The longest running dick joke in the history of anime has ended... or not. I'm happy as hell that Eden is (assumed to be) continuing, as there is so much this series has still to offer. The characters, setup, and themes all were given plenty of attention, but they also hold promise for even more greatness. But then there's always the fine print: November. Ugh.
Endless Eight aired yesterday, and my level of excitement hasn't really dropped at all! There's still the drive back from work where I'm bouncing up and down trying to contain myself. There's still the naughty little voice in the back of my head tempting me to download the raw. Why is the drive home so long? Why is Japanese so freaking hard? Haruhi is waiting for me dammit!
I've quickly marathoned through sub-par shows in the past. However, good series such as Stand Alone Complex, Tweeny Witches, and Legend of Galactic Heroes can't seem to hook me in like that. All three of these anime are top notch quality, yet none of them have me desperate for more. Wouldn't this mean they aren't all that great? But then why am I having such a hard time criticizing them?
Much like Okami and Odin Sphere, Vagrant Story is a game that many would argue never got the attention it deserved. You can take this post as the companion piece to my last one on those two aforementioned games -- the flip side of the coin. While the game has its share of poor design decisions, I feel that none of them ruin the experience.
All over the web, I see constant praise for Okami with a side of "why aren't you people buying this masterpiece." Well, that's because it's far from great. In fact, certain design choices have rendered the game "unplayable" to me. The same can be said about an equally lauded niche title, Odin Sphere. Because no matter how badly I wanted to love these games, they both are ruined by stupid developer decisions.
I've been lucky enough to get into some really good anime as of late. The Higurashi Rei OVA is still firing on all cylinders. Karas has me even more stoked for Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. And Gintama hits a pinnacle I'm guessing it probably won't match again for quite a while. All three are excellent, so allow me to heap some praise onto them.