Suga Shikao - NOBODY KNOWS (45.6MB, for PSP/Quicktime) | YouTube version "Jam" was not exactly the first thing that I had in mind when it comes down to this song but thanks to this PV, it probably will from now on. I think what's unfortunate is that the song does not exactly remind me of xxxHOLiC Kei, the very show that it was meant to represent. Even when the PV is playing, it seems like the song is just there and does not sync well with the imageries from the OP title. Having said that, it is indeed a rather pleasant song. It may not be Suga Shikao's strongest title but it's pretty good. The PV itself is about Jam for some reason. Maybe it's meant to be a pun for Jamming session? Which is an informal, semi-improvised performance by a group of rock or jazz musicians. At any rate, Suga Shikao certainly makes sure that he is lathered in Jam as the song intensifies. In a way it reminds me of that Nodame Cantabile PV where the pianist let himself be splashed with black paint.
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I'm a bit confused now. I had expected the 2nd episode to look worse than the 1st episode but that wasn't the case. This one actually looks a lot better than the first one. Maybe it's because the scenes take place mostly indoors and in areas that were not previously used. That means PIG has to draw some new settings and they look pretty good. The characters also look pretty good when they are chibi-fied. In other note, I just saw Library War as well and while the character design looks fantastic, the story makes me want to go back to sleep. I think PIG should allocate whatever resource they put into making Library War and make this one looks even better instead. Because while the scene at Doumeki's library and Yuuko's porch looks nice, the high school scene looks as awful as usual. The story itself blitz through rather quickly. I remember this story being rather drawn-out in the manga but in this adaptation, things seem to be happening quickly one after the other. It makes me wonder if the animators are going to adapt other stories in between. There's one episodic story that I'd like to see and I'm not sure if it has been covered in the first season or not (the one about the moving portrait).
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OP Theme: 「Nobody Knows」 by Shikao Suga - AVI version (29.5MB) I didn't actually want to cover this or at least, I wanted to wait until the widescreen version is out so I don't have to endure the cropped screens. Unfortunately the widescreen version is not going to be available until 3 weeks later and I've always wanted to say a few things about this arc ever since I read the manga a few years ago. Anyway, the first episode is okay, I guess. I don't know why I expected marginal improvement. I just think PIG (Production I.G) can do better than this. I think the problem lies in the design conversion from manga to anime. xxxHOLiC is one of those manga that uses minimal shading for its character design. While it serves its purpose in making the manga looks stylistic and simple, it doesn't really work well in anime. Before I go further, I must apologize for the lack of summary on this entry. I'm really not in the mood to write one at the moment and just want to get my impression across. I'll try to add it in later on if I have the time.
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Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 Well, believe it or not I actually haven’t seen the first season. I know, shame on me, but I only decided to watch it now to see what all the hype was about. My verdict is that it was awesome! I almost never like mecha, robots just really aren’t [...]
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Hige continues to review the newest series of the season. This time: Kurenai and xxxHOLiC: Kei.
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Opening Sequence: OP: “NOBODY KNOWS” by Suga Shikao The style of the opening theme I really like especially when it hits the chorus. Very upbeat and catchy and I probably prefer this than the opening theme from the first season.
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Great, now I’m even more scared of spiders than before. Flavor: Sweet Intitial reaction: Oh noes, it’s the Spider Queen arc! xxxHOLiC Kei is one of the few shows I’ve been looking forward to from this new season, mostly because I love the manga and the first season was somewhat enjoyable. Anyways, the first episode was pretty much the [...]
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EYES DO NOT WORK THAT WAY! Impressions: I can’t help but think that they wasted a huge shameless fanservice opportunity here by not airing it on Watanuki’s birthday (April 1st). I mean… the dude is named after the date. Throw him a bone, he deserves something. I’ll keep this relatively short since this is a [...]
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After waiting 160 days or nearly half a year, we finally get the next installment of the Level Comics-licensed xxxHOLiC, but it's still a long way away from Del Rey's volume 11, much less the Japanese volume 13. I guess Gramedia is taking that 'xxx' denotes a variable unknown quantity thingy seriously when it comes to the publication schedule of this CLAMP series. By contrast, the elapsed time
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The following news post comes courtesy of a Press Release. Exclusive Premieres of Adventures in Voice Acting and One Piece; As Previously Announced, CATBLUE Dynamite also Featured The New York Anime Festival (NYAF) has announced it will feature a selection of highly-anticipated premieres and previews at its inaugural event December 7 - 9, 2007, at the Jacob [...]
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Eagle just might become a favorite... After the Idul Fitri holidays, on 23 October 2007 to be exact, expect Gramedia's Level Comics imprint to release three new manga series: Eagle volume 1 by Kawaguchi Kaiji Haruka 17 volume 1 by Yamazaki Sayaka xxxHOLiC volume 1 by CLAMP The latest Indonesian installment of the already 81 volumes Kodansha Manga Award winner Hajime no Ippo (Fight! Ippo volume
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According to Moon Phase, a new season of xxxHOLIC has been cleared for production in Japan. It is also stated that the staff and the cast would not change. Unfortunately, there is not confirmation of the airing date yet. I hope they will managed to air it by the winter quarter. I really excited about this news [...]
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Moon Phase [via ANN] is reporting that a new XXXHOLiC television series has been cleared for production in Japan. The staff and cast members will remain the same as the prior television series.
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I’ve looked at past and present subsidiaries Bee Train and Xebec, but what has Production I.G. themselves brought to the anime scene? The number of series they have brought us may be relatively limited, but from the technological future of Ghost in the Shell to the historical fantasy of Otogi Zoshi and Chevalier, both content [...]
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Watanuki Kimihiro has always been able to see spirits, and to be honest, it’s an ability he’d be happier off without. As it turns out, the space-time witch, Yuuko Ichihara, might just be able to help him with that, but her assistance comes at a price- before she can grant Watanuki’s wish, he must first [...]
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… wow. I do believe that’s the best last episode of a show I’ve yet to see.
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This is a nice adventure-style episode. I am really glad to see how lately the animation quality seems to be relatively good. I guess the producers save the money they didn't use in the early episodes and use it in these episodes. The storyline is also interesting because it delves into some Japanese mythology, particularly that of youkai and tsukumogami. At times like this I wish I had taken Japanese mythology class so I can recognise some of the creatures that are shown in this episode. This episode also has some amusing comic scenes. One stand out moment was when a mob of people chase two characters and they keep asking the characters to come back. I always find this hilarious because do the mobs seriously think the person being chased will come back and let himself get beaten to pulp?
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This is such a strange episode. It seems as if the producers suddenly realised that they don't have enough budget to produce the remaining episodes so they need to cut down on spending right away. Having said that, the drawings are actually better than their past efforts. This will explain why they reused the same room over and over again. That way they can minimise animation and keep a tight leash on the character design. I guess this is what we get after a high quality episode like the one that comes before it. Overall, however, I don't mind the episode. The story might be a little bit hard to understand at first but it was quite eye-opener, at least for me, once I understood what Yuuko says in the episode.
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