EPTOkay, so this is the second and last batch of the Spring anime season. The first part of this
season's blog is HERE. Enjoy.
Sengoku Basara
[Episodes:2/12] [Based on: Action game]
This anime goes back to the age where Japan was divided into independent provinces with feudal lords
as leaders - confronting eachother in an endless struggle for power. Do not expect this anime to be true to history or even with any relevance to it except for names. Here, generals fight eachother in heavily exhaggerated battles where they are won by individuals, not armies. But, that doesn't really matter. Sengoku Basara doesn't take itself seriously for any moment. Crazy personalities with overly enthusiastic dialogues reminds me of Gurren Lagann. But here the theme is samurai and not science fiction. Manages to be pretty entertaining and funny, but if you want intelligence in your anime - look somewhere else.
![[image loading]](http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/4104/sengokubasarac.png)
6/10
Cross Game
[Episodes:2/?] [Based on: Manga]
This is an anime about baseball. Kou Kitamura - the main male character - is a childhood friend to Wakaba. Their families are close in sports business. Because of the time they spend together, Wakabas sister is jealous and angry at Kou. The first episode is mainly on the time they spend together as children, but later the episodes switch to them as teenagers, but with a lot of memories connected to their past. I know I mentioned before that I dislike sports anime and I still do, yet this isn't all that bad. Away from all the moe, action, harem and slapstick - this felt refreshing. Even though it seems like Cross Game is becoming a typical baseball anime, I enjoyed it. Maybe because it was sentimental (I'm weak for that shit) or because the main characters are interesting, with their past weaved into the personalities. Childrenlike cartoon art style but I actually got used to it by now.
![[image loading]](http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/7643/crossgame.jpg)
7/10
Shangri-la
[Episodes:2/24] [Based on: Novel]
A future Tokyo, where global warming made the whole place into a tropical city. Carbon dioxide plays an important part in controlling the economy and a powerful city called Atlas is where the wealthy ruin the world. The guerilla village where the main character, Kuniko Hojo, resides opposes this. The plot is pseudo-complicated and seems poorly organized thus far. Don't get me wrong, I like this futuristic setting and surroundings yet it feels like I'm watching To Aru Majutsu no Index again. A lot of useless pladder, the politics seem more like a cover-up for its shallowness. Sure, Kuniko and her boomerang is cool, but it isn't enough when her sidekick transvestite start making lame jokes. The lack of seriousness also makes the battles less exciting. I looked forward to this for quite some time, but I must say I'm slightly disappointed.
![[image loading]](http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/9273/shangrilaa.png)
5/10
Guin Saga
[Episodes:1/26] [Based on: Novel]
The beginning of this anime covers a lot of ground. The two rich kids, Rinda and Remus are forced to flee from their castle because warriors from another kingdom are after them. They flee out into the forest and when they finally are about to give up, a man-leopard comes to their aid. The atmosphere and the world built up around the novel is good, yet the pacing was a bit strange in the first episode. The dialogues were also getting on my nerves. "Guin, it's going to rain", "Guin, the flame is gone", "Guin, we can't do anything". It's very difficult to judge an anime like this from the first episode though (there's been no more subs as of yet) but the beginning seemed like a generic fantasy saga to me. I think it will get better in a while though.
![[image loading]](http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/2425/guinsaga.png)
6/10
Ristorante Paradiso
[Episodes:2/11] [Based on: Manga]
Nicoletta is 21 years old and travel to Rome to meet her mother and to get back at her for leaving
her for a man. But when she is about to meet her mother on the restaurant the husband own, she is grasped by the elegance and popularity of the restaurant and the staff working there. Things become complicated when she gets to know the gentlemen staff at the restaurant better. A more mature-styled shoujo, all men are very gentleman-like and wearing glasses. I don't like categorizing anime into what women should watch and to what males should watch. This is a good, relaxed slice-of-life type of anime with romance thrown in. Mature romance! But to be honest, it bores me a little...
![[image loading]](http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/8291/ristorante.png)
6/10
Basquash!
[Episodes:2/26] [Based on: Nothing!]
Basket? Mechas? Sci-fi? Sounds pretty sick, doesn't it?
A boy named Dan lives on the planet Earthdash. His dream is to jump to the moon. He also hates those damn mechas playing basket because their playstyle is way too stiff and boring. One day, he decides to show them all how to play basket! But things doesn't go exactly the way as planned. A slightly different theme than normal, but it makes things more exciting. A typical shounen "I can do anything" protagonist, but other than that I have no real complaints. The anime tells a fun, gripping story and mixes humor with serious moments quite well. Everything is a bit exhaggerated, so if you don't like that type of anime I think you could be turned off by this. Also, the mecha scenes are computergenerated or at least not done by normal animation.
![[image loading]](http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/9171/basquash.png)
7/10
07-Ghost
[Episodes:2/25] [Based on: Manga]
Teito Klein is a former slave and trained in a military academy. He is one of the star pupils but when the exam happens, he is forced to escape because of his hatred for Ayanami, one of the leaders in the academy. Futuristic setting with magic and fantasy. The plot is fairly interesting yet the dialogues are dumbed down. Occasional jokes but overall serious action filled with homolust. Almost no females at all in the cast. Classical soundtrack with decent animation and story-driven episodes. Seems like an okay show for now but nothing extraordinary.
