Yay~ Certain circumstances all happening in a row finally lead to me being able to marathon a lot of the anime I’d been talking about getting to “eventually”. Series I’d been putting off watching since Christmas or for possibly two years now (I watched 20/25 episodes and it took me two years to get to the last five episodes!).

Ah. It’s so refreshing. In this case, putting a hold on my blogging caused me to enjoy my anime hobby more. It just goes to show you, whenever your hobby starts feeling like a chore, it’s time to take a break. Following that advice is what’s caused me to love writing for so long I’m sure. *in a very good mood*

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So it kind of started when I made the decision to not force myself to blog when I don’t want to. For me, I’ve been doing episodic blogging for too long so it was wearing on me a little bit. Especially since right now I was doing three series at once and all of them cause me to ramble unnecessarily. White Album, Shugo Chara, and Clannad…all of which it’s difficult to find something “new” or unique to say (meaning something everyone else isn’t going to say).

But I caught a break when White Album’s sixth episode turned out to be so boring that I just said “screw it” and decided to skip it. I used to do that. That’s the only way I managed to get through 24 episodes of…that. Now, of course White Album is on hold for blogging until…I feel like blogging it again.

As for Clannad, well a triple post will be coming up sometime soon. Right now all I have to say is, “Ushio~!”

So like I was saying, I decided to take a break. I’ve been doing that more recently, but usually that’s lead to me working more on my outline (I’m 2/3 of the way done. I went from 1/4 to 2/3 in just the past month). However, recently I was in the mood to really watch anime.

Like, in the same mood I used to get when I was fifteen. I’d find out about a series, watch the first episode, then proceed to download and watch every other episode as quickly as I could. I was lucky if an anime lasted a week. When I got DVDs they never lasted more than a day (I know I watched 26 episode Fruits Basket in one day).

What got me back in that mood? Well as a wild guess I’d say finally finishing Shakugan no Shana had something to do with it.

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I finished it on Wednesday night (2/11) or perhaps early, early Thursday morning. The way I had to finish it is enough to give me a nostalgic feeling.

See, I got the boxset with the intention of watching it only when I was sick in bed. And that’s what I did. Though, actually good health was on my side (for once) and I didn’t end up sick in bed that often. But Monday I was too sick to go to school and so I stayed in bed and I watched…a lot of it.

Then I somehow ended up at episode 20 by Wednesday. I woke up with enough time before class to watch some of the episodes. I got to episode 23…and then I had to leave.

I got to the episode before the last one! Then I had to go to school! ARGH!

That used to happen to me a lot more often when I was going to school (when I was fifteen specifically, since that was the last full year I had of school). I’d get to a really good episode with a cliffhanger and then…goodbye~ I really had the worst of luck with my anime-viewing. Or maybe the fact that I always tried to squeeze in those extra episodes before an appointment are to blame. ^_^;

Also, the story gave me a sense of nostalgia about the anime I used to marathon. The “DVD Anime” as I think of them in my head. The anime I specifically want to watch on DVD these days. There’s something about watching the story in bed on a TV that makes it just better. They’re also acceptable just as marathons.

I have some anime I’ve watched on DVD for the first time that I wouldn’t even specifically call a DVD Anime. Like Haruhi and Gurren Lagann. I saw both of them on DVD while I was laying down in bed, but I can imagine myself enjoying them just as much or more if I watched them week by week.

It’s not so much the actual story, but something about how the story progresses that makes a “DVD Anime” for me. It’s hard to explain. But Shakugan no Shana had that and I enjoyed it very much.

On the series specifically…I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it so much because it felt like everyone who had seen it was telling me how lame it got once the love triangle got involved. I can’t help but think everyone was over-dramatizing how horrible it was so I wouldn’t be disappointed by it. Like how we Shugo Chara fangirls will watch the fillers but warn everyone else to stay far, far away. You don’t know how they’re going to like it.

Or something like that~ I could be off entirely.

I really don’t have much else to say though…well except Wilhelmina was my favorite character (and then Shana…and then nobody because everyone else was likable, but not really enough to warrant any favorite status).

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Anyway, after my nostalgic fifteen-year-old mode was awakened by Shana, I sat down and went through all of the episodes of ToraDora I had gotten behind with. I suppose I was anxious to see more good JC Staff anime since I’d been more familiar with their crap.

On a sidenote for ToraDora, I think I like Minori the most after looking back at her past odd behavior and seeing her…well being quite cute in episode 20. Then I like Ami and then Taiga. But damn…I really don’t like one girl much more than the other. They’re all great. It’s just about a three-way tie. (And that’s all I really have to say on ToraDora. Thank goodness I don’t need to force myself for Weekly Anime right now.)

Then after ToraDora I wanted moar! But I took a break so I could download more for my sudden appetite for anime. I burned some anime already sitting on my computer onto DVDs so I could take it with me that weekend (I went on a trip that also contributed to my SUPER marathoning).

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Then I decided to set my sights on music-playing bishes. That’s right La Corda d’Oro. Because I watched 20 episodes of it not too long after it finished airing and…stopped for one reason or another. But now I’ve finished.

Ah…that’s a real anime for fangirls. I had forgotten that I used to have giggle fits for bishies until I started having giggle fits while watching that anime. I really can’t wait for the sequel. You have to guess which bishie is my favorite. If any girls guess wrong, you can’t be my friends anymore.

