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Okay, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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...
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.
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.
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 a famous leader for a company and one day, he calls his daughter to play a game. A game where she is supposed to pick 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.
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.
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.
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...
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.
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.
8/10
Konnichiwa 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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Eden of the east was indeed pretty kickass
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Awesome job. Please do this for years to come. I'm watching pandora hearts, Valkyria Chronicles, and Phantom and I'm loving it so far.
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nice read, u got an account on anidb or animelist by chance?
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Am I the only one that uses Animenewsnetwork.com for the rankings. I've watched the top 10 anime shows/movies/etc. but I keep hearing other sites.
edit: I just checked eden of the east on animenewsnetwork.com and it's 19th place. Wow, that's quite something.
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Where can i see this Eden of the East. In other words: How do you watch these series?
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Eden of the East has so much potential, it can very well ve in the top 3 of the best anime in 2009.
Just watched episode 2, even for an introduction episode it was never boring, the mix between giving a few hints about the story and the cute interaction of Saki and Akira.
The boat scene was so insanely well done and romantic, Im loving this show so far.
Also watching Valkyria Chronicles, somewhat generic, but pretty fun so far. Alicia is a very charismatic character and the action scenes are very entertaining. Not the most innovative or original show, but above average.
Tha last one im watching is K-ON!, the girls are cute and fun, not much more to say. The third episode really showed the slice of life part of the show, just very little plot (is there even such a thing in shows like this?) but never got boring in any way.
I will probably also try Shangri-La, Souten Koro and maybe Guin Saga.
A very nice season so far.
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On April 20 2009 03:02 CrimsonLotus wrote:
Eden of the East has so much potential, it can very well ve in the top 3 of the best anime in 2009.
Just watched episode 2, even for an introduction episode it was never boring, the mix between giving a few hints about the story and the cute interaction of Saki and Akira.
The boat scene was so insanely well done and romantic, Im loving this show so far.
Also watching Valkyria Chronicles, somewhat generic, but pretty fun so far. Alicia is a very charismatic character and the action scenes are very entertaining. Not the most innovative or original show, but above average.
Tha last one im watching is K-ON!, the girls are cute and fun, not much more to say. The third episode really showed the slice of life part of the show, just very little plot (is there even such a thing in shows like this?) but never got boring in any way.
I will probably also try Shangri-La, Souten Koro and maybe Guin Saga.
A very nice season so far.
Watch Phantom(Requiem for the phantom). So far, it's looking good.
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Came across the Guin Saga light novels the other day, so many geez. Can't even bring myself to bother with the anime now though knowing the popularity it enjoyed in book form.
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I haven't read all the post yet but even if you don't like sports anime you should continue reading Cross Game, it hasn't even come to the part where it gets interesting yet. Adachi Mitsuru, though his characters always look the same, is a genius at story telling. Keep with the anime, you won't be disappointed =p.
And Eden was really good as well, loved your ratings. Didn't find anything else very good, I'm also watching Asura Cryin' and K-ON actually.
And Valkyria Chronicles as someone mentioned.
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impressive list : P but ur missing some classics i think
Mean Values (35 total) 7.2 7.0 1.26
eheh
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On April 20 2009 05:11 kAra wrote:
impressive list : P but ur missing some classics i think
Mean Values (35 total) 7.2 7.0 1.26
eheh
I know I haven't seen that much yet (That's why my plan to watch list is so large), only started watching anime about two years ago. What kind of classics am I missing?
and yeah, I'm a bit harsh in my ratings, but animelist's global rating kinda sucks - everyone gives too high scores. Almost every 'mediocre' show has still between 7-8 in global score.
To me, 5/10 and 6/10 is still OK shows and definately watchable.
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i would recommend you to check trigun, hunter x hunter and gto out
all three a must see but dunno if u i like those genres : )
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So there you download every episode piece by piece??
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United States47024 Posts
On April 20 2009 06:07 wo0py wrote:
So there you download every episode piece by piece??
Or just find a sub group that you like, is well seeded, and releases on time. Seeing as Eden of the East is as of yet unlicensed outside of Japan, this is significantly easier than with other shows.
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On April 20 2009 06:07 wo0py wrote:So there you download every episode piece by piece??
Yup. Of course there are batch torrents for completed anime. What I was doing is more of a preview for the anime airing now. If you don't want to watch incomplete ones, you should stick to something older. But I didn't really understand your question...
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Eva above rakkyo for scores? That made me sad.
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You forgot K-On! You can't forget Kyoto Animation's releases...like...ever. haha.
EDIT
Didn't notice that this was "Pt.2"...my bad.
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On April 20 2009 06:23 Ecael wrote:
Eva above rakkyo for scores? That made me sad.
rakkyo... Kara no Kyoukai?
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cao cao as the protagonist!? Has oda nobunaga ever been the protagonist?
