Bakemonogatari and Spice and Wolf II ~First Impressions~
Bakemonogatari
I knew this series had hidden potential! The first episode turned out to be quite interesting and I was definitely entertained throughout the whole thing. The characters have proved to be interesting and our male lead is luckily not just there to show off the female lead. In fact, he seems pretty awesome himself, which is saying something because Hitagi is pretty awesome. Though, the characters definitely feel amazing to me mostly because of the voice actors behind them.
Firstly, Koyomi is voiced by none other than Hiroshi Kamiya, who I love most from Natsume Yuujinchou as Natsume and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei as Nozomu. Secndly, there is Hitagi who is voiced by Chiwa Saito who I love most for her voice of Aika in the Aria series. Both voice actors have definitely given life to their characters and have made the series even more of a joy to watch. As for the director Akiyuki Shinbou, I love seeing his work, but I personally find it difficult to blog his series usually. The plot is sometimes everywhere, but so far it seems like the series will have a direction to go in each episode, anyway, I think I can make many rants about the cool art style in the series! So, I’m still not certain on whether I’ll blog this one or not…
Spice and Wolf II
When the first season came out, I ignored it for the first month before I gave it a chance. When I finally did, I ended up loving it. The second season gets right into the Spice and Wolf action (which may not be that interesting to some) and I can say it wasn’t that bad and was definitely cute at least. The series shows definite direction for where the story is going to go this season, which I really like and it seems like it will have a pretty interesting plot.
Since I’ve already spoken a lot about voice actors in my Bakemonogatari post, all I will mention is that it’s so good to hear Jun Fukuyama’s voice again! This series is so unique, but I find it takes a while to really get into the series, but when it finally happens the series becomes really great. The one thing that I miss from the old season is definitely the ending theme song. I like the new one, but it just doesn’t compare to Ringo Hiyori! I’m pretty sure I will blog this series.
I’m definitely happy at the return of Spice and Wolf, and kind of did the same thing as you, except I never gave it a chance until about 2 months ago. The first episode of the new season was certainly good imo.
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I like both these shows, too, and agree with you about the great voices. I particularly appreciated Fukuyama Jun, which I sometimes don’t. I want to add Koshimzu Ami’s work as Horo: I thought she could have got the award for best performance of 2008 for the first series, and she’s just as good here.
hashi´s last blog ..Canaan — Characters & Seiyuus, with pics
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Yea. What really got me the most with Bakemonogatari was how well all the seiyuus did for all their roles. Chiwa Saitou pulled off Hitagi perfectly as an…almost icy tsundere. lol XD;
Xiao Jie´s last blog ..PreSpoiler: Nakayoshi & Ribon August ‘09 Issue
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I was really impressed with both of these series. ^^ I loved the voice actors (Jun Fukuyama is the best~!!!)
I missed the Ringo Hiyori song too~ T-T
Llora-chan´s last blog ..Umineko no Naku Koro Ni – 2
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These shows have such wonderful seiyuus <3 xD
Sapphire Pyro´s last blog ..Triple Delight: Azrael’s EDGE 3, Kimi ni Todoke 11-12, & Bara no Maria 4
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@Glo the Legend: Ya, it’s awesome that we both gave the series a trying chance. Let’s hope it turns out as great as the first season!
@hashi: Yes, I do have to say you’re right. Koshimzu Ami as Horo is perfect!
@Xiao Jie: I loved when Hitagi just blurted out that she was a tsundere character!
@Llora-chan: Jun Fukuyama is awesomesauce! “I cut myself a slice of sunshine pie”! I love the song so much…
@Sapphire Pyro: Agreed!
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