Just finished watching my 4th anime series for this week, did I mention I get a lot of time off on the holidays.
In order of preference they were:
Noir I liked the story and the way it was told. Having few main characters there was great characterization w/o to much back-story to slow things down. The video format is 16x9 which I like plus it really was in 5.1 unlike some titles that just have music coming from the surround speakers and nothing from the sub. Surround sound was used both for direct and ambient effects. A couple of time it really sounded like there was heavy traffic on my street and an ice cream vender. Gunshots also go zipping past from time to time.
Overall a 4.5/5
Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi Very fun sometimes off the wall parody of anime, TV, movies and video games. Much of the humor could be lost on those not familiar with what is being parodied at a given time, but their enough mainstream stuff to engage most people. Also a 16x9 format but in this case the 5.1 didn’t amount to much.
Overall a 4/5
Solty Rei Another story I liked despite what seems like a slow start things start moving as the plot lines start developing. Another 16x9 presentation but lackluster 5.1 audio except for the music.
Another 4/5
Sasami: Magical Girls Club Season One I watched this one on the Funimation Channel on YouTube. They presented it in a 16x9 2.0 format though I’m not sure that’s what it would be on DVD. This one is geared more toward kids so if you don’t like slightly sweet magical girl anime avoid it. I liked it and the fact that Funimation makes these available but watching the same commercials over and over again suck during a marathon session.
Overall a 3.5/5
And I still haven’t made a dent in all the stuff I have yet to watch.
