Author: K-Off

Gugure! Kokkuri-San- 04

by K-Off, posted in Gugure! Kokkuri-San

By now, I have a general idea of how the writers are going to go forward with this show. This show continues to jump the gun without setting up a clear voice for itself while pulling off some genuinely fun comedy, creating this weird combination that is somewhat off-putting yet fairly enticing.

However, this episode has its share of very dull/odd moments, which just serves to prove my point about this show’s lack of consistency in both humor and voice. When Kokkuri-san follows Kohina to school, we’re introduced (no spoilers) to a particular character we would never expect to see in a story based around Japanese folklore- this was something one would expect out of Nichijou. While the show is self-aware and points that out itself, it doesn’t change the fact that up to this point, it did not do a single thing to lead us to believe that this show was anything like a surreal comedy. While the previous episodes certainly did contain a lot of absurd humor, it was within the confines of its limited comedic spectra and therefore had zero buildup to what we got. If they’d only played with surrealist humor from the beginning, I’m sure that I could have fully appreciated parts of this episode a lot better.

The inconsistencies aside, that scene and the other parts of the episode were pretty damn funny for what they were. They introduce us to two brand new characters this episode, and Shigaraki in particular is a welcome addition to the mix. He brings a much more believable serious tone to the show, and this episode puts much effort into his character development by putting a spin on his personality that doesn’t shy away from adding a touch of dark humor through his “philanthropist” work. I really appreciate how the writers caught me by surprise just when I began rolling my eyes- because for a moment, the show looked like it was approaching the typical “mischievous person who is actually a good person” route with the character near the middle of the show.

Outside the main highlights of the episode, it was also nice to actually get some insight into Kohina’s character besides her usual static personality by showing how she behaves in her school environment. This show doesn’t take enough time to develop Kohina’s character, which isn’t a problem as long as it makes the interpersonal relationships interesting, which it does very well: That’s where this show excels in, and it’s been solid so far solely based on that- almost to a fault, since the writers are ignoring important elements of writing and comedy.

On a tangent, it’s a bit too late to mention this, but the soundtrack is very nice to listen to and complements the show very well. The opening song is still terribly annoying to listen to, but the ending is pretty nice and an overall pleasant listen. If anything, this show has charm. They played the opening of this show as the ending song in the first episode, but oh well.

If you like chibi animal mascots and something to kill time with (because face it, every season has a day in the week with crappy anime), I reckon that this show is perfect for it so far.

 

Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis- 03

by K-Off, posted in Shingeki no Bahamut

Okay, so this episode didn’t focus on Leone and Amira’s adventure. Instead, it focuses on building Kaisar’s character and it does so a bit awkwardly.

This episode takes Kaisar and puts him into an overly bombastic situation in order to tell us about Kaisar’s past family problems, but it was so out of tone from the last two episodes that I didn’t care as much as the episode wanted me to do. The last two episodes added an intrepid tone to the show with Leone and Amira’s introductions, but this one tried to add a somber element that really should have been held off until later on.

In any case, this episode was a great one if I see it as the last preparation for the upcoming adventure. When Leone and Amira finally confront the main villains of the story and actually start their journey, we’ll know if this is a show worth continuing or not. However, this episode really answered the lingering questions left by the last two episodes, which I’d say is good for now.

I should also add that I like how this series has a very strong concept of foreshadowing: it doesn’t necessarily have huge cliff-hangers, but it ends every episode with the promise of major developments. The first episode promised a ton of intrigue, the second episode promised change, and now this episode is promising that next week, we’ll get to see what the villains are all about. After all, there’s no way that Satou will wait that out. Overall, this episode was definitely weaker than the last two, but it wasn’t a very big negative to my view on the series as a whole.

Gugure! Kokkuri-San- 03

by K-Off, posted in Gugure! Kokkuri-San

This show has a great cast, but some chinks in the armor are starting to appear in the comedy.

So far, this anime seems to lack a consistent tone, which shows through just how hit-and-miss the comedy is. It attempts to mix elements of light and dark comedy along with slice-of-life and tries to excel in all three of them, but, it feels cheap and under-delivered at times. These past three episodes were definitely good, but they suffer from some minor problems in the show’s overall comedic voice that keep it from its full potential.

I was really wondering how the creators would go forward with the show, and while the show does indeed have plenty of good laughs (especially Inugami), the inconsistency is a definite negative and a big reason for my exponentially increasing lack of interest. While comedies don’t need to concentrate so much as delivering the comedic elements well, an irresolute show like Kokkuri-San needs to find focus if it doesn’t want to devolve into a confusing mix of numerous comedic elements.

