And it does so in magnificent Shaft fashion. Probably the best episode dialogue-wise so far in my opinion.

Starting us off is Koyomi who finally finds Karen somewhere under a network of highways. Despite Koyomi’s efforts of dragging her back, Karen takes a stance and challenges Koyomi to “fight”. Karen displayed some intensely unrealistic techniques that sent Koyomi flying all over the place. Shinobu offered to help, but knowing her, she would’ve taken it too far. It ended up being a curbstomp by Karen (though Koyomi probably didn’t want to fight her in the first place) until Koyomi talks some sense into her.

They talk about what Koyomi said a few episodes back – about how the Fire Sisters were “right”, but they were not “strong”, hence they’ll never be friends of justice or justice itself, but just impostors. Karen retorts by saying she is strong since because of the beat-down she gave Koyomi. To that, Koyomi explains that there’s more to strength than physical strength, such as mental strength and will. The Fire Sisters never had a will of their own, as they were always thinking about the safety of others. A self-sacrifice is far from justice, but that doesn’t mean they’re wrong. Koyomi is bothered by everything that’s happened as well, and he’d rather deal with it himself than involve his sisters any further.

Admitting defeat (and affection, lol) Karen is carried back home. The only person left to deal with at this point was the con man himself. This time it was Senjougahara who confronts Kaiki, with Koyomi also on to him for what he did to Karen.

What follows is a full-on conversation between Senjougahara and Kaiki, and the subject of lies. Kaiki explains that he is only a con man, and that he doesn’t necessarily believe in oddities (or Kai) but he knows that there are forces at work. In fact, the wreathe-fire bee was also a lie according to him, and Karen’s illness was a sort-of progressive hypnotism (I don’t buy it though)

Despite that he gives a rather half-hearted apology for Senjougahara’s family, and assures them that he will leave the town as they would have wanted. He also explains that Karen would be better in no more than three days. Koyomi’s reaction is noticed by Kaiki, and proceeds to do a comparison between himself and Koyomi. He says that they are very different people, saying that he is Rubidium and Koyomi is water (this makes sense, I guess, because, Rubidium, when mixed with water, causes a violent reaction similar to an explosion)

Before he leaves though, Senjougahara asks for his cellphone and subsequently breaks it in half. After that she goes and says “the cruelest thing in the world” which was that those who get fooled are partially at fault (that was definitely not the cruelest thing she has said, ever) For Senjougahara, this was her way of moving past what happened, by admitting that she too fell for Kaiki’s deceit.

Kaiki on the other hand, sees it as Senjougahara dwelling on the past and gives an example by saying that the man that tried to rape Senjougahara had already died, in an incident not related to her whatsoever. The past is a trivial matter for him. He also implies that Senjougahara had a crush on him back then, and saying that pursuing those thoughts of the past are worthless. With Senjougahara stunned for a moment, Kaiki finally leaves (I do hope it’s “finally”)

Koyomi inquires about the whole crush thing and Senjougahara brushes it off as a misunderstanding on Kaiki’s part. It was however true that Kaiki was to her, a knight in shining armor of sorts (if you’d remember some Bakemono- scenes, Senjougahara once said that she would have fallen for anyone that would have shows the tiniest bit of affection for the crazed virgin that she was) In reality though, she would really have fallen for anyone that saved her, and the thought of that disgusts her. But in the end, she’s happy that it was Koyomi who fulfilled that role.

With the curtain finally closing down on the issue, Koyomi remembers the “request” that Senjougahara had for him after they dealt with Kaiki. This turns into probably one of their best scenes together, with the conclusion being a rather huge step further into their relationship.

All’s well and good for now, as Karen is back to normal. With this we say goodbye to the aren Bee arc, and most likely we’re gonna have Tsukihi Phoenix up next. Can’t wait! ^^

The long awaited FMA movie finally reaches the digital shores of non-Japanese anime viewers like me who didn’t get to watch it’s North American premier. With FMA arguably being one of the best anime of all time with it’s impressive story direction, it’s reasonable to expect the movie to be just as good. But expectations can only go so far. FMA is no exception.

