Anime in 2009

3 out of 4 character from anime i watched in July 2009.

Even less than 24 hours, as i write this article, this year 2009 will reach its end and we’ll welcome a new year 2010. And here i am bringing you another recap post, it’s about anime in 2009.

Anime in 2009 could be good and could be bad. I myself have so much experience about anime this year compared to last year, since i devoted myself to anime more than games, figures, or even blog post in October (yeah, one of the reason my blog is in vacuum state is anime). I even ate 12 series in 40 days, while I was at my girl’s hometown. Except, most of the anime i watched were backlogged anime. In the past fall season, i tried to get myself watching anime “ongoing style” (download then watch). But The backlog anime and school projects didn’t let me do that. Instead, i got almost all of the season also went to my backlog list.

K-On and Saki are in my list.

Anyway, in this 2009 recap, I’ll put 9 worth to mention anime title because its goodness or its badness accoding to me:

• K-On!
• Saki
• Shangri-La
• Bakemonogatari
• Toaru Kagaku no Railgun
• Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu 2
• CANAAN
• Kampfer
• Seiken no Blacksmith

Let’s get in depth of each anime.

Moe moeeee…. Kyun!!!

K-On! is a controversial anime, just like Haruhi and Lucky Star. K-On is so popular that it could bring so many lovers and haters of this anime. I myself still enjoy watching this anime, because it got its own humor, music, and girls. Akiyama Mio is my favorite, and she’s still in the top row of my favorite character. I don’t know what you haters would think, but the fact that I’m enjoying K-On doesn’t change. How about you? Is this anime in your 2009 worth to mention list?

Moe mahjong!

Saki has more lovers than haters i think. This anime brought moe to serious mahjong table. Worth to mention in 2009? Yes… This anime made my day, and this anime even made me learn to play mahjong XD . My favorite from here: Takei Hisa. Saki could be one of the best anime in 2009, but i don’t think it would be the best of the best. The most controversial things in Saki is: IT NEEDS ITS F***IN 2ND SEASON!!!!

No more moe…

Shangri-La is IMO one of 2009 anime that needs to get more attention. The first episode gave you a girl who can destroy a tank with her boomerang. And then this anime gave you 2 transsexual, 1 little tomboy girl, and some other weird looking people. Yeah, this anime isn’t about character design or cute moe girls, it’s about deep story. Some of you maybe bothered with those 2 transsexual, but putting that aside, Shangri-La got a good story, believe me.

I love those two. XD

This anime wasn’t even on my list when the season started. But after seeing some art and asking my friends’ opinion, i put Bakemonogatari on my list, and watch it right away, since at that time, Bakemonogatari already reached episode 13. Well, you could say that I’m suddenly in love with Senjougahara Hitagi, especially after her “I love you” confession in Mayoi Snail ark. The anime itself brought a unique style of art and story. I guess this is also one of the best anime in 2009.

Only my railgun!

Before continuing, i should let you know that i just watched 3 episodes of this anime. But i knew it right away, this anime would be a great anime. Before Railgun, there was Index anime, but it seems that Index has lower screen time than Misaka. I myself already put Misaka as my favorite character from Toaru Majutsu no Index, and i think most of you did that before. So the airing of Railgun could be a great moment for you Misaka lovers. You could get action packed railgun action, yuri action, and some cute girls around.

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. I’ll be waiting for this.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya second season is i think the most controversial anime in 2009. While everyone expect too much on this, KyoAni gave them shit. I don’t know what was KyoAni thinking. They made this second season worth only 7 GODDAMN UNIQUE EPISODES!!! First they made a fake schedule, then they made EIGHT SIMILAR ENDLESS EIGHT EPISODES, and then they made only 1 arc worth of 5 episodes: The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya. Is this anime worth watching? I don’t know… But KyoAni, also made us expect more Haruhi in MOVIE format: The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. Will this movie bring us more tragedy? We’ll see in 2010.

Canaan and Alphard.

TYPE-MOON lover? Not really, I’m not a TYPE-MOON lover, but so far i enjoyed watching anime from TYPE-MOON visual novel: Tsukihime and Fate Stay Night. But CANAAN isn’t a good one. CANAAN did bring a good shoot out action in the first episodes. But next episodes? No… it worse. CANAAN filled with some weird characters and deep heavy story. Not sure if i didn’t enjoy this because i don’t understand, but the fact doesn’t change: i don’t enjoy this anime, so this anime is a list of disappointment in 2009.

