Oh, so that's where you were!

I was completely unprepared to encounter the end of Bakemonogatari, in fact I apparently missed episode 14 as well, prompting me to go back and grab that before finishing 15. I must say, for being such a weird series, I actually enjoyed it more than some of the other stuff I have watched recently. The “Tsubasa Cat” arc was a bit long, but worth it.

Anyway, moving on to the meat and potatoes of this post, Pantsu Witches!

I'm under the impression if this actually existed, WWII would have been awesome.

Strike Witches 2 debuted roughly six months after the end of the first series. The opening depicts another Witches squad laying witness to a new Neuroi threat overtaking the old one. Miyafuji, the series heroine graduated middle school and is talking about going to high school to eventually take over the healing clinic where she lives when she receives another letter from her late father, the inventor of the Striker Units. She takes it to the military base to have Sakamoto, her mentor and fellow 501st member to look at, and catches wind of the invasion and involvement of another 501st member and friend, Lynette Bishop, now a Master Sergeant with the Britannia Air Force. Sakamoto denies Miyafuji a chance to help and departs with a new Striker frame, but you can’t stop the kid from going anyway, she jacks another Striker unit with the help of base crew sympathizers and joins Sakamoto in the air.

Strike Witches combines three things, lolis and magic, with WWII-style mechanics and weaponry. Why they wear skimpy panties and have anthropomorphic features when using said magic is pretty much never explained I believe, so it ends up being fanservice. The show itself is pretty awesome to watch, and if you have ever seen the similarly titled Sky Girls that show was essentially this concept minus the furries, and still awesome. If you’ve never seen Witches, start with the first. If you’ve seen Witches, the first episode thrusts you right into the action and will not disappoint.

Sub Group: HorribleSubs
First Rating: 8

I'm nearly afraid to see what future episodes will be like

Seitokai Yakuindomo is this season’s strangest disjointed thing since the last similarly titled Seitokai. This series revolves around three school council girls and one guy they pretty much pressed in as the new member and Vice President. Oh, it’s also worth noting that the setting is an All Girls School that recently went Co-Ed. The president and secretary spare no expense in telling lewd and often sexual references to many situations putting this series almost like B Gata H Kei except without a plot or direction.

But hey, slim pickings this summer, we’ll see how it plays out.

Sub Group: Ryuumaru
First Rating: 7

Mayoi Neko Overrun ended it’s 13th and final episode with pretty much a complete recap with voice overs, which was a bit disappoint. Other than make vague references to possibly another series down the road, it pretty much seems the random wacky adventure ended with the last episode, so I didn’t bother running a screen cap for 13. I will say it was a good series, nothing super to drive home over, especially since Nyan Koi! had more substance to it, but it was amusing to watch.

Title: Mayoi Neko Overrun
Sub Group I Watched: Nuke, Ryuumaru
Episodes: 13
Rating (1-10): 7

The last series for this season is out on RAW but hasn’t been subbed yet, hopefully someone has it out tonight or tomorrow.

I also took a chance to drop into Connecticon today to hang out for a few minutes with a few friends, the talented duo who run AngryRabbit and Kitsune Kiki, Dave and Sam in artists alley, and an old IRC comrade, Dave Lister of Paradox Lost whom I bought one of his pieces from a game his company he is involved with is developing for the DS, which hangs nicely in my cubicle at work now. I was also walking around with another friend when we decided to go see Super Art Fight, which to me sounded much like Katsucon’s Iron Artist show from years lore. It was a similar concept, but cleverly pitched, as they gave the artists a topic to start, and changed topics every five minutes from a random user-submitted pool of ideas in a 25 minute match. Some excellent stuff was thrown out there (see Twitter hash tag #superartfight for examples) and others wasn’t that hot, but it was a good time. There was a lot of people this year, probably more than previous years, certainly interesting to see how large Connecticon has gotten since it first started out at UHart 7 years ago. Sadly I still remember the first, including the Bloody Roar tourney in one of the rooms, as well as getting my Aegis Gundam model. Good times.

Speaking of cons, the con circuit for myself next year will be both staffing cons, Katsucon in February at the Gaylord in Washington DC again, and also staffing at Zenkaikon in King of Prussia, PA in March. I may also make a bid for PAX East next year, as well as drop in for Connecticon since it’s in my neighborhood. No Otakon in case you were wondering, one of the reasons I stopped going in 2004 and again after 2006 was that the con is simply too big and too expensive to do anymore. I don’t cosplay, I don’t attend panels really, I don’t attend anime showings, workshops, or much else. I go for artists, dealers, and to hang out with friends. Katsucon has been my home con since 2003 not only because of staffing but because most of my friends, both personal and webcomic/professional go each year, so it’s been a good meeting place. Since the old IRC days this has been less so, but it’s still fun to go each year.