[Final Thoughts] Moyashimon Returns: Brewing Happiness

Obligatory Oikawa picture, just because.

Personal note: let me take a moment before my thoughts on the anime to apologize for my break in blogging.  Life has been busy lately, as indicated in detail in the personal update box in the right-side column on my front page.  I have been keeping up with a good number of anime this season, but have not had the time to sit down and really share my thoughts on them.  For those of you who have stuck around, thank you for your continued support! Now on to my review!

Moyashimon Returns ended just recently and threw us hopes for another season in the making.  Another sequel is exactly what this franchise needs given the somewhat odd direction that this second series takes.  For those of you who have seen the live action version of Moyashimon (I have), or perhaps even read the manga (which I haven’t), this climax and focus on Haruka’s character probably wasn’t much of a shock.  But for viewers solely familiar with the first season or perhaps jumping into Returns as a standalone show, the amount of time spent on her storyline may have felt overly long.

While there were definitely loose ends left from the first season, the original series wrapped up Haruka’s family issues just enough to have possibly forgone further elaboration in following shows.  Instead, Returns devoted the majority of its airtime to someone who once felt more like a side character.  Regardless of the odd choice of character development, the individual stories were still able to circle around a common theme of the pursuit of happiness.Read More »

Marina’s Summer 2012 Set Meal

Summer’s fabulous menu has me adding on ten new shows to my weekly anime, joining the already airing series Hyouka, Hunter x Hunter, Polar Bear Cafe, Poyopoyo, Space Brothers, Area no Kishi, and Phi Brain.  OH MY GOODNESS.

Joining the party are Arcana Famiglia, Dog Days’, Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita, Moyashimon Returns, Muv-Luv Alternative, Natsuyuki Rendezvous, Rinne no Lagrange 2, Sword Art Online, Tari Tari, and Uta Koi.

Oh, and if you haven’t seen it already, check out my spiffy new summer banner, which I’ve added to the rotation.

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