.: This Girl's Daybreak :.

Yeah, I don't usually watch anime during the semester. Largely because I don't generally have the time. Plus, I like to binge watch, rather than just sneaking in an episode here or there. So I'd rather wait until the breaks, so I can marathon a series in a couple of days. And I have been really busy this semester, anyway. Lots of homework, a truly insane amount of reading, plus two extremely awkwardly scheduled courses...I'm spending the vast majority of my time just trying to stay on top of everything.

But, uh. My willpower failed me last weekend, and I ended up watching episodes of two different series. Two currently airing series, at that. (Which is something else that I don't do often. It's the binge watching thing again.) What series are they, you ask? Well, the first is Darling in the FranXX, and the second is Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card.

And I have some thoughts.

( Darling in the FranXX - Spoilers for episodes 1-9 )

( Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card - Spoilers for episodes 1-10 )

Overall, I'm enjoying them both, so far. I plan to keep watching, so I may or may not post about them again. We'll see. =D

I picked up the first book of the Magnus Chase series a while back, when I caught it on sale. I finally got around to reading it a couple of days ago, and then I bought and read the other two books in the series. Unsurprisingly, I'm having feelings, so! Here's a brief review.

( Spoilers for all three books )

Final verdict? I liked it, though not quite as much as the Percy Jackson books. Good, but could be improved a bit. Now, if only the fandom was bigger! I seriously want fic, but there's not a whole lot out there.

What's this? Kat, watching anime before the semester's over? Shocking, I know. But this one was a short little six episode OVA, so I was able to binge it all at once.

( Spoilers, as usual! )

Final verdict? Meh. If you like mindless action and don't require a solid plot to back it up, then you'll like this one. But if you care more about the story, you'll likely be disappointed. The title character is cool, but she's not really enough to carry this series all by herself. Decent bones, but lackluster execution.

Okay, so this is my last anime title for this summer's binge. (For real, this time!) Classes start next week, so my break is sadly, almost over. I decided to wrap things up with Spice and Wolf.

( Only mild spoilers, this time! )

Final verdict? I liked it. It's an interesting and unique series, though you may need to look up some of the economics, as they don't explain things well. According to Wikipedia, the original form of this series is a lengthy series of light novels. And shockingly enough, they've been released in English! So, yeah, I think I'll need to be reading those. I want more!

Okay, so I was wrong. Eureka Seven wasn't my last anime of the summer. I found Chivalry of a Failed Knight a little while ago, and it was so short, I could watch it in one day. (And have time left over!)

( Some spoilers, I guess... )

Final verdict? Mixed. The concept is neat and the main cast are likable. But this show suffered from being far too short, and some odd plot choices. Plus, there's a lot of fanservice. So, it's a toss up. According to Wikipedia, this was based off a light novel series, and there's also a manga. I might look and see if I can find either of those to flesh out the plot a bit.

Well, summer break's almost over. Why does time always seem to fly so fast over break, but drag so much during the semester? Ugh.

I ordered my textbooks last night. I ended up with things kind of spread out. I think I bought two used from Amazon, I rented one from Amazon, and then I bought two more (new, I think) from MSU. That's what worked out best, price-wise. I think I spent somewhere around $330, or thereabouts. Which, yuck, but still. It would have been worse if I'd bought them all from MSU.

I think I remember reading that classes started on 8/15. I'll check, of course, because that was ages ago, and I might be wrong about that. But, that sounds right. I remember last year, thinking I had longer until the start of the fall semester, and being pissed that it actually started somewhere around 8/15. So, that's probably right. At least I'm not blindsided by it this time, but it still sucks.

Assuming I got the date right, I've got about two more weeks off before I have to start classes again. I'm trying to make the most of it, though no matter what I do, I'm going to want more time. I'm going to watch at least one more anime before then...I started Eureka Seven tonight, so that'll be my next review. I don't know if I'll have the time or energy to do any more after that; this might be my last one for this summer's binge session. We'll see.

...I really don't want to go back to school, guys. =(

Okay, so I decided to give Fate/Zero a chance, even though I had major problems with Fate/Stay Night. Based on reviews and posts talking about watching order, it seems the fandom's opinion is overwhelmingly that the later productions (that is, Zero and UBW) are far superior to the original. So, I was hopeful that maybe Zero would be better.

( Spoilers, of course )

Final verdict? I loved it. If you liked FSN, you'll really like this. If you hated FSN, watch this anyway. It's what FSN should have been. And if you haven't seen FSN...skip that, and watch this instead.

Short review, of a movie this time. I enjoyed Blood-C, so I wanted to try out the rest of the franchise, though they don't seem to have much to do with one another. I decided to start at the beginning, with the movie, Blood: The Last Vampire.

( No spoilers, I think )

Final verdict? It was a fun movie, but short. So I want more. I'll definitely be looking into watching Blood+, which is the next part of the franchise.

Well, I watched another short little anime this week. It's called Rideback, and I'd never heard of it until I saw it listed on RightStuf. It had a unique premise, so I decided to check it out.

( Spoilers, as always )

Final verdict? I think this one's kind of middle of the road. Not terrible, by any means, but not that good, either. The main thing it has going for it is the cast, but I don't know that they're enough to carry it. I will say, though, that Wikipedia says that this was originally a 10 volume manga series, which became a 12 episode anime. So, I wonder. The manga might explain things better than the anime did. Not sure if I'm invested enough to check it out. We'll see.

Well, I finally found a fansub with English subtitles, so I got to watch this movie!

( Spoilers~! )

So, final verdict! This was actually really good. Like, really. It was better than I expected it would be. I mean, it's Yuugiou, so I kinda figured I'd like it at least a little bit, no matter what. But I didn't expect a lot. (I remember Pyramid of Light) But it was honestly really fun, and I liked it a lot. So, if you're a YGO fan at all, go watch it. If you're not, then watch/read the series first. This'll be a little confusing if you don't.