Bakuman, Nodame Cantabile, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Fate Stay Night

from: http://ebulliencejj.files.wordpress.com/

I hope you had a perfect Xmas and now you're slowly preparing yourself for even grander New Year's Eve. If you want to pick some anime to watch with your friends, here are some clues ;)

Nodame Cantabile 
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Yes, the pic you see on the left is from Nodame Cantabile. Specially to write about it, after almost 2-months long break I've finished this title. It wasn't really so hard, because story is nice and well done.

Through all the series we see as Chiaki, Nodame and their friends are starting their careers as classical musicians. We observe their developments as artists, first competitions and struggling with a life that is different from what they supposed it be.

Both main characters are interesting. Chiaki is a genius - he is great pianist, violinist and conductor. Unfortunately, he lacks sensitivity and bluntly points other people mistakes. He also is afraid of flying and that's the only reason why he is still in Japan. I must admit, as I love do watch how his dreams come true and how he helps Nodame, I'd prefer if his character would be a little more complexed. Mainly, he is a teller of story but he lacks a little bit of personality. Yes, he is charismatic, but comparing to Nodame he is rather plain.

So here we are with Nodame. She is an extrovert who is using meaningless word like 'gyabo' and 'mukya' to express her feelings. Her teacher is the one of 'hopeless' students and she spends her time in conservatory composing songs for children. But one day Chiaki hears her playing Beethoven at home and finds in a 'hopeless student' a real talent. Not to mention she doesn't care if she washes herself or not, if the room is clean she doesn't care about music. After graduation she plans to became a kindergarten teacher and during all the story we specifically see how her attitude is changing.

As anime is about classical music, in spite openings and endings, all soundtrack is made form classical masterpieces. That gives a great opportunity to get to know some of them. For 'Nodame Cantabile' purposes there were made a special orchestra which recorded all pieces and as for me they are done nicely.

from letibonita photobucket

What goes to the animation... This anime is based on a manga and one can see it precisely. Projects of characters are rather unchanged and it doesn't bother me, but in many situations we just get a copy of a scene from manga. What's more, especially at the beginning, we receive static pictures instead of animation. It looks like within seasons their budget was growing up but still didn't cover all needs. In addition, I always loved watching musical performances so the way orchestras in 'Nodame Cantabile' are animated really pain me. What's unimaginable with this quality of animation, scenes of playing take at least 1/3 of the series. One must be really brave to make anime in which animation is so crucial without enough amount of money for it. Yes, it's still better than manga - we got music and artists move just a little bit. Maybe not the way, they should, but they're moving :P

To sum up. The story itself is great. Music inside anime is great. The only thing that is unsatisfactory is animation. The anime covers mostly all histories from the manga (without 'opera hen') and the choice is yours: you may choose the manga for this little things which weren't mentioned in the anime or the anime and spend your time with Nodame in-color and with music already attached. Try 'Nodame Cantabile' even if you think you can't stand classical music. And, of course, it's josei title. So if you're looking for heartthrob adventures and you hate romance, just stay away from this.


Fate Stay Night

This story is sooooooo boring... I'm amazed, I've finished it. Well... from the 12th episode there was only thought 'I've managed so far, I'll watch it till the end'. Yet dialogues like 'Saber!' 'Shirou!' 'Saber' really piss me off. But what was I expecting from the anime based on eroge?


Bakuman

The production is exactly in the middle of airing. I don't watch it even regularly, usually 2-3 episodes at once. I'm positive, it won't be my beloved series, but it's ok, it doesn't kill me with boredom.


Monster 

from http://otakuism.animeblogger.net

I've tried. But it's a criminal and main character is stupid and all the necessary facts are given in advance. Where is mystery? Where is it? I've surrendered after 8 episodes. It's possible it wasn't enough. After all, the series consist over 70 episodes. But I'd rather won't try it again.


Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 

 It has taken less than a week to watch whole 2 seasons and OVAs. I love thi series for everything. I love humor, art, music, characters... Just everything. I won't be reviewing it, I'll just say one thing: it's a MUST SEE IT series.  With a small notice: a basic knowledge about Japanese culture is essential.