[VN of the Month April 2023]

I don't know if your theory in regard of each companies decided to release one proper VN per month is right or not, but at least I know that there's several nukige release if you want to include those as monthly releases. That said, Prima Doll couldn't count because it's still just the first episode, Oregairu is the adaptation, and Chronos Rebellion is Frontwing attempt to milk Grisaia with the game is came from their failed Grisaia mobage. So of course, the most obvious VN of the Month is Tenshi Reboot, in which Nekonyan already blatant enough to hint their involvement in English version before announced it on the day of the release with the progress is at 10% translated.

For Tenshi Reboot, I want to deny that Yuzusoft VNs are primarily collections of fetishes, but I suppose I can't deny it after I recall that my interest in Dracu Riot is because Nicola's nice dress along with magical girl costume in Sanoba Witch (Also with mod Clephas openly admit that his fetish is cat ear and his disappointment with Kaguya very rarely appear with her cat ear). Anyway, as long as people except usual Yuzusoft VN (ie usual high production value and the focus on the heroines), they'll get it with Tenshi Reboot. Good luck to Nekonyan in regard of working on this.

That's all for what I can write in regard of April 2023 releases.

[Anime of the Year 2006-III Summer - NHK ni Youkoso!]

Girl Who Leapt Through Time - If you can think that it's like Ghibli, then it mean that the director did his job very well, and it should be mentioned that the director (Hosoda Mamoru) was originally intended to direct Howl (Ghibli movie) only to be cancelled. That said, Madhouse here also has good reputation when it come to animation, so it should be possible to make the movie that rival Ghibli to a degree.

Zero no Tsukaima - Our tsundere Louie (Who voiced by Kugimiya Rie) is known as Eclipsed avatar. That said, I only know that it's isekai anime with the MC become familiar instead of overpowered MC, and the original author was passed away before manage to finish the light novel (At least another author manage to finish it through the notes that the original author left).

Welcome to NHK - While it's easy to mock the theory that public TV station can brainwash people, turned out that there's more inside the MC who keep spewing outlandish theory, which in turn highlight on how broken the MC is. It should also be mentioned that the dysfunction is not stop to the MC, as turned out that the people in the show have their baggage which can be quite heavy. So yeah, the anime here is more or less quite phycological with the casts have problem with their mentality, and it's even worse in the manga because the usage of drugs.

Power Puff Girls Z - The original Power Puff Girls was inspired by Japanese anime, and ironically enough Toei decided to make their own version of Power Puff Girls. Anyway considering that original Power Puff Girls was 2 to 11 years old children, I guess it's right to call it as childish and therefore it's for kids even though the casts are 13 years old age. Oh yes, Toei decided to make the girls like magical girl instead of making them have the powers all the time, although whether the change is good or not is depend on who you ask.

That's all for what I can write in regard of Summer 2006 anime here.

[Anime of the Year 2006-II Spring - Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu]

Gintama - From what I understand it has a lot of parody, so you may as well watch it for that.

Simoun and Strawberry Panic - Both are GL show that took inspiration from previous show (Simoun from Kannazuki no Miko (With robot and all) and Strawberry Panic from Marimite), and from what I can understand it's among well known GL anime. I don't know though if I'll watch those two later.

Digimon Savers - One of the darker Digimon anime because it featured the most evil human enemy, although in the end it's not much darker than either Tamers or Survive despite that the casts are mostly grown up. Oh yes it has the game for PS2 that I and my brother played, although said game is quite short and easy with the story deviate from the anime.

xxxHolic and Chronicle of the Wing 2 - Holic is the first time that CLAMP styles is really prominent in the anime, and it's about Yuuko who is the witch that help Chronicle of the Wing casts to do the journey. Speaking of it, episode 4 of the second season immediately retcon what was set in the last episode of season 1, and the anime ending with the casts fighting an anime only character who is very overpowered before continuing the journey.

Haruhi - The titular character is definitely very unique, although whether it can make her likeable or not is another matter, especially after the infamous second season that was caused by the trouble in the production. Anyway it should be obvious that the MC is not the titular character, but rather the observer Kyon who witness the hijinks that was ensued thanks to Haruhi. Almost forget to mention that if you watch the episodes based on the number of episodes, the story will be out of order so you better search the internet if you want to watch the episodes in proper order.

Utawarerumono - Honestly speaking there's no much to say here other than it's relatively faithful adaptation. That said, if you want to play the game, then I would say that you better pick the version that Shiravune localized because of the improvement. Although if you want to see the sex scenes, well nothing stop you to pick the older version.

Higurashi - With first Ryukishi work being very popular, obviously it's inevitable that it got adapted. Deen here did cram all six Chapters into 26 anime episodes, so it's inevitable that some parts are quite rushed, although it's not as bad as Umineko because Higurashi here has some shorter Chapter (Himatsubushi). It also worth to mention that the first season of Higurashi is quite infamous, no small thanks to Meakashi chapter which is quite dark with torture and all.

That's all for what I can write in regard of Spring 2006 anime here.

[Episodic Stories – An Anatomy of Visual Novels]

Speaking of TV series, actually the anime also use episodic approach, which somehow is very fitting for the obvious reasons. In fact, a lot of popular and long runner anime actually use episodic approach, with the most notable one are One Piece and Conan, and no it didn't stop them to become very popular. I don't really know though if episodic VN is meant to pay homage to the TV series.

