Clannad - Episode 24

I had completely forgotten about this, actually. It seems like an absolute age since Clannad “finished”, so this long-awaited twenty-forth episode kind of hit me from out of the blue. This episode focused around Tomoyo in what I’ve gathered is an alternate version of the Clannad universe, following her path from the original Clannad game. As such, the story mainly focused around the difficulties faced by the now dating delinquent-and-highschool-president couple as they sped on towards their graduation. More…

Genki to nihongo wo manabu!

It’s been about a week since my copy of Genki Volume One arrived in the post. After receipt I spared no time in ripping open the brown corrugated cardboard pouch from Amazon, excitedly uncovering what I deemed to be my first proper Japanese language textbook. Yes folks, it’s finally come down to this.

Genki was the fruit born of a good few weeks worth of textbook research. It proved difficult, to say the least, finding information of any detail about the various books on offer, but after a good few hundred Google web searches I became cemented in my resolution to take the plunge and slap down £30.99 ($61.74). That horrendous price tag was the source of much anxiousness. “Would it really be worth it?”, I wondered whilst feeling slightly queasy after parting with so much cash on a single book. Now, all that was left to do was to sit and wait on Amazon to do their thing. More…

Zero no Tsukaima: Princess no Rondo - Episode 2

As if we weren’t already very well aware, those crazy Japanese animators just thought they’d make absolutely sure we know exactly what Zero no Tsukaima: Princess no Rondo is all about. Just in case you might have thought it had a centrally cohesive plot, or something exotic like that.

On that note, I’m not going to be quite so harsh as I maybe came across in my last post about the series. There were some sweet moments in episode two, for sure. Take the re-summoning ceremony-chant thing, for example, which ended in an all too natural kiss between Saito and Louise. The dynamics in that relationship really are insane! One minute Louise is chasing the poor fellow around with a wooden stick, the next she’s hugging him from behind and pledging her adoration - as indirectly as possible, albeit. Still, that tsundere personality is one of the main reasons for Zero no Tsukaima’s popularity, so who am I to bad mouth those bipolar outbursts of affection? More…