Posted inAyakashi 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.
SeriesThis Week (12/25 to 12/31)Next Week (1/1 to 1/7)Following Week (1/8 to 1/14)
Pumpkin ScissorsEpisode 13 on MondayNo EpisodeEpisode 14 on Monday
D.Gray-manEpisode 13 on TuesdayNo EpisodeEpisode 14 on Tuesday
DEATH NOTEEpisode 12 on TuesdayNo EpisodeEpisode 13 on Tuesday
Negima!?Episode 13 on WednesdayEpisode 14 on ThursdayEpisode 15 on Wednesday
BleachNo EpisodeEpisode 109 on ThursdayEpisode 110 on Wednesday
Soukou no StrainNo EpisodeNo EpisodeEpisode 10 on Wednesday
KanonEpisode 13 on ThursdayEpisode 14 on ThursdayEpisode 15 on Thursday
CODE GEASSNo EpisodeEpisode 12 on ThursdayEpisode 13 on Thursday
Ayakashi AyashiNo EpisodeEpisode 13 on SaturdayEpisode 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.
Posted inBleach 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.
Posted inBleach 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.
Posted inBleach 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.