Impressions: Tower of Druaga, BLASSREITER, Madlax, Saiunkoku and Dennou Coil

So I'm taking iknight's advice and actually looking at who is directing these shows because all my snarky comments aside, I probably should be.

Tower of Druaga: I'll be fair about this one. Right now, I could go either way. If they decide to make the entire fantasy world some sort of online game and make the main character both a failure in the game and in real life then it would be really cool. If it's just the standard, young guy must train hard so that he can defeat the evil that lurking in the tower then it'll still be good. (No matter what those stupid people over at ANN say.) So far I've been watching this on YouTube and the quality is decent enough.

BLASSREITER: So far I've seen the first two episodes, and it seems pretty standard. Nothing great, nothing bad. I do like that the whole BOOMER-esque "Machines that can meld with other machines and become super machines" thing it has going on. But other than that, I'm not sold on it either way. Although Ichiro Itano, the director on this one, has some interesting titles under his belt, like Gantz. And he was the animation choreographer on Macross Plus, which explains why those bike scenes are done so well.

Madlax: So I decided to pick up Madlax again after I've had it sitting on my shelf for about a year and a half. (I've watched it once and I hadn't gone back to it since.) And the truth is that I'm just as unsure about it as last time that I watched it. It's definitely a fun series. Especially the Madlax episodes. I mean how can I not like the top notch assassin who goes around killing people like it's well… a nine to five job, but still acts a little bit like a kid herself. The Margaret Burton episodes are a little boring, mostly because Margaret Burton is a little bit boring. But the story does pick up and keep going at a fairly even pace. Although the lesbian undertones would probably be better if there was a little bit more yuri, a little less hinting at it.

But the one thing I can't figure out about this series is whether or not it's hinting at a yin and yang relationship in the human psyche, which would be a really simple interpretation. But just seems a little too easy, and if that's the case then I'm not so sure if I like it. Or if the series is about how the West treats the developing world. Now if that's the case then this is a show worth watching. And looking at the director on this one straight up doesn't help. On the one hand he directed Noir, on the other hand he directed Irresponsible Captain Tylor. I don't know.

Saiunkoku: Well other than for the one interesting note I made earlier, this show is still just okay. It's gotten past its tea parties and flower picking phase and now actually has a kind of solid plot. But I still have a hard time worrying about what's actually happening to Shuurei. It's starting to get into the politics a little more, which could be good, could be bad. Because this show really is a mixed bag. I guess I'm not surprised when I found out there was a rookie director on this one.

Dennou Coil: Okay this series just proves that evidently, I have no taste whatsoever. I mean everyone and their dog loves this series. But I just can't get into it. I'm not worried about these kids. I don't really care too much about their metabugs. And the "oh-so-cute" elementary school crushes make me want to gag. Much like Noien, this show really suffers with having a cast that is too young for me to relate to. But unlike Noein, I don't feel like they're in enough danger for me to care.

Persona ~trinity soul~: And yet another anime to prove that I have no taste whatsoever, only in the other direction. I actually like this one. I mean it's not perfect by any means. It lags. A lot. Like for entire episodes. But when it does get going, it's actually fairly enjoyable and I really like the artwork and the character designs. Those two things by themselves are enough to make me want to watch. Even though I'm not quite sure what's going on some of the time. Strangely enough there was another rookie director on this one