While waiting for another Idolm@ster episode, I was binging on B-list anime, easily available on legal streaming. Unlike Omisyth's retard roommate, I know that files are superior, but streaming is so easy. There is no committment.

I don't think that a download would've helped Ninomiya-kun though. It survived all of 20 seconds. I heard it was somewhat overt, ecchi harem, but in the event it turned out almost as vile as Dokuro-chan. No idea how SDB managed it.

Maburaho I took up mostly by analogy with Magikano. I heard both break down at about the middle, and there were some pleasant visuals. Unfortunately, it starts very poorly. Idiot teachers screw everything, Rin is awfully incongruent with the setting and her own character, creepy landlady keeps popping up, etc. etc. One episode was enough to think about restarting Shuffle.

Asura Crying was a bit better directed (over one episode), but the setting is not salvageable, in my opinion. I wrote a rejection note "rubber bullets", but I am afraid it gives a wrong impression. It's not that people don't die when they are killed, as such, which ruins everything. In Dog Days they did it too. But that was an age-appropriate, genre-appropriate, fully backed up by the world, artistic decision. In Asura, however, it was merely an ugly fig leaf, like the blood rendered away from CSO, or invisible guns of Yu-Gi-Oh.

I liked the concept of the ghost girlfriend in Asura. It was as good as an imaginary girlfriend. Why, yes, I said bad things about Aoi Kana, but largely on the account of it being merely a vehicle for pornography.

Omamori Himari almost broke the 1-episode barrier. So close. I even marked it for suspension rather than cancellation. I hoped for it to be Tayutama with better animation, but the idiotic start-up with a catfight match soured me up on it; plus cat allergies. The dude is useless, too, of course. I have enough experience to know that some of them are late bloomers (Shiratori of Mahoraba started to clue in in ep.8!), but do I want to suffer that long for a very uncertain benefit?

11 Eyes is by far the prettiest, best drawn show among these rejects. It sits in the same suspension as Himari currently, but I may pick it up at another lean period, honest. I was even thinking about yarring it, because I feel a strong urge to save screencaps of it, and capping is an enormous pain in the butt with streaming. It has some issues, e.g. they lay up the bloody crap thick up front; lots of upskirt shots, getting into Strike Witches territory almost (only broom riding is lacking). But I am borderline willing to tolerate it for the art.

Next in list to try were Dark Rabbit, Hoshizora, Sacred 7, but then Sacred Blacksmith happened.

つづく