RDG: Red Data Girl – All the WTHs from Episode 8

So one of the anime that I’ve been following this spring (Spring. Haha. What a joke) is Red Data Girl (RDG). It was one of the earliest to come out, and I’ve been underwhelmed by it from the very beginning. For some reason however, I just stuck to watching it anyway. It’s quite mean, but it’s the sort of anime I watch just to hate on. I mean it’s just so – well – tweeny.

Anyway usually I’d just go on about how ridiculous it is to chungky, but after episode 8, not even my trusty partner was enough. Apart from all the ongoing teen angst, everything in the episode suddenly seemed abrupt and unnecessary. I don’t know if it’s just this episode in particular, or if I’ve already had enough of the story that I’m paying attention to other things that have been quite random from the beginning. Anyway, here’s my thoughts of this week’s episode, starting with the OP!

Special Summer Rant – Mawaru Penguindrum

Mawaru Penguindrum (輪るピングドラム) / Revolving Penguin Drum

Three siblings, twins Kanba and Shouma, and the in-and-out-of-the-hospital Himari who’s in poor health, live together at the Takakura home. One day, when the siblings are out on a trip to the aquarium, Himari collapses. The doctors state that nothing can be done for her anymore, but then, a miracle occurs…

Genre: Slice of life, Comedy, Fantasy

Status: Currently airing, planned for 24 episodes

Directed by Ikuhara Kuniko (Sailormoon and Revolutionary Girl Utena), who also did the script, screenplay and series composition. Produced by Brain’s Base and Mainichi Broadcasting.

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It’s official. This is my favourite for the season. This summer where there’s a significant cesspool of not-so-great anime, this is like the Madonna among the Jenna Roses. I really, really liked the way the narration started and ended that first episode about fate – yes, there have been stories that went all ‘UP YOURS, FATE AND DESTINY!’, but this monologue went into a whole cycle and chain of why fate is Hitler. It’s probably what ensnared me from the beginning.

The fact that the OP (Nornir by Ruetsuko Yakushima Metropolitan Orchestra) that followed just next to tugged my heartstrings and pulled out my heart probably has a lot to do with how I’m obsessing over this after the first friggin episode.

Natsume Yūjin-Chō San Episode 01 & Thoughts

Natsume Yūjin-Chō | Natsume’s Book of Friends | 夏目友人帳

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Season 3 – Natsume Yūjin-Chō San | 夏目友人帳 参 : Episode 1

Director: Omori Takahiro

Original Creator: Midorikawa Yuki

Animation Production: Brains Base, Aniplex

Genres: Fantasy, Drama, Supernatural, Comedy

Rating: G – All Ages

Cast:

Kamiya Hirohi as Natsume Takashi

Inoue Kazuhiko as Nyanko-sensei

Ishida Akira as Natori Shuichi

Suganuma Hisayoshi as Atsushi Kitamoto

Horie Kazuma as Tanuma Kaname

Kimura Ryohei as Satoru Nishimura

Kobayashi Sanae as Natsume Reiko

Suwabe Junichi as Matoba

Sypnosis:

Third season of Natsume Yuujinchou. Since he was young, a teenage boy named Natsume Takashi has been able to see spirits, but keeping this ability a secret has now become a heavy burden for him and has made his life difficult.

This begins to change when Takashi inherits his grandmother’s “Book of Friends”. He discovers that she, Natsume Reiko, shared the same ability as him and starts to understand why he was always targeted by both good and bad spirits.

After learning the true meaning behind the Book of Friends, which allows him to manipulate the spirits listed within its pages, Takashi undertakes a journey with his bodyguard, the infamous spirit Madara, to free the spirits of their contracts with Reiko.

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Welcome back.

An episodic post! This was one of my summer challenges, to write consistent episodic posts. I’ll go through the entire episode briefly(like a summary) along with my opinions along the way. So, there are spoilers, be warned!

You can read Arawr’s 1st impression rant here.