![[image loading]](http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/7259/07ghost.png)
6/10
Hanasakeru Seishounen
[Episodes:1/39] [Based on: Manga]
This girl, Kugami, is a beautiful and attractive girl with good sense of justice and righteousness. Her dad is some famous leader of a company and one day, he calls his daughter to play a game. A game where she is supposed to choose a husband from the 3 candidates he had chosen. He doesn't tell her their identity though, and it's her own choice to partake in this game or not. Ahh, what do you call it? Reverse harem! Anyway, this is a pure romance anime, not many jokes and obviously no real plot. All events that happen seem to have some kind of connection to one of the men in this game. I feel a few frustrating elements, but it might be because I'm not a girl watching this. It's not emotionally gripping at all when she talks about how her leopard lover, Mustafa died and that she'll never be able to love any man like him. To me, she seems like a selfish slut who can't get over herself. The anime is not exactly bad, but everything feels very typical for this genre. I'd rather rewatch Fruits Basket than to deal with all 39 episodes of this.
![[image loading]](http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/9577/hanasakeru.png)
4/10
Eden of the East
[Episodes:2/11] [Based on: Nothing!]
Akira Takizawa erased his memory for some reason. He is thrown out of a car by the white house with a gun, a strange mobile phone and encounters a female countryman who is being interrogated by some guards. They travel back to japan and Takizawa learns about the ten missiles that mysteriously hit Japan without any victims. Believable characters with interesting dialogues. The story is told in the near future, with mysterious happenings and conspiracy theories. Genuinely fun, intelligent and gripping so far and I can definately see this hold throughout the 11 episodes. One of my favourites this season.
![[image loading]](http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/2662/edenoftheeast.png)
9/10
Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica Crimson S
[Episodes:1/12] [Based on: Visual Novel]
Another second season of a show which I haven't watched. I'm told that it is a presequel though so you should be able to watch this first and still understand it well. I said that, but I don't understand shit from the first episode. The main character is attending to some kind of magical academy and instead of casting fireballs and shit, they sing and play music. Sounds lame yes, it is! But I shouldn't be too quick to judge since I have only seen one episode, and not even the previous season. Doesn't look much different than any other fantasy-school themed anime though. But it's pretty entertaining even though it's a bit lame and forgettable.
![[image loading]](http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/9157/polyphonica.png)
5/10
Tayutama
[Episodes:1/12] [Based on: Visual Novel]
Yuri Mito is a student, and also the son of the man who is managing the Yachimata shrine. He discovers some strange stones with patterns, belonging to the god they worship and tries to communicate with the god. An accident happen, and the (female) god turns into a human being! And she wants to marry Yuri... sounds familiar? Yeah, it's a harem show and quite similiar to last season's Kannagi. But where Kannagi had funny characters to keep you entertained, Tayutama has nothing. I like the pervert dad, but only because of his V.A. The girls are dull and pretty much the stereotype in japanese harem eroge. I only recommend this if you really do enjoy harem anime...
![[image loading]](http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/410/tayutama.png)
4/10
Gokujou!! Mecha Mote Iinchou
[Episodes:1/?] [Based on: Manga]
Mecha!? Yeah! No, seriously, this is probably the furthest you can come from mecha-anime. Mimi Kitagami is a cute and kind girl who aims to be all men's love interest and also Student Council President. She has an enormous ego and isn't afraid of any situation. It feels like this anime is aimed toward 10 year old girls (extreme form of shoujo). In the first episode, there was a school club for elitist pretty women. The beautiful Mimi Kitagami got in naturally, but her friend was denied because of her looks. Mimi wants to prove how everyone can be pretty if they try! She also fall in love with a charming boy, Ushio Toujo, and wants to challenge him at running. I don't like the animation, the characters look and move like stiff dolls. I also don't like the way it seems to force morals onto you, even jokingly.
![[image loading]](http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/7467/gokujou.png)
3/10
Souten Koro
[Episodes:1/?] [Based on: Manga]
The story is based loosely on the events in the Three Kingdoms period of China. One of the big surprises with this adaption is that Cao Cao (Sou Sou in japanese), the main character - is usually portraited as the antagonist in japanese manga and culture - but is now portraited with a more positive approach. Gory, actionpacked and serious historical anime. The anime started very good, but since the subs are so slow (difficult to translate) I've only seen the first episode. Excellent sountrack, animation and story progression so far! Stay away if you don't like raw and manly anime.
![[image loading]](http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/7425/soutenkoro.png)
8/10
Konnichi wa Anne
[Episodes:0/39] [Based on: Manga]
A prequel to the Akage no Anne TV series. It's about what happened before she (Anne Shirley) was adopted. The parents (or maybe it's an orphanage) are having troubles and Anne gets the blame for many things. I've only watched the RAW but it's going to get subbed soon. Not sure if it's a kids anime or not, but it doesn't bother me much. A slice-of-life with a tranquil atmosphere.
6/10
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