Haruhi has returned. Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody was really quite well done. Despite being one of the more confusing parts of the novel, I found that the plot was conveyed well. Plus, did I mention that Haruhi is back? Yeah. However, there is a noticable drop in animation quality in my opinion. The colors aren’t as vivid as they were in the first series, and I personally don’t like the changes in character design. Everyone looks more chibi-fied, especially Kyon. Kyon looks about a foot shorter now. Now, my only issue is, who’s subs do I watch?

And now, I go study for an important math test tomorrow. Will update later.

ARENA 02: [Illyasviel von Einzbern] Kushieda Minori

ARENA 03: Tsukimiya Ayu [Abstained] Anya Alstreim

ARENA 04: Chiba Kirino [Misaka Mikoto]

ARENA 05: [Hiiragi Kagami] Ryūgū Rena

ARENA 06: [Asahina Mikuru] Kamio Misuzu

ARENA 07: [Furude Rika] Shana

ARENA 08: [Hakurei Reimu] Evangeline McDowell

ARENA 09: Sanzen’in Nagi [Takamachi Nanoha]

ARENA 10: Hinamori Amu [Index Prohibitorum]

ARENA 11: Hiiragi Tsukasa [Suzumiya Haruhi]

ARENA 12: Minase Nayuki [Kirisame Marisa]

ARENA 13: Vita [Ibuki Fūko]

ARENA 14: Chii [Saber]

ARENA 15: C.C. [Katsura Hinagiku]

ARENA 16: [Mizunashi Akari] Kawazoe Tamaki

ARENA 17: Fate Testarossa [Holo]

ARENA 18: Suigintou [Sakagami Tomoyo]

ARENA 19: Yagami Hayate [Shameimaru Aya]

ARENA 20: [Kawasumi Mai] Nagi

ARENA 21: [Nagato Yuki] Izumi Konata

ARENA 22: Shinku [Aisaka Taiga]

ARENA 23: [Ryōgi Shiki] Remilia Scarlet

ARENA 24: Sawatari Makoto [Kawashima Ami]

ARENA 25: Patchouli Knowledge [Misaka Shiori]

ARENA 26: Furukawa Nagisa [Tōsaka Rin]

ARENA 27: [Alice Carroll] Furude Hanyū

ARENA 28: Kōzuki Kallen [Maria]

ARENA 29: Louise Vallière [Abstained] Katagiri Yūhi

ARENA 30: Kinomoto Sakura [Fujibayashi Kyō]

ARENA 31: [Ichinose Kotomi] Suiseiseki

ARENA 32: Kasuga “Ōsaka” Ayumu [Kurata Sayuri]

I humbly beg you to sub Hayate Season 2. I cannot live without downloading your subs of the highest quality. I don’t want to pay for 720p Crunchyroll service. I don’t even like Crunchyroll. I don’t even like streaming anything. Your subs are without a doubt some of (if not the) best in the business. Your subs complete me. So please, sub Hayate Season 2.

Sincerely yours,

remoteislandsyndrome

K-ON! is about a group of girls that start a band in their light music club. Unfortunately, they are short one member and need to recruit one more member before the end of the month, or the club will be disbanded. Fortunately (or unfortunately) an airhead girl named Yui decides to join, hoping to play the castanets. Being short on a member, the girls do whatever that can to keep her in the club. By bribing her with food and showing her a “fun” performance, they manage to keep her and promise to teach her to play guitar.

The first episode was somewhat underwhelming. I was expecting a lot more comedy or even well, entertainment. Perhaps this is just an introductory episode, and the real story will get going after. Anyhow, Yui is just too cute.

ARENA 02: [Tsukimiya Ayu] Alice Carroll

ARENA 03: Hiiragi Kagami [Suzumiya Haruhi]

ARENA 04: [Misaka Mikoto] Minase Nayuki

ARENA 05: Furude Hanyū [Illyasviel von Einzbern]

ARENA 06: Ryūgū Rena [Sanzen'in Nagi]

ARENA 07: [Nagi] Mizunashi Akari

ARENA 08: [Suiseiseki] Furude Rika

ARENA 09: [Konjiki no Yami] Vita

ARENA 10: [Saber] Kasuga “Ōsaka” Ayumu

ARENA 11: [Maria] Shinku

ARENA 12: Yagami Hayate [Kawasumi Mai]

ARENA 13: [Kawashima Ami] Ibuki Fūko

ARENA 14: [Anya Alstreim] Sawatari Makoto

ARENA 15: Remilia Scarlet [Hakurei Reimu]

ARENA 16: [Index Prohibitorum] Louise Vallière

ARENA 17: Kōzuki Kallen [Asahina Mikuru]

ARENA 18: Takamachi Nanoha [Holo]

ARENA 19: [Kurata Sayuri] Misaka Shiori

ARENA 20: [Fujibayashi Kyō] Nagato Yuki

ARENA 21: [Katagiri Yūhi] Evangeline McDowell

ARENA 22: Chiba Kirino [Ryōgi Shiki]

ARENA 23: [Ichinose Kotomi] C.C.

