[Novel of the Week] Catching Fire (12/27/09-1/2/10)

This book is the sequel to The Hunger Games. If you have
not read the first book, it is highly recommended you do so!

Why this book?: Honestly, because I bought it today after a few months of waiting. This first book was a joy to read, but not really the masterpiece reviewers had made it out to be but it was good enough to make me want to read the sequel.

[Anime of the Week][Why'd I Bother #1] School Days (12/27/09-1/2/10)

Here's something different! I usually post about an anime I'd want someone to watch, but this time I'm posting an anime that I'm not sure why someone would watch it. Apparently I'm one of the few people who did not like this anime!! What's up with that!?

Why this anime as AOTW?: For starters, I usually LOVE ergo/visual novel game based anime, but in the case of School Days I almost had to force myself to watch it. As I post this, I've finished the first 9 episodes T__T and boy am I not happy with this series. I've already seen this last two episodes, but this is my first time watching the entire series. It starts out as a fairly normal ergo based anime but around episode 4/5 it starts getting all weird >.>

# of Episodes: 12
Runtime: 25min/ep
Rating: 18+ (especially episode 12) [akia tomiyo]
Synopsis:
A shy and unconfident teenager has become very accepting at only stealing glances at a cute girl as they ride the same trolley each morning on their way to their high school. At least until Saionji Sekai surprises Itou Makoto and chances to get a peek at a photo-snap of the beautiful Katsura on his cell-phone. After evilly teasing Mokoto about his forlorn crush, Sekai offers to support him in his romance. So after many Makoto-pep-talks and lots of scheming, the three become close friends. Close enough that Makoto braves asking Katsura out on date. And she agrees. Later that day, Makoto finds a quiet moment express his thanks for all support that Sekai has offered him, and makes clear his intent on finding away to reply her kindness. But he is totally unprepared and very surprised at the reward that Sekai has chosen. Sekai steals a long kiss from his lips, before breaking away to run for the trolly. Sekai turns and wishes Makoto well on his date. [MAL]

Well, since I don't want to leave you without an anime recommendation, here are a few I'm currently watching that I would recommend any anime fan watch!-
Aoi Bungaku: An adaptation of six Japanese literary works by famous authors. One of the noteworthy character designers (who did the designs for episodes 1-4) is the manga-ka behind Death Note. I guess this series would have a 16+ rating based on the 4 episodes and part of episode 5 that I've seen.
Kimi ni Todoke: Well, it's one of those frustrating shojo series where everyone knows the main characters like each other, but the manga won awards in Japan for a reason and when watching this anime a person can tell why! 13+. Highly recommend this series, especially to shojo and romance fans.

[Anime of the Week] Bubblegum Crisis (12/20-26/09)

I know I was using Battle Flag of the Stars as the AOTW for 3 weeks, but I decided to cut it short since the series was extremely boring. I do plan on finishing it, but I'm taking off of the AOTW list now instead of waiting for another week and a half to pass by.

Why this anime as AOTW?: From now on I'm going to be posting why I'm picking a series! I've decided to pick Bubblegum Crisis mainly because it is the OAV I'm currently watching thanks to my friend who gave me a remastered version of the series.

# of Episodes: 8
Runtime: depends on the episode!
Rating: M [ann]
Synopsis:
In the near future, Tokyo was left flattened as a result from a great earthquake. A new city, MegaTokyo, was then recreated due in no small part from the aid of a multi-million dollar company, Genom Corp. Genom created and mass-produced biomechanical creatures called Boomers to aid in the restoration of MegaTokyo. When the Boomers began to run out of control, the ADPolice at first tried to stop them, but they proved to be far more difficult to deal with than was first imagined. Under the ever looming Boomer threat, a group of four girls from varying degrees of society banded together. Calling themselves The Knight Sabers, they were the only ones with enough firepower and resourcefullness to defend the fledgling MegaTokyo from Genom and it's berserk Boomers. [ann]