Genre/s: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Shounen

Hagane no Renkinjutsushi Movie 2 Milos no Seinaru no Hoshi had it’s initial theater premier last July 2, 2011 at Japan. It also had a special screening last November in some parts of North America (Burbank, Hawaii, Vancouver, Toronto, and San Francisco) as part of their film festival activities.

The first FMA movie, The Conqueror of Shamballa, premiered six years ago. It served as a follow-up/epilogue for the original FMA series, and, well, suffice to say, Conqueror was loads better than Milos.

Chronologically, Milos could’ve taken place any time between Al’s memory-regain and the Central crisis (if it’s canon) so more or less you could treat it as a side story (like how the Elric brothers are always looking for leads about how they can regain their bodies). All bashing aside, it starts out very nice, with the introduction of the co-main cast, the Crichtons,  followed by some sinister scenes involving their family. A few minutes in and we get a time skip to “present” day Central, with our good old friends Ed and Al.

Commotion follows as a one-man prison break occurs and causes some damage to the neighboring houses. The man in question appears to be an alchemist, and a capable one at that, by using both ice and lightning alchemy. He manages to go head-to-head with the Elric brothers before pulling of a stalemate by electrocuting, and subsequently disabling Ed’s automail.

The main conflict has Julia Crichton, the supposed last surviving member of the Crichton family, on a do-or-die mission to restore Milos, the once glorious city which had then been reduced to a city resting at the bottom of a deep valley that doubled as the neighboring city Creta’s dump site. The former residents of Milos believe in a sacred power that flowed beneath Milos in the form of magma. They also believed in certain red stones (sound familiar) called “Stars of Blood” capable of immense power. Power enough to restore Milos.

Julia wishes to harness both. In a sense, Julia’s side of the story has a “liberating the oppressed” kind of feel, and coupling it with alchemy makes it a nice story. We see Julia as a character, develop and gain strength in a manner similar to the way FMA had done things. She’d probably make a nice main lead had the idea for her character been used for another series. For the other characters however, I can’t share the same sentiments.

Our dual-element alchemist’s “true identity” is nothing short of random that it narrowly avoided to trip the line between a well-thought out plot twist, and a “what the hell?”. The Elric brothers don’t get a pass here either. Ed, instead of being his usual short, hot-headed, and calculating self, becomes your more-than-ordinary hero that has just enough clutch ability to save our other main. Al is just there, voicing out his concerns at times, but in the end is just there. The ones that got it the worst though were Mustang, Hawkeye, and Winry. It’s like they were put in there for the sake of being there.

Take away Ed and Al, and the movie would have probably progressed the same way. If taking the spotlight away from the brothers was intentional, then they went a little overboard by leaving them with little to no light at all. In spite of that, I’d like to give the movie some credit for it’s plot twists. Bordering the “wth?” line or not, they were very unpredictable in my opinion, and it really helped increase the entertainment a bit.

I’ve never really been a fan of the art style of FMA, but the animation quality in this movie was pretty good (save for them purple lightning bolts, lol) The fight scenes had some nice style transitions and character movement was very fluid and realistic, in a sense. The music was okay for the most part as it did a nice job setting the mood during the whole “Three Dimensional Transmutation” thing. L’Arc and miwa also gave us some pretty catchy stuff.

All in all, the movie didn’t really give a lasting impression on me, as supposed to Conqueror. I guess generally it was because it didn’t really feel like FMA to me.

Likely so, but fortunately, Senjougahara has something else in mind in terms of vengeance. Six episodes strong is Nisemonogatari with some pretty interesting developments.

I guess the kiss (mentioned last episode) worked, somewhat, as Karen’s fever dropped a bit. Apparently the “poison” Koyomi took from Karen wasn’t enough. The poison is kept at bay by Koyomi’s vampire healing abilities so he appears virtually unharmed. Personally, I guess it was a good move that they didn’t make a big deal about that scene (who knows, maybe SHAFT is saving something else) I feared incest there for a second.

We also see Hachikuji again this episode, sans the sexual harassment, much to the comedic dismay of, surprisingly, Hachikuji herself. Jokingly, she says that she acts to dislike what Koyomi does to her so that he’d do it more. The dialogue here may be in jest, but I think there’s more to it, which I’ll talk about later on.