As for Internal Episodic Structure, Bokuten common route is one of such example with anthology format seeing that it put the focus on the several couples beside the MC and the heroines. Since you mentioned Liar-soft, I may as well mentioned Yurirei in which it's like the anthology of several GL couple that the MC help. Speaking of help the couple plot, ef here is the most prominent example with the main couple help several side couple to find love, and yes it's another example of anthology. That said, not all of episodic stories in VN are purely anthology, seeing that there's Subahibi in which ultimately it tell one big story even with the writer did write it in episodic way (With each episodes have different MCs). Almost forgot to mention that not only Yuzusoft that has non-anthology episodic structure, but Primal Hearts and Venus Blood series also has it.

As for External Episodic Structure, it was used by Ryukishi07 in which he sell his each part of the VN at Comiket, before the publisher bundling all of his VNs into one big bundle. Nowadays, there's a lot of trend the using of it is rising, with the most prominent example is Nine series. Obviously the reason on why the company did this is that so they can save the funds, although there can be another reason to do the episodic release though, namely it allow the writer to build his story slowly (Although the writer may forgot his plot point from the early episode if he writer the later episode). Personally speaking, this format is not my favorite, but again it help the company to save some funds, especially when the company face the funding problem like Frontwing.

That's all for what I can write in regard of this topic.

[Anime of the Year 2006-I Winter - Ergo Proxy]

Girls Meets Girl - A story about male MC crushed by an alien spaceship with the alien decided to turn the MC into female as the way to apologize, and then having love triangle with her female childhood friend and the popular girl. Yes it's GL love triangle anime with the MC is formerly male, and I see no problem with it lol. Also serious GL drama is not stranger in the manga, with one of those is 'Yuri is My Job' that just aired in Spring 2023. The manga and the anime here have different ending, although the manga is not fully adapted, so in exchange you may also want to watch the OVA if you want full experience of this. Almost forgot to mention that eufonius did a good job with the opening song.

Magikano - Compared to PCSS, obviously this is not 49 episode magical girl anime even with transformation scene and stuff. Also the MC here is just use as some sort of plot device, although it might be justified seeing that his looks is like Love Hina Keitarou and so the staff decided to have the MC as generic as possible. The anime here is ending up with weird Return to the Past loop, while the manga is not have that plot as much as I recall.

PCSS - Toei did make a neat setting between the Precure and the villain organization, with the Precure is based on Japanese Four Beauty of Nature (Even though initially it only has two Precure) with the cadres are based on Chinese Five Elements, and both sides have goal to search Fountain of Sun in order to do what they wish so (Precure is obviously to protect it, while the villain is to destroy it). Oh yes, the premise is that Precure is summoned because the villain already destroyed 6 out of 7 fountains, and another neat thing is that the fountain are based on the days in Japanese. That said, unfortunately it has flaw, namely that the Precure design resembled FwPC so much Italian thought that Saki and Mai is the future Nagisa and Honoka, so obviously it's quite awkward to watch when it's first broadcasted in 2006. Obviously Toei decided to not have the artist working as the character designer for the next Precure, although he's skilled enough in animation direction so he's still work as Animation Director for several Precure episodes.

Fate Stay Night - While obviously recent fans would prefer newer UBW anime thanks to Ufotable hard work (Which even more successful now that they adapt Demon Slayer) and that UBW has more plot twist compared to Fate, obviously 2006 version here is still decent introduction to Fate franchise, providing that the audience didn't expect Ufotable level of effects. It help that actually it's quite good adaptation for 2006, considering that at that year there's several less faithful VN adaptation with one of the example is Shuffle (At least there's no sudden Rin become the final enemy twist or something like that). That said, it's still quite a debate on which Fate anime version is the best, although at least with Ufotable not made Fate route adaptation yet, Fate 2006 the only way to watch animated Fate route (UBW has the aforementioned anime, and Heaven's Feel has movie trilogy).

Hellsing Ultimate - The OVA is the most faithful adaptation, and thus it's better received on MAL. Of course there's some flaw happen, with the obvious one is that the pacing is rushed compared to the manga, which make sense if we consider that the studio only have 10 episodes to fully adapt the manga even with the extended length. Also yes, with it is not broadcasted on TV, the staff here have more freedom to not reduce the disturbing contents and the fan service, some of which is including on how they make Seras's breast as big like in the manga (Yes it's important to note because it's one of the change that the anime magazine which I read mentioned).

That's all for what I can write in regard of Winter 2006 anime here.

[Anime of the Year 2005-IV Fall - Shakugan no Shana]

Shana - It's one of influential anime in which there are several characters who are modeled after Shana, in which Shana herself were both short in regard of the height and the temper, and it also help the VA (Kugimiya Rie) being typecasted as that kind of character so much she's known as Queen of Tsundere. That aside, I didn't exactly watch the anime and only know about it through the article and stuffs.

Solty Rei - Now that I play Kikokugai, the duo is exactly like that, except that the older man is want to find her missing daughter instead of revenge. The first half of Solty Rei is quite lighthearted with the climax that the older man managed to find his long lost daughter, while the second half is darker due to the main villain take the action after hiding his claw for the first half.

