Kurogane's Anime Blog » Wagaya no Oinari-sama

2008 in Review: The Good, the Bad and the WTF?!

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 12:00:29 +0000

~~This post is dedicated to the good, the bad and the WTF’s of this year. It’s really been an interesting year…..~~

Heh, I was supposed to post this yesterday, but with all the shopping, satelite tracking, celebrations and epic rickrolling, I only finished it today. I guess this will be my first real post of 2009, hehehe.

Anyways, the point of this post is to relive the more memorable moments of 2008 for me, in terms of anime and such. Another year filled with good things, bad shit and “just WTF were they thinking?!” craziness.

The Good.

Redeeming ending of the year: Code Geass R2

I have to admit, despite the general descent to craziness, R2 managed to cap it off with one of the more touching endings of this year. Rest in peace, dear prince, rest in peace.

Studio of the year: Studio Gonzo

Despite the general decline of their quality, one thing makes Studio Gonzo stand out this year, the beginning of their free online streaming of their shows, WITH SUBTITLES, on major video-sharing sites such as Youtube and Crunchyroll.

Probably the single most celebrated initiative by any Japanese production company in this decade, Gonzo braved through critisicm from their peers in the industry and semi-legalized what most fans have been doing all along anyways.

Besides, their shows this year weren’t all that crap. Strike Witches even made it in to my Top of 2008 list, not to mention the more significant milestone of topping the DVD sales chart. Let’s just hope news of their near-demise is greatly exaggerated.

Pose of the year: Ranka’s (ﾉゝ∀･)~キラ☆ pose, Macross Frontier

Seriously, is there any challenge for this award? Ranka’s (ﾉゝ∀･)~キラ☆ pose has been spotted even on politicians. There’s something to be said about that pose that’s so powerful it disarmed an entire platoon of rebelling alien giants.

GAR Male of the year: Negi Springfield, Mahou Sensei Negima.

Sure there was Ozma Lee and Orange-kun, but this year’s GAR award goes to Negi for sure. Especially after single-handedly pwning a professional bounty group with his bare fists.

Furry of the Year: Horo

Anyone disagrees?

Miko of the Year: Kou

I thank the gods for Wagaya no Oinari-sama for fulfilling my miko quota this year.

Gym Shorts of the Year: Fujibayashi Kyou, CLANNAD series

Legendary episode is legendary. CLANNAD 17 nearly pulled ~~my trousers down~~ me over the edge. That said, balancing two coins on top of each other is a task I still fail to achieve T_T.

Imouto of the Year: Sunohara Mei, CLANNAD series

“What are you saying? Onii-chan, you’re acting strange~”
“Why can’t I call you ‘Onii-chan’, Onii-chan?”
“Onii-chan~ what should Mei do?”

Saishuu Heiki Imouto Sunohara Mei. God damn you Sunohara for having such a cute lil’ sister!

Cosplay of the Year: Hiiragi Kagami, Lucky Star as Hatsune Miku, VOCALOID series

It just fits her so well. KyoAni really has a knack to stir up their fans and hit them right where it counts.

The Bad

Disappointment of the year: ef – a tale of melodies.

After the highly praised ef – a tale of memories, the inevitable announcement of the sequel was a happy news for me, but sadly, the show itself didn’t quite match up to the first season in terms of connecting the audience to the characters and the pacing was, quite frankly, awful. Even the ending lost some impact despite of its intended tear-jerking qualities due to how rushed the final two episodes were. SHAFT… if only… if only…

“I only watched this because of my favourite seiyuus were in it” show of the year: Kanokon.

Oh, the power of a seiyuu(s) doing crazy roles compels me to watch even the shittiest of shows.

“I can’t believe I actually finished watching this show” of the year: D.C. II. S.S & Zero no Tsukaima III.

Honestly. The fact I actually followed both those shows until the very end should win me an honorary title or something. Especially for finishing the piece of shit that was ZnT III. Even the DVD OVA.

Controversial Ending of the Year: Akane-iro Somaru Saku.

Akane-iro seemed like it went down the much more supported Yuuhi end, made more significant since it was the first time in YEARS that Rie Kugimiya voiced an ACTUAL tsundere, but betrayed all expectations of Yuuhi camps to choose a WINCEST ENDING with “Imouto of the Year” runner-up, Nagase Minato. Really reminds me of a certain 2005 show….

Most Tragic Death of the Year: Shirley Fenette, Code Geass R2

SHIRLEY!!!!!!!!!! BAWWWWWWWWWWWW. That homo shota totally misunderstood her and killed her despite that she actually kept Lelouch’s identity a secret even after she remembered it. It was made even more painful as she confessed her love for Lelouch as she lay dying in his lap. I could write volumes more about her death, but I’ll just leave it at here, it’s too painful to continue talking about it.

The WTF?!

WTF Ending of the year: H2O ~Footprints in the sand~

H2O almost ended up in the previous category, but thanks to it’s ending, it barely escapes that and instead making it over here. Sure the ending had its good bits, but dear god, it was still bloody “WTF?!”. One thing’s for sure, H2O managed to rock my soul.

WTF Father of the year: Mikawa Kirameki, Shigofumi

Norio Wakamoto nearly ended up here, but Mikawa Kirameki really is the better (or worse) choice for this award. Probably the biggest narcissist ever seen in an anime, you really have to admit his dedication for beauty was awe-inspiring and disgusting at the same time. Poor Fumika T_T.

WTF Mother of the year: Queen Marianne, Code Geass R2

After making Marianne out as some sort of heroic existence throughout most of Geass, it was surprising to discover that she was still alive all this while, hiding inside the body of a loli. Then when she finally appears before Lelouch, the first damn thing she does is to do a single can-can styled twirl to greet him. And to think she was one of the big reasons that Lelouch became a ruthless manipulator who would sacrifice even his siblings to find out the truth behind her “death”. Sigh…

Control Mechanism of the Year: Nipple controllers from Magical Heart Kokoro-chan.