Koyomi explains the situation so far to Hachikuji, which then moves to a sort of continuation to Koyomi’s mini-monologue in the first episode. The discussion was his sisters, and how they need to act grown up. What Hachikuji says here is basically, they’re (Karen and Tsukihi) still kids, so it’s better if they act like kids, even if they don’t realize it, rather than an adult, who doesn’t realize he/she is an adult. It’s true that anyone can “grow up” by aging, but Karen and Tsukihi are just middle schoolers, asking them to grow up may not be so easy as Koyomi thinks it is.

The two part ways just as they reached Senjougahara’s house – if you’d remember the events of Bakemonogatari, Senjougahara doesn’t take too lightly on the fact that Hachikuji is there, even if she can’t see her. Koyomi says something intriguing here about how he doesn’t know what will happen to Hachikuji, but maybe he means just what he says.

The following scene has Senjougahara “arming” herself by sharpening what appears to be Unlimited Pencil Works. She’s planning to take on Kaiki, or rather, that was her plan all along once Kaiki had come to the town. Her wanting to protect Koyomi was just an “excuse”, or so she says. She was just “tsundere-ing” (which feels a bit similar to what Hachikuji did earlier on) Koyomi, being the man that he is, professes his love once again and shows his resolve to go with her to Kaiki. Senjougahara agree under one condition, though she doesn’t say what, and Koyomi has to agree to do it.

Oh, and apparently, Senjougahara calls Hanekawa as Hanekawa-sama, and she polishes her shoes and kneels before her because she wants to, not because she’s being bullied or threatened. What has happened to our Senjougahara!?

Afterwards, Karen goes missing (stubborn girl is stubborn) Koyomi’s first assumption is that she’d go somewhere where he can’t find her, then proceed to look for Kaiki. Rattling his brain for possible places where Karen might’ve gone, he rattles Shinobu as well. Since they’re connected, Shinobu says she feels Koyomi’s panic as well, and it messes with her nap time.

Koyomi asks if Shinobu would help him, to which she answers that if he “orders” it, she’d have no choice but to follow. Of course, Koyomi doesn’t want to just order around Shinobu to do as he pleases. Shinobu follows it up by saying that the mere fact that she appeared before him and not snoozing instead is that she wants to help him (aww) and that calling it an order would help her save face. The episode ends with Shinobu sniffing out Karen’s blood, and finds that she isn’t as far off as Koyomi thought.

The final dialogue with Shinobu mirrors Koyomi’s conversation with Senjougahara (and to some extent Hachikuji) in that, I think, false reluctance (tsundere-ing) is something of a minor theme. So yeah, halfway through (technically more than halfway) and the Karen Bee arc is climaxing.

A quick look at a dictionary would give us a few meanings of the word hype. Based on the usage it can mean “to stimulate” or “to enliven” with a more positive tone, while it can also mean a “put-on” or “exaggerated claims” denoting something negative. In a sense, hype can can be either good or bad, depending on the outcome of what had been “hyped up” in the first place, hence the phrase “living up to the hype”.

Almost anything can be hyped up. Anime in particular is no exception. Now, you may be thinking, anime hype is only concerned with premiering shows. This is where I throw in my two cents in and say that it’s not only for newly produced shows. As there are two or three ways you can interpret hype, there are also many ways on how hype applies to anime, or so I’d like to believe. I’ve categorized such ways into three – Production hype, Fan hype, and Self hype.

Production hype is when a show gets buzz for having a virtually awesome combo of producers, seiyuus, directors and, well, basically all of those responsible for creating a certain show. For example, the announcement of Summer 2011′s Blood-C became pretty hyped up by the collaboration of CLAMP and the Blood franchise, as well as the participation of the very beautiful Nana Mizuki.

This is probably the most known form of hype as it deals with season premiers, where most viewers are tuned in the most. That being said, the hype here begins very early – usually as the show gets its final list of main seiyuus and they start releasing promotional trailers. At this time, the hype build-up is caused by the viewers’ assumptions that if “these guys” and “those guys” make an anime together, it’s bound to be awesome. The hype lasts until a few episodes in to the series, where the only thing that matters at that point is whether or not the show is worth the watch.

Fan hype, on the other hand, is more subjective in that, the build up is by the fans themselves. To try and make things clearer, I’ll use Death Note as an example. Death Note, despite airing five years ago, still has a ton of loyal, entertained fans and continues to make more until now.

