nice too). Given that I haven’t liked a lot of the past season’s theme songs, I’m glad that I can now put on repeat some songs I really do enjoy.
-This week has been a bit frustrating in the sense that it seems like every post has someone asking about the episodes I skipped last week. For the final time: I will not be making up the episodes that aired during my break. I realize some of you folks aren’t happy with the jump in continuity, but you have to realize how much time it takes to blog everything – time which I just don’t have. The only exceptions are the series that are now being covered by the other writers.
–NANA is getting a new OP next week, another Reira/OLIVIA song called Wish.
-Newsweek is running a story about the popularity of YouTube in Japan. Of particular note is the fact that it mentions The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya as an example in the final paragraph. That’s the first time I’ve seen something like that mentioned in print media.
-There are A LOT of series coming next season, so I’m starting planning early (especially since I won’t be able to take on nearly as many series this time as I normally do). Series I’ve got marked right now include (in no particular order) Sumomomo Momomo, Yoake Mae Yori Ruriiro na Crescent Love, Kanon, Ayakashi Ayashi, and Death Note. That’s only a small fraction of the total number of shows, and it’s even still a bit early since some shows don’t have airdates yet. As usual, I won’t be making final decisions on what to follow until well into the next season, and I’ll likely watch the first episode of pretty much everything. Hopefully I’ll be able to write a fall preview sometime soon (I love my spreadsheets)
-Oh yea, I almost forgot (very old news): Bleach is moving to Wednesday nights come October.
Bleach / PV

BEAT CRUSADERS – TONIGHT, TONIGHT, TONIGHT PV (Bleach OP4)

The PV for the BEAT CRUSADERS’ song 「TONIGHT, TONIGHT, TONIGHT」 consists of what appears to be a live performance of the band playing the song. Actually, it sounds live at the beginning and at the end, but the middle song part is very much dubbed over. For once though, the highlight of the PV is not hearing the full song (which is good), but actually seeing the video that goes with it.

Bleach / Miscellaneous / Random Musings / Sousei no Aquarion

Random Musings – Aquarion Season 2? Edition

  • The official Aquarion Blog features this image you see to the side from the Tokyo International Anime Fair with the words “2006 Autumn.” No word yet whether this means that a sequel is in production or if it’s an OVA or a game or something. I’d certainly love to see a second series, but I won’t get my hopes too high just yet. Thanks to Guido and BluWacky for the head’s-up.
  • This is semi-old news, but there’s going to be a Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid OVA coming out on May 26th. It’s supposed to be about a day in the life of Tessa, which would suggest that it’ll be a lot more light-hearted than TSR was.
  • The next set of Bleach opening and ending songs have been announced:
    OP4: 「TONIGHT,TONIGHT,TONIGHT」 by BEAT CRUSADERS
    ED7: 「HANABI」 by いきものがかり (ikimono-gakari)
    		•
    Bleach / Da Capo / Random Musings

    Quick Update

  • Just a brief reminder folks, there’s not Bleach tomorrow (errr, today). We’ll have to wait till December 6th for episode 60.
  • In light of what happened in the comments of last week’s Bleach entry, I implemented spoiler tags. Please use <spoiler></spoiler> around any major spoilers for any series.
  • The title for the final episode of Da Capo Second Season is going to be 「幸せの鐘」 (The Bell of Happiness)