I heard the Fairy world was the weakest of all of the
SOA plots, but it's uphill from there. The concept of the show is great, but seems to be dulled by really dumb plot decisions. ...am I the only one to find the pretty hardcore relationship between Kirito and Asuna rather refreshing? I kinda got sick of the romances that take 25 episodes to chronicle a first kiss (or worst case: a fucking hug).
On that note:
I've been reading the
Fushigi Yuugi manga. I loved it when I was a kid and new into the world of anime that wasn't the stuff aired on North American cable. Unfortunately, it's long, and dub VHS wasn't easy to find, so I dropped it. I picked it up again for old time's sake and remembered everything I loved the first time. It can get pretty hammy, but at least the series knows what it is and doesn't try to document how a couple took several volumes to fall in love. Yuu Watase still manages to shock readers with the drama, and the action is great and the plot twists consistent. The characters are widely enjoyable (I like how the main Suzaku warriors look charming and heroic while the villainous Seiryu warriors happen to just look so creepy/evil -- that's just *so* unfair; clearly being born into the bad guy territory makes you grow up to look like hell). Definitely hitting up the Genbu series after (it's almost done too... so yaaay I won't have to wait for the next volume).
I got the
FMA manga. I loved the anime (again, didn't finish), but -- as usual -- I hear the manga is better. Drawn by a female....that kinda surprised me given the content (and honestly, I hate the shoujo manga style sometimes --
their eyes are like half of their fucking skull and with swollen lips.
On that note. I skimmed through friends collection of
Fruit's Basket manga... is it just me or does the art get WORSE as the series goes on?? It becomes really flat later on. =/
FINALLY
Watching
Darker than Black. It's really good, but edging on the last 5-6 episodes, I have a feeling a lot will go unexplained and many of its characters inexplicably missing if not dead (there's just too many characters for a 24 ep series). I feel like it's really, really good, but a few key moments and plot points shy of being "legendary" or whatever. I do like how they invest 2 episodes into a plot from what would otherwise be a single episode, makes it less rushed and gives you time to really get comfortable and familiar with everyone on screen. The concept otherwise is fantastic; but the series seems to bite at more than what it can chew.