Really one of the single most WTF moments in anime this year, the supposedly April Fool’s joke that was Magical Heart Kokoro-chan actually came to life as an OVA and 0verflow sure made a lot of people 0verflow with it.

Prettiest Male of the Year: Saotome Alto, Macross Frontier

Admit it. Alto is undeniably the prettiest amongst the trio, especially when he is in his Sakurahime-mode.

Trap of the Year: Hamaji Yakumo, H2O ~Footprints in the sand~

Solely in this list because not only he’s 99% a girl already, he actually manages to score with his best friend to the point of marrying and having kids AND THE WIFE DOESN’T MIND HIM STILL CROSSDRESSING! Living proof that traps can still achieve real happiness.

Wasted yuri potential: Sheryl x Alto x Ranka

Macross Frontier would’ve been 100x more awesome if Alto was really a girl. Yuri love triangle three-some…. ooohh I shiver at the thought.

“What was I thinking when I was doing this” Post of the Year: “I am now heartbroken….. T.T”

The Suki Suki Sat-chan fanclub is still accepting membership applications.

Wagaya no Oinari-sama 24 [End]

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:00:03 +0000

Mmmm~ Kou, Kuu and Tama in full kimono garb is yummy. Good job, Studio ZEXCS!!

Ah, it feels so sad to see Wagaya ending. While it isn’t exactly the best show of the year, yet, but it has been a solid show for me throughout its run. I sure am gonna miss Kuu’s mischief, Kou’s futile attempts at housework and Sakura’s bousou mousou (berserk imagination). ’tis too sad that Tama-chan didn’t get much screen time in this show, but I suspect they are planning for a second season if DVD sales are forthcoming enough. I would love to see more of this show.

So, for now, it’s farewell to Kou, Kuu, Tama, Sakura and the rest of the Wagaya cast. It’s been a really fun show.

Wagaya no Oinari-sama 22

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 08:11:14 +0000

Kuu is getting more and more sexier by the episode. Her fashion sense has been considerably high lately. That evening dress is an absolute killer.

Quick end to the Momiji arc as well. I’d thought it last a bit more longer. Poor Sakura has now another rival to contend with, hehe.

Wagaya no Oinari-sama 21

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:19:08 +0000

Holy shit, Sakura was damn badass this week. Single-handedly kicking that wolf-man’s ass, and there was some really fancy moves she showed off there. Then finally ending it off with a nice, sweet moment with Noboru too. Kuu, GOOD JOB!

And so, we finally get in to the Momiji arc. Looks like she’s a wolf-person of sorts. I’m gonna LOL if she turns out to be a Western-style werewolf. All the signs are kinda there already, but I still find it hard to imagine her as one.

I have to add, OL Kuu looks hawt. Seriously hawt.

Wagaya no Oinari-sama ED02

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 10:00:55 +0000

Aw damn, the new ED is cute! Dancing chibi-forms Kuu, Kou and Tama for the win!

I wonder if this means Tama will appear more often soon. We got a good glimpse of her in the Byakko arc, but it wasn’t really enough. Mikako Takahashi is love.

Wagaya no Oinari-sama 13

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:30:23 +0000

Chibi Kou and Chibi Kuu are kinda fine too.

School uniform Kuu was kinda cute as well, not to mention Kuu knows really well how to capitalize on it. Free food all round woot!

Tama-chan’s appearance was kinda random too. Tooru’s nicknaming skills are kinda cutely funny.

Also, oh wow, Itou Shizuka singing!

Wagaya no Oinari-sama 10 – “The misadventures of a drunken miko.”

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:12:49 +0000

Sorry for the lame subtitle, I just couldn’t resist.

Don’t you just love Kou? Kou makes this show oh-so-awesome :). Even drunk, she manages to be so cute yet so hilarious at the same time.

Miko wa saikou! Miko banzai!! Long live mikos!!!!

As for the Mubyou storyline… it actually developed 100% as I thought it would be, down to the doll-joints thing. Well, all the signs were already in place, but ah, I’m getting really good at knowing a show’s storyline.

Wagaya no Oinari-sama 09

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:12:35 +0000

Kou gets drunk this episode. This is one cliche I won’t be getting tired of for a long time to come, especially if it involves stoic, naive dojikko miko’s.

The next episode preview has some more proof to support my observation that Kou is in the possession of a very good body. Kou is awesome. Miko-fuku is awesome. Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!

As for the main storyline, it’s getting out to be quite intriguing. All the tochigami’s in this series are seriously whacked.

Wagaya no Oinari-sama 07

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:05:36 +0000

Myaaa nyaa nyaa~

Cute baby fox is cute. The Takagami family are suckers for cute things it seems. Must run in the family. The color scheme reminds me of fox-Kouta if he were a baby fox though, lulz.

Another episode of Kou showing off her abilities and her assets (and her weakness for cute things too *snickers*). Daigoro is one lucky fox cub. Looks like Kou’s the type that looks slender when clothed. I can’t say much with the steam, but she definitely has some decent “melonpan” there. Ah… “just-out-of-bath” Kou is nosebleed-inducing.

Mmm~ Kou.

I’m interested to see the other land god coming in next week. She looks cute, despite the less-than-nice rumours surrounding her.

Wagaya no Oinari-sama 06

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Tue, 13 May 2008 06:26:05 +0000

Dere-dere Kou is just so cute~~~~

Even Sakura’s unable to resist her charms. Miko miko saikou~!

BTW, Sakura’s just so freaking hillarious with her permanently turned on 100% berserk delusion (暴走妄想 ?） circuit.