I finally booked my flights for my trip at the end of the year, so it looks like going to C81 is definitely going to be happening! I'm hoping to have enough money saved by December that I can enjoy lots of good food and drink there as well as funds for assorted doujins from Comiket. My plan so far is to fly into Tokyo on Boxing Day, go to Comiket, stay for New Years, then take the train to Osaka and spend a few more days there, checking out all the nearby places like Kyoto and Nara as well. Exciting stuff - it's a shame I have to get through a couple more months of uni before I can go.
Since the anime season is essentially over, I think I'll comment on a few of the shows I've been watching as well.
Usagi Drop - Just finished this one last night. I hadn't read the manga, although I had been spoiled as to its ending, but the spoilers didn't turn out to be relevant to the anime thankfully. I really liked this show. Rin was positively adorable throughout, and it was heartwarming watching her and Daikichi, especially as he adapts his life to fit Rin in. The art style was great, with everything looking like it was painted rather than drawn, and this was the only show this season that I watched the OP/ED on every episode for.
Steins;Gate - A great show as well. Then again, I don't really see how a show about a mad scientist (IT'S SO COOL!), time travel, and an evil organisation could be bad. For the last episode I went hunting for Dr Pepper - I ended up finding some in an American sweets import store - and put on my lab coat just to get myself in the mood. The VN has apparently been extremely quickly translated, so I'm looking forward to that.
Kaiji 2 - It isn't over yet, but I was amazed last episode when I saw that the bog arc remains unresolved, again. The show is glacially paced and I'm convinced it would be better told in half the episodes. It's still not over, and I don't know whether Kaiji ends up winning or not, but there have been so many contrivances so far that I can't bring myself to be too excited.
Tiger & Bunny - I liked it more in the first half when it was a monster-of-the-week show with interesting characters, and some development shown between episodes. The latter half all just seemed a bit silly for me, with some important story points being led into extensively then resolved very quickly and unexpectedly (sometimes off-screen).
Nichijou - Very hit and miss. Having said that, Yukko was a good character and scenes with her interacting with Mio or Mai were pretty funny. I didn't like the Professor so much. The animation was nice, as expected of KyoAni, and the OPs were great. It just wasn't a very consistent comedy.
The only show I'm watching that will continue into next season is The Idolmaster. I had no expectations for this, but it's been very enjoyable so far. I'm not sure what other shows I'll be watching next season, but I'll probably post about them when I decide.
Anyway it's mid morning and I'm hungry, so I'm going to go make some pancakes. Take it easy!
