Liang is going to have a nervous breakdown.

Canaan is a ridiculous show, but that is part of its appeal. It has got insane fights and high-tension characters having a lot of fun being straight up nuts. It also has crazy production values. Seriously, Canaan must have an amazing budget. Either that or P.A. Works has tapped into a vein of cheap Chinese labor. In any case, Canaan looks great and is practically worth watching for that reason alone.

I'm still waiting for ufotable to animate a show entirely via claymation.

It surprises me not at all that the sixth installment of Kara no Kyoukai is excellent—the first five were excellent as well. However, Kara no Kyoukai 6 is awesome in ways I wasn't expecting.

Wait, why is Shiki dressed like a nun?

Sure, the music is top notch. The score she is producing for this title may be some of Yuki Kajirua's best work. That I already knew. Likewise, the fights are of the caliber a fan of these films would come to expect. What I wasn't expecting was discovering Azaka is a character from seemingly a completely different show.

Kara no Kyoukai ~Only Love~

Much of Kara no Kyoukai 6 feels like parody because the tone is so different compared to the first five. Plus there are those eerie Marimite vibes. And Azaka's moe blob imouto roots. The Hell did that come from? And also Azaka kinda talks like a cross between a Kugimiya Rie stereotype and genki-time Mimiru from .hack//SIGN.

Azaka bursts in on Shiki and Mikiya. Don't you ever knock, sis?

"GEH," I shit you not. It works, though, and ufotable wisely minimizes Azaka's and Mikiya's screen time together to duck those very moe blob pitfalls in the most lighthearted installment of Kara no Kyoukai yet. Alas, now my wait begins anew for the seventh movie.

Suddenly, a Mamiko appears!

Chances are I'm going to be watching nothing but baseball anime this summer. For starters, I need to finish the fifth season of Major. Presumably, Cross Game will continue airing, seeing as how the manga isn't finished yet either, and neither Touch nor H2 were short series. And now Not Idolm@ster Baseball is here! Err, I mean Taisho Yakyuu Musume.

Akaishi, like everyone else, is way too hung up on Wakaba.

This is not to say there aren't any other interesting shows airing this summer, but I admit the lineup doesn't seem as compelling as summer schedules tend to be. I'm generally disdainful when people complain an upcoming season doesn't look very interesting, because people say that every single season, but maybe it's my turn this time.

I know nothing about Canaan or 428, but it
looks like TYPE-MOON except with funk.

Aside from Taisho Yakyuu Musume, I'll watch Canaan out of general principle because of its TYPE-MOON influences. I'll watch Fight Ippatsu! Juuden-chan!! because it looks terrible. I'll watch the Nodame Cantabile and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei sequels based on the strength of the originals. I'll give Aoi Hana a try because of J.C. Staff, but abandon it if it turns out to be yet another lesbian otaku fantasy. I think there's supposed to be more Kara no Kyoukai and the final episode of Shikabane Hime is due out in August.

Fight Ippatsu! Juuden-chan!! is my low-brow show of the summer.

Chances are there will a show or two that defies all expectations and plays way out of its league. For example, nobody expected much from Kannagi initially. Moreover, nobody hyped Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu during its pre-season, and the latter turned out to be the 800-pound gorilla whose second season doesn't even require mentioning. (Yeah, I'm guaranteed to be watching that this summer, too.) Naturally, I didn't break down even half of the Summer 2009 season; there are other¹ resources² I recommend if you haven't found them already.

I really hope Datsun Nissan taps ufotable to create a commercial for the new 370Z.

Dokkoida?! ED.

2x2=Shinobuden ED.

Coyote Ragtime Show ED.

Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight ED.

Kara no Kyoukai public service message.

Nissan 300ZX commercial (not made by ufotable, as far as I know).

Shiki and Touko.

Just so you know, Kara no Kyoukai IV is fully awesome and I will spoil the shit out of it if you don't go and watch it RIGHT NOW.

[Spoilers: Shiki gets better.]

I WARNED YE.

Seriously, though, Kara no Kyoukai is great and you should watch it.