However as I stated earlier, this episode was generally funny and chock full of premium meme material. As for the acting, Kokkuri-San aside, the voices were charismatic and added a level of quirkiness to most of the cast. This show really knows how to handle its characters well; you can see the ship-worthy relationship between Inugami and Kokkuri-san continue to grow as they get to know each other better as rivals for Kohina. It was completely awesome to see Inugami’s gender-bend ability not being overused as fan service here, although I don’t know how far that’ll hold moving forward. Yes, this shows just how little faith I (along with most others) have in gender bending.

The point is, this show has problems that can easily go away once it finds a clear comedic voice for itself. Both the characters and production are excellently done, so give credit where it is due, because I remain fairly interested in this show.

Parasyte-the Maxim- 02

by K-Off, posted in Parasyte

Before I continue reviewing this anime, let me put up a disclaimer: I will be discussing the anime of Parasyte, not the manga. If you want to talk about spoilers, I recommend you go to a site that will talk about those things. Don’t be an ass and discuss spoilers down in the comments, because I will delete them immediately. It’s been a long time since I read the manga anyways. Thanks.

Now, this episode focuses on Izumi’s character and gives further insight into Migi’s idiosyncrasies, while attempting to show Izumi’s exponential dehumanization. However at this point, it’s much too early in the series for me to take Izumi’s “dark side”seriously, because we still don’t know enough about his normal personality in order for us to really care about the change. However, this episode does do a pretty good job of showing the symbiotic relationship Izumi and Migi have been forced into, and I can very much see Migi becoming my favorite character of 2014.

Either way, this second episode was definitely weaker than the first, because although a lot of things did happen in this episode, nothing really occurred that really progressed the story. We get some drama with Izumi’s character and see yet another Parasite, but it just lays down the thematic elements this show seeks to talk about, like humanism and the concept of duality, nothing more. To its credit though, the directing was well done, and the animation complements the campy premise quite nicely, turning the story believable and rather immersive.

Overall, although this episode was weaker than the first, it isn’t a bad episode by any means, I want to make that clear. If Madhouse can keep up the solid work and tweak the issues that I listed, this can easily become my favorite show of the season.

Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis- 02

by K-Off, posted in Shingeki no Bahamut

This episode devotes its entirety setting up the characters as well as the journey coming ahead, and it does so very well.

Here’s the thing-this season, we have a ton of shows packed with great style, animation, and direction, but none are as stylistic as Shingeki no Bahamut. I remember a few months ago when I watched the premier of Blade and Soul, and I was genuinely impressed with it- the pacing was solid, the art was decent, and the characters were mildly interesting…. However, starting with episode 2, I lost all interest and moved on, and I never bothered figuring out why. But, after watching this episode, I now know why that was. Unlike Blade and Soul, this show knows not to take itself too seriously. The completely serious Amira turns into a very light-hearted, rather amusing character who really lightens up the entire episode, and Leone/Kaisar’s bouts are, once again, very entertaining to watch.

The highlight of this episode was, without a doubt, Amira, because I did not expect her character to change as abruptly as she did. It’s quite astounding what adding a little flare to a character can do, because although I still don’t give a crap about her background, she manages to give depth to our little maverick in a way that didn’t feel overly cheesy or dull (I won’t spoil). This show has found a way to be charming whilst completely avoiding cheese.

I’m always keeping an eye out for great artists who keep trying out different things, and with Keiichi Sato, Mappa has struck gold. Now, we can only hope that he will keep this passion of his, and keep landing jobs as a director for non-mecha productions like this. His mecha productions may be quite notorious, but he hasn’t really produced anything worthwhile since Tiger and Bunny anyways, so it’s time to move the hell on. He has the potential to really make this series shine.

Gugure! Kokkuri-San- 02

by K-Off, posted in Gugure! Kokkuri-San


Now, TMS Entertainment is a studio that covers a wide range of different shows, and over the years, I’ve known that they can make good shows-but they just weren’t making them like they used to. However, I can safely say that it is different with this one. Despite their most recent failures like The Pilot’s Love Song, Yowamushi Pedal ( which I actually liked the first 2 episodes of), and SeHa Girl, it’s a good thing that they managed to pull off a comedy series like Kokkuri-San well enough to keep me interested.

The point is, this episode was funny. What makes Gugure! Kokkuri-San enjoyable so far are the interpersonal relationships between all of our characters, and this episode had a lot of that, by introducing us to yet another interesting person from Japanese folklore. Unlike the first episode, which was a rather mixed bag, this episode was far superior in terms of comedy, and the animation brings it out really well. This anime was directed by Yoshimasa Hiraike, director of the first season of Wagnaria, so no wonder this show was executed so well this far.

