Fansub roundup

A couple of releases this week in the fansub department, so I figured I'd sum up my status.



Eagerly watching:
"Monster" -- of course. Though it's been a little while since the last release.

"Mushishi" -- episode 4 this week. Somber mood, great storytelling.

Having second thoughts:
"Noein" -- eps 3 & 4 this week. The animation style keeps changing, the story keeps jumping around between bits of action/sci-fi and schoolkid/slice-o-life and "detective", and I'm starting to lose faith in the characters' possibility of having any substance under the surface. And I thought "Gankutsuou" was unfocused! In the "plus" column, though, there's still some bright spots in the animation, and a few of the scenes are done pretty well in and of themselves.

Drifting away from:
"Blood+" -- up to ep 6 so far, it almost hooked me despite my original "Sucksus Suck" observation, but it's losing me again. 6 was kind of weak. And I think I'm overdosing on "schoolkid" shows.

In limbo:
"Windy Tales" -- No new subs in a while, but that's understandable. I really think it's a charming show though, despite it being yet another schoolkid series.

"Popliocrois Story" (1998 version) -- Koichi Mashimo's kid show, also charming, though you have to skip the cloyingly sweet OP & ED. These get an occasional release, but it's been a while and I have no idea if there'll be more.

Dropping:
"Kamichu" -- I only started it because of the "HDTV" versions, and now it seems the fansub groups are hanging back to wait for the DVD versions before continuing. It was a cute & clever show, and if it's ever licensed, I'll continue it then.