I should have noticed earlier that the very first image in Kara no Kyoukai is an eye.

I like how Shiki essentially has no possessions.

It's quite a contrast to Tohko's wall-to-wall clutter.

Why are all Shikis so stabby-stabby?

All y'all failed to tell me ufotable is animating episodes of Kara no Koukai. And that Kajiura Yuki is composing the music. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I'm so there.

Nice glasses.

I fully support Girl Shiki's decision to wear combat boots and a red leather jacket with her kimono.

Yellow raincoats, not so much.

That extended fight scene in the first episode gave me End of Evangelion flashbacks. I could almost hear Sakamoto Maaya saying ERSTE in my head. Moreover, the music backing that fight is exactly the kind of thing I miss so much in My-Otome 0~S.ifr.

So that's what happens when you take Asuka off the meds.

Through the first three 50-minute installments, I have to admit Kara no Koukai is a little heavy, but that's to be expected given the subject matter and source material. It's good to indulge in moments like these to balance out the brain-sapping boobery of, say, Kanokon.

Anime Hisui doesn't stand by Shiki's bed as much.

I've started re-watching the Tsukihime anime while re-playing the game. I never completed more than half the possible routes in the game, so there's still plenty left in the visual novel that's unexplored.

This isn't what it looks like.

Shingetsutan Tsukihime (Lunar Legend Tsukihime) impresses a viewer differently if he is familiar with the original game. The first time I watched the series, I was wholly ignorant of the game aside from knowing that it was somehow related to Melty Blood (which I had played long enough to remember that I'm ghastly at fighting games).

Young Kohaku. Wait, oh no....

Nevertheless, I liked the Tsukihime anime enough to purchase the DVDs (including the very nice box) immediately as Geneon released the R1s. Even then I had little more than a vague understanding regarding the various plotlines and possible endings of the original game.

This isn't what it looks like either.

Now that I've finally played the game and completed enough of the paths to be familiar with the backstory, the anime takes on a whole new dimension and I recognize when the anime hints at the untold story's actual depth. Of course, there is no possible way to cover all that material in a single-season series, especially considering that many of the possible plotlines are divergent and mutally exclusive depending upon the player's choices. So, I have a greater appreciation of the work J.C. Staff managed in producing the series.

Ciel surely Jedi-mind-fucks everyone when changing for gym class.

In retrospect, it now seems obvious that the show is aimed at viewers who have played through the game (or are at least well-versed in its story). Still, the series works for viewers that approach the title without knowing anything about the game, and to that end I think J.C. Staff succeeded.

"This really really isn't what it looks like"
-OR-
"At least she didn't turn into a dragon."

Still, complaints that the Tsukihime anime is convoluted and poorly paced are understandable. This is not a perfect series by any means, although as a stand-alone work it doesn't stumble as much as the Fate/Stay Night anime (which I mostly completed only out of general principle). Highlights in J.C. Staff's adaptation of Tsukihime include superlovely character designs (Arcueid in particular is a game-breaking home run) and excellent work evolving the "you-get-the-idea" stills and backdrops from the game into beautiful designs and lavish settings that remain instantly familiar. For example, Shiki's knife looks like a possible heirloom instead of something he pulled out of a kitchen drawer and the Tohno mansion itself actually looks opulent.

Shiki's knife.

Akiha plays her violin.

Also notable is the music, which is quite good here and much improved from the game BGM. Like many people, I've experimented with replacing the original Tsukihime game's music with a variety of other tracks. Currently, it comprises mostly of tracks from the My-Otome soundtrack, which is going to evoke some curious juxtapositions when I re-watch My-Otome, I'm sure.

Ciel watches over [Edit: stalks] Shiki.

Not so good are the unremarkable fight scenes, but I'm willing to let that go because (1) fight scenes are a persistent J.C. Staff shortcoming (Azumanga Daioh snowball fight notwithstanding) and (2) well, the original game contains only stills, so any animated fights are technical improvements, I suppose. Moreover, even if the occasional fights are nothing special, the show itself looks great.