This type of hype lives on for as long as it’s fanbase lives, which basically means, forever. (or, y’know, until the zombie apocalypse messes with all of us) The hype spreads through mediums mostly, with sites like MAL, forums, anime reviews, or even through personal means by a friend’s recommendation. I mean, wouldn’t you want to share what you found awesome? The multitude of positive insights therefore are the hype itself.

The last hype-type is what I’d call Self hype. This is just how it sounds – you’re hyping yourself for a show, be it for production preferences, or your own. The hype begins when you start being intrigued by a show, maybe check out a synopsis or two, listen to the OP a few times, maybe ask someone about the series. Basically, you’re teasing yourself in to watching a show.

I guess an example of this for me was when I hyped myself for DuRaRaRa!! – I watched/listened to the OP without knowing anything about the series, then I went and looked at some character profiles after spoiling myself about Izaya’s character. This could differ from viewer to viewer, but for me, Self hype lasts until you either finish the series or are satisfied by it’s developments (or possibly, lack thereof)

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So yeah, in the end, I guess hype isn’t all bad, but it’s not a fool-proof guarantee. So, ever been hyped before? ^^

You know an episode is good if it makes twenty-four minutes fly by like you were just watching it for five. Well, it’s either that or I’m just happy to watch Nisemono.

The fifth episode feels the most wordy, I think, compared to the last four, but then again, most dialogue here is all story, so I guess that would make sense. We do however, start off with a funny scene with Koyomi and Tsukihi, with the latter digressing so as to avoid talking about Karen’s encounter with Kaiki. This leads to Tsukihi arriving to the subject of “something embarrassing”, whereas she asked how Koyomi doesn’t have friends. He retorts and says that he has five friends now (Hanekawa, Senjougahara, Nadeko, Kanbaru and Hachikuji, lol) and proceeds to explain why he never chose to have friends before, but was cut short by Tsukihi.

I’m guessing Koyomi’s “reason” for not having friends is the same as the one he mentioned in Kizumonogatari. Basically, he believed that having friends makes you a weaker human being, wherein if a friend gets hurt, you’d worry about that friend, and that if you have a lot of friends, you’d have to consider worrying about them as well.

Afterwards we see what really happened to Karen the day she encountered Kaiki. This scene felt really creepy in my opinion. Not that it was scary or anything, rather the atmosphere was just so evil. Karen tracked his weirdly monochromatic office and declared to give Kaiki a beat-down. To which Kaiki just shrugs off. He begins to talk about his beliefs, in that he only does it for the money. Everything that happens after he gives a charm or a curse is no longer his problem, all the more since his customer are a bunch of foolish kids.

This angers Karen, but Kaiki decides to shut her up by using the “wreathe-fire bee”. Really though, seeing Karen completely shut down like that was really intense. To add insult to injury, he even (technically) stole her money. That was just so wrong on so many levels.

Apparently it was Hanekawa who found Kaiki’s office, and feels slightly at fault for what happened to Karen. So as to “make it up” to Koyomi, she gives him a free, non-expiring, 24/7 ticket to touch her breasts, but upon doing so will result in Hanekawa hating him forever. I doubt it’s worth it though, lol. Their conversation trails off to how she wants Koyomi to start studying after this is all over, to which he gladly accepts. There’s also the return of Hanekawa’s catch phrase somewhere around there, so that was nice.

The last bit of the episode has Koyomi and Karen, with the latter now appearing very sickly. She does make up for it with her words when she starts defending her ideals – in that even though she’s not strong, she can’t ignore someone that needs help, or someone that needs to be punished. Koyomi explains that that idealism is what makes her childish.

We also have a short Shinobu scene near the end when Koyomi asks her the possibility of transferring the wreathe-fire bee’s adverse effects on Karen to him. Shinobu answers vaguely, saying something about it being doable, though not advisable. After some contemplation, Koyomi decides to do it. What follows is a very intriguing scene where Koyomi moves to kiss Karen. A means to transfer the illness maybe?

In the end, Koyomi gets all the girls. I doubt the sickness can be transferred so easily, as I think there’s more to it than Shinobu can remember.