Jigoku Shoujo - Also know as Girl from Hell in Animax in which the premise is exactly like Clephas mentioned on top of it being episodic. My sister did watch the two seasons of it, and by Mitsugane she can pick on how it become formulaic with the one who want to sent someone to hell almost always the victim of bullying. Oh yes, it should also be mentioned that the author like to torture the dog as well, in which it was used to show on how bad the target were.

Paradise Kiss - It's about a model student Yukari who tired to live under her mother thumb, and one day she stumble across an university faction club with her was invited by the handsome member George. While the anime is indeed has beautiful drawing, the ending itself can be said as quite bittersweet to a degree.

Jang Geum - It's known in Indonesian as Jewel in the Palace, and it's quite popular back in 2005. I happen to watch it as well on one of it's rerun, only to have the TV station decided to run a bad Soap Opera when I look forward to the continuation. I don't know if the anime follow the same story or not, but looks like it's quite similar with both has Jang Geum become the cook in the Korean palace and then she met Min Jeong Ho who will be her main love interest.

Blood+ - It's about yet another Saya who is a vampire who hunt a creature that was created from the vampire, and out of all Blood anime series this is the longest series with 50 episodes. It's also the one that was mot well received, at least according to MAL. By the way, the story in this series can be simply summarized as Sibling Rivalry because the main villain Diva is Saya's long lost little sister, albeit with some complication.

Ginban Kaleidoscope - It's about the aspiring figure skating Tazusa who somehow possessed by a Canadian Pete with him can't enter the heaven for 100 days, and obviously with sharing the body story it come with a number of issue. It also easy to see that both Tazusa and Pete will have a lot of bond within 100 days, so it's quite sad for both of them when the inevitable separation is happening. I still remember that I watch this around July 2007 in Animax, simply because there's an important event for my family around that month.

Nanoha A - With Fate (She initially appear in the prequel as the rival in episode 4 end) become friend with Nanoha, obviously both of them are set to become the iconic duo. Also unlike the prequel where the staff did add episodic things to do, A here is instantly starting the main plot with both Nanoha and Fate must face the new antagonist that has the goal to completed the Book of Darkness for their own reason.

Black Cat - It's the story about the assassin Train Heartnet who has her first friend Saya was killed by Creed because Creed was fell in love with cold Train and didn't want Train to become warm, although the result is that Train become warm anyway with him doing the journey with newfound friend and thus didn't give what Creed want. The anime is ended differently from the manga, with the manga was ending after Train defeat Creed while the anime has some new story that goes even after Creed is defeated.

That's all for what I can write in regard of Fall 2005 anime here.

[The Sub-Heroine Route – An Anatomy of Visual Novels]

Late to comment here, @Pallas_Raven, but I suppose it would be better late than never.

Anyway as for the side route, I agree that it may help to expand the story or world building, as shown in Suzune's route of Cafe Stella in that her route is focused on the non-supernatural aspect. I should also make a note that Yuzusoft is already started their sub heroines routes tradition starting from Tenshin Ranman, in which generally their sub routes are more or less half of the main routes length. That said, Yuzusoft can also fumbling in regard of the side route, with the most (in)famous example of it is the teacher (Hotaru) route in Noble Works, which if we know usual Yuzusoft side route is not good enough material seeing that Hotaru has less interaction with the MC compared to either Makoto or Chiaki.

There's also another example that you can consider, namely Akane from Kirikoi in which she's more or less detached from the theme (Blonde hair). While mod Clephas did ask on why Akane become the heroine instead of either Mina or Ayaka, I think may be the writer want to write the side heroine route with the heroine didn't have connection to the main story, which coincidentally both Mina and Ayaka had (Of course both got their route in the Golden Time (The FD), proving that they're quite popular). It should be noted that the writer also use the same pattern in Tsujidou, with the side heroine is the MC stepsister who is a math teacher while Tsujidou theme is delinquent.

Since you mentioned Sukiren, I should also mentioned another example from ASa Project VN. Of course what I'll mention is not something like Momoko or Hama route in that it count as bad ending, but rather what would be happen if the writer manage to write a sub heroine route being too successful. Yes, the exact same thing is happen with Yuna's route in that it happen to be the most romantic route in Royale, which to be fair is not that hard considering that Royale focus is comedy with the main heroines tried to do their best in deliver the gags. Ironically though, it mean that being romantic mean being detached from the theme, and I should also mentioned that I can see the writer did their best to write Yuna's route as much as possible, so much that her position are equal to be the main heroines if not overshadow theme.

Well, that's all for my belated comment in regard of this topic.

[VN of the Month March 2023]

Base Son is definitely milking too much Koihime Musou franchise so much that I have hard time to follow the VNs in the franchise (With most of those untranslated to boot).

After looking on how Sekai manage to suddenly localize Slobbish Dragon Princess 3 and I'm not surprised with that, it should be obvious that they'll pick Animal Trail 2, so of course the question is 'when it'll be announced' instead of 'will Sekai localize this'. Oh yes, Animal Trail 2 here as expected had the remaining girl become the heroines, and of course the graphic is still good looking.

