First Impressions: Inu x Boku Secret Service, Brave 10, and Thermae Romae

It's been a while since I last posted here, but I thought that if I really want to keep this blog active, I shouldn't be lazy when it comes to talking about things that interest me. So here, I'll attempt to blog about anime because it's one of the things that I love ever since childhood.

I started watching anime for winter 2011-2012 around the first week of January. I have not seen most of them yet (and I'm sure there's more to come based on the titles I've seen here and here), but so far, I already like quite a lot of them. A few hours ago, I was able to watch 3 titles: Inu x Boku Secret Service, Brave 10, and Thermae Romae. My thoughts on each of them:

Inu x Boku Secret Service

Image from AnimeNewsNetwork.Com

The characterizations may seem a little cliché including the lines, and some of the characters reminded me of characters I've seen before in other anime, but I have got to say that the story line is quite intriguing. As for characters reminding me of characters from other anime, take the lead Ririchiyo Shirakiin. Looking at her reminded me of Kuroneko from Oreimo and Yamada from Working!!. Meanwhile, Soushi Miketsukami reminded me of many other guys like Aki from Kamisama Dolls, Kaworu Nagisa from Evangelion, and Takumi Usui from Kaichou wa Maid-sama (and possibly more guys whose names I couldn't remember anymore). Even Nobara Yukinokouji made me think of Nino-san from Arakawa Under the Bridge.

I also checked out the list of seiyuu (voice actors) for Inu x Boku SS, and I'm impressed with the lineup. One of my favourites, Mamoru Miyano, will be there as Zange Natsume, and Tomokazu Sugita (another one of my favourites) is Kagerou Shokiin. I'm also thrilled that Kana Hanazawa is also there as Karuta Roromiya, and that Yuichi Nakamura (Gray Fullbuster in Fairy Tail) is actually playing Soushi Miketsukami. So I guess even if the story becomes confusing or incoherent later on, I'll most likely continue watching this because of the seiyuu.

Brave 10

Image from Metanorn.Net

I initially got intrigued with this anime because of its lineup of seiyuu, which included Daisuke Ono, whom you've probably heard before as the one helluva butler Sebastian from Kuroshitsuji, as well as Koizumi Itsuki from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Shizuo Heiwajima from Durarara!!, Jun Sato from Working!!, and lately, Shuukuro Tsukishima from Bleach. Mr. Namikawa plays the main hero of this anime, Kirigakure Saizo. To make me more excited to watch this anime until the end, there's Toshiyuki Morikawa (Dante from Devil May Cry anime, Kaname Tousen from Bleach, Conrad Weller from Kyou Kara Maou, and many other awesome characters), Tetsuya Kakihara (Natsu Dragneel from Fairy Tail and Jin Kisaragi from Blaz Blue), Takehito Koyasu (Excalibur from Soul Eater, Sister from Arakawa Under the Bridge, Takasugi Shinsuke from Gintama, Zechs Merquise from Gundam Wing, etc.), and Takahiro Sakurai (Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy 7, Izuru Kira from Bleach, Yuuri Shibuya from Kyou Kara Maou, etc.).

As for the story, an acquaintance Plurked about this anime the other night, so I asked him about it and he said something about the first episode being in the likes of "boy-meets-girl but with a Sengoku Basara feel". I am usually iffy about typical boy-meets-girl kinds of stories, but upon watching Brave 10 myself, I just have to say that this anime definitely begs to differ from that perception. I like that the female protagonist, Isanami, is not very much like the irritating, whiny, and helpless heroine with the cliché hairstyle and tsundere personality which I've pretty much gotten tired of seeing already. I actually like her, and I hope she doesn't end up becoming whiny and irritating as the series progresses.

Thermae Romae

Image from AnimeNewsNetwork

 When this anime started, I almost wanted to stop watching it because of the quality of the animation, which you might easily dismiss as lazy and effortless. However, for some reason, the style caught and retained my attention. Well, I'm glad that I ended up watching Thermae Romae until the very end because it eventually turned out to be a funny one which gave me a lot of laughs.

On the first episode, you would think that Lucius (the protagonist. That blond guy in the picture) experienced what happened to Yuuri Shibuya (from Kyou Kara Maou) because of the drainage thing and getting transported to another world. While Yuuri got flushed down the toilet and ended up in Shin Makoku or the Great Demon Kingdom, Lucius got sucked into the drain of a Roman Bathhouse and got transported to modern-day Japan. I will not elaborate on what happens next anymore. Just go see this anime for yourself.

I would recommend glancing at the people in the background while watching this anime. For the giggles.