Hachimitsu to Phantasm

I finished Hachimitsu to Clover earlier this evening, right after that I started Carnival Phantasm and Chrono Crusade.

ah yes, train scenes. What are romance animes without them?

First time I watched Hachimitsu to Clover was way back in 2004 or 2005, I was still in elementary then. I got hooked up immediately because of the character design and the simplicity of the anime in delivering each characters emotion (except Shinobu, though). 

I never got to fully watch the series, though and it took me until now to finish it completely. 

Of course, now that I'm older, it's now easy to understand the deeper meaning of the story of HTC.

I suppose the part which had the most impact on me is Shuji's declaration of love for Hagumi. A much deeper love than that of an uncle to his niece. I jokingly said that Shuji was a romantic pedophile, but his character was well developed from start to finish, so it's hard to disagree with him.

I was a little disappointed with the pacing of the second half of season 2. It shifted too fast compared to Ayumi and Mayama's arc at the start. The conclusion that J.C. Staff brought to Hagumi and Takemoto was also too rough. In Shinobu's part, it was already satisfying considering he has his own separate arc. It ultimately boiled down to Yuuta Takemoto.

Was it because he was given too much focus on season 1? Still that's not such a good excuse to exclude him from the well executed exit of the other characters.

I do praise Hiroshi Kamiya's excellent voice acting. His role in HTC was one of his earlier roles in being a central character and also narrator. His voice acting was further developed by the time he took on Itoshiki Nozomu (Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei), Koyomi Araragi (Monogatari series) and Yuzuru Otonashi (Angel Beats!). 

His latest role from the previous season was Koyomi Araragi (Monogatari series II) and Levi Heichou (Shingeki no Kyojin).

Overall, I give Hachimitsu to Clover and its second season: 8/10.

Like I said above, after HTC I went on with Carnival Phantasm and Chrono Crusade.

I gotta say, Carnival Phantasm is a fresh new outlook in the characters of the Nasuverse. Even though it's a parody of the original, I already got hooked on the first episode. I wonder why it's a little underrated?

this is just a new set of my harem

Carnival Phantasm was based from the manga Take-Moon by the author of Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens, Eri Takenashi.

It features characters mainly from Fate/Stay Night and Tsukihime in gag situations that, seeing as how they are all mostly serious in their respective visual novels, packs up a great punch of humor. 

The downside here is that each episode only ranges from 8 to 20 minutes, and my copy doesn't have Fate/Prototype included. I'm really interested about how the series would have turned out if the gender role of Shiro and Saber were switched (referring to Sajyou Ayaka and the male Saber). 

Medea like I've never seen her before, she could break the rules on me anytime

I've only watched episode 1 so far but my waifu list somehow increased because of CP. Medea was presented in this anime a lot more cuter than in the VN of F/SN, of course the same goes with the other hot cuties of the nasuverse in a new design.

I still have yet to play Tsukihime so I guess I won't be able to relate much in their part. But I have watched part of Shingetsutan Tsukihime hoping that gives me a little edge in understanding...even though this gag adaptation offers now absolute understanding at all.

Neco-Arc also doesn't fail to make me tear up laughing

I haven't started Chrono Crusade yet but I already know the course of the story and its ending. That would at least save me from the river of tears at the end.

The manga's ending was a little vague compared to the dramatic exit of the anime. My aim for watching Chrono Crusade is for completion. Like that feeling I get after playing Castlevania and you still have to collect a few more things to get 100% completion, yeah that's the feeling I have over Chrono Crusade.

In the meantime, as I watch these two titles, I've dropped Trinity Blood simply because it's by Gonzo and the first 2 episode didn't amount to much on my verdict. Hopefully my interest in vampire animes (that doesn't have Hellsing on the title) would increase even for just a bit after Carnival Phantasm.