Miu has serious hair.

I still can't believe RightStuf licensed Piano. I hope I'm not the only person to have bought the DVDs. Piano is a 10-episode series that seemingly few people watched to the end. I'm not saying Piano is boring, but it's very slice-of-life, not a whole lot happens, and Miu spends most of the series mildly unhappy the way only a young teenage girl can be. So it's a hard sell even if Miu has the second best hair in the history of anime.

The Piano DVD collection also features a number
of shaky-cam interviews with Kawasumi Ayako.

I originally watched Piano because of the Ayako Doctrine. The Ayako Doctrine applies to Piano a bit more than it typically does since Kawasumi Ayako (a skilled pianist) not only voices the main character, she also composed the opening theme and presumably plays the piano as Miu.

Yuuki also has serious hair.

There's not much else to say about Piano. It is a pleasant little show about family and relationships. Miu doesn't really have her act together, but it's forgivable since she's still a kid. Her greatest challenge during the short series is struggling against the temptation to just give up when things get tough. To that end, she performs much better than say Satou from Welcome to the N.H.K. Beyond that, there's not much drama. You're not going to see anyone bent over a baby grand, for example.

Miu's stern piano teacher.

Is Piano still worth watching? Well, I like it. And if you follow the Ayako Doctrine, viewing at least the first two episodes is compulsory. Despite starring Kawasumi Ayako in a piano-based series, there really aren't many similarities to Nodame Cantabile. In fact, there aren't many similarities to very many shows now that I think about it. I suppose you could say that's its main draw: Piano is unique in being so ordinary.

Pandora Hearts celebrates Alice's thighs as Kannagi did Nagi's.

I started watching Pandora Hearts for three reasons. First, the AYAKO DOCTRINE. Second, Kajiura Yuki composing the musical score. Third, Savage Genius contributing the ED.

Warning: Alice will boot to the head without hesitation.

After seven episodes, I'm still not really sure what to make of the show. The music is great, but it isn't as memorable as Kajiura Yuki's best work. The style and appearance of the show remind me a little of American McGee's Alice—or at least remind me I never finished it. It's probably all the clockwork and Victorian madness. Kawasumi Ayako does play a character named Alice, and there are definite influences from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but Pandora Hearts has less to do with that book than Soukou no Strain has to do with A Little Princess.

Alice is displeased.

Alice is my main reason for liking Pandora Hearts so far. She has great hair and insane grins and so much verve. I get the feeling Ayako is having a lot of fun voicing the character. Alice makes every scene she's in captivating, even if it's just about her eating chicken.

Oz about to get fucked up by some dolls. Good luck, guy.

Curiously, despite the numerous groups fansubbing Pandora Hearts, I am the only person I know actually watching it. Then again, I'm the only one I know watching Cross Game, the fifth season of Major, or Fresh Pretty Cure. Everyone's too busy watching K-On! over and over, I guess. Anyway, if you feel like giving Pandora Hearts a try, the widescreen versions are up to episode three now; you'll need to watch that far to see Abyss. The video quality on the HD upscales are horrible, though.

Reina is always back-to-back with Death.

Queen's Blade is awesome. No, wait. It's horrible. Actually, it's awesome because it's horrible. Or is it horrible because it's awesome? You kinda have to see it for yourself. On the one hand, it is wall-to-wall fan service. And I don't mean soft core Hatsukoi Limited fan service, I mean hard service of the "Look at all the tits! There must be…57 tits!" variety. And also the snake-rape and acid-lactation variety. No, really. And it goes on like that.

I wonder if Tomoe even knows what kind of show she's in.

But it also has A-List seiyuu in nearly every role. Kawasumi Ayako plays the lead girl, an inept middle-child named Reina who manages to lose nearly every single fight. (Really, a victory for Reina is a loss during which she doesn't piss herself.) Ayako isn't in Lafiel mode by any means, but she's taking it a lot more seriously than her He Is My Master role, for example. And it has Noto Mamiko playing an absurd miko character, also dead seriously. I guess it's a chance to get away from her Shimako typecast.

Of course there's a maid character.

And it has Hirano Aya yammering at a thousand words per minute about all sorts of insane crap related to this "Queen's Blade" reality television show she's trying to promote, albeit with only dubious success. That's what Queen's Blade is technically about: a ridiculous contest, but none of the characters seem especially motivated. I can't really blame 'em. Nanael is crazy.

I still think Nanael is making it up as she goes along.

On a whole, Queen's Blade isn't a show you watch for its merits—you watch because it's a curiosity. Still, it's a freak show, not a train wreck. If it was a better show, Queen's Blade would be boring and pointless. If it was any worse it probably wouldn't be any fun. As it is, it's brilliant slack-jawed entertainment, and I can't stop watching.

Entirely random Ladies Versus Butlers! screenshot.
That someone gets groped comes as no surprise.

I am looking for a currently airing series to watch exclusively on my Playstation Portable. This will have to be a low-expectation series I would not otherwise care about, because I don't want to "waste" a show for a dubious experiment. Hopefully this will work out better than this experiment.

Another random Ladies Versus Butlers! screenshot.
Holy crap, that is a lot of hair.

Every single anime series I've watched for the past six years or so has been on a television (aside from episodes on a computer while traveling or times I re-watched something without giving it my full attention). My theory is that everything is better when viewed on a home theater setup instead of on a computer monitor, and even more so when compared to the streaming video formats that have grown so popular recently. I believe these practices make some viewers less tolerant of shows they might otherwise enjoy were the viewing conditions more ideal.

A random Ookami Kakushi screenshot.
I want to mow my lawn with a scythe.

So, I'm going to find a series for which I have low expectations and try by to watch it entirely on my PSP to see how it all pans out. Besides, I never use my PSP for anything. The only question now: Which series? I'm thinking Ladies Versus Butlers! because of The Ayako Doctrine. Another possibility is Ookami Kakushi, mostly because I love FictionJunction Yuuka. Hell, maybe even Chu-Bra!! if SDS is serious. I don't really care what it is, as long as it's not unwatchably bad or so good I'll wish I had watched it on a TV. However, regardless of the show, I refuse to do my own re-encoding even though it's pretty easy to do. It's a matter of principle.