As of late I haven’t finished any series on my backlog, and have been only sticking to on-going shows. I plan to cross out some titles (I doubt I can finish all, lol) come next month when studies aren’t so hectic. ‘Till then, here’s the second part of my Anime Bucket List.

Since it’s been so long since I got the urge to watch Bamboo Blade but never actually got around to watching it, I completely forgot why I wanted to in the first place. It might be because it’s about girls who know Kendo. It doesn’t look too serious story-wise, but I do think that I’ll be enjoying it for the characters and the Kendo matches. I have actually seen (and subsequently spoiled myself) a clip of, what I think is, a very important battle in this series, and the animation was for the most part neat and fluid.

I’ve heard Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind being tossed around discussions enough times to know that it’s good. I admit I haven’t seen any Ghibli film as of today. I plan to remedy that soon, with Nausicaä here getting top priority. Well, unless of course there’s a better movie to start off a Ghibli marathon. I love stories with strong and brave princesses, but I’ve seen most of them in RPG’s and only a few in anime, which is why I really want to give this a shot. I might get around this earlier than the rest since its a movie.

I’m not entirely sure whether it was a MAL recommendation from Shakugan no Shana, or Code Geass, but that was basically how I encountered Seirei no Moribito. Either way is good, since Code Geass is awesome-tier, and, despite not following season 3, I still have respect for Shakugan no Shana. After reading the synopsis of Seirei though, I might be leaning more on the Code Geass similarity, with the whole exiled-prince theme. That being said, it looks great, and from the least that I tried to spoil for myself, I hear it has qute a climax.

Similar to how I learned about Nausicaä, Rose of Versailles, I believe, is one of those famous old-school shows alongside Utena and Evangelion that appear in discussions from time to time. Having watched both, to some extent (very very close to finishing Utena) I’d love to add another classic to my collection. It’s gonna add to my growing list of Shoujo anime, to which I’ve come to appreciate recently. More so since I feel an Utena/Saber-like vibe from the main character. This might be tougher to get through though, since it really is a bit old, but I’ll get to it somehow.

I’ll cut it here for now since, progress-wise, my list isn’t moving at all (lol) So yeah, if you guys have watched these shows above, tell me what you think about ‘em ^^

Fourth episode in the books and Nisemonogatari continues to please its fans by giving us the best possible mix of bath scenes and plot development.

We now see Hanekawa sporting shorter hair (maybe because it was summer?) as Koyomi finds out that she had been helping the Fire Sisters in their justice-work. We also find out the core problem of the Karen Bee arc – the oddity known as the “wreathe-fire bee”. From what I understand is that it inflicts a person with an intense fever, famous from the olden times, and usually led to death. The perpetrator was the Fire Sisters’ suspect for the spreading of charms talked about in episode two, who was also the reason for Senjougahara’s kidnapping of Koyomi, Kaiki Deishu.

Also, we get an explanation for Senjougahara’s taken-aback attitude from the last episode. My hunch was more or less right when Hanekawa said “If you don’t be a good girl, I’ll ask Araragi-san to be my boyfriend.” I think it has been mentioned in Bakemonogatari that Koyomi is “thankful” to Hanekawa the most, and would do anything for her. So she was basically using that as a bargaining chip to persuade Senjougahara in freeing Koyomi. I don’t want to spoil Kizumonogatari, and how Koyomi feels indebted to Hanekawa, so lets just say Koyomi owes her a lot.

But really, the highlight of this episode was the last remaining character yet to be mentioned until the later half – the iron-blooded, hot-blooded, cold-blooded vampire herself, not only makes her first appearance here in Nisemono, but also her first voiced appearance. VA Maaya Sakamoto truly surprised me in her tone this time around. I mentioned in my review of Arakawa how distinct her deep voice was, but now we also hear her pull off a more cutesy tone, coupled with some haughty Holo-esque speech pattern. Gotta giver her props.

I swear, SHAFT are the only ones that can make a fifteen-minute bath scene serious and dialogue driven, as Shinobu and Koyomi catch up with current events, the more important topic being her knowledge of the wreathe-fire bee. Upon listening (albeit involuntarily) to Oshino Meme’s ramblings, she passes on what she knows about this oddity.

