Mmm Delicious Yaoi: Fresh Men

College freshman Takayuki Saito faints into the arms of sophomore Hitoshi Sato during their school's entrance ceremony. Not knowing that the reason for his fainting spell was from too much partying, all Sato sees is a fragile boy fresh out of high school who needs looking after. Unfortunately for Sato, it turns out that Saito is "fresh" in more ways than he can handle!
Since my goal for 2011 is to glean through my to be read pile(s) of manga I finally got around to reading this one-shot today. One of the gripes I had was with the names; Saito and Sato. Seriously, for the first chapter I got the names confused, a lot. Thankfully though the two main characters had their own unique physical attributes so I was able to distinguish the two that way.

I really enjoyed the main story but I found the bonus side stories to catch my attention more. I'm adding to my wish list of manga Endless Rain by the same creator, the angst and emotions conveyed in this one-shot was really well executed so I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of her work.

Drop It Like It's Hot: Beezlebub and Fractale

Since its about midway into the Winter anime season I've decided to drop two series that no longer hold my interest; Beezlebub and Fractale.
I did enjoy the first episode of Beezlebub but the jokes got old by the second episode and for now I've dropped that series. I may down the road decide to watch it again but at this point I would rather re-watch the Bount Arc from Bleach than continue!
Fractale was kinda on the fence for me, right now its more on the back burner than dropping it completely. I like the feel of it but the story isn't moving at a pace fast enough to truly capture my attention. I may decide to marathon it after the winter season is over.
And without Fractale that means that all the simulcasts I'm watching are currently via Crunchyroll. Intially I thought that Gosick would be the first one to get chopped but after a few episodes the plot is developing more smoothly than before.

Winter Anime 2011 Samplers

Since the previews for this season left much to be desired I'm slowly starting to nibble on what this winter has to offer. There are still a few more series that I want to check out sometime this weekend (off til Monday) mainly Fractale.

Here's what I've gotten the chance to check out thus far:

Gosick:  Watched the eps 1-2 and have yet to find anything that could keep my interest in this series. The plot felt disconnected from the first episode to the second; a very loose transition for me. As someone not familiar with the series prior to watching it left me wondering if the manga expands more on the storyline and the anime adaptation is skipping essential elements that would glue the plot together more smoothly. I plan on watching at least one more episode next week before deciding to drop this series.

Beelzebub:  I don't think I can do justice attempting to explain this series so just go out check preview instead :) I was hesitant to check this one out but glad I did. I feel that there will be much growing in this series with both Oga Tatsumi and the baby that just happens to be the son of the Demon King.

Kore wa Zombie desu ka? :  I couldn't stomach High School of the Dead last summer so I was afraid to check this series out. After some of my twitter peeps reassured me its not too bloody I watched the first episode this weekend. I was half expecting the series to begin with how the protagonist was murdered but it starts off with him already being a zombie. The violence in this series is pretty mild and I found some of it to be amusing. This one might be on my keeper list for this season but I'm still going to test the waters with a few more episodes.

Level E: Why are you reading this post? Go run to Crunchyroll and check this series out. That's an order! :) Watched the first episode last night and this series is just freakin' awesome. Out of everything I've watched so far I recommend this one the most.
  
Houro Musuko-Wandering Son :  Cross-dressing animes have always been able to capture my short attention span and this one did within the previews that I saw the week prior to watching. Boy wants to become a girl, girl that wants to become a boy. I found the soft hues to be quite beautiful while watching, like Level E is on my must watch list for Winter 2011.

That's all for now, so what is everyone else watching this season?

Kuragehime (Princess Jellyfish)

 

11 episodes flew by so fast but is well worth the ride. Every Thursday for the past few weeks I've rushed to my laptop after a night working retail funland to escape with Tsukimi and her fellow roommates. The ending wasn't rushed and only left a few threads hanging, mainly the desire to get to know the characters outcomes deeper. I'd love to hang out with these girls with a bottle of sweet sake any day, hopefully some day the manga will get licensed here as I definitely want to see more jellyfish dresses!

The first simulcast of 2011 that I finished watching, though the episode aired on 12/30/10 I didn't get to view it til New Year's Day.

You can watch Kuragehime for free online over at Hulu :)

Oh Ho Ho! Happy New Year!

I've been crazy busy and running in circles for the past few weeks working retail funland (temp job at the mall) and snagging another temp job that begins on Tuesday next week.
Another year to attempt to get caught up on animu and kdramas! May the cycle never end! :D

First anime I watched in the New Year was Azumanga Daoih. I started to do a lil marathon of it the last week of December and finished the last few eps today. Since I graduated not too long ago, this past May, re-watching the ending made me feel a tad bit nostalgic for what it was like to finish one path and begin anew.


Have my Netflix on hold for a few more weeks since I'll be working the both jobs til my retail one ends the 3rd week of January aka not much time for anime or dramas. I'm hoping to finish watching Emma: A Victorian Romance - Season 2 , Nabari No Ou: Complete Series, Part 2, and a few other older series that I have had on my watch list for too long. With Crunchyroll having a channel on the Roku player I don't see myself keeping my Netflix after I finish up a few older series that aren't available to watch online.