psgels, Author at Star Crossed Anime

Fractale – 05

February 17, 2011 by psgels, posted in Fractale

I expected more of this episode. I mean, it was one of those episodes that make me wonder why they were included in such a short series: the incredibly risky build-up episodes. They’re understandable for character and world building in the long running series, but we’re talking about eleven episodes here!

So, basically everything that happens here is that Clain does a number of chores and Nessa takes over the flying ship of the rebels and makes everything hot. The only really new thing that we learn is Phryne’s reasons for taking away Nessa, which could have easily been done in one fourth of that time. the major problem is that I don’t know whether the characters in this series are solid enough to actually make use of the time this episode spent on fleshing them out. Especially when this was supposed to be an interesting adventure series, and this episode entirely broke that flow and didn’t really contribute anything to this.

The way in which this episode was brought also was a bit lazy. There was a lot of expendable dialogue and characters trying to be funny while they weren’t. Oh, and unfunny underwear jokes. One examples of these kinds of scenes done partly right is with the currently airing Star Driver, which blends in random antics that are genuinely fun to watch, because they’re well delivered, are mixed in with interesting and well explored characters and despite the lack of balance it is consistently fun to watch. I’m really missing that with Fractale. We’re five episodes in already and it really doesn’t have time anymore to goof off.

This episode indeed showed some of the daily lives of the rebels; it did that right, but the way in which it showed this could have been done much better, especially when it gets in the way of a lot of other things in this series. Priorities, people!
Rating: – (Disappointing)

Hourou Musuko – 05

February 17, 2011 by psgels, posted in Hourou Musuko

I do think that this series is overestimating the acting capabilities of children. I remember when we at elementary school (elementary school in the Netherlands usually lasts from the age of five till the age of eleven or twelve) got to participate in the school plays, we didn’t really know anything about proper acting and understanding your character. We mostly practiced saying all of the lines correctly and the choreography (a lot of the plays we did back then were musicals), while practicing this over and over again. Seeing people completely caught up in their role with even the right theatrical gestures, intonations and movement is perhaps a bit beyond random kids.

The creators nailed the drama, though. The scene in which that guy randomly blurted out Nitori’s secret was really well done and involved a lot of different characters who were at the scene. It also really shedded some more insight about how Nitori feels about his identity, and how Takatsuki helped him in the chapters that the series skipped over.

Saori meanwhile got the bitchy character right. Throughout the entire series she’s being strange and trying to stand out, but she does it in this subtle way that doesn’t make her annoying, yet uses the drama that she created well. And at the same time, her character is far from one-dimensional so she doesn’t end up as your typical stereotype weirdo.

As for the Romeo and Juliet play.. yeah, it had it coming that some lead characters would end up playing Romeo and Juliet. Seeing two random classmates play those roles would perhaps have been interesting in a longer series, but with eleven episodes this series really needs to take every chance it has to build further upon the main characters. At the very least we didn’t get the corny solution of Nitori and Takatsuki playing the lead roles, and the current state of events did lead to some interesting drama that again brought some more life to the characters.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Tailenders Review – 77,5/100

February 15, 2011 by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

Anime Innovations Tokyo is an initiative to fund innovative and new projects. Tailenders is its second major production, after Cencoroll two years ago. Both resulted in a half-hour movie, but apart from that they’re completely different. By far the most apparent difference is that while in Cencoroll it was the animation that stood out, Tailenders has awesome artwork. Just about every shot in this show looks great and very stylish, with the only downside being some CG that doesn’t blend in well.

Furthermore, where Cencoroll really put in effort in putting forth solid and believable characters, Tailenders doesn’t care about that in the slightest. Here, the characters are simple, hot blooded and trying to look cool. They’re nice to watch, but completely one-dimensional with one-sided voice acting. Instead, the innovation here comes from all of the bizarre and original ideas that it put in its back-story. Seriously, this may be a racing show, but the how and why of just about everything is completely unconventional.

Unlike Cencoroll, which was down to earth in its action, Tailenders lacks any subtlety, and is pretty shallow in its execution and dialogue. Because of that, it just isn’t as good, but it’s still worth the watch for the effort that went into the good parts. And despite the shallow build-up, the ridiculously high-speed did manage to create quite a bit of adrenaline.

