Cardcaptor’s Blog

Clannad #2

Clannad #2 was so good I could not imagined how an episode can be this good. Both the comedy and the drama are so intense, and KyoAni juxtaposed them without making me feeling awkward. Things I like about the episodes are: Continue reading “Clannad #2-#3″

Rental Magica’s premise is, like, my cup of tea: shounen actions with lots of cute girls, and the girls do have massive firepower. Now, add sorcery, familiar beasts, and rocket broomstick, and it should be just plain win. However, the first episode didn’t impress me that much. Continue reading “Rental Magica #1″

After much anticipation on my part, Clannad starts strong. The pacing, the comedy, and almost everything is about right. I have nothing to complain, obviously. Continue reading “Clannad #1 Looking Good”

I got a couple of weird kicks watching Hiyorin’s exploits in Lucky Star 18 & 19. I seriously thought she was the greatest character EVAR. Now I think I know why… Continue reading “Praise the Hiyorin”

I dragged my lazy ass out of bed to watch Hayate no Gotoku premiered on TV Tokyo yesterday at 10PM. My reaction?

Meh…

You see… I really like the first two chapters of the manga. It has a lot of dark jokes, a good measure of facial distortions, and Hayate’s internal monologue as he is tempted to walk down the path of evil. In other words, they are totally awesome. But the following awesomeness is absent from the anime: Continue reading “Hayate no Gotoku 01: Where are my dark jokes?”

March 4th was the day of (the 13-year-old) Takaki’s and Akari’s reunion after a year of separation, and it happened to be the day I went to Cinema Rise of Shibuya and watched the full Byousoku 5cm.

Cinema Rise. In contrast to my image, it’s quite a shabby and old cinema.
Well, the seat was comfortable, and that was all it mattered to me.

The ticket.

Continue reading “Byousoku 5 Centimeter #2 and #3: Summary and First Impression”

Here are some random and unorganized thoughts of mine on the anime:

This anime is all about the settings. There’s not really a plot. The characters are downplayed. What we are seeing is the two characters living their daily lives in a setting which is a lot larger than themselves. The character design is simplistic There are not so many close-up shots of the characters, and even many those close-up shots would contain minute details of the surrounding (even though they may be obscured by the depth of field.) Not to mention a truckload of gratuitous shots of the ticket vending machines, the please-be-careful-of-your-hand sign, PET bottles on a bicycles, etc, etc. I get a feeling that Shinkai’s focus is not on telling a story, but rather on producing awesome imageries.

No. This is not about Akari. It’s about the silhouette of the pole, and the snow falling outside.

Continue reading “Byousoku 5 Centimetre #1: It’s Japan porn.”

I once said that Haruhi is one of the best tsundere ever. Well, the reason is that she can get superbly adorable when she’s deredere. Here are some proofs of the claim: the pictures of Haruhi when she shows her softer side and weaknesses.

Coquettishly sticking out her tongue when alone with Kyon.

An expression full of happiness and kindness so rare to be seen from her.

I wouldn’t exactly call this “deredere” per se, but isn’t she when she looks moody?
You can also sense a mild and hidden embarrassment as well.

“We did it” kind of feeling.

Even a megalomaniac dictator such as her can be caught off guard.

Looks like a nice person, doesn’t she?

A weird stare, which is a bizarre and subtle expression of love.

“I wasn’t trying to kiss you. I swear!”

Aww… You know. You don’t have to be so shy when you want to be nice.

Isn’t she cute when she pouts?

It’s also really rare to see her worried about someone.
This shows that she is a human like we all are.

And so, I took all of these pictures and made a wallpaper out of them as an homage to Haruhi’s deredere-ness. Enjoy.