The dark humor really works in this series, and finally, it’s about time we got another one. Now, don’t get me wrong, this show isn’t dark enough to be considered a true dark comedy, but hell, it’s been too long since Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei and I need my dark humor fix. It’s a very nice way of bringing out the heavier tone that a premise based on the children’s game this show is based on brings along, while managing to stay humorous and putting a twist on folklore in a way that isn’t annoying as f*ck. That’s how you turn your Japanese folklore into comedy.

Some Quick First Impressions: Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso

by K-Off, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso 

Short Synopsis: Our lead character plays/played the piano very well.
Impressions: We get shows like this every few seasons. You know, the ones that are generic to the core, yet they do the generic shit pretty well? See, this episode was very formulaic: we have our genius with a troubled past, our main character’s best friend, childhood friend, and the mysterious new girl who our protagonist will most likely end up banging. I could compare this to Bokura wa Minna Kawaiisou from Spring’s lineup, but that wouldn’t do this show very much justice-because unlike Kawaii Complex’s premier, this first episode wasn’t a total piece of shit. In fact, it was consistently solid, and A-1 Pictures seems to have done their best with the crappy premise handed to them. If the story and characters weren’t so much of a damn cop-out though, I could see myself enjoying this anime for what it is: a teenage angst drama. This is the first time Kyohei Ishiguro is directing a show by himself (Unlike Psycho Pass, My Little Monster, Amagami SS+, Hourou Musuko, Kyokai Senjo no Horizon, & Fairy Tail, where he was an episode director), so I guess I have to congratulate him for making this episode decent at the very least. However, if I learned anything from the past few years, it’s that generic shows like this quickly fall apart.

OP: Generic, nothing to see here.

ED: Generic, nothing to see here.

Potential: 40%

Some Quick First Impressions: Shingeki no Bahamut, Parasyte, Gugure! Kokkuri-san, Cross Ange

by K-Off, posted in Gugure! Kokkuri-San, Parasyte, Shingeki no Bahamut, Some Quick First Impressions

Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a bounty hunter.
Impressions: This show gets how to make a first episode, Keiichi Satou does a superb job in introducing us to the world of Mistarcia. The various character introductions are just as well done, and the 17th Century Spain-like setting really sets the tone for the anime. The anime borrows the styles of some of my favorite Westerns and swashbuckler films, like Ivanhoe, True Grit, Three Musketeers, and The Master of Ballantrae, which I cannot praise enough for having the balls to do. This episode showed me that the series knows how to borrow those styles correctly, and as a fan of 20th Century Westerns & swashbucklers myself, I appreciated the homage. On top of that, this series really knows that it’s an anime, and you can see a lot of personality in the characters which I thought that even some Westerns lacked. This episode had a lot of things happen in 20 minutes or so, but it knows how to pace itself relatively well, using that time in the most optimal manner to show as much personality in the characters as it possibly could.  Lastly, I feel like I have to mention the soundtrack, which is yet another great homage to my favorite Spanish films from the 50’s and 70’s.

ED: A nice listen.

Potential: 90%

Parasyte

Short Synopsis: Our lead character’s right hand becomes sentient
Impressions: Okay, the marketing department really did this anime injustice; the trailer for this show sucked and pretty much failed to garner much interest (aside from fans of the manga/people who pay attention to these things). However, who cares? The first episode was great, and despite the complaints pouring in from the raging idiots about the “modernized” character designs, the animation and art were very solid. Other than that, I just need to see that the creators know what they’re doing going forward. The episode had it’s problems, but at the same time, I saw clear efforts on the part of Kenichi Shimuzu  in making this story resonate with today’s audiences to the best of his budget. Both the pacing & character introductions were very well done, succeeding without having to put in much dialogue between the characters themselves-which ultimately allowed tons of things to happen in just one episode. It’s quite a shame, really, that this sub-genre of horror (with the exception being the works of Junji Ito) hasn’t been done very well since 95′, because it’s still pretty much uncharted territory at this point. Hell, there is real potential here.

OP: Not really my kind of song.

ED: Safe

Potential: 85%

 

Gugure! Kokkuri-san

Short Synopsis: Our lead character summons Kokkuri-san.
Impressions: Okay, so this show knows how to use the comedic formula, a pleasant surprise after being months without a decent comedy since Spring. Regardless, I  have to point out the fact that this appears to be one of those comedies that are VERY hit-or-miss. I’ve read about people on forums being put off by it’s deadpan humor and the shortage of background music-which I found rather appealing, because the anime quickly sets the tone for itself within the first half of the episode. Unlike the manga, which is rather episodic in nature as all 4koma tend to be, the anime manages to keep itself from appearing too episodic, smoothly transitioning between one deadpan comedy sequence to the next. So in that sense, I was relatively pleased; the episode is largely consistent in it’s humor. Really, the only faults I can find is that it is rather boring at times, and the jokes are occasionally under delivered, leaving these uncomfortable moments when I’m trying to figure out if I was supposed to have laughed or not . For what it is worth though, the episode is fairly solid, and it might turn out to be a relatively strong comedy…But I do worry about the jokes drying up, although that’s likely an unnecessary concern, seeing how there are much more characters yet to be introduced.

