| Active Watchlist Random Anime Incomplete Blue Drop Ghost Hound Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai Minami-ke Myself; Yourself Romeo x Juliet Shion no Ou Completed Claymore Death Note Devil May Cry Dropped Darker than Black Gundam 00 Omake Anime MP3s Anime OSTs Fansub Guide & Groups Playback Support Greek Mythology Fics Blogroll Garu Kairee Mayochan Schneider ChesterBanting Bluemist Asrai Link Exchange? Credits
Layout: Biey-chan |
Welcome to ~CrispLeaf. This blog contains episode reviews, summaries, prejudices and music downloads [MP3s] on selected new anime titles. Feel free to have a look around, though it would be much appreciated if you can leave your comments before you go. - Makkun [ Japanese Name: Miharu Watanabe 美晴 渡辺] [ Best Viewed: Mozilla Firefox / 1024x768 ] Entries for April, 2007 i'm running out of time so i guess i'll just have to make it quick: EP 24 is <3
(Read More) EP 25 gave me a sort of a bittersweet feeling. L's death is no surprise for those who have already read the manga [ like me ]. But it still stings watching him die again in this episode. After all, it's really different when you see the characters alive and kicking. By the way, is it me, or, something close to "boy's love" happened between L and Light during this episode? ^^ haha. It's really funny how a person could be so evil like Light. I didn't see anything weird about his parents. How the hell they were able to produce and raise such a wicked child, I don't have the slightest idea. ^^ hey, have you noticed? new layout [ shameless plug ] teehee. watch out for claymore too! it's a cool new anime! XD
(Read More) Claymore was originally a manga series created by Norihiro Yagi. It started way back in 2001, and it's still ongoing. Prolly we'll expect some fillers along the way, but we hope the manga is done before the anime is concluded. At least the animators wouldn't have to squeeze their brains out trying to release really boring episodes. Like D.Gray-man [ I dropped out from this anime ]. So I guess that should be enough introduction for you. Let's see about the summary!
(Read More) well, that's it! i hope you read it too! if not yet, then click here to download the complete series! I'm more satisfied with part 2. I had previously hoped that the movie producers will make their own twists on this one and not simply follow the manga. Well, I'm happy to say that my hopes were somewhat fulfilled. Lo and behold, a fictional character by the name of Kiyomi Takada appears. Young, pretty but completely ignored. The Sakura TV reporter who took Higuchi's place as the Third Kira. I seriously believe too that Rem went down with a severe throat problem, so pardon her manly voice in this movie. ^_^ trivia: Ken'ichi Matsuyama who starred as L in the two movies is also the seiyuu/voice actor of Jealous in the anime. In case you forgot, Jealous was the Shinigami who saved Misa Misa from her stalker and the previous owner of her Death Note. ^_^
So how do I put it? I would say, I'm impressed with the animation [ with it being natural and soft-colored ]. Familiar character designs though, but I hope the plot would develop them individually. The music is OK, fitting but not exceptional. The plot: original and promising. If I have to use the 10/10 rating, Darker than Black [ first impression] is a 7. I only have 18 screencaps for this episode, unlike my regular 30/ep. Sorry but I don't know why either. :) Allow me to give a bit of the anime's background. Darker than Black was set sometime between the present and early future. People known as "Contractors" [ with special abilities ] are being sought by the Police for causing harm among normal humans. They are being identified with a set of alphanumeric codes by The Astronomy Division. Their existence seemed to have been originated by the appearance of "Hell's Gate". It was in a place outside Tokyo, blocked from the eyes of curious men by a wall built as high as the sky itself. Now we proceed to the summary of Episode 1. By the way, the full title of the episode is The Star of a Contract Fell...Part 1.