ARENA 24: [Katsura Hinagiku] Fate Testarossa

ARENA 25: [Tōsaka Rin] Suigintou

ARENA 26: Chii [Abstained] Hinamori Amu

ARENA 27: Kinomoto Sakura [Furukawa Nagisa]

ARENA 28: Izumi Konata [Abstained] Hiiragi Tsukasa

ARENA 29: Kirisame Marisa [Kushieda Minori]

ARENA 30: Shana [Sakagami Tomoyo]

ARENA 31: Kamio Misuzu [Patchouli Knowledge]

ARENA 32: [Aisaka Taiga] Kawazoe Tamaki

Battle of the titans…Tomoyo vs. Shana.

TOMOYO FTW.

The Wizards have their starters (sans DeShawn Stevenson) and they pull out an impressive 109-101 win against the league best Cleveland Cavaliers, who were riding a 13 game winning streak.

Brendan Haywood played a huge part in the win, with 12 points and 10 boards, 4 on the offensive end. With Haywood’s presence in the paint, players penetrating into the paint have a much harder time scoring around the rim (although Delonte West had a few nice lay ins on Haywood). However, Darius Songaila came out bigger in this game. Scoring 17 points on 6 of 8 shooting, and grabbing 6 boards, Songaila was the main energy and hustle factor off of the bench. He also put away the game by grabbing an offensive rebound off a Gilbert Arenas missed free throw.

Speaking of Gilbert Arenas, it was another tough shooting night for him. He was 3 for 11 from the field, and 5 of 8 from the line. He could drive to the hoop, but frequently missed layups that he usually makes. It will come in time for Gilbert as he gets accustomed to taking contact at the rim again. The rust in his game is apparent, but that comes with missing 75 games this season. However, he did have 10 assists and another double-double, and no turnovers. This brings his season assist-to-turnover ratio to 20:1. Impressive, eh?

LeBron had another good game with 31 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 6 turnovers. LeBron was the sole factor keeping the Cavaliers close late in the game with several deep treys. However, his turnover on an inbound play proved costly as Butler deflected and stole the ball as James attempted to pass it in.

The Wizards play the Cavaliers will play the Cavaliers again at the Quicken Loans Arena. Let’s see how this newly reunited Wizards team will fare away from home.

Wizards Player of the Game: Darius Songaila

I found this ending to be rather disappointing. Beating Ashura with a normal fist filled with courage is… well, corny. If Shinigami couldn’t beat him easily, how can Maka will a fist full of courage? It makes no sense. Also, there was a huge emphasis on Maka’s anti-demon wavelength and her Demon Hunter. In the end, both were totally irrelevant (although the Demon Hunter did look cool). The best part of the episode was Maka’s half-weapon rampage. It was cool, but lasted for about 1 minute. While it was nice to see most of the characters, including Crona, back in the show, they had very little screen time. Hell, an epilogue would’ve been nice too. I just can’t seem to stomach an ending without any closure or information about the characters’ future. After all of the buildup from the previous episode, this kind of ending just seemed like letdown.

Final Thoughts – I enjoyed Soul Eater a lot, at least until Ashura was released. The story was just so much more engaging and less repetitive. However, I would still recommend this to anyone looking for a nice shounen anime.

Well, at least there’s still the manga.

Starting yesterday, I have been re-reading Suzuka by Kouji Seo. To be completley honest, it’s one of the best romance manga I have ever read. Although Akitsuki’s rejection becomes repetitive, it never fails to serve up drama. I also enjoyed the usage of sports, although I am no fan of track and field (actually, this manga was the reason I never considered trying out for the track and field team at my school). Oh, right. Did I mention that Suzuka is chock full of tsundere goodness? Anyway, I can’t think of anything else to say on Suzuka, so just go read it for yourself.

On another note, the spring anime season is coming! I’ll probably be periodically blogging about shows I’m watching, so be on the lookout.

Preliminary List of What I’ll Be Watching:

• Hayate the Combat Butler!!
• K-ON!
• Fullmetal Alchemist 2
• Higashi no Eden
• Saki
• Queen’s Blade

I would write more, but I have an unfairly large amount of tests tomorrow.

Peace.