One thing I’ve always liked about KyoAni is that they never skimp when it comes to outfits. In fact, this episode alone has Haruhi & crew sporting a total of 12 different outfits, which is more clothing variation than you get over the course of some entire series. Except for Yuki, that is, who wears her normal school uniform in every single scene except the Obon festival.

And of course, every single one of Itsuki’s outfits is either completely flaming or totally preppy. Yes sir, par for the course with this show.

Speaking of which, it really seemed like Itsuki stepped up his game in this episode. Whatever that “game” might be. I’m trying not to think about it too hard.

I believe the “game” in question is officially referred to as “extreme feminizing”, in which the practitioner in question makes unnecessarily girly hand gestures in everyday speech while moving uncomfortably close to other males. Points are awarded for awkwardness, style, and flamboyant dancing.

/facepalm Read the rest of this entry »

After a few weeks of re-run action, now we’re finally back to new Haruhi animation! And according to the broadcast schedule, we’re going to get mostly fresh material from here on out.

Of course the first notable thing in this episode is the new OP. Perhaps I’ve just been spoiled by all the amazing OPs Kyoto Animation has put together over the years, but I was a bit disappointed by this one. While the animation is a lot of fun, the song itself is decidedly meh.

And what’s KyoAni’s sudden obsession now with group running? Did they suddenly get tired of making dancing animus and decide to switch to something a little easier on the animators?

Have to concur with your observations; the OP is decidedly underwhelming.

Actually I kind of enjoyed the whole SOS-Dan roster introduction in that it captured some of that Cowboy Bebop kind of flavor, with the glaring exception that “Tank!” is one of my favorite OPs of all time, and the current Haruhi OP is an entirely generic J-rock anthem. Oh well… Read the rest of this entry »

Part 2, the continuation of the Spring Anime Rankings post I started last week. Delayed on account of Valkyria Chronicles is as addicting as crack cocaine. orz

Honestly, there are quite a few very good shows this season, so even though these series didn’t make it into my top 5, they’re all still highly enjoyable and come with the 0rion seal of approval.

6. Hayate no Gotoku

• Hinagiku
• Wacky romantic comedy
• Parodies everything under the sun
• Hinagiku

If you’ve never watched any of Hayate no Gotoku, you probably should just stop reading now and go get some of the first season. If you have, then you already know exactly what to expect from this series.

And really, that’s one of the strengths of this series. For over a year now Hayate no Gotoku has been the dependable, consistent weekly comedy that always brings the laughs without fail. Admittedly, it started to drag a bit through the middle of last season, and it does tend to recycle the same gags a lot. Nevertheless, it’s pretty much always worth a watch when you need some good old fashioned silliness with a few hints of romantic developments sprinkled on top.

Oh yeah, it also has lots of Hinagiku, and that’s never a bad thing. Read the rest of this entry »

How many references can you identify?

Incoming Dekkai Huge Post of Long.

Yes, that’s right, I’ve decided to satisfy my penchant for attaching meaningless numbers to things by putting together yet another Anime Season Ranking Post. Haven’t done this for a couple years now, come to think of it. Lazy me.

A couple quick notes:

• I’m ranking them from best to worst this time around. Sure, it takes out some of the “dramatic suspense”, but I figure most  people will get TL;DR Syndrome after about 4 or 5 anyway. Feel free to just read the convenient bullet points and save yourself time if you’re that guy. I’m also splitting this post up into several segments, which you’ll see going up on the site over the course of the next couple days.

• Haruhi Suzumiya won’t be on this list for 2 reasons. First, only one episode so far has been new material, since after episode 8 the series is back to old first season stuff for a while. Second, I’m so biased toward the show it would still be #1 even if it was horrible. Of course, the rest of the rankings are going to be completely biased as well, so that doesn’t really change anything. =P

• All these are based completely on my own judgment, so obviously your preferences may differ. If you feel a certain show doesn’t to deserve to be so high / so low, by all means feel free to make a comment or blog post with your counter perspective.

Your mileage may vary, etc. etc. Read the rest of this entry »

Jesus159159159, who’s been a lurker on several anime blogs over the years, has finally decided to set up shop for himself it seems. This is a good thing, since he’s probably written enough in comments on other blogs to be equivalent to two years otoshidama multiple Owen-caliber blog posts already. Might as well have your own creative outlet where you can keep everything organized in one place, eh?

So drop by, check it out, and give the man a shout-out. He’s got a couple summaries up for K-On, Natsu no Arashi, and the new Haruhi episode, even if it is that horribly cliche Summary/ Impressions format.

To commemorate the occasion, I decided to dig up a couple of his old comments from posts here at Epic Win for your entertainment. And also to embarrass him. If that’s even possible, that is. Read the rest of this entry »

Oh. My. God.

What have you been doing all this time KyoAni? It’s taken 3 years and over 100 episodes of not The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya to finally get back on track with the greatest anime of all time. Or rather, I guess this would be The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya technically.

Either way, Haruhi fans can now rejoice, for the promised day is upon us! Our unwavering patience and diligent prayers have been answered by Haruhi-sama at long last! Ok ok…

/fanboy hat off

Give me a break already, it’s been a long frickin’ wait! I’m allowed to celebrate a little bit.:P Read the rest of this entry »

We haven’t seen much in the mahjong themed anime department in quite a while now, probably because everyone has given up. After all, the greatest mahjong anime of all time has already been made, so why try any more, right?

That said, there appears to be this awesome new show about mahjong which avoids altogether the challenge of trying to top Akagi, and instead takes an entirely different approach to the “unnecessarily intense boardgame playing anime” genre. And that show is called Crazy Loli Yuri Mahjong!

(whispering)

.

.

…orrrrr it’s called Saki. Yeah.

…I still like my title better. Read the rest of this entry »

I couldn’t help but notice that Pete Zaitcev made a note about our new post, which he astutely noted could only be the work of alchemical powers:

A blog that was dead since last year suddenly came to life and produced a post on FMA Brotherhood 01, of all things. The power of alchemy!

While it is true that the power of alchemy is wondrous indeed, I want to take this opportunity to remind our readers of the dangers of performing such a forbidden, proscribed ritual. And while it is true that we were successfully able to bring Epic Win back to life, there was a terrible price to be paid. Read the rest of this entry »

It has been entirely too long since I’ve seen the Brothers Elric in action. Entirely too long. It’s also been entirely too long since our last post, but that’s an issue for another post entirely.

In any case, I can’t express how thrilled I am to see one of my favorite anime series back in full force, and (presumably) returning to follow the brilliantly written manga storyline. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, another year has come and gone, and with 2008 at an end is it once again time for us to share with you some of the highlights of the year. Thus, I am very proud to present to you the 13th Annual Epic Win Best of the Year Anime Award Show, where the awards are made up and the points don’t matter!

Although I felt that this year in anime didn’t have as much to offer as last year, with no new series that really stood out head and shoulders above the others the way Gurren Lagann or Lucky Star did, it nevertheless brought a number of interesting and entertaining moments.

As always, keep in mind that these awards are completely based on our own opinions and preferences. Guaranteed 100% biased, no middleman, factory direct to you from Epic Win! In addition, we’re extremely flexible about what we consider allowable from 2008. Basically, if episodes aired within the last 12 months, it’s fair game.

Now, that said, obviously the two of us can’t watch everything by ourselves, and especially this last year we haven’t even been able to keep up with all the shows we would have liked to, so if you feel that we left out something important, or if you have a different recommendation for a particular category, by all means lay it on us. Read the rest of this entry »