(Read More) So, the first 13 minutes and 6 seconds of Episode 26 is all about recap: from the time L first appeared as Kira's archenemy, his meeting with Light, Light being suspected as Kira, Light joining the Investigating Team, the Yotsuba arc, and finally: L's death. There is no point in making this sound any more acceptable, because I'm prejudiced when it comes to recaps. As I've mentioned in the Tabulas Forums, if a person reaches the 26th episode, there is no need to reminisce the previous ones, especially when the story is about to reach its climax; because no normal person would start watching an anime at this late stage and need the recaps to familiarize herself with the story, background and plot development. You can argue about this, and maybe cite Dragon Ball as an example, but I'm betting 90% of the fangirl/fanboy population wants to start at episode one. Therefore, recaps are downright trash. [ whoa, Makkun is rude! ]. If this was an attempt to give L a sort of eulogy, I'd still think 13 minutes was too much. It ate about 50% of the total viewing time of EP 26. All scenes considered, there was little development in the story. The low quality of the video should not be put aside either. So pardon for lousy screencaps. All in all, what a disappointment!
(Read More) "The story now told is of love, ever-fresh, and full of sorrow, cruelly toyed with by fate in the midst of war..." The last GONZO work I watched was She, the Ultimate Weapon [Saikano]. Although many fangirls/boys criticize this studio, I still think their productions were very great, and most of their works are among my favorites: Gatekeepers, Gatekeepers 21, and Vandread. Romeo x Juliet took me by surprise. The animation is downright extraordinary: from character designs to structures, and colors. Music is equally good, and the Seiyuu cast is just as awesome. Okay. Too much use of adjectives. ^_^ We are all aware that Romeo and Juliet was a tragic story: "A glooming peace this morning with it brings. The sun for sorrow will not show his head. Go hence and have more talk of these sad things. Some shall be pardoned, and some punished. For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo... ". But I would consider that additions are not entirely deceptive, it only makes the anime more interesting to watch. After all, there is no reason for them to deceive us, since basically we already know what happened. Pegasus. A Greek Mythology creature being included in the Medieval setting of Romeo x Juliet is just right. Picture this: Romeo and Juliet escaping Verona. What better mode of transportation to leave a floating land than a flying horse? And not just any winged horse. White and beautiful like Pegasus: the God of Horses. Odin. a grown-up Juliet dressing up as a man bearing the name of Norse Mythology's chief god is without a doubt the greatest surprise of all. An excellent swordsman yet the lady within her is still intact. Neo Verona. A floating fortress, much like the classic Laputa and the game I used to play: Septerra Core. Putting the whole Romeo x Juliet cast in that almost-heaven place but filled with terror, tyranny, deception and lust for power is only intriguing. We are to expect more than one week of love and death, but also adventures, friendships, and the hopefully the fun of growing up.
(Read More) I would say the episode was a bit boring. There was the anticipated battle between two Claymores but it was settled in one lousy slash. Second, Raki's character was a disappointment. His too showy attitude is definitely not believable. Crying unnecessarily makes me wonder if the mangaka flipped a coin to decide whether his character should be portrayed by a girl or a boy. He just doesn't click with Clare. So far, he's my biggest minus. Negative! On the other hand, Claymores have become much more interesting at this episode. Their inescapable fate of eventually becoming 100% Yoma is clearly something to look forward to. After all, it's tragedy that makes one anime more memorable than the other.
