Some anime

Here's some recommendations of stuff that I've seen recently.

Zegapain

At first glance this is just a giant robot show, but it somehow managed to suck me in very quickly. The story is a bit haphazard at some points, but interesting enough to keep your brain at work. Not to mention that it deals with my favorite topics: digitizing the human brain. Oh, and it also has awesome voice actors, something I am very weak against. I would watch a series with my favorite voice actors even if it sucked >_<;

Spice and Wolf (I and II)

This is an amazing story set in medieval Europe. It talks about a traveling merchant who happens to come upon a magical wolf called Holo, who transfers into a (naked) woman, and then travels together with him from town to town. Despite the description, this series beautifully manages to avoid every anime cliche, and despite its slow pace it's always very enjoyable to watch. I remember one scene in particular that made me realize that this anime is just so much better than all others. At some point in the story the male protagonist accidentally gets involved in an awkward situation with another woman, potentially making Holo quite jealous. The situation is defused by the protagonist honestly telling Holo what happened, and Holo understands the situation and forgives him. I bet you cannot even name one other anime where that happens. Anyway, watch this, it's beautiful. You'll learn a bit about trading, futures contracts, and the stock market as well.

Cross Game

If you've ever read a baseball manga then you'll know what this series is about. The premise is simple: high school kids form a baseball team and aim for the top. But actually, there is not that much baseball (matches) in the show at all, and it's mostly about character development. The pacing of the show, the characters and the atmosphere all make it a great series to watch, and it's a series that I still greatly enjoy even after 40 episodes.

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