[personal profile] jtniehof
Ringer, Reamde, Triathlete's Training Bible, Dance in the Vampire Bund 4-6, Ah My Goddess 16-20, Ranma 1/2 Season 4, Another, Ano Natsu de Matteru, High School DxD, Amagami SS Plus, AnoHana, Hiiro no Kakera, Nyarko-san.

Ringer: Come for Sarah Michelle Gellar, stay for the ridiculous plot twists. Definitely one of those shows you can't call "good" but with a certain over-the-top, trashy enjoyment. Sort of a prime time soap opera, except the plot moved really fast. It wasn't sustainable it for long--I wish they had wrapped up a little better rather than try for a second season--but I do think it was slightly underrated.

Reamde (Neal Stephenson): Reads something like a cross between Cobweb and Snow Crash. Very present-day, present-time; Stephenson's first since Cryptonomicon, and also very light on the cyber/tech angle. Close to a straight-up thriller, with more guns than computers (despite one plot hook.) As with Anathem, I think he's managed to balance epic, even sprawling, with some constraint and focus. It can be a little exhausting to read since there aren't many pauses in the action where the reader can catch a breath. By now most people who have read Stephenson have figured out if they like him; there's little here to change minds. For those who haven't read him, I'm not sure I'd call this the best introduction, but it's more accessible ("less weird") than anything since Snow Crash and there's definitely a maturity of experience at play. Worth a read.

Triathlete's Training Bible (Joe Friel): Goes deep into the nitty-gritty of training and designing a comprehensive schedule. A little bit difficult to use: I think I'd get the most out by sitting down with it and working up a full yearly plan, but that would be difficult without a previous read-through. So it's a read once, then refer to, kind of book. On the weak side, Friel relies too heavily on anecdotes over structured study (although he does not exclued the latter.) He's also too big on the paleo diet: many of the bottom-line recommendations are reasonable, but there's something ludicrous about saying our bodies can't adapt to a diet different from a million years ago, yet can happily hop on a bicycle. The big advantage over other training books is a real understanding of the balance between strength, endurance, and skills work. Too many plans emphasize hours of effort rather than developing form and targeting weak points. On the whole, this is a great recommendation for the multi-sport athlete and an excellent resource for single-sport athletes, particularly those interested in cross-training.

Dance in the Vampire Bund 4-6: My interest picked up a lot with these volumes. They go much more into internal vampire politicking and the Mina/Akira relationship, aspects that I thought were interesting but frustratingly vague in earlier volumes. It did seem like some censorship might be creeping in.

Ah My Goddess 16-20: I'm starting to get the hang of this series; it comes down to just enjoying spending time with the characters. The "slice of life" label doesn't fit well, since there's plot arcs covering roughly two volumes each, and the "supernatural" elements are pretty thick. Although the world-building is a little silly, it grates far less than it used to; I just let it fly by. Nobody's missing anything earth-shattering by not reading Goddess, but it is a charming piece of characterization.

Ranma 1/2 Season 4: Am I tiring of Ranma, am I just not watching it enough, or is it going downhill? Maybe all of the above? We still have fun when we do remember to put a disc in, but it isn't grabbing us to do so frequently. It's also sad to have such a huge cast and most of them only appearing once or twice a season.

Another: Fantastic Hitchcockian thriller-horror, similar to Boogiepop Phantom although a bit bloodier. Very well-paced, with almost every episode uncovering some portion of the mystery. The last episode or two pushed into almost comic territory, but the ending is appropriately chilling.

Ano Natsu de Matteru: Some wag labelled this "Onegai Sempai" and that's about it. I'm surprised we stuck it out; it wasn't really worth it. It could have worked as a slice-of-life high school romance, but tacking on the alien bit just made it badly comic. The last episode in particular felt like a pile of unsuccessful emotional manipulation, summarizing in grand, sweeping terms everything that the show failed to make us feel in the first place.

High School DxD: Mostly exists for the fanservice, but with enough of a plot to be interesting. It's fun watching Japan play with Christian tropes, because you get oddities like Lucifer showing up at a party as one of the guys. Beyond the angel-demon-fallen angel war (no, I don't get the demon/fallen angel distinction) it's mostly a fighting show. Amusing but nothing particularly special.

Amagami SS Plus: Better than the first series, mainly because it kept the sweet moments with far less teeth-gnashingly bad Relationship Fail (don't worry, some of it's still there.) Plus adds two episodes for each girl, some mini-arcs happening immediately after the first series and some happening about a year later. It's not worth slogging through Amagami SS to make it here, but if you've put in the suffering Plus is an improvement. Too bad; I rather liked Sae, but she's not sufficient reason to put up with this whole mess ever again.

AnoHana: I don't know what to say about this series. "Slice of life" is the usual label, and I guess it qualifies due to the lack of aliens or demons or samurai. But there's a very strong plot arc and I hesitate to use my favourite "nothing happens" label. AnoHana's a really strong character drama, with an excellent balance between flashback reveals and advancement in the present. So what if it's a bit heart-on-the-sleeve (the ED helps a lot with that); it draws me in completely enough that I don't care. This is something really special and feels very different from almost any other show. I can't imagine any details of actually producing this show; it feels like it sprang into being fully-formed. I was a little wary going in since there's such a rabid fanbase but I guess I'm part of that problem now.

Hiiro no Kakera: Easy to drop after one episode. The setting is intriguing but everything about the execution was so rote, "we're redoing Fushigi Yuugi. The subbing job may be slightly to blame but the writing was awful, the "dialogue" was nearly entirely exposition without any sense of delivery from a character.

Nyarko-san: Another Crawling Chaos: Another drop-after-one. May have been better if I'd seen earlier seasons, but this just wasn't funny.

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