The more entertaining part of their discussion however was about their own, Shinobu’s and Koyomi’s circumstances, with Shinobu being only a shadow of her former self, and Koyomi only being slightly human. They keep bringing up their unwillingness to forgive each other. She also brings up the risk that Koyomi might have a vampire’s lifespan, and tries to get him to kill her, to which Koyomi refuses. Again, the structure of their relationship will be expounded further by Kizumono.

The last bit of their talk was a touching one though, as Koyomi gestures, what I think is the “sign of obedience” mentioned in Kizumono, to Shinobu by rubbing her head.

So yeah, again, this series is definitely stealing the season so far. Let’s hope it just builds up even more from here. Till then, guys, lock your doors, and ladies, knock first before entering ^^

Being Anime fans, it’s safe to assume that we’ve all watched a variety of shows. From the old-school to the mainstream, the classics to the new generation, shounen to shoujo, drama to harem, and well, you get the picture. I do believe though, that we all have that one show that was a little bit different from the rest, which has set camp in our hearts, with no plans of leaving anytime soon.

“Guilty Pleasure” is commonly used to describe something you shouldn’t like, or are guilty of liking it, but at the same time you do like it. I’d describe a Guilty Pleasure Anime as a show that you love to come back to when all the other shows fail to impress you. It’s not a masterpiece show, but we love it nonetheless. Basically, it’s your biased favorite.

I’ve archived some shows but there’s a handful in there that I’ve re-watched more times than the others. One of those shows would be Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi. It was one of my early favorites during my first years of watching anime. I saw a very short clip of it (eight seconds long if I remember correctly) and it was enough for me to want to give it a go. The art style really got to me, though at that time I had just got around watching some other J.C. Staff shows. The story wasn’t anything like I had expected, rather, it was loads better. I started recommending it like crazy afterwards.

I was blind to its flaws because I was so entranced by it. Maybe even now, after reading what others see in it as flaws (character development and such), and after seeing some of it as well, it didn’t matter. I still loved it. And yes, I’ve re-watched it a bunch of times. I can’t really say it’s the nostalgia factor, since it wasn’t that long ago that I’ve watched it, but if I had to give a reason, it maybe because it was one of the shows that got me started with anime. Kinda like how when you got a new toy but you don’t want to get rid of your old one (or is that just me, lol)

It’s my go-to show when I need a few laughs, a kyaa~ moment, or just something to pass the time when the day feels slow. Definitely not the best, but I guess that’s the idea here – a show doesn’t need to be near flawless all the time for us to say we like it, and sometimes ignoring the “flaws” and just enjoying the show just works.

So, you guys have any “Guilty Pleasure” shows? ^^

Yes, even the OP agrees by giving us a full color Senjougahara centered sequence.

The episode starts out with Koyomi cleaning up Kanbaru’s mess of BL books. Kanbaru mentions that Koyomi’s kindness might work against him someday and proceeds to warn him albeit casually. Their time together ends with some serious talk, with Koyomi asking about Kanbaru’s left arm. The question was more or less the same from episode 1, wherein Koyomi wanted to know how Kanbaru hid the fact that her arm was once a cursed entity. I take it that Koyomi is still thinking about his vampirism, and how he should talk about it with his sisters.

Probably the biggest revelation in the episode was right around the first half where Araragi encounters a shady man clad in funeral clothes as he was about to leave Kanbaru’s house. He introduces himself as Kaiki Deishu, who apparently has the title of being the “Black Swindler”. This scene, for me, was pretty intense, almost creepy really. It goes to show that SHAFT really knows how to set a mood. However, my favorite part in this scene was Koyomi’s passing mention of Oshino Meme, and Guillotine Cutter.

To those who may not know, Guillotine Cutter is a highly skilled Archbishop/Exorcist from Kizumonogatari, the prequel of Bakemonogatari. In a nutshell, he’s a badass human that can go against Kai, or “oddities”. I can see why Koyomi can make that comparison as Oshino is pretty strong as well, can go against Kai, and he’s also just human. However, the difference between the two (Oshino and Guillotine Cutter) and the similarity between Guillotine Cutter and Kaiki, would be the air of animosity, or as Koyomi describes it, a feeling of being threatened. I love how they’re tossing Guillotine Cutter’s name around. It makes me feel that Kizumonogatari (animated) is oh so near.