Yuri, action, and ecchi.

To tell you the truth, i only watch this anime only for 2 episodes. I tried to guess what’s inside. Don’t know if it’s worth mentioning in 2009, but Kampfer brought me my favorite genre: Yuri. Kampfer content is easy to guess: yuri, harem, ecchi, action, and some moe stuffs. Standard stuffs for otaku. Is it great? You decide…

It’s anime about sword and blacksmith.

Once again, i only watch this anime only for 3 episodes. I can’t say that this anime is a good anime. But to tell you the truth: it’s fun seeing Cecily Campbell being bullied by Luke XD . I still don’t know what or how the story’s going but surely, Seiken no Blacksmith could be one of the let down in 2009. Still want to watch it? Me: I’m going for it. How about you?

Also waiting for episode 14 and 15 of Bakemonogatari: continuation of Tsubasa Cat.

Well, that’s it for the anime recap! Expect for the last post of this year: figure recap, coming up tonight! So… see you later!!

Saki

Saki

Around a month ago, I watched the popular moe anime mahjong: Saki. This anime could attract a pretty great popularity and a great number of watcher with just a few episodes after it first aired. This popularity is one of the reason why I watched this anime, but the main reason I put this anime in my watch list is mahjong!

Miyanaga Saki, rinshan kaihou, and plus minus zero.

Saki's story revolves around a 1st year high school girl who is a genius mahjong player. She entered Kiyosumi high school and dragged by her friend, Kyoutaro, to Kiyosumi mahjong club. In that club she played against the other members and managed to surprise one of the member who's also a middle school mahjong champion, Nodoka, with her plus minus zero point.

Scary (or cute) opponents were waiting in the tournament.

It's a pretty interesting story at the first part of the anime, where Saki and Nodoka became friend with mahjong. But the next part story is pretty much typical, the girls enters tournaments, fight with some opponents who have ridiculous skill. I’d say ridiculous, because they were trying to win crazy hand like Rinshan Kaihou, Haitei Raoyue, Chankan (i know it’s simple, but the chances are so slim), Kokushi Musou, stealth attack, bad wait, etc. If you know how to play, then you’ll know this hand will only appears once every 5-10 full games (4 winds with 4 rounds for each wind).

Ryuumonbuchi Touka x Kunihiro Hajime.

Although this anime main theme is mahjong, you don't really have to worry about your mahjong knowledge, because this anime will provide you with more than mahjong. There will be a lot of moe characters with their own unique moe traits and more than 1 yuri pairing, since there are so many girls in this anime.

If you think Fukuji Mihoko is more than enough to get you in the series, then proceed!

Nevertheless, enjoyment level for this anime is still depending on your mahjong knowledge. Let's say there are 4 types of mahjong knowledge:

• Level 0: Nothing.
• Level 1: Know how to play just for winning (Ron, Tsumo, Pon, Chi, and Kan).
• Level 2: Know certain Yaku and yakuman.
• Level 3: Know scoring rule and mahjong terminology.

You don't have to play a mahjong game, you just have to know the rules and some terms. Pretty helpful if you knew it before you watch this anime.

Who needs mahjong knowledge if this anime has these girls.

At level 0, you’re only in for those moe girls and some yuri scenes. At level 1, you can follow the battle to a basic point. At the level 2, you'll know what were the characters trying to get for their winning, but you don't know how big they scored. And at level 3, you'll get full enjoyment from this anime. I did watch this anime when i was at level 1, so yeah... I didn't know what they were getting and how big they were winning.

Touka’s yuri harem.

However, I did learn to play mahjong around 2 weeks after finished watching Saki, it's pretty late, I know, but better late than never! I do realize that I was starting to understand what were the characters trying to say back there.

Working as a maid in maid mahjong cafe is included in tournament preparation.

Anyway, this anime can be divided into 3 parts. The first part is about how Saki joined the mahjong club and preparing to enter the prefectural tournament. At the first part, you’ll see that Saki started to realize that playing mahjong is fun, decided to enter the tournament with going to national as their final goal, and she also started to realize her feeling with Nodoka. There were not much character shown in this part. It’s pretty fun, but the real fun has yet to begin.

