Karneval
Short Synopsis: Our lead character Has special powers.
Karneval surprised me. I mean, it is an action show with a lot of bishies, but the animation can be pretty good and the atmosphere is pretty impressive as well. This episode already started off with a lot of different characters, and stories, and it shows quite the ambition if it wants to tie all of them together. Most of the characters are also nice to watch. It just misses a bit of depth in the character-department: none of them are really that interesting or hold potential beyond a few hints here and there. And there are a few characters who just try to be too annoying. Most notably the whimpy kid main character… On the other hand I did like the use of trains in this first episode. I hope that they continue to have creative settings like that in the future.
OP:
ED: Really bad J-pop that totally does not fit the mood!
Potential: 75%
Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru
Short Synopsis: Our lead character joints a club with a bunch of cute girls.
Yahari Blahblah is another one of those series with a dead horse premise: some random guy who joins a club with some cute girls.The originality! Thankfully though, this was one of the better first episodes with that premise that I’ve watched. The characters are eloquent, and they actually say something relevant, rather than pull a Shaft and continue to yap about nothing at all. This is pretty much the first episode of Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, done right. There is tension, but it’s not so ridiculously stupid and one-sided as there and the three characters actually all give as well as recieve. My big problem here is what this show is going to do with the rest of its episodes. I see hardly any potential there beyond a bunch of random episodes.
OP: Nice visual effects, but a rather dull song and the visuals also aren’t that special.
ED: A dull ballad.
Potential: 70%
Photo Kano
Short Synopsis: Our lead character takes pictures of young schoolgirls.
Photo Kano is Madhouse’s latest sell-out. They may have their great series, but once in a while they also do shows like this: a generic quasi-harem about photographing girls. I remember how it had one of the worst trailers of the season, but thankfully the actual series is not as bad and shallow at what it suggested. It’s merely a really boring dating sim. The lead guy has a hobby, and beyond that is a cast of stereotypes, both in terms of girls that fill various fanservice stereotypes, and the cast of male pervert side characters. Thankfully, there were the odd bunch of characters who didn’t try to be a cliche, but there weren’t many of them. It’s not the most blatant show of the season because some characters actually did try to act. But there is a huge difference between “acting” and “actually being interesting”.
OP: FANSERVICE!
ED: What? No fanservice? Instead: SYMBOLISM WITH FLOWERS!
Potential: 30%
I will take that 70% and just leave this from a seventhstyle review
One episode gone, and Oregairu is already a contender for best show of the year – a stunning display from Brains Base, boasting mastery in character, plot, and animation. These factors are critical – the visuals are rather unique, but they’re not just original for the sake of it – the animation is extremely fluid, and the exaggerated aesthetics reinforce the comical aspect of the show, among the other emotions present.
But more than that, Oregairu proves to have depth, it’s more than meets the eye – and it’s got a lot packed to it, enticing the viewer and leaving him or her eager for more already. It would take too long to go on about how great the characters are, and how amazing this show seems to be already – yet what can be concluded is that this is definitely a must-watch thus far, and if this keeps up, it will be a beautiful and memorable series.
Opinions are opinions of course, but I do wonder what he means by “the visuals are rather unique”… I mean, don’t the girls look like the girls of any other bishoujo series out there?
lol I dont think he is talking about character designs. If you look closely at the interior of the school room designs you will understand at what he is talking about.
By no means I’m watching Photo Kano, but I hope Madhouse makes some money out of it. Sometimes they make great works and sacrifice the sales, so they deserve it.
Every time psgels takes an underhanded shot at the -monogatari series in a post, a kitten somewhere dies. And probably an otaku as well.
Really? Good, my evil plans are starting to come to fruition!
Honestly though, it was more like an underhanded shot at like every single Shaft series ever, because they keep doing that not just in their -monogatari series.
If Madhouse were going to sell out I would prefer they did it with a second season of highschool of the dead. At least that had guilty pleasure value.
They kept acting like their would be one, especially with that god awful OVA. I personally loved HOTD. Trashy fun, and well done at that. Who knows. Years often pass before we get sequels.
OreGairu is rather unique, the first half will probably be episodic but then it’ll all string up for an arc. The main character’s insistence and pride of being a social pariah really shines through. It’s everything Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai promised to be, but better. The social interaction aspect especially
yea and theirs a lot of difference between kodaka and hikigaya 😀 one’s a coward who doesn’t want to face reality while the other one just hates everything 😐
I thought Karneval was pretty bad. Although I gotta give them credit für starting this show in medias res – TWO TIMES! one after another! Oh and the coincidences! And this hat!
Thank god I can at least distinguish immediately between the characters who will be important and those who wont.
And the cast will be too huge for ist own good, if the ed gives us any hints.
*Rabble rabble*
I liked Karneval, quite a bit more than I thought I would, actually. I am a fan of the manga, and thought they did a good job condensing the information and advancing the plot elements. The character depth that you were missing is due to the fact that they cut out chapter 2 of volume 1 (this first episode covered chapters 1 and 3 of volume 1). That chapter contained some bonding moments between Nai (the white haired kid) and Gareki (the black haired teen).
The issue with giving this series an anime is similar to the issue of Pandora Hearts anime…The meat of the plot takes a long time to get to, and many of the sub-arcs are tied together to a larger overarching plot line. Perhaps not to quite the same level as PH (which has an incredibly complex plot line), but definitely more so than Kuroshitsuji or something of that like, in which the arcs have little (or nothing) to do with the overarching plot line.
So, I am kind of glad that they are moving quickly through the more introductory information, that way they can get in more of the plot. Though, characterization could end up suffering because of this. And speaking of characterization, concerning Nai, I didn’t like him all that much either when I first started reading the manga, but I stuck with the series and it was worth it (for me, anyway).
Music wise, I wouldn’t say that was my favorite song, but I found it to be cute and catchy, and it actually does fit the mood of Karneval for the most part…We’ll probably be seeing some more of the comedic and lighthearted elements in next week’s episode. I expect the OP will be more serious in tone.
No matter what, pacing is going to be an issue for this series, but I expected that the moment I heard it was getting an anime. This anime only has the job of promoting the manga, and as someone who is already reading the manga, I’ll just take this one episode at a time and just enjoy it for what it is, rather than what it could be.
Just watched Aku no Hana. I’m sorry to say that I will probably be dropping it. On the positive side: less anime to watch this season as I don’t have much free time anyway. It’ll probably be Attack on Titan and the latest Gen Urobuchi series (can’t remember the title).
Regarding Karneval: Nai’s behavior is lampshaded quite a lot later on in the manga…. (I think that’s all I can say without spoiling)
Fuuuuuuuuuu…
How come this “Yahari Ore Blah blah blah” thing was good, totally not expecting that, but happy that I actually gave it a try.
Getting a K kind of vibe from Karneval. That train scene made me laugh though, when the pink chick was dodging bullets which should have gone straight into the Circus magician and the goggles guy or the walls behind her instead of mysteriously evaporating.
it’s better than K for sure
I wouldn’t underestimate Karneval, that thing is much more than just bishounen fanservice (perfectly good thing still), theres actually a storyline in there.