For VN of the Month for March 2023, seeing that there's only five VNs, I would say that both of Koi ni Amae ga Hitsuyosu Desu can be qualified seeing that it's one of the lengthy VN release, although Paranormasight is also good candidate as well for being mystery VN and all (Bonus point for it's been available in English).

That's all for what I can write in regard of March 2023 releases.

[Anime of the Year 2005-III Summer - Koukaku Kidoutai: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man]

While Da Capo 2 anime might be inferior compared to the source, at least it stay faithful to the original source compared to Shuffle in that the director decided to be a little creative with Kaede personality was changed in the anime, so much that Japanese fanbase was understandably very angry about it. Then again, maybe the director thought that it's a very good idea to change Kaede's personality in order to have more dramatic plot, seeing that the director is might be Asa's big fan while her route in the VN is naturally lack of conflict to fill the remaining episodes quota.

Gun x Sword is created by a man who will later create Code Geass, although compared to it Gun x Sword is ended in less controversial way. It should be noted that the plot here is started by the episode 6 end, when Van finally got a lead against his nemesis who've been killed his wife.

FF Advent Children is another attempt from Square to make an anime movie, and at least it seems to be more successful compared to their prior movie (Spirit Within). Obviously though, it's the beginning of they milking their most successful FF with them adding more lore and story, culminating in their latest FF7 Remake with they're also overhauled the gameplay.

Sugar Sugar Rune is created by Hideaki Anno wife, and obviously the work is not as dark as the creator's husband most famous work (You know which one) even though there are some serious moments.

Kamichu is dubbed as Teenage Goddess by Animax, and when I tried to watch it I expect something else only to find out that turned out it's more or less an iyashikei genre with the ditzy female MC become the titular Teenage Goddess. It's also worth to note that the staff going all out by displaying the credit in unique way as shown in the opening video.

That's all for what I can comment in regard of Summer 2005 anime here.

[Anime of the Year 2005-II Spring - Hachimitsu to Clover]

Eien no Aselia OVA is obviously very poor attempt to adapt the VN seeing that it only adapt two episodes from a very lengthy VN source. Glass Mask 2005 is the most recent adaptation of Glass Mask, and yes the author still didn't manage to finish her story until 2023 here. Absolute Boy has two MCs, so you obviously would think that it's disjointed if you watch first few episodes and then skip to watch few last episodes later (Based on my experience watched it on Animax with the last few episodes have very different casts of main characters). For Honey and Clover, the opening is certainly very unique although I only glance few episodes of it. For the other two anime (Chronicle of the Wing and Law of Ueki), I'll comment it below.

Chronicle of the Wing - Obviously it's CLAMP work, with them tried to made a couple from their most lighthearted work (Cardcaptor Sakura) doing a journey to recover the feather (Which I just remember that it seems Clamp like feather motif). Of course, the journey won't be easy, seeing that there's a lot of people who want the power that the feather granted. For season 1 here, I remember that the last episode is against what CLAMP think, so the anime staff make an episode to retcon it in season 2 as fast as possible.

Law of Ueki - The series is about a 100 God Candidates chose a middle high school student to fight in their stead at the battle royale, and the student who win the battle would get the God candidate to be the next God. One of such student is the titular character Ueki who's power seems useless with said power is just to turn trash into tree, although as the series goes on Ueki will find a way to make use of his power efficiently in order to win from his opponents. What I can say is that at least the ending is not as controversial as Shaman King (And that it's very conclusive), and Ueki is popular enough so much that it has sequel.

That's all for what I can write in regard of Spring 2005 anime here.

[Anime of the Year 2005-I Winter - Karas]

FwPC MH - Obviously it's the sequel of FwPC, and also the only two Precure series that manage to get the sequel. I know there's the announcement for both YPC5 and MGPC adult sequel, but it's another matter altogether. Obviously MH tell us more about Nagisa and Honoka now that they're in 9th grade in regard of what they'll doing after graduate from the junior high school, and while in the midst of it they got a new companion Hikari who can transform into Shiny Luminous (Although her ability is more of the support side even with her setting). Of course FwPC also need to deal with the enemies, in that FwPC will fight the group who want to revive the Dark King (The main villain). By the way, this is the last Precure series that was ever broadcasted in Indonesian television.

Negima - While the manga ending has fair share of it's problem, the anime elevated it to a new degree thanks to the manga was still unfinished on the time anime was aired (Although maybe the staff decided to follow FMA 2003 example by being creative). Anyway Negima itself is initially just like Love Hina (Same author and all), although the author soon enough introduce a number of the plot element that he meant to write with Negima, namely that the author want to write something like shonen magic battle series only to have the higher up tell the author to make the same genre as Love Hina.

Air - Obviously it's very faithful to the VN, although it's shorter than both Kyoani KEY adapted animation. Then again, maybe back then Kyoani was only given 12 episodes slot in order to test the water before being proved that it's quite successful. One thing to worth mention is that Kyoani make the cameo of Kanon's three heroines in one of the episodes, although whether it's to indirectly announced that they worked on Kanon 2006 or just to have it as Easter Egg I don't know. By the way out of all lengthy KEY VNs so far, AIR ending here can be said as the most bittersweet one thanks to a certain drama in the ending.

That's all for what I can write in regard of Winter 2005 anime here.

