First Impressions / Nichijou

Nichijou – 16

「日常１６」 (Nichijou 16)
“My Ordinary Life 16”

You want to know why Nichijou is such an amazing show? It’s not because the jokes are funny or the characters are memorable. It’s the fact that even though it’s labeled as a comedy/slice of life, it manages to pull off serious, emotional, and near tear jerking moments in the span of seconds. But because you’re watching a comedy, these moments hit you so hard and so fast that you don’t even have the chance to scratch your itchy eyes.

First Impressions / Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi

Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi – 02

「900秒の放課後〈後篇〉」 (900-Byou no Houkago (Kouhen))
“900 Seconds After School (Part Two)”

I don’t know if it was because Nakamura Yuuichi was his seiyuu or his sudden change from being a complete dick to a charismatic team leader, but Gekkou started to grow on me really quickly throughout the episode.

First Impressions / Ro-Kyu-Bu!

Ro-Kyu-Bu! – 03

「明日に架けるパス」 (Ashita ni Kakeru Pasu)
“A Pass To Tomorrow”

Compared to the previous episode, the drama’s lost a bit of steam to the fan-service. It’s still pretty good, but Ro-Kyu-Bu is looking more and more like it will be “hitting up” the lolicon bait fairly regularly. Or at least, that’s what I figured when Subaru was impressed by the girls’ quick “growth” and said elementary school kids are the best. Now that’s just asking for a misunderstanding.

Dantalian no Shoka / First Impressions / Series Introduction

Dantalian no Shoka – 01

「仕掛け絵本」 (Shikake Ehon)
“Pop-Up Picture Book”

Whenever a new GAINAX series hits the airwaves, that’s still an event for me – though not as much as it used to be. And I suspect the number of us who feel that way is no longer as large as it was. Whatever it means now, this is still the studio that gave us Evangelion, FLCL and Tengen-Toppa Gurren-Lagann, and even if I’m chasing ghosts, I still get a little thrill of excitement at the prospect of something new from them.