Impressions: Saiunkoku, Kurau, Baccano!, Amatsuki, Real Drive, Druaga and more.

So I went to smoking roll-your-own cigarettes so I could buy more anime. I'm not sure if it's a good thing, but I sure do have Haruhi sitting on top of my TV just waiting for me to watch it, but anyway on too some impressions.

Saiunkoku Monogatari: Since it seems that no one has seen this show, I figured I'd give people a little heads up. It's a show about a girl who's family has fallen on hard times. She's decided that she wants to buck the system and become a government official. So I finished the first season of this and… it's okay. On the good side, it has some awesome characters, a fairly interesting "love" story and enough tension to pull me pretty effortlessly through every episode after episode fourteen. On the other hand, reverse harems are about as tiring to watch as actual harems. Towards the end, it's just a bunch of them standing around saying, "Oh Shuurei is so great." It got old, fast. And it has the tendency of getting right up to the climax and then skipping it. So good enough that I'd watch the second season. Not good enough that I feel like gushing over it.

Kurau: Phantom Memory: You know BONES could take crap and make it sparkle (at least from what I've seen.) Now, Kurau's not anything special plot-wise. It starts like a superhero story and right now it's a superhero story mixed with The Fugitive. But the characters are still interesting. And the credits say the story was by BONES, so… take that for what you will. But the director seems like this is really his first time directing, but he's done a lot of storyboarding and other stuff for the studio.

Baccano!: I don't think I ever did a proper statement on this show. But on the one hand, it's awesome and I really don't know why this show hasn't been licensed in the United States. I mean it's practically made to sell to a Western audience. On the other hand, the multiple plotlines and massive cast of characters does end up making the show feel like it's trying to do too much with too little space. It's a fun watch, but I can't say it's an amazing show.

Amatsuki: And now for a show that didn't come out years ago, but still no one's talking about. So far this is one of my favorite shows of the Spring season. Its got swords. Its got demons. Its even got classy fanservice (if such a thing exists.) And it has a complete and utter lack of a whiny boy hero. I know that I don't have any taste, but seriously, this is a solid show that doesn't try to do more than what it sets out to do. And surprise, surprise the director on this one worked on Rurouni Kenshin (both the TV series AND the OVAs). And ironically… Real Drive.

Real Drive: I'm still not completely sure about this one. So far, I've watched the first four episodes and they're solid. I just don't know how they're going to support another 22 episodes with it. But I really like the main character, who was a diver who got into an accident and slept until he was an old man. I kind of like the sidekick girl. She's cute, but a little flat so far. But so far, not bad, not great, but definitely watchable.

Tower of Druaga: I have to agree with Coburn on this one. This show is awesome. I mean its tongue-in-cheek funny. And thankfully it never takes itself so seriously that I can't enjoy it.

Itazura na Kiss: Honestly, I shouldn't like this show. I mean Kotoko is so incompetent it's downright insulting. Naoki is a jerk. The little brother deserves a solid kick in the rear end. But… I still keep coming back for more. And I'm not sure why I enjoy it so much, but I do.

Macross Frontier: It's Macross. It's cool. Sheryl is one of the few anime women who I will say is hot. Enough said about that one.