Some quick first impressions: Seirei no Moribito, Murder Princess and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

Seirei no Moribito Short Synopsis: The main character, Barsa, who spends her life as a hired bodyguard, accepts to protect Changgumu, the second prince of the Yugu-Kingdom after he has been implanted by the egg of a water-spirit, and his father is after his life. Good: Great animation, AWESOME background art. Bad: I expected more of the music, but it doesn’t really stand out until the final scene. Overall Enjoyment Value: 7.5/10 I was quite surprised when I saw this appear on Tokyo Toshokan. After all, it’s supposed to arrive in a week. As it’s one of the series I’ve been anticipating, I eagerly checked it out. So far, it looked quite interesting. I can’t say much about the overall story yet, as this clearly was an episode meant to introduce the story. In the next episode, we’ll see a bit more of Changgumu, and how the two of them will spend their time in this anime. Barsa, so far, has proved that she’s quite a strong and intelligent character. I didn’t quite get why the palace in the end had to be burned, though. So far, it’s been a solid episode, but apart from the amazing background-art, I’ve yet to be surprised. Let’s hope this comes in the next episodes. Murder Princess Short Synopsis: Nah, won’t tell you. It’s best if you find out yourself. Good: Rocking music! Bad: Can the rest of this OVA be worthwhile without its shock-value? Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10 Murder Princess started out rather dull, with a castle being run over by a number of monsters and cute girls. But then a very nice twist in the middle made it all worthwhile. It’s something I didn’t expect to happen, and it’s really best if you watch this OVA without knowing anything about it beforehand. After this twist, the second half of the episode turned out very interesting. Okay, it may not be the most serious story, but it was definitely entertaining. Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann Short Synopsis: Our main character is a boy who’s lived underground for his entire life. He digs a lot, and during one of these diggings, he finds the face of a mecha. Lots of destruction ensues afterwards. Good: Very interesting characters. Great style. Bad: Contains every element of the shounen-series-formula. Overall Enjoyment Value: 7,5/10 Okay, it may be a shounen-series, but it’s a damn entertaining one. Sure, the main character is a wimpy boy, but the main side-character definitely is worth watching, and he even makes sure that otherwise dull characters turn interesting. I love the style of this one, even though it’s filled with clichés. The main character may have found the robot on pure coincidence, he may have run into a beautiful girl for no apparent reason, he may live in a world where people absolutely never get dizzy, but the way this anime is presented definitely made for an entertaining episode. Oh, and this anime may have one of the shortest ED’s ever. :P]]>