I'm currently watching a number of different shows, mostly via Netflix streaming, but also on DVD, both rental and owned.
I recently finished the ESCAFLOWNE box set, having previously only watched the movie before, and there's quite a difference between the two...Hitomi being suicidally depressed in the movie, versus being a fairly well ajusted, emotionally grounded person in the series. I need to go back and watch the movie soon, now that the series is fresh in my head.
I started Blassreiter last night, having forgotten it was set in Germany, which piqued my interest. I feel certain I saw the first 4 episodes at Alamo Drafhouse ages ago but that it didn't leave much of an impression at the time, but I liked episode 1 and I think I appreciate it better now.
I am also working my way through Aquarion (Season 1). It's a giant mecha show and seems vaguely Evangelion inspired. Also finished the box set of Freezing lately, which was action packed and enjoyable. I can understand critics who attack this show from a feminist perspective, though, and not just because of the excessive fanservice (though the fanservice is not overly sexualized, it's merely presented "just so" as an effect of battle). I like that the "2 Guys and a Mic" podcast basically liked that show.
I am also watching Vandread, which if viewed as a projection of male Otaku fear & loathing about women, is actually pretty freakin' hilarious so far. It certainly sometimes feels like women are from another planet...
I am trying to slog through Guin Saga and Mushi Shi, or as I call them, dull and duller. Even the action in Guin Saga is barely enough to hold my interest, and Mushi Shi is a snooze fest, almost as repetitive as Hell Girl. I am also working my way through the show Needless, which is a show about X-men-esque mutants in a post-disaster landscape. It's weird and mildly amusing; I've watched enough episodes that the end credits *finally* make sense. It's pure moe/yuri eyecandy and makes zero sense in connection to the rest of the show until much further in and you meet Hillary Haag's character named Mio. I thought it was a mistake or coding error until I finished that particular episode.
As always, I watch Sgt. Frog infrequently; I'm somewhere in the middle of Season 3. And lo and behold, my Magnovox Blue Ray player restored its Netflix functionality a day or so ago. I'm glad it's working again but I'd already been using a work-around (HDMI cable from my computer) for quite some time.
I recently attended a Houston Anime Meetup outing where we got to meet a local voice actor and they screened a few episodes of Rahxephon and Pretear, both of which feature this actor in supporting roles. I own the Rahxephon box set but haven't gotten around to watching the whole thing yet. My decision to buy it was influenced by the ANNCast "Best of 2000s" epsidoe awhile back. Anyway, that's a short summary of stuff I'm watching these days.
On the manga front, I'm working my way through some Yen Press editions of Manga adaptations of some works by James Patterson. I guess you could argue they're bastardizations of manga, or not technically manga, but they're done in that style...I had very low expectations but actually they're not half bad. Plus I love the artwork of Svetlana Chmakova, and she has put her talents to use in the James Patterson Wizards & Witches series, after having recently found a stopping point for her own (similar) series Nightschool. Also, despairing of the Megatokyo omnibus ever coming out, I broke down and ordered the remaining individual volumes I'm currently lacking.
I also anticipate a heavy month of attending all the FUNimation sponsored Anime screenings at Alamo Drafthouse this month (March). All continuations of good shows I wanna keep watching.