Feeling uneasy about getting involved with Kaiki, Koyomi heads the opposite direction. Upon reaching the town, he sees Senjougahara and yells a “Hi” to her. The scene then becomes comedic as Senjougahara completely ignores him, the reason being that Senjougahara doesn’t like Koyomi ditching his studies to be playing around – with other women at that, to which she counted five: Tsukihi, Hachikuji, Sengoku, Karen, and Kanbaru (six, if you count Kanbaru’s grandma).

After Koyomi finishes explaining the situation, their idle banter continue until Koyomi mentions an “ill-omened” man. Koyomi says Kaiki’s name, and the next thing we see is a black screen. It was Senjougahara that knocked him out and “confined” him in the cram school. It turns out that Kaiki was one of the con-men that tricked Senjougahara’s family. She wanted to protect Koyomi from him, so that she’ll never have to lose anything important to her again.

All’s well and good until Koyomi’s cellphone rings, and a message from Tsukihi asking for help is displayed. The awesomeness of Koyomi shows once again as he breaks the cuffs that bound him via his own strength. And he’s only a tenth of what he used to be!

What follows is a very cute scene with Senjougahara, as well as an intriguing phone call to her by, surprisingly, Hanekawa. So yeah, it’s good to see the plot finally underway, but…where’s Shinobu!?

“Love conquers all”. It’s a wonderful thing to believe in, and has proven its effectiveness most of the time. Countless movies, novels, television shows, up to anime and manga have had its fair share of the miracles of love. That is to say, most of the time what love needed to overcome was something fantastical altogether. What happens then, if the obstacle is too tangible, too real. Would love be enough?

Kicking it with some old school romance, here’s a Quick Look at HanTsuki.

HanTsuki, or Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora (Looking up at the Half-Moon) is an adaptation of a light novel series with the same name. The series aired six years ago (so it’s not that much old school) during the Winter season of 2006 and lasted six episodes.

As you could probably guess by the way I introduced this post, HanTsuki has a bit of a sad story to it alongside the romance. Our male lead Ezaki Yuuichi contracts Hepatitis A (which in the most extreme of cases, could cause liver failure) and has to be confined for some while at the hospital. It doesn’t help his condition that he sneaks out from time to time to take strolls or visit his friends, which prolongs his stay even more. For that reason he has to be kept in line by one of the attending nurses, Akiko Tanizaki, who more or less became an older sister for him at the hospital.

However, not even the tougher-than-most nurse can stop Yuuichi from growing restless in a hospital. To somehow help him in that regard, Akiko tells him of a girl, same age as him, who was a newly transferred patient to the hospital’s east wing – Akiba Rika. Yuuichi has been at the hospital long enough to know that the east wing is where they treat patients with serious illnesses. That didn’t stop Akiko from setting up a meeting of the two. At first sight, Rika might not seem that ill to begin with – she’s sharp and just as rowdy in a hospital as Yuuichi, bossing him around and taking him on “adventures” around the hospital.

In the span of a few days, the two became close, but the selfish and arrogant Rika’s condition got to her as well. She was living on borrowed time, and the test of Yuuichi’s love had begun.

HanTsuki is very well-crafted, easily making a satisfying series using six episodes. There is no rush, and the characters have their own personal traits that doesn’t make them forgettable in the least. We see Yuuichi and Rika, two teenagers literally fighting for their love, and enjoying each others company in a situation such as theirs. It’s a very heartwarming thing to see, but a little gut-wrenching as well. Though it doesn’t differ from the bunch of drama and romance titles out there, HanTsuki has a certain quirk to it that makes it stand out just a little more.

I apologize in advance, but I selfishly want to spoil to you this much – no one dies yet. Which is also the reason why I like this series. Of course it’s better if no one dies, but I also feel that drama and romance, especially in the case of life threatening illnesses, doesn’t really need deaths to make it touching. Instead this series presents to us something more grand – to live on, do the best that one can, even if their time is short. Even the half-moon does its best to illuminate the world.

It sounds so cheesy now that I wrote that last line, but it’s the truth of this series. In the words of Akiko, “For them to be happy to their hearts’ content, or be filled with joyous laughter – If such moments exist, somehow I can accept their fate.”.