Storytelling:	7/10 – Dialogue and delivery need more work, but the high speed racing sequences are worth the watch.
Characters:	6/10 – Cool looking, but one dimensional with one-sided acting.
Production-Values:	9/10 – Gorgeous artwork with a unique style. Animation is a bit stiff at times, though.
Setting:	8/10 – Many neat and original ideas. The delivery could be better, but the concept of this movie is really imaginative.

Suggestions:
– Cencoroll
– Manie Manie: Meikyuu Monogatari
– Wonderful Days

Senkou no Night Raid – 14

February 15, 2011 by psgels, posted in Senkou no Night Raid

Most DVD episodes are random side-stories that if they’re lucky, have something to do with the main story. This one is different though: it shows a vital conclusion to this series. The story is over now, but it tells what happened to the characters after the events of the TV-series: what happened to them, and how they changed.

It was mostly centred around Kazura, as this episode hints that he died in a rebellion, started by his former classmates. Before that happens he’s able to meet Aoi (who recovered and is now travelling with Shizune) and Yukina, who has been handling Natsume’s death. Again, they really did justice to the setting: they didn’t choose a cheap way out. Even Aoi helping Kazura from out of nowhere didn’t really have an effect, and he made the conscious decision to help his former classmates.

It was also wonderfully told. This had none of the acting problems of the TV-series, and the actors probably put out some of the most believable performances of the entire series. Obviously the story being less epic really helped there, but even compared to the other DVD special, the pacing and atmosphere felt very natural here. I also really like how the creators used that story of the escaped panther to subtly spice up this episode. If you liked the TV-series, then this episode is a must watch.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Level E – 06

February 14, 2011 by psgels, posted in Level E

Oh, this show is brilliant! This episode was again an awesome that continued the Color rangers story and turned into a full blown parody here. The characters though were the ones who made it awesome.

Two episodes in, and these characters are not only already developing, but this series is also really making use of it. The point in which they found themselves caught up in the traps that Ouji had set for them was just awesome, but also how Ouji forced them to say the names of the girls they liked was absolutely hilarious. I especially loved how thorough that password system was set for the blond-haired kid. and of course, the grin on Ouji’s face when he found those out was just priceless.

The irony is that Level E is a collection of short stories with no main plot, and yet it still blows every other show this season out of the water. This series however has made every second count, which is very rare for an anime. it’s consistently creative and tries out great and interesting ideas and the delivery also couldn’t be better. Especially the chemistry between just about all of the characters is just fantastic here.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka? – 06

February 14, 2011 by psgels, posted in Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka?

This episode… was something else. Talk about gore here, seriously. This episode was a really intense one thanks to that demented villain who didn’t care at all how much she wrecked her own body. Usually when anime use regenerative powers, it makes the action scenes rather dull, but this really is one exception because the creators still managed to make the gore look really painful.

After all of the build-up, it also was great to see Hellscythe finally use her words. Seriously, the last thing I’d expected this series to be was a good drama, but this show knows exactly how to create a tense atmosphere and use its characters for the best with it.

Now, this episode did introduce what will probably be the major villain of this show… who still needs a ton of work though. He’s quite generic at this point: really evil and brainwashes others to do evil stuff for him. His back-story of being related to Hellscythe could promise to be interesting, but if his character isn’t interesting then that backstory also isn’t worth much.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Uchuu-Show he Youkoso Review – 85/100

February 14, 2011 by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

So, before you start watching this show, you should note that it is a children’s adventure, and so it does have some of the cliches that usually come with this genre.But damn, is it a well executed one!

It’s basically the story of five kids who get to travel through space during their summer holidays, but the creators did a truly amazing job on the graphics. The designs in this show are really imaginative, and this show just consistently comes with new ideas and designs for the characters to run into. The artwork is gorgeous, both in the foreground and the background, but by far the best is how expressive the animation of the characters is. The character in this movie really come to life in the way they’re animated; it’s incredibly dynamic in the way that the emotions, poses and facial expressions are constantly changing. There are tons of details hidden in the nonverbal communication between these characters, thanks to the surprisingly fluid animation.

The characters in this movie, despite being kids, are really likable. One of the reasons is that this movie manages to remember that it’s dealing with kids here, and uses this well. There is an epic plot in this movie, but it devotes most of its time to simple explorations and characters running into new and strange alien things. The drama that pops up near the end of the movie is also surprisingly good.

But yeah, there are some cliches, the worst one being the bad guys with really terrible security staff. Near the end, the movie tried to be too epic. There is also little character development for a movie of two hours and fifteen minutes, despite the effective drama.