[Anime of the Year 2004-IV Fall - Beck]

Black Jack - As you can see, it's about an illegal doctor who is very skilled at the operation in exchange that he'll charge a very exorbitant cost (Although it also work as some sort of Secret Test of Character to see if the patient willingly to go to save the life). Also yeah as you can see, it's indeed an episodic anime in that Black Jack will do operation work at each Patient of the Week (Or rather Days because Animax aired this from Monday to Friday, although they only aired 52 out of 61 episodes though). Other than that, the anime also explain on how Black Jack met Pinako, and also there's a recurring character who based on past Tezuka's work (Wato and Sharaku).

Howl Moving Castle - I did watch it once, and it's about an old lady who will be younger at the end of the series. Also interestingly this is Hayao Miyazaki's favorite out of all his work, which prove that the taste can be quite subjective.

Bleach - The last of big three of shonen series, and out of all those three it's the only want that wasn't completely adapted (Naruto already has Boruto and One Piece is completed the manga very faithfully even with it's still ongoing). Also if you follow the recent anime news, then you know that currently it's final arc was getting adapted into anime and will be aired at four parts (The first part was already aired in Fall 2022), with each part will have 13 episodes totaling 52 episodes for the whole final arc. What I can say is that while the final arc has some controversy, at least the author didn't lengthen it like One Piece or even worse make a less received sequel like Boruto.

Yakitate Ja-Pan - It tell us a story about how Kazuma want to become the best baker ever because he met the experienced baker in the past, and from there he already make many variant of breads that has win rate almost at 99%. While you did say that it's relatively realistic, it's because of the anime didn't adapt the rest of the manga that contain the final arc, with said arc contain the story that can be even more over the top compared to Cooking Master Boy or even Souma because the author decided to put more focus on the reaction. If anything else, at least the author can still write some realistic bread baking compared to Cooking Master Boy or Souma in the final arc.

Yu-Gi-Oh GX - Starring Jaden who is inspired by Yugi to enter the school that teach Children Card Game that was established by Kaiba (Because he can). While the premise may want to ask whether it's rational or not, gradually the series will going into darker territory culminating in the fourth season that wasn't dubbed in the west.

Alice Academy - The anime didn't adapt the whole manga, which to say is very understandable if we know that it took 90 chapters to get interesting while the anime only adapt around 25 chapters. The anime here is only show us some story such as Mikan entering the Academy because of Hotaru, Mikan slowly getting more friend, and the existence of Anti-Alice group. Obviously there'll be more revealed in the manga, so of course the anime here is quite barebone compared to what the manga had (The anime did imply that there's some dark secrets beneath the Academy, which the manga will show a lot of it). Oh yes when I watch this, I thought that Mikan's mother has the same Alice as Mikan, only for the manga to reveal that it's actually the father's Alice (Of course it's understandable to thought so, considering that the flashback only show Mikan's mother drop Mikan at her current home).

Nanoha - Well you won't get the main story if you only watch the first three episodes, because the main rival (And future life partner) will appear in the 4th episode end. Anyway Nanoha here is start as the magical girl series, although in future story it's leaned toward super robot anime which caused by a staff joking on how Nanoha's magical girl outfit is like Gundam. It should also be noted that Nanoha herself is appear as the little sister character is Triangle Heart 3, which is an eroge with her big brother as the MC. Obviously the initial plan is to make Nanoha being the MC as the spin-off to Triangle Heart 3 (Another attempt that I can recall is Fate Ilya), but as time goes on turned out that Nanoha is far more popular compared to the original series, so much that people forgotten the her older brother.

That's all for what I can write in regard of Fall 2004 anime here.

[Anime of the Year 2004-III Summer - Gantz 2nd Stage]

Samurai 7 - I only glance on it back when it's aired on Animax, and I decided to just gave up on it. Well, at least the opening song is quite memorable to a degree.

Elfen Lied - Okay I admit that I know this back when I search the manga with tag 'Ecchi', although obviously it has more than that, especially with disturbing stuff. Also it should be noted that unlike Johann in Monster, Lucy here has a tragic backstory and reasons on why she became like that.

Galaxy Angel 4 - It's the most controversial Galaxy Angel anime, no thanks to on how they butchered Chitose character in which it's very contrast to her VN counterpart. Other than Chitose treatment, well it's still the same Galaxy Angel anime in that it didn't adapt the VN trilogy faithfully because of the creative decision.

That's all for what I can write in regard of Summer 2004 anime here.

PS - Oh yes, I remember Fafner ending song, although it's more like because it was used in Saya no Uta AMV video, which I first thought the opening video only to find out that Saya no Uta actually has no opening song.

[Anime of the Year 2004-II Spring - Gantz]

Tristia - It only has two episodes with the VN just got translated recently, although the most notable thing is that it's created by ufotable, who as we know is currently the studio behind well received Fate UBW and Demon Slayer anime. Obviously Tristia anime here didn't have much good effect like the former two, but of course ufotable also has to start from somewhere.

Keroro - It's a gag series about an alien troop who want to conquer the Earth, only that they've been too inept to do that so much that the Earthlings (Or Pekopon as Keroro mentioned) can easily beat them physically (Especially Hinata Natsumi who's name has similar reading as Sharin main heroine).

