Mitsudomoe
Short Synopsis: Our lead character has to teach a class containing three really annoying problem children.
Granted, some of the jokes in this episode really were terrible, but this still is a series that turned out better than I expected. I thought that this would be another one of those dull moe series like there are so many of this season, but it actually got a number of chuckles out of me. There are a ton of problems in this show, and some parts are just plain wrong, but I admire that in the genre of moe comedies, it attempts to do things a bit different by having cute girls make no attempts at acting likable. There are a TON of fanservice jokes in this series, but think of it this way: who didn’t at the age of ten make tons of stupid sex jokes that you didn’t understand? At the moment, some jokes worked and others didn’t, so this series still can go anywhere at this point. The biggest problem with this episode was its forced stupidity. The teachers are supposed to be the straight men in this series, but at times they fail their job at building suspense of disbelief. At a certain point the girls all asked the male teacher to pull down his pants, and he just obliged to that request without questioning it, just for the sake of a small penis joke. As a straight man, you should build up some sense of realism that can be broken by the comedic characters. This guy is unfortunately too bland for that, and his female teacher love interest is just entirely terrible.
OP: Obnoxious, yet somehow catchy.
ED: Hmm, works surprisingly well.
Potential: 45%%
Shukufuku no Campanella
Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a mind-numbingly boring git.
I… have nothing. Seriously. What was that? It’s these kinds of series that really give anime a bad name. I already suspected that this show would be bad, but the depths that this series would reach were even beyond my imagination. This series is just… unbelievable in how incredibly dull it ended up to be. The characters, the dialogue, everything seems so designed to sap any sort of energy out of its viewers. The characters, and I mean EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM, become a goddamn chore to watch and listen to when they open their mouth. They just kept yapping and whining about the most pointless stuff, but the worst part was the way in which the creators seem really keen on reminding us viewer how incredibly beautiful the main cast is. Seriously, they just keep going on and on about that. The only way in which this show stands out is that girls can now get pregnant at the age of three. Worst show of the season BY FAR, this is pandering at its worst.
ED: Generic J-pop
Potential: -50%
Kuroshitsuji II
Short Synopsis: Our lead character has some sort of uber butler.
Okay, let me first explain how I went into this series: I have only seen the first episode of the original Kuroshitsuji, and I don’t really feel like checking it out at this point. The first episode felt too formulaic, it tried too hard to make Sebastien look cool and Ciel like a damsel in distress. It was too forced. However, with the new staff, new cast and new approach, I became interested in checking out the second season. And holy hell is it an improvement! I’m not sure whether I can watch or blog the rest of the series without knowledge of the first season, but nevertheless, this episode was wonderfully camp. The lead character here is an just crazy, and his butler here does things ten times crazier than what I saw in the first season. The scene especially between him and his maid was just…. WTF-worthy. And at the same time, the creators also managed to stuff in enough depth on the inner psyche of this kid, along with the weird relationship he has with his butler. It was wonderfully acted, it went over the top, yet it also had plenty of quiet and subtle moments that gave a ton of depth to these characters. Here’s definitely a big surprise this season.
OP: Standard J-rock, but very nice visuals.
ED: Nice ballad
Potential: 85%
you can definitely still watch this series without watching the first because they don’t have any connections to each other. It’s basically a totally new story from the first season with new characters and everything so yea
It’s because the Kuroshitsuji manga is blah. It became a lot better around the half-way point where they said “fuck this, we’re giving it our own plot.” You can recognise the anime-original episodes by their sheer awesomeness compared to the rest.
That’s why Kuroshitsuji 2 is likely good. They don’t even pretend to have a tangent with the manga anymore.
A Kuroshitsuji series that’s BETTER than the first series??? How is this possible? My friends are fans of it and I respect it, though I myself am not a fan. I should probably tell them about this!
The original Kuroshitsuji to me, is a waste of a lot of potential. Just when things got interesting (like backstory) , it sidetracks to more boring things. Maybe it has some sorta deeper connection that was made after I stopped following it? I think for the second season, since it’s original from the manga, the director probably has more free reign on pacing and plot.
Urgh. This IS about Sebastien and Ciel, and those two bored the crap out of me. If you watch the preview, Alois and Claude never come up again and Ciel wakes up. The other cast of the idiot trio and Lizzy is back. DX Oh god, and I was so excited too…
I just hope that for this second season they focus less on Ciel and more on these new characters that look so much more interesting ;0
Oh sounds good, being a fan of the original Kuroshitsuji (still reading the manga), I was wary of this one. Can’t wait to watch it … with subs 😛
Just a note, the first few episodes of Kuroshitsuji (the original) are not really representative. The series did a rather “abrupt” turn after the first 4 episodes, and became much darker.
Please God…DEAR GOD…let the preview for the next episode be a lie.
Why exactly did they have to heighten my expectations for a solid continuation of the Kuroshitsuji anime with new characters even further during the episode…only to crush it UTTERLY and COMPLETELY with that preview.
Yeah, I bet all the fangirls will be sqealing with glee that they can watch Sebastian and Ciel again…but good God, that opening and the episode was so good and the preview looks just…NOTHING like that.
So yeah, as it stands right now, this whole episode was a giant TROLL.
@chounokoe
Exactly my thoughts. I’m not such a big fan of the original series, but gosh this kid and his butler just just…I mean I love them so much already. But looking at the preview I just went ‘please let this be not true, please let this be not true’.
