Negima?!@ 5

Holy shit, it's a room that actually has STUFF in it!?

Seriously, what's up with the locations in this series? You know that Cameron Crowe film, Vanilla Sky, and Tom Cruise is running about New York and it's completely empty? That's this fucking show. Every scene takes place in a giant stadium or empty court-yard with two people and a tumbleweed in it.

Spend the extra money; hire some extras. Maybe Andy Millman will cut you a favour.

But I will say, episode 5 was actually pretty entertaining (in a "hey, this could still be much less depressing" way at least) and the best episode yet.

Meganeko Honya-chan go! Chisame pratfalls go! Dud pactio card go! Beeeg action go!

Quick Impressions: Hitman Reborn, Kenichi, Ghost Hunt

So noone really cares about these shows from the looks of things, eh? Then again, I have been largely absent lately...

ETA till pants come off: T-10 seconds

Name: Hitman Reborn. It probably has an exclamation mark or a "Z" in it's title somewhere as well, I can't remember.

Summary: Basically, it's about a baby hitman with a chameleon/iguana (any lizard nerds feel free to clarify this) that turns into a gun. This gun shoots death bullets or some crap, which then makes the person uber-awesome. And their pants tear off like the hulk. The baby has to tutor some japanese kid to stop being a pussy because he's the 10th generation head of the mafia.

Impressions: Not really as amusing as the gimmick would have you think. The death Bullet thing felt as though it was wearing out it's welcome on the second shot as well. Only one episode watched, but I can't see it getting better.

It looks cheap as hell, but this is one of the most awesome OPs this season

Name: Ghost Hunt

Summary: They hunt ghosts.. well, allegedly.

Impressions: The OP's music is great.. kinda reminds me of the opening credits score to the Spiderman movie. I appreciate that they got right down to it from the first episode, but after two episodes (of at least a three parter) I really know jack shit about what I'm watching. I don't even know if there's going to be ghosts in this motherfucker. A pretty crap introduction, and I'm sure the 2nd ep was just them going "what's going on??" for 22 minutes. Still, it could be decent show. Might also be rubbish. They haven't given us enough to go on yet.

The lead chick in Kenichi is a hot meganeko Cammy

Name: Kenichi. It has a big ass name in baka-update's listings.. something about fighting win and burning passion maybe.

Summary: Hmm, think Sumomomomo without the sex comedy setup and bad cgi, and put more focus on fighting. Seems pretty similar. Oh there's huge boobs in it, too.

Impressions: Y'know, at first glance it looks pretty shit.. and on paper it sounds kinda shit. In fact, it probably will be nothing but a B-grade fighting show, but when you consider that Naruto and Bleach is stuck in loser territory right now, this feels like just what the doctor ordered.

I could be completely wrong, but it looks like it'll be an honest weak guy gets stronger to defeat big mean guys in a simple setting. And I don't think I've seen something like that for a while (without mahou/mecha/etc). Also it's not overly serious, so doesn't fall into the trap of having nothing but wank to pad out the stuff between the fights.

Mahou Sensei Negima! Fap OVA

The MSN Spring OVA made me do the above.
Twice.

Finally, we get a version of Akamatsu's work worthy for my eyes. This entry had great animation, some service, some "aww so sweet" *sniff* moments, and most importantly: it was actually entertaining and fun—unlike the depressing, where-the-hell-is-everyone, this-must-be-the-most-desolute-school-on-earth TV version redux.

It retains the quirky (and decent students of film might say 'illogical', in terms of setting tone) PPD'esque direction/animetography that I've griped about regarding Negima!?, but unlike our weekly series it was delivered with a respectable touch, giving the OVA a sense of uniqueness but also not overpowering it at the same time.

I still prefer some of the voices in the original MSN anime, but what can you do, eh. That was a piece of trash, and pining for it should cause boils to fester on my nipples for several years.

Next time the people of ASX demand more Kuu Fei and more Kaede!

There's a second OVA due for release isn't there? If so, consider me awaiting that a a gajillion time more eagerly than Negima!? ep5.

Also, I'm wondering.. considering this OVA was clearly apart from the alternate tv series cash cow, could this mean the possibility of getting the Mahora Festival and other notable manga chapters in OVA form? Hopefully it makes assloads of money and that's what they decide to do (even though this was mainly a bunch of short vignette's skits tied together, we can at least hope that they'd pull off the larger stories with the same work ethic).

The season summed up with four-word recaps

A couple days late, but I needed a picture

God I'm lazy. Is this what it's come to? I guess so. Anyway, let's get looking at things, in alphabetical order (I think), plus some extended thoughts for those I could be bothered with

Asatte no Houkou: "Ugly Meganeko Loli Yick"
Mind/Body/Gender/Age switching gimmicks are like the bestest creative device known to man, but for some reason I keep making excuses not to watch the second episode of this lurking on my hdd. Vice Versa wasn't this depressing.

Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto: "No Mecha Robots? WTF!"

Bartender: "Yakitate Alcohol More Boring"
Yet somehow still appealing. I feel as though watching it makes me a classier form of nerd. As long as everyone ends up making the "OH!" face when they drink it, I'll be there like a cheap whore.

Black Lagoon x Nanoha

Black Lagoon: "Where's My Gothlolis Gone?"
Probably the best series running. Exudes so much badassness that it's quite likely your PC will never be able be able to reproduce from having it's nuts repeatedly kicked in.

D.Gray-Man: "Pushing It's Luck Already"
The world and characters are interesting enough for a typical shounen series, but you're starting us off with this Ghost Of Martel shit and then stretching it out over three episodes?! C'mon, that's like if Naruto had have kicked off with that Curry Of Life rubbish. You're just begging people to stop caring.

Death Note: "L Sounds Too Bishi"
I don't know what I expected him to sound like, but I certainly didn't expect him to open a fucking host club on me.

Happiness!: "Worst CGI 1ep Dropped"

Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori: "Ippen Shinde Miru Redux"
Haha, Ai fell in the river ROFLoli! Long as no stupid reporter turns up, and people get deaded like Sunday bacon, I'll enjoy it.

Sitting. Looking pretty. Doing nothing. Big surprise.

Kanon: "MOE OF TEH YEAR"
Auu is the new Uguu is the new Nyuu is the new Desu is the new black. Second favourite show of the season even though so much of absolute nothing happens in it. Bear witness to the powah of cute girls.

Negima!?: "Awful Direction Akamatsu Cries"
Think I've said more than enough on this already. If you're one of the many chumps that thinks the PPD treatment is well-suited here, you'll never be able to attend my wife's childbirth. EVAR.

NHK Ni Youkoso!: "Go To Hell Bitches!"
I can't believe this is still going actually. It's still pretty good, but I can't say I'm in any rush to watch a new episode.

Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru: "Service Service Service Service Service"
It gets five words because that's how just how gratuitous this show is. I need gropage, Where's the next ep? Oh, it's pretty damn boring beyond that.

It's pumpkin scissory kinda

Pumpkin Scissors: "Gun sounds like Peashooter"

Tokimeki Memorial - Only Love: "Vollyball Is Now Hawt"
This show seems to straddle the unbelievably dull and absurdly awesome given the early episodes. Who knows how it'll be remembered when it's all said and done. Nice designs though.

Sumomomo Momomo: "Kidnap Seiyuu What's Left?"
Probably not much worth watching. This one is dead in the water unless I have spare bandwidth at the end of the month.