(Read More) Although DN has already been licensed [if I'm correct that would be during the release of episode 14], many fansub groups still took the courage to release free subs. If it weren't for them, fangirls would have had a really hard time buying the title, especially for those who reside in the Philippines. We have little distribution here, and on top of that, original DVDs are very, very expensive. Comic Alley and Tokyo Kids are presently the leading anime hobby stores, but when I learned that SonMay Inc. [their primary distributor of anime media] is, in fact, an illegal company, I've stopped patronizing their products. I have also learned that the company releases very poor media qualities [although that's the competitor saying], so basically, we don't have much options here [other stores rely on fansubs too]. Because of the following groups, we stopped worrying about DN being licensed or pulled out from the internet. DN is still alive! and only 10 episodes to go! So, arigatou!! Death Note Fansub Groups: Animanda, Animenoobs Fansubbers, AnimeStation, C1Anime, DeathGod, Desuno Fansubs, Hari no Ito, Karehi, KubuSubs, Kuro Hana, Live-eviL, Otaku-Fansubs, Shinigami-Realm, Soylations, Toriyama's World, Under9000, White Bunny, and Zettai Anime. Allow me now to discuss Episode 27. The animation is noticeably poor and I realized it has been like that since EP 25. The story development, on the other hand, picks up again, thanks to Near. The characters have all grown up too. The animators made distinct changes on hair, built, voices, and appearances, as if stressing the fact that time has already leaped to 2012. The element of suspense seems to be lacking in this episode though [must have died along with L]. The characters have become somewhat lame and simply stupid. Putting Near aside, no one has really said any intelligent word, or made impressive deductions even with the kidnapping of the Police Director and Sayu. Light's pretenses look tiring as well. Without Near's appearance, DN would have become a dragging series. It now occurs to me how great L's character was. He completes Death Note.
(Read More) Congratulations, this much-anticipated anime series has earned its share of claps and whoas. I'm lovin' it. :D Full episode title: The Star of a Contract Fell...Part 2
(Read More) Surprisingly, GONZO was the studio who also released the anime version of this manga. Here, nothing should be explained as the title clearly says that this anime is indeed about Romeo of Montague and Juliet of Capulet - of course, with little twists here and there. But after episode 2, I was left in a state of incredulity. The development seemed to be leading to somewhere too far from the story of Shakespeare. I'm not sure whether I should be glad about it, but if I may say so, I had my fair share of expectations. Perhaps only a part of Romeo and Juliet will be included in this series. If that was the case, then there may be a possibility that this anime will turn out to be a failure. Failure, in a sense that the characters will be overused, stories will branch into different semi-plots, and eventually destroying the tragic but beautiful story of Rome and Juliet. I'm starting to feel that the personalities of Juliet and Romeo will be very different from the Shakespeare version.
(Read More) I feel bad for Misa though. Light was cruel to her when all she wanted was to make him happy. Doesn't he remember that her life has shortened enormously so that she can have the Shinigami eyes for him? I still don't understand where Misa gets her love for Light. He might have killed the man responsible for the deaths of her family, but that was just a random act of Kira in his quest to cleanse the world, nothing special. Whether it was Misa's family or someone else's makes no difference to him. Has she realized that yet? Has it ever crossed her mind? Light is a real selfish guy. Someone who thinks like a Sith: "If you're not with me, you're against me". Besides, Misa is already popular among the guys. She could have picked someone more suitable for her. Not someone who even considers killing his own kin for the sake of a pretend justice. I think this is not about the case of "justice" anymore. Light is simply scared of the consequences when he's finally apprehended. He is after all, just human. Regarding Mello, the guy eats a lot of chocolate. I'm starting to get sick. I remember there was a chocolate case in an episode of CSI (Las Vegas). A man suddenly collapsed to his death after a play of poker. Apparently the man was very good at the game so everyone hates him. A motive was then established. They call him the "Chocolate Guy" because he eats a lot of MMs every game. After the autopsy it was discovered the cause of death was "Lead". This chemical was used as an insecticide for the cocoa plant. For years of continuous poker games and pounds & pounds of MMs this chemical became the poison that killed the legendary poker guy. So I hope instead of DN, Lead will kill Mello. :D
(Read More) It appears Hei is the rescuer of damsels in distress. :D There has to be an explanation though, why Hei always ends up near the victims. First, he's the neighbor of Shinoda. Now, he works part-time at a company whose consultant was the last survivor of the Hell's Gate Expedition. Was everything already planned out? He already had a list prior to his arrival in Japan? Seems that way. What's weird, however, is that there was no indication that Hei has done this deliberately. No separate scene warning the audience that he has a new target. Quite the opposite, his actions are very random, but always ending up with the real plan. Unpredictable. Fun.
(Read More) |