I don’t think I’ll be watching Mitsudomoe…mainly because the 6th grade kids don’t even look like 11 year olds! They look like four-year-olds! And thanks for the warning about Shukufuku no Campanella.
Wait….a show in which they keep going on and on about how beautiful the main cast it? OH MY GOD, THEY MAKE A TWILIGHT ANIME! RUUUUUUUUN!!!!!!!!!!
I’ve got a question for those that saw the first episode of the new Kuroshitsuji anime.
are all the side characters idiots in it to like the original Kuroshitsuji? I’d watch if someone said no or atleast not as much.
How should we know? The side characters haven’t done anything yet.
@Roldan: Well the cast of Kuroshitsuji 2 (if they really are the cast and not just a mockery) appears to be a whole level darker than what came across during the beginning of the original.
The master is poking his maids eye out, the servants seem generally petrified and there seems to be some level of child abuse going on in that family…
So, yes, it COULD get a lot more serious than season 1. But only IF it is really the cast.
@chounkoe thanks for the reply and let’s hope so. in case anyone’s wondering why i’m asking then i’ll tell you something. My sister started watching kuroshitsuji when it came out the first time and has got some crazy obsession with it.
she owns all mangas from japan, all the english mangas and a lot other shit. after months of ignoring it i finally tried reading manga, i stopped reading when the cook started talking about superman. i tried the anime instead thinking maybe the humor fits better with voices.. i fell asleep. The premise is kinda interesting but the writing’s to how should i say it in a nice way, lazy. and this is from a guy that likes Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
error for me. the cook referenced not talked about Superman. It’s still shit!
I think you’d better watch the first season before watching this one. The two season ARE connected because it left off from the first season (Ciel was revived afterall). I think the story will still be based on Sebastian and Ciel, however it’s most likely Alois and Claude will come back and act as the antagonists (judging by Alois sadsitic attitude). The first season had a slow start but the latter episodes showed their characters better (people tend to like the series after the Jack the Ripper arc).
@lalarhs yeah, no. I’d rather just ignore it. worst set of side characters I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen Twilight (saw 2 episodes recently).
It was just a matter of time and bad clones of Kodomo no Jikan, such said Mitsudomoe, would come and push the last line of decency to hell.
I didn’t spot Sebastian and Ciel in the OP. Was that OP just a big troll? Is this going to be about Sebastian after all? Are we supposed to be happy that it’s going to be about sebastian and Ciel?
I also liked the first episode, but as soon as Ciel appeared I was worried. And then there was the preview…
I watched original Kuroshitsuji likes five eps and I decided to dropped it.
Hmm..For me It looks like ss1 is try too much to be the dark-mystery and psycho.But it fails. The cast is too much happy to be psycho.(Sometimes they tried to looks cool too. Hey this isn’t the reverse harem anime. -_-“)They are too much funny…And some that going to be psycho in the last look..unnatural.
But This ss2 theme and atmosphere really change in the right way.(At least watched op and see how much it’s different! I love it too much.)
Yeah…some moments look funny.But it blows naturally and fit the dark feeling perfectly.And the psycho moments is Oh Wow…It’s make me utter loudly.(Ah..Hanna so pitiful.)if you wanted to do some of crazy moments.You should can do in this level!
and when you learn some of backstory of Alois.Some crazy moment suddenly looks acceptable and interesing.And his relationship with his butler is interesting too.
But preview ah…..I know many fangirls are happy about this.But for me it’s not! I hope the old cast will be only at side character.I didn’t wanted them to ruined this perfect atmosphere.NOooooooo.
I don’t think Mitsudomoe is a clone of Kodomo but I did find that its jokes (manga) became way too repetitive. There was some “originality” in vol1 but the rest was just boring.
I at least have to give the animation company that made Mitsudomoe props. Not bad for their first ever production. (I think it’s their first, right?) I wrote about Shukufuku on my (really new) blog, too, but mostly I was just flabbergasted that the male lead was, well, cool.
Kuroshitsuji II’s first episode was so wonderfully twisted and dark. But that preview… it was so terrible. I’m hoping it’s just a misleading joke preview. If not… I don’t think I’ve been trolled that hard since Ga-Rei Zero.
@Bruce: But at least Ga-Rei Zero’s troll led somewhere good (at least in my opinion) and not so much less dark and twisted.
Yet the troll of Kuro II might lead us down the path of the same nonsensical drivel that held back the first season until Angela appeared…
YES, I’m one of those people who actually liked the anime more than what the manga did.
Yeah I like the current Detective-Fiction arc in the manga, but the circus arc for example was terrible…and the manga still seems to be going nowhere except for those few moments at the end of each arc.
Yeah, Ga-Rei’s first episode sucked me in, while this… eugh.
@ Roldan:
I understand why you hate the side characters, they truly are idiotic. The point of them was to balance the dark atmosphere with comedy. But obviously, it’s not your taste of humour (I was able to ignore them somehow).
Either way, I still think it’s worth giving season 2 a shot since I think you can manage without the first season. Plus, I admit Alois is so much more interesting to watch. Problem is they may return with eps which are solely about Ciel and Sebastian again. Guess the only advice is to simply watch and see.
Actually about Kuroshitsuji II, Alois and Claude aren’t going to be one episode characters! You might want to read this though:(http://hyper-parfait.blogspot.com/2010/07/kuroshitsuji-2-yana-tabosos-journal.html)