Yes, yes indeed! iM@S is great! Solid is a wonderful word for it ... I was originally expecting very little but brainless fanservice to the extreme, but it turned out to be very wholesome and realistic, looking into the lives of an up and coming idol agency's members. I find the idols to be charming and endearing at the same time. It's actually quite refreshing imo.

As for poor Shu ... good take on his being a more realistic portrayal of modern day otaku sorts. But I must admit, otaku or otherwise, the guy is still a shy and awkward teenager - and Inori's actions (whatever her real or faked motives, etc.) had to hit him hard.

BTW - totally agree with your comments in defending Shu for Guilty Crown ep 5. Must admit that I personally don't really like the "he soooooo deserved it" angle some were taking. But then maybe that's just me. Man - I felt so badly for him after Inori dropped the bomb and then he saw her going into Gai's room followed by Ayase's comments.

I know I would have been pretty hurt in that situation....

Ok, this is right after Shouma gets to the scene. Kanba already saved Himari, or rather, Tabuki changed his mind and saved her. But Kanga is severely injured and passes out along with Himari.

The anime cuts to ED credits right there. Oh, and in the anime Ringo doesn't even embraces Shouma like in the novel, just clung to his back. But I don't really mind that; what pisses me off is that they cut the rest of the scene. which IMO was the most important part though:

So this is like the freaking scene when Shouma finally decides to man up... and the fuckers cut it? Why? I don't get it. Ringo didn't even get to finish her line and say "don't cry". Really, I don't get it at all.

Once again, I thank you for that. I had several choices for which picture to turn into an avatar next after Oktavia in human form (the little crown was the clue), and I settled on this one because I liked its particular shade of blue the best (not to mention it's one of my best ones, too).

Aside from being cute, a little mischevious, and a cosplayer, I think Kuroneko's main appeal to me is that she's not only a creative type, but also a creative type I could see being interested in the sort of creative projects I want to work on, even if my style isn't nearly as angsty as hers.

My thinking was that if strategic voting wasn't a factor, then Shana should have lost to Kanade given her winning margin over Azusa last week. Kanade beat both of them pretty soundly in the regular season. So if there's a Shana III bounce, it seems to have happened this week much more than last week.

Although if your feelings match the rest of the fanbase's, that's entirely possible. I haven't been watching S3, so I wouldn't know. The first season was one of those shows I stalled out on without actually disliking the show. I watched about 8 episodes and thought it was above average.

Most of my exposure to Shana was actually through ISML (strange how that works). I started voting in 2009, so I never knew ISML before Shana's reign of one-loss-per-season began. She was the only one of the Rie Big 4 whose show I hadn't completed. Not that I disliked Shana herself though. In my book, Taiga > Shana > Nagi > Louise.

IMO, no other character comes close to Shana in terms of the amount of excitement and drama she's added to ISML playoffs over the years. I remember voting for Hinagiku when she upset Shana in the 2009 finals and Mikoto when she did the same in the 2010 postseason. Since I've helped humiliate Shana twice, I can't shake the feeling she deserves a win at last now, since unless there are some massive fireworks at the end of S3, this might be her last, best chance at a tiara. So if there is an S3 bounce, good for her

I should have known. :-P good job.

Did I just find your inspiration?

I think I'll give Steins; Gate a test run and see if I would be interested in the series later on when it's released here.

And thanks for the request.

I have no idea what their stance is. Last year, when Ore no Imouto was the big craze, all of their reviewers didn't write anything about it at all. There was also the leaked epsiode fiasco with their streaming, which then got cancelled. Then a month ago, one of their reviewers writes an incredibly positive review, as if to make up for their shunning it for so long. They're a weird bunch.

You'd think that its different tack would mean that, but Carlo Santos is an anti-otaku, ant-moe, righteous ranter master of the time. Recently he called the 2nd Eden of the East movie virtual perfection and that all otaku should wake up. He comes across very high-strung and offensive. He only talks positively about SHAFT and anti-otaku shows. He's one weird character. He seems to be their call guy for controversial material.

I know it's just one place on the Net, but when there's not many places to find decent info in the West, there's bound to be reasonable traffic there. And several companies do streaming via them, so they matter in some way. Hence my anger at such a bitter, cringe-worthy review. My mentor who is normally immune to anything said it was the most painful review he had ever read and had insulted/misrepresented the online anime community in the West.