Monster - It's about the mind battle between the MC who initially save his nemesis because of his principle, and said nemesis is the title drop with his name is Johann Liebert. Being the title character, of course Johann prove himself that his nickname monster is definitely well earned, especially with how he did many murders (Or easily manipulated several people).

God Save Our King/Kyou Kara Maou - Okay I know it's BL story, and yes I watch all 78 episodes of it back when it was aired on Animax. Also it should be obvious that it's isekai story, with the twist that the MC Yuri just get the power after drank the substance from another world instead of granted by the divine being. In here, with Yuri become the demon king, obviously the biggest enemy is ironically humanity in that it prove that sometimes they can be worse compared to the demon.

Midori Days - The sweet love story between the male delinquent and his female junior from another school who somehow turned into the delinquent right hand in the most literal sense. The anime here is only adapted halfway of the story, and looking from on how the manga ending it won't make much difference in regard of the general story if all of the manga is adapted anyway (Other than several manga-only characters obviously).

That's all for what I can write in regard of Spring 2004 anime here.

[VN of the Month February 2023]

Well the most obvious VN of the Month for February 2023 here is Sakura no Toki in that it has overwhelming positive response, although perhaps it might be overrated for some person, and from what I see some did mention that Sakura no Toki here is not as good as the prequel. Other than that, as you can see it's the sequel of equally well received Sakura no Uta with the focus on the new heroines, and it has more than one MC. By the way, I don't know if SCA-DI here has some focus on GL romance or not just like in the prequel.

Sacrifice Villains is like Boku no Hero Academia, with 'Hero' changed into 'Villain' along with ramped up the number of the sex scenes. Shiravune did manage to get the license of this, although they still withhold the exact release date for now.

Flip Flop is obviously serial VN with each name of the part did resemble the main heroine name, in which this time we have Rambling Overun with the heroine name Ran. For the info, the first part name is Innocence Overclock which can be shortened as IO who is the name of the first part heroine. I would assume that the developer will release two more parts based on the remaining two main heroines, Alice Riko and Izumi Maaya, with the parts name related to the heroines name.

At least we have the first part of Red List Girls also available in English, and looking from the synopsis alone it looks like Tokyo Mew Mew except that the writer did write that there's an experiment that turned the endangered animal into human girl, which to say is par per course if we look at works that turned horse (Uma Musume) or train (Maitetsu) into cute girls.

That's all for what I can write in regard of February 2023 releases.

[Anime of the Year 2004-I Winter - Interlude]

FwPC - The one series that starting the long string of Precure franchise, all the way up to 2023 Precure HSPC. Like you say, it's more or less like realistic magical girl, although of course it came off as the way Washio (The man behind Precure) try to experiment normal girl become the magical girl. Other than that, it has some hard hitting physical fight that make it stand out even with FwPC didn't have many attack like recent Precure. Anyway I should mention that all Precure series are more or less have same format, so you may as well try to drop the series if it's not your interest here, although you can also watch several episodes up to another girl become the new Precure to judge it. Lastly I should say that back when I watch it (in 2005) I think that FwPC Precure outfit is like maid or nurse, and the series format here is like Kamen Rider or Sentai (ie Power Ranger) series.

Gokusen - Like you say, it's more like GTO only with female teacher with the teacher is teaching the school for troubled boy student. Of course, she has qualification to teach the naughty students seeing that she's the yakuza princess. I should also mention that the bishounen (Shin) will be the main love interest if you read the manga, and of course the anime is not cover the romance yet.

Jubei 2 - Well Jubei was back with new VA, and she has new rival. No much to say other than I didn't manage to watch it fully, and I don't think that I'll revisit it later.

Marimite - The anime series that start the favorite GL trope in which the setting must be in Catholic school and that the couple must have sister relationship, in which there's a lot of GL works that took the elements from Marimite here with the most obvious example is Flowers tetralogy.

Ghost in the Shell 2 - From what I see in here Motoko (The MC) has more personal history with the villain compared to the previous season, and other than that honest I can't comment much about this.

That's all for what I can write in regard of Winter 2004 anime here.

[Anime of the Year 2003-IV Fall - Sakigake!! Cromartie Koukou]

Tsukihime anime - Even though the fans would be more than happy to declare it as non-existent anime, to be fair the material to adapt is quite big within the scope of 12 episodes, especially with on how Nasu like to write in a very lengthy detail (If his Mahoyo novel was rejected because it's length is any indication), and obviously 12 episodes are not enough to adapt the whole route if we know that both two Fate anime adaptation need 24 episodes to adapt each routes. That said, the staffs here obviously didn't going all out trying to adapt as much as possible, considering that they still manage to add filler episode within limited allocated episode numbers, so yeah it's understandable that Type-Moon fans didn't like this anime to put it lightly. If anything else, at least the opening song of it is quite good.

ROD the TV - I did watch this on Animax, and I said to my sibling that it's the worst anime because I don't understand any of it. Well in any case, I later learnt that the actual main character for ROD here is actually Yomiko instead of Nenene, and that I did think that Maggie here is more like a male instead of female. Honestly speaking, I already forget on how it's end, but at least I can vaguely remember that Anita starting to read the books at the end of the series.