ED: Bit annoying, actually.

Potential: 70%

 

Cross Ange

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is yet another Princess.
Impressions: Of course, what a great impression to make, starting off your main character’s introduction with fan service. The episode starts off with a terrible cg battle, then takes a few steps back in the timeline to fully introduce our heroine, who is yet another princess. Frankly, after the Martian princess from Aldnoah Zero, I don’t think I can stomach yet another heroine who’s a princess. Basically, the main character is painfully uninteresting, and the “twist” is so damn stereotypical that I cannot take it seriously. Who are these people? How does Ange not figure out she cannot use magic until she’s f*king 16 years old?! The entire episode’s climax revolves around the fact that Ange realizes that she cannot use magic and is therefore a Norma (a person who cannot use magic), which is why a coupe even occurs. So for the last 16 years, she herself does not figure out that she cannot use magic, while a goddamn baby gets discovered to be a Norma in the middle of the street? The only positive aspect I can squeeze out this episode is that it had dragons in it for a few seconds. Nothing else.

OP: Embarrassingly bad

ED: Generic, nothing worth noting.

Potential: 20%

About Our Site

by K-Off, posted in Currently Watching:

Welcome to Star Crossed Anime Blog! The site originally started out on Blogsome in 2005 by Psgels, where he gained a dedicated following that allowed him to grow the site into what it is today, and move the site into his own domain.

Since 2014, the site has expanded into a multi-author blog, with writers who carry their own interesting insight into the medium we all know and love. We reject the idea that all anime are infallible, and whether it be in our episodic reviews, Seasonal Previews, or even with non-Japanese animated films, we try our best to bring insight to the greatest and latest anime because it’s fun! Psgels is currently in hiatus owing to a particularly malicious writers block, but we wait for his return!

Current Writers

psgels

Hey, I’m psgels. I live in the Netherlands and I’m the founder of this site. The idea of the site started back in 2005, when I was a really big fan of series’ like Mahou Shoujotai, but couldn’t find any blog that covered them. In response to that I decided to create my own blog in order to vent my opinions. It started rather silly, but eventually it grew much larger than I ever thought it would.
My taste is weird. I look for series that dare to screw conventions. The ones that are ambitious in their storytelling, and dare to go off the beaten path. Anime is an art form, and it should behave like that.

SuperMario

Unlike most anime-fans, I did not grow up watching anime – yes, I had read some manga and had watched some anime when I were young, but I have forgotten mostly those now. Instead, my love from anime came from my passion for films (I consider myself more of film-nerd than anime lover) and my absolute appreciation for the medium of animation. Anime seems like a brainchild between those.

AidanAk47

An Irish Anime fan. Though well versed in Visual novels, manga and video games. If it’s got an anime adaption chances are I have seen the source. Quite fond of the works of Kinoko Nasu and Gen Urobuchi. I don’t really have a favorite genre though I am not really fond of slice of life or sports. Well, lets have fun shall we?
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SuperWooper

I’m an educator and avid consumer of both music and anime. As a former English major, characters and story structure are my primary areas of expertise, though I’m learning to appreciate visual direction more and more. Not a fan of anime’s tendency to paint by numbers. Odds are I’ll blog just one series at a time, but I hope to lend a big hand for seasonal first impressions and yearly roundups. Thanks for having me!
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Lenlo

Your everyday average Renaissance man. I Box, Fence, paint/wargame 40k and I work my 9-5 as a Software Engineer. What can I say, I like to keep busy. I got into anime on your normal Shonen of Yu-Yu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin, and Naruto, and to this day they are near and dear to my heart. Since then though I have branched out, falling in love with darker, more tragic works such as Berserk or Vagabond, focusing on more Seinen works. I hope you enjoy my writing, let’s go find a series that can make us cry!

K-Off

K-Off checking in. I’m formerly the main resident technician of the site since Psgel’s hiatus. I write the occasional game reviews, and when I’m not working on the site or writing a review, you can find me keeping up to date on my favorite manga and games.

Other Writers:

Ninjarealist

LightningBolt

HelghastKillzone

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