You know watching that anime made me realize that Brand New Breeze is shockingly absent from my Top Ten Openings list, even though I always, always watched it when I was first watching the anime (this time too). Bishies and wind? Hell yeah. It’s also just a really nice song.

My oh my, I feel like I could go on about that anime forever (it is made for fangirling), but I’ll leave it alone for now. I’ll have time to go on about it in the Spring. Ohohohoho~ I’m so looking forward to it.

Though my one comment on the series would be: Did anyone even win the concours? Seriously.

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Then after La Corda D’Oro I started thinking about other anime I left unfinished. So I decided to watch the last two episodes of Zombie Loan. The ones that you had to wait for the DVDs for. Somehow, I didn’t end up watching the episodes at the time (even though I’d seen the first 11), so I decided to do it now.

I liked the last two episodes, but it made me realize why we ended up with 11 rather than 13 after the series was inexplicably cut down from 20-something to half that. The last two episodes are even more open-ended than episode 11. New rivals show up and then BAM. Nothing.

Basically, it just made me really, really want to get back to reading the manga. Because it felt like we were finally getting to the real story right before it fell apart.

Too bad I remember Zombie Loan being confusing to read as a manga, so I’d like to actually have the printed version rather than a scanlation. But I have no money…so it will all just have to wait.

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Then! Then I watched Nanatsuiro Drops. The only full series I watched on my little anime-watching binge.

It’s been at the top of my watch-list for a while, purely because it looked…way too cute.

And it is, it really is. Sumomo is especially…ah, just so darn cute. Oh, and I know everyone likes to go on about how cute other anime’s chibi scenes are, but this one wins. No contest. Just…the cutest chibi stuff ever.

The only downside is that all of that cuteness comes with a heavy dose of corniness. I get the feeling that if I watched it week by week it would start to get on my nerves. Especially since one thing in the anime did get on my nerves, even watching it all bunched together. The freakin’ classmates. Their “supposed” friends. Every time they’d interfere with Sumomo and Haru I felt like throwing all of them into a wall so they’d shut up. Freakin’ annoying!

AGH! Yeah…that must have been incredibly annoying watching weekly, because I know that marathoning anime tends to make annoying things less noticable. But I watched it on my dad’s laptop and every time one of the friends started talking I felt like throwing the laptop. I never did, but I had to pause it a few times to let my irritation pass.

But um yeah, seeing as I’m not really meaning for this to be a review, I’ll just leave it as…this anime was really, really cute. It’s really easy for me to love any mahou shoujo series as long as it doesn’t fall into to just an episodic monster-of-the-week series. I like all mahou shoujo with a story (and/or romance). Whether it’s originally aimed at girls (Shugo Chara!) or actually boys (Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha).

Any downsides to the anime really just came from the staff trying to hard. Too much drama, too much corniness…you know. But it was an enjoyable anime anyway. It was the good kind of corniness mostly, but the drama got annoying with some of the crying sometimes. Still, it was all cute and I liked it quite a bit. I really liked the ending. Oh I’m such a sucker for a happy ending after all. That’s why I still like fairytales despite how…unrealistic they are.

I really think I want to play the game for this someday (as I can see the corniness going down when the audience is really just supposed to be guys), but…not the computer version. I think H-scenes would kind of warp my “oh this is so cute” feeling. Maybe the PS2 version…someday…if I get the chance.

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I think marathoning anime is now my definite preferred way to watch anime. If you just plow through something at your own convenience, any self-imposed stress that comes along with watching anime disappears. It leads to a longer love for anime…I think. At least, switching to marathons every once in a while will make sure you only watch anime that you want to, rather than watching something because it’s on.

So I get the feeling that I’ll be picking up less than usual come Spring. I may show interest in more than what I pick up, but I might just wait for those anime to finish (or at least until they’re halfway finished).

One thing I’m positive of though…is that I’m always going to watch a shoujo anime as it’s airing. I love my shoujo. And shoujo is fun to watch weekly (I think). Just like how I have the most fun reading a shoujo manga once a month (okay this is a lie, but it certainly ups the fangirling by creating “kyaa”-inducing cliffhangers that torture you for a month).

So I suppose my next question is…what should I marathon next? I’m trying to decide between three anime.

• Shakugan no Shana II – I am aware it’s supposed to really suck for the first half. But I still want to watch it.
• Bokura ga Ita – Anything I’ve accidentally seen from this anime makes me smile so logically, I want to watch it.
• Hatenkou Yuugi – I started liking Rahzel just by images while looking around for Xiao Jie’s Shoujo-Only Moe Tournament (the obsessive linking and promotion continues) and I’ve heard good things.

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

Those are the three main ones I’m considering right now based on my mood. But I have a pretty long “Plan to Watch” list on MAL. Even after you take out things that haven’t aired.

Anyway, I’m going to watch whatever wins the poll (it closes on Monday). For now I can’t watch anything outside of what’s airing, because I have been neglecting my vacation homework.  Stupid paper on “Heroes” and “Leaders” bah. I hate vague topics.

In: Anime, Articles, La Corda d'Oro | tags: chibi, cute~!, fangirling, meh. | #