Golden Time
The series is about Tada Banri who is a new student at a Private Law School in Tokyo; struggling through the changes in his life, building new relationships and rediscovering old ones. Within the first episode, Banri gets lost on his way to the school Opening Ceremony. In hope of making his way there, he follows some girls who appear to be from the same School. After ultimately looking like a stalker, the results don’t end in his favour. However, this only leads to him meeting Yanagisaw Mitsuo , a fellow new student, in the same course who just happens to also be in a similar situation. They join forces and when they finally get to the School, they’re met by a beautiful, fashionable girl carrying a bouquet of flowers. With the girl closing in on them, Mitsuo looks terrified as if he’s having a nightmare, well to him it was as if he was. The girl whacks Mitsuo in the face with the roses leading Banri in utter shock. Having brilliant comedy elements, Banri covers up the situation and starts acting the fool, handing the flowers out to the passers-by whilst Mitsuo sits petrified. We soon find out that the beauty is Mitsuo’s childhood ‘friend’ Kaga Kouko . In Kouko’s eyes they’re more than just friend’s.
That’s just the beginning of the story, with later events taking place giving you a deeper understanding of the characters, especially Banri’s past which is the key part of the story. With new relationships developing, old ones must always appear which brings a whole lot of drama. With this being said, you are always left dying for the next episode.
The series will have you in fits of laughter and tears whilst making you feel all warm inside with the beautiful romance between the main characters.
Now why do I love this series so much? Simple, it’s kept me enthralled from the first 5 minutes to the last few seconds of the recent episode. There is no room for boredom. The relationships between the main characters have a lot of depth and are developing at a great pace. I’m a huge fan of Shoujo anime which led me to watch this in the first place, however it really is just a great Romance/Comedy. Whether you’re male or female, you will enjoy this series. I have been left in tears from some episodes just from it being so stupidly hilarious. I have grown to love the main characters so much and have been able to relate to some of the issues presented which I think most people will be able to at least one.
So if you feel like sitting down, having a good laugh, maybe a little cry here and there and a good amount of drama to spice things up, then Golden Time is the series for you.
Noragami
A lowly god trying to become the most revered deity who just happens to walk around in a track suit doing odd jobs for 5 yen (The Japanese usually use at shrines when praying), what more could you ask for? I love stories based around Onmiyouji (Japanese exorcism), gods/spirits and Japanese folk tales so this was a must for me.
Yato the ‘Delivery God’ as he calls himself, wants to build his own shrine and have people admire him all over. He meets Hiyori Iki , a middle school girl after she gets in an accident when she sees him run out in front of a car chasing a cat. By the way, ‘normal people’ can’t see him, well more than not see, he just doesn’t have much of a presence to say. Hiyori wakes up next to her body with an amazed Yato looking down at her. Hiyori finds out that her soul has left her body leaving her stuck between the ‘Human world’ and ‘Afterlife’. To get back to normal, she pays Yato to help her. Can she really trust such a peculiar ‘god’ who bums at others shrines at night to fulfil her request? Either way, she seems to have very little choice.
I personally love the character Yato. You expect gods to be powerful and all knowing, but he seems so average…at least for the time being. In most recent episodes we are discovering there is more than meet the eyes.
In the story, Gods have Shinki (Divine Weapons)which help them fight corrupted spirits which can influence humans. After Yato’s Shinki quits, he is left to fight (run)alone, until he meets Yukine . Yukine appears as a cute young boy who had a troubling time when alive. He becomes very attached to Hiyori and often has ‘indecent’ thoughts of which then sends a jolt to Yato as there is a connection between Gods and their Shinki . This allows them to sense when their Shinki is thinking something they shouldn’t be. It’s another entertaining factor of the series.
Six episodes have aired so far, each one being entertaining in its own way.
9.5/10 so far
Space Dandy
As you would have seen on the site already, it has received a fantastic review and feel there is not much more I can add so I will just give a few reasons why I love the series so far.
There is such a variety of characters in the series with Dandy just being GOD of them all. He is amusingly dodgy in most ways. He knows what he wants and is quite honest which is what I like. He is also voiced by one of my favourite Seiyuu (voice actors) Suwabe Junichi who does an excellent job at portraying his free willed personality.
The art is different each episode due to using different staff members each time which I think works quite well. It keeps each episode fresh, but is still ‘Space Dandy’.
Whilst writing this, I was listening to the opening (Viva Namida by Yasuyuki Okamura) and ending song (Welcome to the X Dimension by Etsuko Yakushimaru) which I think work really well with the series.
Space Dandy really is a hilarious series with something to entertain all. I particularly like ‘Boobies’ , watch to find out what I’m talking about.
Although for all who have watched ‘Cowboy Bebop’ , it will never take its place, but it really is a great follow up by Shinichiro Watanabe . I have liked most of his works, but Space Dandy is one of the best since ‘Bebop’. The colours, in contrast to Bebop are bright and fun, which for me creates a more relaxed feel. If you’re a fan of Bebop, then please give this ago, it really is a great series I look forward to every week.
10/10 so far
Hamatora
Hamatora is about a select amount of Humans called ‘minimum holders’ who have special supernatural powers. Nice and Murasaki , Two Minimum Holders, set up their own detective agency based in a cafe in Yokohama . Nice has a plaster over his nose and always has a pair of headphones around his neck which is used to activate his powers. He is a ‘happy-go-lucky’ type of guy who just happens to be a genius. Murashaki on the other hand is a lot more serious and rational. He is tall with white spikey hair and wears glasses which once removed activates his powers. The pair always seem to get themselves involved in a stream of serious cases which all just happened to be linked.
The idea of ‘Minimum holder’ and the unique way the powers are activated is what interests me the most. There have been plenty of series’ with people having certain ‘powers’ e.g. super strong, however the difference is how the powers are activated. If I could take my glasses off and suddenly become really strong, that would kick ass.
The story is still developing with the plot thickening as it does.
8/10 so far
Yowamushi Pedal
Yowamushi Pedal is a bicycling anime. Sakamichi Onoda , your average otaku cycles every week to Akihabara which is quite a distant from his home. One day he is riding his ‘Granny bike ‘ which he has had since a kid, up a very steep hill with very little effort whilst singing the theme song from his favourite anime. Imaizumi Shunsuke , a skilled cyclist is training up the hill when he notices someone up ahead who happens to be Onoda . He is shocked to see someone riding up the hill with ease on such an average looking bulky bike.
Onoda went through middle school with no friends to talk about his hobbies with and planned to start a club up once entering High school. However, with no one signing up, he later joins the bicycling club after being influenced by Imaisumi . From there on, he trains to become a better ‘climber’ whilst fully enjoying himself.
I myself am not much of a sportsperson… actually not at all. That being said, I have loved series’ like Prince of Tennis, Kaleido Star, Free, Kuroko no Basuke and Ace of Diamonds and Yowamushi is definitely being added to that. You really don’t need to love cycling to watch it. I haven’t ridden a bike in many years, but it still has a lot to offer. The main topic is the club, but there is some hidden romance and comedy in there. There is also that common ground of the main character being an Otaku. Otaku’s don’t have to just sit around in front of the computer all day long, they can be involved in sports and other activities. The series has even made me want to start cycling again. I really recommend this series. If you look at it and say ‘I hate sports, I’m not watching that’, then I say WATCH IT, you will see how mistaken you are.
9/10 so far
That was five of my favourite series’ currently airing. I hope you will check them out at some point.
Written by Vicky Ovel