Winter 2009 Study Guide (Part 2)

Rideback – Must Know. Ogata Rin (Mizuki Nana) is just too GAR. I know chicks can’t be GAR by definition but I can’t find a better word. Rin is quickly becoming my favourite Nana role. The first few eps looked like they were about a young ballerina who retired due to a torn ankle ligament then discovers a new passion in motor racing. What made this series a Must Know was how Rin really seemed to be enjoying herself on the bike (I’m not being sick or anything. Really.). Her passion, never-say- die attitude and the way she pulls off spectacular ballet-inspired stunts with her mecha-bike Fuego makes me feel like I’m watching TTGL all over again. Rin’s got Spiral Energy, man. It helps, of course, that she wears an otherwise rather modest white one-piece dress, except that it tends to flip up nicely in the wind as she tears down the road, for those interested in the service sector. Animation wise, the show looked fine. The CG mecha-bikes didn’t look out of place at all, so kudos to Madhouse, or whoever did the CG.

Ep 4 was a bit less enjoyable bcos somehow terrorists got into the picture and there were battles involving the mecha-bikes. There were hints of this in earlier eps, but I was just hoping they would ignore the terrorists and just get on with the racing. Oh well. We’ll see how it goes from here on. Let’s just hope Rin doesn’t get recruited into Celestial Being as a Gundam Meister. That’s when I’ll stop watching.

Maria Holic – Must Know, cos I’m partial to yuri. =) I dunno whether the original manga had such a random off-tangent style of perverted humour or it was Shaft’s doing, but the show sure reminded me of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. I’m not complaining though, I love this show. The dick-grab in ep 1 had me in stitches.

Almost the entire cast being SZS alumni certainly didn’t help to differentiate the two shows. Miyukichi is wonderfully menacing in an off-handed kind of way as GOD, while Marina was delightfully poker-faced and foulmouthed as the meido. Maybe she can play both Kana and Chiaki in Minamike. Kobayashi was good too, switching btw bishoujo and otoko modes effortlessly. I keep forgetting the name of the main character’s seiyuu, but I know she played Tamaki in Kurenai. Her ero-jiji act was nose-bleedingly good haha.

Druaga 2 (Update) – on the verge of being downgraded to Good to Know. As expected, once the RPG plot starts the fun stops. We need more scenes of Kayi jabbing Fatina’s butt to boost this back to a definite Must Watch. Bespectacled OL Coopa was a highlight. The OP, Question, is growing on me. Awesome song to go with the opening animation, which has become the best part of the show, as of ep 5. Got to say the fight involving the shadows was quite creative though.

Minamike Okaeri – Must Watch. Same old M-I-N-A-M-I-K-E!!! Even the OP theme sounded the same as Season One’s. Needs more Mako-chan, Touma alone is carrying the responsibility of generating gender-bending fun. Probably needs more Haruka as well. Can’t have enough Banchou Haruka.

More to Come…