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On April 20 2009 06:44 Shauni wrote:Show nested quote +On April 20 2009 06:23 Ecael wrote:
Eva above rakkyo for scores? That made me sad. rakkyo... Kara no Kyoukai?
Yeah, I am a fanboy though :p
Polyphonica iirc also has light novel versions, original scenario should be visual novel though.
EDIT - For the above post, Nobunaga has been protagonist a fair amount of times iirc, the likes of Uesugi Kenshin are much more appealing to most though.
Cao Cao also makes an awesome protagonist, by far more interesting than Shu.
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Your anime blogs are very useful! Although I think the FMA score should be higher than 7, the points you get across make sense and are interesting. It seems you like the mystery genre more? 
I just saw the first two episodes of Eden of the East and it has lots of potential. Looking forward for future reviews!
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On April 20 2009 07:24 deathgod6 wrote:Your anime blogs are very useful! Although I think the FMA score should be higher than 7, the points you get across make sense and are interesting. It seems you like the mystery genre more? I just saw the first two episodes of Eden of the East and it has lots of potential. Looking forward for future reviews!
I liked the first FMA a lot and I pretty much enjoy all genres. The reason I gave it 7/10 instead of 8 is because I liked the old art style a lot more, plus the new one is kind of ruining the mood with all those repetitive 'chibi' jokes. I enjoy it, but probably not more than I'd enjoy rewatching the old one.
I'm still sceptic to the idea of creating a remake just for the sake of the manga fanboys.
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To be fair about FMA, the original had a lot of comic elements early on that just faded away over time, people need to keep that possibility in mind and not take the current situation as the baseline for the series.
Shinsen needs to run QC or something, they are making really weird mistakes that editors should've caught. -.-
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United States47024 Posts
On April 20 2009 07:38 Shauni wrote:
I liked the first FMA a lot and I pretty much enjoy all genres. The reason I gave it 7/10 instead of 8 is because I liked the old art style a lot more, plus the new one is kind of ruining the mood with all those repetitive 'chibi' jokes. I enjoy it, but probably not more than I'd enjoy rewatching the old one.
I'm still sceptic to the idea of creating a remake just for the sake of the manga fanboys.
I fail to see how this is a remake "for the sake of the manga fanboys." They're the ones who know how the story is going to turn out. If anything, this is for those who don't read the manga to have a way to catch its generally better and more self-consistent plot.
Still, I think the 7 you gave it is well deserved. While it shows promise, I doubt the show will reach its full potential for quite some time. In an effort to quickly reach unfamiliar ground for viewers of the first season, its had to gloss very quickly over some events that were better covered in the first season, and even in the manga (e.g. its taken about 5 or 6 manga chapters and condensed them into 2 episodes). I doubt that this show will start to show its true potential for quite some time (at the rate its going, I'd estimate about 10 or 11 episodes at least).
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On April 20 2009 08:13 TheYango wrote:Show nested quote +On April 20 2009 07:38 Shauni wrote:
I liked the first FMA a lot and I pretty much enjoy all genres. The reason I gave it 7/10 instead of 8 is because I liked the old art style a lot more, plus the new one is kind of ruining the mood with all those repetitive 'chibi' jokes. I enjoy it, but probably not more than I'd enjoy rewatching the old one.
I'm still sceptic to the idea of creating a remake just for the sake of the manga fanboys. I fail to see how this is a remake "for the sake of the manga fanboys." They're the ones who know how the story is going to turn out. If anything, this is for those who don't read the manga to have a way to catch its generally better and more self-consistent plot. Still, I think the 7 you gave it is well deserved. While it shows promise, I doubt the show will reach its full potential for quite some time. In an effort to quickly reach unfamiliar ground for viewers of the first season, its had to gloss very quickly over some events that were better covered in the first season, and even in the manga (e.g. its taken about 5 or 6 manga chapters and condensed them into 2 episodes). I doubt that this show will start to show its true potential for quite some time (at the rate its going, I'd estimate about 10 or 11 episodes at least).
I don't trust females who draw shounen. Heh. No, but I believe Bones did this remake to satisfy the people who were angry about the first anime separating from the manga. I honestly don't care if it follows the manga or not - rather the opposite, the more originality, the better.
Your second paragraph is kind of what I write in my 'review'. I already said it's impossible to review it because for now it's just a repeat with different art. I'm also excited about what will happen in the new arcs, but I can't base my review score on expectations only, now can I? The rating is just a small guidance anyway, I don't claim to know exactly how good all of them will turn out in the end after just having watched two or three episodes.
On April 20 2009 07:59 Ecael wrote:Shinsen needs to run QC or something, they are making really weird mistakes that editors should've caught. -.-
NO, YOUR OTHER LEFT.
They're just rushing things a bit too much. I believe Shinsen usually weren't the first ones out with subs every episode on previous anime they subbed.
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Eden of the East was indeed pretty awesome. To anyone who's played Mage: The Acension and watched this, are you getting flashbacks to the Syndicate? >_>
But Basquash deserves a point higher, imho, if only because it's clearly willing to subvert a lot of the apparent norms of that kind of genre. You actually can't guess what will happen next, unlike in a lot of shounen-style anime.
