The Fool

I’ve found over the last few months that the amount of time I’ve been putting into anime has been steadily diminishing. I know this isn’t because I’m losing my interest in anime and although some seasons there aren’t a great selection, there’s always good shows from years past that I haven’t watched that I should. That or something comes out on DVD/Blu-ray in the UK that I buy.

I think the main reason is I just don’t have the time anymore. Work takes up 12.5 hours of my weekdays, if you include getting ready and commuting, and then I do need to go to sleep at times. Obviously I need to take time to eat (lol), and I’m finding that I’m gaming again on a more regular basis, as I’ve returned to WoW and Dark Souls has clocked up a considerable amount of hours over the last week or 2.

So normally each Season I pick up 6-7 animes a season, and this month was no exception, except one thing, I watched the 1st episode of them all, and haven’t had a chance to watch episode 2 of any, except the above and Shana no Shakugan III [Final]. This leaves me with 3 shows to talk about this season, which in my opinion isn’t great, so either I need to get some time to watch the rest, or really stretch you penny out. I haven’t decided which yet

C³ – Cube×Cursed×Curious

I’m quite enjoying this anime. It’s pretty and has cute girls in it, which is almost always a most for any show I watch. The plot is somewhat odd though, if I’m honest. The main character, Fear, is a cube (yes, a cube, like a Rubic Cube) who is able to take the form of a human. What you learn is that Fear has a dark past and that she, as an object, became cursed due to the sins that were committed with/by her. As a result this curse causes her to have the power to become human, but her owner will also suffer a curse for possessing her, in her case making them insane and using her for her intended purpose.

The anime starts off looking nothing like a show that’s going to become bloody, with the artwork looking very bright and cheery. Light hearted jokes and panty shots. a served arm later and a couple of character deaths and I’m starting to think this is not the show I was expecting, but I don’t have a problem with that. I’m enjoying it, and i wouldn’t be making the effort to make sure I watch it as soon as I can after it’s aired unless I wanted to, especially with what little time I do have at the moment for anime.

As well as Fear you have Konoha, a similar cursed object, however she is a sword. I’ll leave your imagination to work out how she would be useful in combat but I’#m pretty sure it’#s not hard to work out. There’s also the male protagonist of the show, Haruaki, who’s immune to curses wouldn’t you know (damn you plot conveniences).

I’m not entirely sure where this anime is headed, and I haven’t looked far into it, but if you look cute girls, panty/eechish shots, love triangles, and tsundere characters, give this one a go.

Boku Ha Tomodachi Ga Sukunai

Translated to “I don’t have many friends”, and a suitable title for the anime, well for the fist couple of episodes. Enter Kodaka Hasegawa, a normal high school male who happens to have no friends. Mainly due to the colour of his hair, which he gets from his English mother, people have the impression that he’s some kind of thuggish character to be scared of. I’d hope people have noticed that in anime, if a male has blonde hair their often seen as a either a bully or delinquent and that’s exactly what happens here. Add this with people always misunderstanding what he’s saying, for example wanting to trade items in a game turns into theft of their item and his reputation as a reputable member of society are lost.

Anyway, one day Kodaka is going back to his classroom, when he see Yozora Mikazuki chatting away to some unseen person. He can’t get a good view, so can’t see who, but after braving it walks in, to find… She’s alone. Like Kodaka, Yozara has no friends and so instead is confiding in her imaginary one. All kinds of Social awkwardness no. This, somehow, leads to Yozara to create a club, the Neighbours Club, where her idea is so that they can make friends. Obviously Kodaka has no choice but to join and the story unfolds.

This anime actually reminds me of Haruhi in this way, although Yozora doesn’t have the power of God, it is veruy similar to a Kyon and Haruhi relationship, and with characters being added (all female mind), the rest of the team may just pop up. I’m pretty sure an Asahina character joined in episode 04, but I haven’t watched 05 yet.

This shows art is very similar to Denpa, and I’m sure for those that have watched it will see the resemblance in the above image and I quite like the art style.  The show itself it’s fun to watch, just like Haruhi to be honest. I actually picked up the anime because it was advertised in Dengeki G’s October Magazine as the girls looked cute again, (should I really be admitting that?), but this isn’t the reason I’m watching it anymore. This is definitely something I’d recommend and I expect more would prefer this over C³. The club activities are fun to watch, with them playing Monster Hunter, an eroge, and of course the swimming pool, a gamer and guys dream no less.