Touka and family.

The 2nd part of the anime is the longest part: Team Prefectural Tournament. In your old anime series, a tournament could took at least 10 episodes. I think Saki too took a lot of episodes just for this team tournament, but the episodes distribution is ridiculously unbalanced. First match ended in 1 episode, no 2nd match, no semifinal, they just directly went up to the final in just 1 episode. But the final sure took a lot of time. Each team member took at least 2 episodes. And the last battle took more than that (forgot to count). This anime used that chance to introduce players' background story and their special skills.

The last team member of finalist teams.

The 2nd part really took a lot of time, but it won’t quickly bore you to death, unlike those old anime. Saki as the main character did have a hard time against the opponent but she managed to show a comeback in the middle of the crisis.

Two of these girls managed to win 2nd and 3rd place in individual tournament.

And the 3rd part, the last part, is pretty short. It’s about individual tournament. It’s short, and that’s it. Most of the characters here were old character Saki met in team tournament, except Nanpo Kazue. But yeah, this tournament ended in 2-3 episodes.

Triple yakuman, you got served.

Saki herself as a mahjong player can be considered as a lucky and skilled player (if we played for real), because she can win her hand by picking Rinshan Kaihou as much as she likes. But that’s anime for you! Ridiculous and nonsense things happens! Amae Koromo has another crazy luck just like Saki has, except for her, she kept winning by Haitei. If you’re in and ready to accept all of these nonsense, then you’re ready for Saki. There are still a lot of crazy skill i didn’t mention here were going on in this anime.

I’m sooooo gonna do you Hisa!!!! XD

Anyway, my favorite character from this anime is Takei Hisa. I mentioned this before.

Bonus: Tsuruga team cosplaying Houkago Teatime, instant epic win!

So yeah… that’s it for Saki. Next post? Just wait and see… So, see you at the next post!

Takei Hisa x Fukuji Mihoko (Saki)

Fukuji Mihoko x Takei Hisa

Just recently watched Saki (actually, it’s a month ago), and i guess i need to post about how i love Takei Hisa x Fukuji Mihoko pairing. Anyway, you people must know what kind of anime Saki is. Yes… it’s a moe mahjong anime with a lot of extreme mahjong battle and extreme moe girls inside.

My favorite character: Takei Hisa.

My favorite character from this anime is Takei Hisa, Kiyosumi’s mahjong club president. She has an interesting personality and great self-confidence. She knew what she’s doing and she knew what to do. There’s a lot of moe girls with different kind of moe points, like Amae Koromo with her loli point, Nodoka with her big breast and yuri point, Saki with her amazing skill and kind of clumsy girl, Touka with her tsundere point, etc. But hey… they weren’t as interesting as Takei Hisa.

Fukuji Mihoko with her Heterochromia.

On the other hand, Fukuji Mihoko isn’t really my favorite. She’s great and cute, but not that interesting. But seeing Takei Hisa and Fukuji Mihoko together made me think: “Wow this is a perfect pairing!” and i do need to see more scene of their pairing.

Lovely indeed.

No particular reason why i like this pairing. It’s just, i love to see them together. After all I AM a yuri fans. So yeah… I’ll stop ranting here and enjoy the gallery of Takei Hisa x Fukuji Mihoko pairing.

So who’s the aggressive one?

Is it an unrequited love?

Club president x Captain.

Mihoko is the one in love. XD

A fan book? I’d love to see that.

Nice art.

Love is in the air.

They look cute, don’t they?

Quite shocking for Mihoko.

They do look happy.

I’ve read this before. Well… not really read because it’s in Japanese, i can’t read it. :P

Enjoying their time together in cinema.

Takei Hisa cosplaying as Kazekoshi student. Cute!

That would look pretty erotic from Mihoko’s viewpoint.

Takei Hisa is getting more aggresive!

A kiss in the eye! Lovely indeed.

HEY!!! SHE’S DOING IT!!! XDXDXDXD

Do we all know where’s this going into? XD

A romantic kiss!

DAMN NICE!!!

I’d love to have a dakimakura cover with this picture on it. XDXD

Well that’s all i can give for now folks! Be sure to check out for the next post. Gotta go continuing my project now. See you at the next post!