Gunslinger Girl - I admit that I glance this on Animax because I thought that it will be like magical girl series wore very sexy costumes and fight using gun, only to find out that the girl wore non sexy uniform and more importantly the premise is far from the magical girl aspect that I expected lol. In any case, this is the series about the child soldier that was brainwashed to do the killing, which obviously would be quite dark and disturbing. Oh yes, the opening song is quite good too.

Kiminozo - While back in 2000's it cement it's position as the anime/VN with realistic love triangle story, nowadays people may find WA2 is far much better. Personally speaking I find that the cause of the love triangle to be happen is very convenient (ie car accident and coma), which mean that the writer can't thinking a good reason to allow the love triangle to be happen. That said, the story can still be good if age manage to finally released the translated reboot of this, even with the original version here is already overshadowed by WA2.

Full Metal Alchemist - FMA 2003 version was created before the author manage to finish the manga, and so obviously some change need to be done in order to have a full anime series. The author here did encourage the staffs to make their original ending, and so we have the original ending of FMA 2003 with several characters have different roles compared to what happen in the manga later. Nowadays fans would like to watch Brotherhood (2009 FMA anime), although it's okay if some like 2003 version here.

That's all for what I can write in regard of Fall 2003 anime here.

[Lamunation! Review - It's A Mad And Brilliantly Shining World]

I should say that the art is quite easy on eyes even though the drawing may be a bit odd for some, and that the futuristic atmosphere there is quite neat. That said though, perhaps the author realize that this kind of VN is like soft drink (ie lamune), quite nice and yet it didn't bring something more than that. It also interesting to note that the bad vote on Erogamescape there may be because the author wrote the crude joke to female (I forgot the exact case), which obviously can be said as the sexual harassments. Lastly, while I understand that there's a license issue with the engine, unfortunately the engine for the English version is not the best to say it lightly with the most glaring flaw is that there's no voice playback in the backlog, in which it's something that even older VN provide.

To conclude this, while Lamunation here is obviously not the VN that would be something like WA2 or Muramasa, at least it's quite a nice VN on it's own, especially for it's fans.

PS - For the info, in regard of the opening I prefer the 2nd one.

[Anime of the Year 2003-III Summer - Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu]

Both Green Green and Da Capo are obviously VN adaptation, with Green Green is the only Overdrive VN that was adapted into the anime (Ironically the VN is still not available in English). For Onegai Twin, I only know that it's the spin off for Please Teacher after I open TV Trope page of this. Full Metal Panic Fumoffu here was worked on by Kyoani instead of Gonzo, and interesting to note that it's more well received in MAL compared to the previous series despite that Fumoffu is mentioned as the side story.

Well no much I can write here, so that's all for my comment on Summer 2023 anime.

[Anime of the Year 2003-II Spring - Texhnolyze]

Kino's Journey - I only know that Kino's hometown is pretty unsettling and that it's said to inspire Majo no Tabitabi with Elaina is cuter compared to Kino (Kino is more like a male), and thay Kino has her talking motorcycle Hermes.

Mermaid Melody - I did read the manga a bit, and it didn't have much magical girl element. The anime itself has transformation scene, and of course the battle by using music. Oh yes, I prefer the explanation on how the girl can transform compared to Tokyo Mew Mew, because Mermaid Melody here has obvious magical setting.

Ultra Maniac - It's understandable if you remember Marmalade Boy if you watch this, because both are written by same writer. The MC here is just normal human, which is quite unusual for magical girl anime with said magical girl is at first quite annoying. The anime is very different from the manga, because the author got the offer to make the anime of it before the manga was published.

Kaleido Star - Despite that I likened it to Aokana in my VNTS Review, to be honest I didn't watch much of it. I only know that it has Sora who will struggle in the circus troupe, there'll be fairy call Fool (Although Sora won't be the magical girl here), and that I prefer the second opening song here.

Detective School Q - It's another work by Kindaichi's writer, and compared to Kindaichi it has less serial murder. It also has ongoing Myth Arc that was resolved quite well, at least compared to Conan which is currently just disclose the past important case that has been teased ever since around 2015. It help that Detective School Q here didn't took too long for the Myth Arc to be advancing, although maybe it feel longer back when it was still published weekly. Anyway, the main characters Kyu and Ryu here can be said like Naruto and Sasuke, except that Kyu and Ryu didn't ended with one of their arms were thorn in the finale. Oh yes, the anime was ended before the main villain and his main subordinate appear because it only adapt halfway through the manga, and the anime only villain fill the role as the final opponent.

That's all for what I can write in regard of Spring 2003 anime here.

[VN of the Month January 2023]

MAGES seems to be will going for a while, although as for GIGA they indeed will close their company on March end later. That said as for their Swan Song, well obviously it's not as good as Baldr Sky. As for Tristia Restore, people may be more interested to play Legacy, especially if there's no much enough difference between Restore and Legacy (I only know that Restore was focusing mainly on the item creation gameplay). I remember that Harakiri Girls got translation, although I did ignore it back when it's released. Summer Time Render game will have more story from what I see, and apparently there'll be new scenario that was only available in the VN.

For VN of the Month, it would be either Da Capo 5 or RE:D Cherish FD, although it seems the latter would be the more interesting one so may as well call RE:D Cherish FD as VN of the Month, despite that three of Da Capo 5 heroines voiced by HSPC VAs (Sekine Akira, Kakuma Ai, and Koga Aoi) lol. And that's all for what I can comment in regard of January 2023 releases.