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Yeah, Shinsen tends to be a lot slower than this, I don't know what prompted them to run FMA so fast. Then again, it is a large group, you see a fair amount of disparity of quality in terms of translations. That was just kind of sad though lol.
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United States47024 Posts
On April 20 2009 08:32 Shauni wrote:
I don't trust females who draw shounen. Heh. No, but I believe Bones did this remake to satisfy the people who were angry about the first anime separating from the manga. I honestly don't care if it follows the manga or not - rather the opposite, the more originality, the better.
Satisfy those that were angry that the first season separated from the manga, or deteriorated in quality near the end? They're related, but there is a difference, and there are plenty of people who haven't read the manga that agree that the series grew less consistent in the last few episodes (and fell apart in the movie). I'm of the opinion that its the latter, not the former.
On April 20 2009 08:32 Shauni wrote:
Your second paragraph is kind of what I write in my 'review'. I already said it's impossible to review it because for now it's just a repeat with different art. I'm also excited about what will happen in the new arcs, but I can't base my review score on expectations only, now can I? The rating is just a small guidance anyway, I don't claim to know exactly how good all of them will turn out in the end after just having watched two or three episodes.
Uh, I was agreeing with your evaluation of it. Maybe I should have quoted the post saying you ought to have rated it higher.
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TheYango and Tracil. Stop nitpicking ratings. 7/10 is a very good score, at least by my standards. FYI I'll continue to follow everything above 5/10 because it's enjoyable to watch. I only rated 3 of 28 anime this season above 7 even though the season has been very good overall.
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United States47024 Posts
On April 20 2009 09:13 Shauni wrote:
TheYango and Tracil. Stop nitpicking ratings. 7/10 is a very good score, at least by my standards. FYI I'll continue to follow everything above 5/10 because it's enjoyable to watch. I only rated 3 of 28 anime this season above 7 even though the season has been very good overall.
Like I said, I'm not nitpicking. I'm agreeing with you.
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I dropped all that I was watching except FMAB, Basara, Basquash. I haven't actually fully watched the original FMA series, so IMO, FMAB is good/interesting. Yeah, the chibi jokes are kinda lame tho.
Also, I've added Sora Kakeru Shoujo. Besides the horrible mix of fanservice and cool mecha and lasers and nothing much of a plot, it's a goddamn fun show. Everyone should give this a try because LE-OPARD VI BRITANNIA COMMANDS YOU TO! And that laugh... that awesome laugh... he is alive! Subbing is slow for this show though. It doesn't deserve the lack of coverage it is receiving atm.
From your reviews, I'll be giving Souten Koro and Eden of the East a try.
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So up until this point I've never realized that k-on is a 4koma, which...explains so much, tis amazing.
Waiting on Higashi no Eden subs from Lunar is a rather sad affair, but putting in attention for raws even worse.
As for Sora wo kakeru shoujo, that's technically speaking last season, and honestly speaking not too bad. We don't see anyone picking up the reair of Haruhi now do we, granted, raw quality for some reason didn't manage to improve one bit in spite of the supposed HD reair.
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On April 20 2009 06:21 Shauni wrote:Show nested quote +On April 20 2009 06:07 wo0py wrote:So there you download every episode piece by piece?? Yup. Of course there are batch torrents for completed anime. What I was doing is more of a preview for the anime airing now. If you don't want to watch incomplete ones, you should stick to something older. But I didn't really understand your question...
Ahh i didnt understand these where airing now! Thank you for your information man! I appreciate it!
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On April 21 2009 08:11 wo0py wrote:Show nested quote +On April 20 2009 06:21 Shauni wrote:On April 20 2009 06:07 wo0py wrote:So there you download every episode piece by piece?? Yup. Of course there are batch torrents for completed anime. What I was doing is more of a preview for the anime airing now. If you don't want to watch incomplete ones, you should stick to something older. But I didn't really understand your question... Ahh i didnt understand these where airing now! Thank you for your information man! I appreciate it!
No problem!
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EPT![[image loading]](http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/4104/sengokubasarac.png)
![[image loading]](http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/7643/crossgame.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/9273/shangrilaa.png)
![[image loading]](http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/2425/guinsaga.png)
![[image loading]](http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/8291/ristorante.png)
![[image loading]](http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/9171/basquash.png)
![[image loading]](http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/7259/07ghost.png)
![[image loading]](http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/9577/hanasakeru.png)
![[image loading]](http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/2662/edenoftheeast.png)
![[image loading]](http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/9157/polyphonica.png)
![[image loading]](http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/410/tayutama.png)
![[image loading]](http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/7467/gokujou.png)
![[image loading]](http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/7425/soutenkoro.png)
![[image loading]](http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/8267/anneo.png)
![[image loading]](http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/8614/fma2f.png)
