Here are my most favourite titles at the moment and a few random thoughts on 'em. ^_^.

Gundam Wing

I wanted to see this anime for a long time. Well, about three years ago I read a few GW fics and then scoured the web for stuff about the series. Back then, there wasn't really a huge GW presence on the web. I really wanted to see the show but I never got the opportunity. After a while, it came out in America and I was biting my nails with envy. ^_-.

Anyway, finally my fantab pal (who has sent me so much anime I am just overwhelmed ^_^. ^_^.) sent me the entire series, and OAV, subtitled, on CDs. So I've seen it at last, and can I say, reaaally enjoyed it. ^_^.

Okay, there were some episodes I didn't enjoy thoroughly. I'm the type who likes characters and character interactions. A good plot is a great bonus, but not necessary. Battles, particularly between robots, don't interest me greatly. For me, the fights and missions of GW were something to sit through while waiting to see the pilots again. You might think this would make me not like the series much, but it didn't. ^_^.

Quatre is probably the main reason I liked this series. Eheh. Well, it's strange how that happens. In some anime I may like one character more than others but don't pay much more attention to them. In this, though, I found him about five times more interesting than anyone else and always paid attention to his lines more than the others.

Don't ask me how I managed to totally enjoy this series with that attitude, but I did. ^_^; I also think Duo is very cool... the voices of the characters are great... I like Noin and Sally and Catherine... mm, there are lots of cool characters besides Quatre; he just happened to be my favourite. ^_^.

Anyway, although Quatre is what made me love the series rather than just like it, I did follow the development of the plot with interest, the twists and turns, the interactings of the other characters, etc. More of my thoughts on this anime can be found on the GW opinions page.

Oh, I also really like GW music. The character themes, namely, are what I listen to. My very favourite is Quatre's "I'm your friend", followed by Trowa's "Doukeshi". Other cool ones are Heero's "Ore dake no kotoba de", Duo's "Kitto OK!" and all of Wufei's songs. ^_^. Especially Let Into Top, I think.

Rurouni Kenshin

Another pal of mine, great guy, sent me this series. ^_^. Heheh... I have trouble seeing lots of episodes of something. That's why I don't have many favourite anime... there are lots of titles I like but have only seen a coupla episodes of. ^_^;

Anyway, as I've already said, I think that likeable characters are the main reason for me to like an anime. That's something about anime... the characters don't act quite like people in real life, but they are deliciously likeable. Usually. In this case, you have characters who are always bickering but whenever something bad happens, they instantly pull together and work as a team. They're such close friends and it's really sweet.

I like Yahiko best. He's a cutie. So gruff and small and full of determination. Sano is also most cool, especially with that voice ^_^. and so is Misao, the wildcat. ^_^. All the main characters are in romantic pairings of some kind, and all of them are kind of weird except Yahiko and Tsubame which is just cute. ^_^.

I didn't enjoy all this series - some of the early episodes became a little repetitive (some new character is introduced, some bad guy is introduced, bad guy has a plot, Kenshin intervenes somehow and wins and everything is solved). But some of the larger arcs were more interesting, and there are always lots of interesting little scenes, particularly with the main characters interacting with each other. There are other interesting parts, like seeing Seta Soujiro's past, seeing the development of Aoshi's stance and outlook, seeing Kenshin overcome his killer-half, and seeing the OAV of Kenshin's past.

I've seen a bit of the dub of this - well, a movie and two OAV episodes - but didn't care much for it. The dub voices weren't so bad (although the oAV was a bit poor), I guess, but I still prefer the original. An anime like this, it's so set in Japan that it just fits more to have them speaking Japanese. I don't know. ^_^;

One huge thing this anime has going for it is that it is -mostly- not too controvsersial. I like anime that do not have a lot of 'ecchi' moments, or demonic beasty things, fan service, nudity, controversial relationships, etc. You can see that my three fave anime all steer clear of this sort of thing. ^_^.

Kodomo no omocha

This anime is pretty bizarre. I guess it's the sort of anime you wouldn't want to show to an anime newbie. I think the sense of humour in it is best for people who already like anime and have a bit of exposure to it. I think this would be a *disaster* if dubbed and I hope that never happens. ^_^.

Anyway, this anime is quite funny; it makes me laugh a lot. A couple of the first episodes weren't so great but then there were heaps of great moments... the stages of Hayama's reformation, the time his father was taken to hospital, the school camp, Hayama removing his rivals, etc.

Hayama is about the coolest anime character ever, and that's another reason I like this anime so much. He's this blunt little kid, yet really quiet, seeming to be cold and unfriendly, but actually he's such a good friend. I like characters like that. You just go "awww" when he's sad. ^_^.

This anime, despite being hyper and whacky a lot of the time, has made me cry quite a few times. I see it as really sweet a lot of the time. It's basically a story about ordinary (okay, not so ordinary!) kids growing up, learning stuff, doing kid stuff... it's really good, I totally recommend it if you're an anime fan. I haven't seen it for a while so my enthusiasm has waned a little but I'd like to see more if I get the chance. ^_^.

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