[Anime of the Year 2003-I Winter - .hack//Tasogare no Udewa Densetsu]

Out of all these anime, I can only comment on Nadja because it's my avatar lol, and for more serious reasons it's the only anime from this season that worth talking. Like the premise mention, it's about the titular Nadja who had her orphanage burned and she's on the journey with Dandelion troupe to met up with her long lost mother. On the journey, she'll meet with various person, including her old friend and the new love interest. Looking from how similar it's with World Masterpiece Theater series, Toei may want to recapture the success of it, although obviously Nadja wasn't successful enough, so that Toei went back to made magical girl anime, and said anime is obviously FwPC which is the very first Precure series that keep airing until now with HSPC will be premiered tomorrow. By the way, Nadja was aired in Indonesia back in 2005 at Saturday morning. 

Well that's all for what I can comment in regard of Winter 2003 anime here.

[Anime of the Year 2002-IV Fall - Koukaku Kidoutai: Stand Alone Complex]

Galaxy Angel AA - I remember that I'm quite surprised that one of the episode was going darker than usual, and yes you didn't read it wrong because the previous episodes are obviously very light (Which obviously contrasting the VN because the game started with the rebellion that killed the reigning emperor).

Naruto - Well you know that it's big three shonen anime along with Bleach and One Piece, and how the series become infamous with the filler arc on the second season. The other thing that I can say is that the songs are quite popular in Indonesia, because it's been broadcasted in the television for a very long time.

Gundam Seed - Like Naruto, it has the infamous second season. Other than that, it's Gundam so it's inevitable that there'll be some darker story in regard of war and stuff, and said pattern is still happen in the recent Gundam (Witch of Mercury) even though it has female MC with the setting for the first season is primarily in the school.

Ghost in the Shell - What I know is that it's the inspiration of the popular Matrix movie, which in turn was inspired by 1995 movie. Anyway it should be obvious that this anime should be good for Matrix fan for being the original inspiration and all, although I may be wrong on this. I did watch it on Animax, although I didn't understand any of it so I dropped it.

That's all for what I can write in regard of Fall 2002 anime here.

[Anime of the Year 2002-III Summer - Jungle wa Itsumo Hare nochi Guu Deluxe]

Samurai Deeper Kyo - Well it's like Samurai X, except with the MC has dual personality and stuffs. I only remember that it was broadcasted in Indonesia and that I read the manga of it, so I didn't follow the series until the end.

Witch Hunter Robin - I did try to watch it on Animax expecting some sexy magical girls (Well I did watch it back in my high school), only to find out that there's no much magical girls (Let alone the sexy one) and obviously it has grim setting. Anyway I did read the article about this in Indonesian magazine, and it tell that the series has hypocritical setting (ie using witch in a witch hunter organization) along with the ending is quite ambiguous.

Princess Tutu - Magical girl anime that was said to be quite dark, moreso than Pretear like I mentioned beforehand. The premise here can be summarized as the deconstruction story of The Ugly Duckling with the later episodes was going into metafiction story. Oh yes, I did came across twice as Princess Tutu was both broadcasted in television and Animax, although I didn't manage to watch it because of the reasons (The television didn't managed to properly caught the signal and back then there's no Indonesian sub on Animax). Then again even if I manage to watch it back then, I probably would be quite confused with the story anyway.

That's all for what I can write in regard of Summer 2002 anime here.

[Anime of the Year 2002-II Spring - Abenobashi Mahou☆Shoutengai]

Chobits - Another work from CLAMP, and unlike Sakura it's slightly darker even though it's not as dark as their past works. That said, no much to say other than the premise is more than enough to determine that this is about love between human and AI.

Azumanga Daiou - The first generation of Girls Club anime in which we got a number of it nowadays, and I remember more of this because we have Wakamoto Norio voiced a bird(?) who said to be Chiyo's father. Oh yes Chiyo here is skip a lot of class because of her intelligent, in which her actual age is at 10.

Daigunder - I did watch it several time because it's the only available entertainment at that time in the TV, and yes Masaki Endou did a good job to sang the opening song.

Atasinchi - Yamada did remind me of this anime, and yes I did watch this first. My impression is on how the mother is pretty much a silly one, and that the older daughter didn't look like she's in the 11th grade.

Tokyo Mew Mew - While admittedly I have nostalgia with this (Especially when I pick Jewel Knight Crusader because it resemble Tokyo Mew Mew), it definitely have a lot of things to be nitpicked, such as on how the creator clearly forced magical girl element in the science fiction setting. Well in the end it's proven to be popular, with the infamous manga sequel and the anime reboot in 2021.

Full Moon - I did hear the first ending song through the compilation of Wild Arms 5 summon of all things, and it definitely sounds better than the opening (Although the third opening Eternal Snow is the better ending song). I like to say that Full Moon here is quite dark, although it's more like dark to the MC Mitsuki who face a lot of ordeal in regard of the loss of her first love and how she's keep wishing to have him back. The anime itself did ended in the midway of the manga, and the manga itself has several more story happened in there, such as on how the female grim reaper (Meroko) met her end and the appearance of the grim reaper boss.

That's all for what I can write in regard of Spring 2002 anime here.