Androids and Witches
A couple of things to note.

Eve no Jikan
Being that I have enjoyed Yasuhiro Yoshiura's previous work that I imported it from Japan, you would think that I would be paying better attention to his newest work when it is finally available for me to watch it. Fortunately, Martin was on the ball and wrote up his impressions of the first 15 minute episode.
How did I take the first episode of the ONA Eve no Jikan (Time of Eve)? Well, it really shouldn't be a surprise that I thought it was an enjoyable short episode that hints of greater things to come. It definitely has its links from Yoshiura's earlier short, Mizu no Kotoba (Aquatic Language), including the reference of the Three Laws of Robotics from Isaac Asimov's Robot Series books1
I'm definitely going to try to keep a better eye out for new episodes as they are released.

Tweeny Witches
I had ordered the first three volumes of this series with a silly name (titled Mahou Shoujo Tai Arusu in Japan) for a couple of reasons: I'm a fan of Studio 4°C, the animation production company behind the series, and I found it to be a damn good anime. I am currently rewatching the series for the fourth time now, though this time with the English dub, which I find to be fairly well done for the series. I can't wait to get the fourth DVD when it comes out as it is an OVA that contains episodes that I haven't seen yet.
Eugene Woodbury has a pretty nice discussion about the storyline and proclaimed that "Tweeny Witches is the un-Harry Potter, getting right everything it gets wrong." I do see his point, though I think he's being a bit harsh on Harry Potter. I do agree that the moral complexities and plot twists in Tweeny Witches are much better and more believable than those in the Harry Potter books.
And finally, I'll have to do a recommendation of Tweeny Witches to Fledge. Despite the unusual animation style2 and the Tim Burton-esce storyline and world, I think it might be pretty close to his own tastes.
- 1. I had recently read I, Robot, with no small thanks to Mizu no Kotoba's mention of the Three Laws of Robotics. I don't know if actually reading the books will bring more insight into the Eve no Jikan series, but it sure wouldn't hurt.
- 2. with "distinctly substandard" character animation, according to some. I like the character animations myself; my beef with the technicalities of the series is with direction: I think there's way too much off-screen dialog and action, and the series often skip forward without any transition. These issues are discussed in Anime News Network's review of the first DVD.











Re: Androids and Witches
Foiled again: wrong witches!
Re: Androids and Witches
Muahaha!
In all truth, I gave up on those other witches after two episodes.
Re: Androids and Witches
Eve no Jikan made a fantastic start - I might read I, Robot now but it's also given me an excuse to read Kurzweil's Age Of Spiritual Machines beyond "Our Lady Peace made a record about it."
I'd probably enjoy Tweeny Witches too (4 degrees C are chronically underrated I think) but I'll have to see how free time and finances go. It's always the way...