Posted inPV Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin

Nakagawa Shoko – Flying Humanoid PV (Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin OP)

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Nakagawa Shoko's latest single "Flying Humanoid" was released back on August 18th, whereas the music video for it you see above was aired on TV prior to that. The PV itself is a surprisingly pretty good one as far as Japanese music videos go, and I particularly like the use of CG in addition to Shoko and her band changing into samurai outfits near the end. Is it relevant? Not really, but it's good for variety sake given how animated she is singing this song. The clocks are a nice touch too, since they're reminiscent of Occult Gakuin's opening sequence. As for the song itself, it's grown on me a fair bit in the past two months while watching the series. Fullmetal Alchemist's fifth ending theme "RAY OF LIGHT" was a nice slow song, but Shoko's more upbeat music is always a good listen too. While the TV size version of Flying Humanoid is a good cut that got me into song, I must say I really like the full version a lot more. The main reason being, the TV size kind of ends abruptly and always leaves me wanting to hear more. In her live performance a couple of weeks ago on Music Japan (not on the same one as May'n), Shoko performed this shorter version. It featured a longer instrumental outro, but was otherwise a prime example of me hinging on hearing the next verse of the song. See below.

* Music Japan live performance video after the jump.

Posted inFirst Impressions SEKIREI

SEKIREI ~Pure Engagement~ – 00

(Kanwa Ni Dai (Sekirei Shindan / Sekirei Yoka (Rizooto)))
"Two Small Talks (Sekirei Diagnosis / Sekirei Leisure (Resort))"

In the first half of this mini prequel to the series, all the Sekirei get called in for a routine physical check-up where fighting is prohibited. All this really means though is that we get to see them strip down and get their measurements taken. Being a DVD/BD bonus episode, everything was completely uncensored as well.

WARNING: Nudity ahead. NSFW.

Posted inAmagami SS First Impressions

Amagami SS – 10

(Nakata Sae-hen Dai Nishou - Tokkun)
"Nakata Sae Chapter 2 - Special Training"

Remember how I said Junichi needs to be on a leash around Sae? Well, make that in a prison cell with the way he's "training" her into an AV actress. I actually said "oh god" out loud on at least three times this episode because I saw where they were going with it and didn't want to see it happen.

Posted inFirst Impressions Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi

Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi – 10

(Ookami-san to Otogi Ginkou no Sugoku Nagai Ichinichi)
"The Wolf and Otogi Bank's Very Long Day"

I can't say I really understand how it works, but apparently you can offer a 30% discount on repaying favors. I'll leave it to Alice to calculate exactly how much debt each request Otogi Bank handles is worth, because the story is finally heating up with the return of our "last boss", Hitsujikai Shirou.

Posted inFirst Impressions One Piece

One Piece – 464

! Jr. (Majin no Shison! Ritoru zu Junia Bakushin!)"A Descendant of the Beast! Little Oars Jr. - Full Speed Ahead!"

Oars Jr. is such a badass. Though it started out rather slow, the pacing quickly picked up as some notable characters finally started joining in the fight.

Posted inMiscellaneous To Aru Majutsu no Index

To Aru Majutsu no Index II – PV

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While I've found time to watch all my shows, my coverage of them will slip a bit this week due to a change of projects at my job and me spending time on various miscellaneous tasks on the site, such as the new playlist for the sidebar Flash player. To help tide things over in the meantime, I figured it was worthwhile getting a quick post out about the To Aru Majutsu no Index II promotional video that was shown at the end of this week's episode of Ookami-san on AT-X. I won't get into any detail about this sequel now, but will say that I'll definitely be watching it.

For those who have been wondering, yes, a Fall Preview is in the works. However, I'm in no rush to get it out since there will be more promotional material available as we get closer to the start of the new season. Not to mention, another big part of the season preview here at RC involves the broadcast schedules, which haven't been announced for all the new shows yet. Originally, I was hoping to get the post out mid-September (roughly two weeks from now), but it's looking like it'll be closer to the last week of this month as I'll be fairly busy in the upcoming weeks.

Fall is also one of the most jam-packed seasons, with over thirty new series airing this year. Even after limiting the preview to the usual criteria, I still have 27 or so I wish to provide proper previews for, which means PVs and everything. I'd also like to add some information on OVAs this time around, even if it's just a list of the ones that will be released over the course of the season. Clearly, it's not something I can get done in one sitting, even if there were forty hours in a day. So for now, consider this Index II PV a taste of things to come.