Still, this was A-1’s first movie and I’d say mission accomplished. It’s a really enjoyable family movie that keeps a great balance between life-like characterizations and imaginative space adventures. I wasn’t bored for once second.

Storytelling:	8/10 – Well told and believable, yet an entertaining adventure. Gets too epic at the end, though.
Characters:	9/10 – Terrific characterization, though perhaps not much character development.
Production-Values:	9/10 – Truly gorgeous animation and artwork.
Setting:	8/10 – A ton of great ideas. A bit childish, but they work quite well.

Suggestions:
– Mysterious Cities of Gold
– Secret of Cerulean Sand
– The Cat Returns

Star Driver – 19

February 13, 2011 by psgels, posted in Star Driver

Star Driver is full of random slice of life moments. This episode stood out at this point, though. A lot of this episode was the simple celebration of Wako’s birthday, and only showed Takuto, Sugata and Wako together. The creators put a lot of meaning behind it, thoough, and for a change it was pretty enjoyable to see them together for so long here, with the best parts being the birthday presents.

This episode also had an interesting subversion of the “I’m going to take over your body muaha”-trope. Most times when this gets used, it takes forever for someone to realize that something is wrong, and yet here everyone noticed the complete change in character of Sugata and Takuto. At the same time though, it could have been taken further. Instead, those two Crux members just gave up in the middle of it.

I keep expecting these series to get darker and more serious in their second halves, but there are more and more series like this that instead have these quiet kinds of episodes, right before they’re about to start building up to the finale. I’m not yet sure of whether or not this works, but at the end of this series we should know whether the past episodes knew exactly what they were doing… or were just randomly buying time.
Rating: * (Good)

Spring Season Preview – Movie and OVA Edition

February 13, 2011 by psgels, posted in Seasonal Previews

I was pretty shocked when I went through the list of movies for the upcoming season. Seriously, while it’s going to be packed with TV-series, it will be incredibly dry in the movie department. I only saw two really good movies that will premiere, and that’s it. The rest all were cheap cash-ins and kiddie movies. You know, those franchises that release a new filler movie every year? They especially like the months March and April to do this. Seriously, I have not seen such a bad series for movies since I started compiling these Movie and OVA previews.

Thankfully, the OVAs did provide a lot of interesting stuff here. Even when leaving out the ones what will carry over from previous seasons, there are a few really interesting premises, and rock-solid staff members involved here that I’m really looking forward to. Especially the game adaptations will interesting. There’s not much to say about which major studio is the most active this time, though: a lot of stuff here is being made by independent studios that worked on hardly anything else. The only major studio that has a lot of stuff on this list is Toei, but that’s entirely in a bad way. Beyond that, Production IG and A-1 both have multiple smaller but interesting projects.

As for the series that are on this list:
– All the new OVAs and Movies that are scheduled in March, April and May, plus the spring season in general, on Moonphase
– Episodes of continuing OVAs (like Gundam Unicorn 03, .Hack//Quantum 02) are omitted because I don’t want to repeat myself too much. New series of OVAs and DVD Specials though are properly included, including DVD specials of series that I didn’t watch, for the sake of completion.
– Two movies are listed to debut on “2011G.W.”. I have no idea what that means, so I decided to not include those until I can figure out when they air.

Shukufuku no Campanella OVA

Summary: The story takes place in a trading city Ert’Aria. Leicester Maycraft is an item engineer belonging to an adventurer guild “Oasis”. One night, he is at a party with his friends to see a meteor stream on the rooftop of a chapel. One meteor grazes them and hits the steeple of the chapel. There he finds a secret room and a sleeping girl. The girl wakes up and says “You must be my father”. The encounter with the mysterious girl brings an unexpected adventure to Leicester. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: DVD OVA
Director: Shinji Ushiro
Script: Koujiro Nakamura, Saharu Amiyama
The Positives: None.
The Negatives: Shukufuku no Campanella was by far the worst series of the Summer Season of 2010. And now they’re planning to make more of it. Especially the OVAs of these terrible moe shows are notorious for being terrible.
First-Glance Potential: 0%

Asobi ni Iku Yo OVA

Summary: The story will follow an Earth-style game with the Catia and Earth people, and a wonderful prize for the winner has the players playing their very best. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: DVD OVA
Director: Yooichi Ueda
Script: Katsuhiko Takayama
The Positives: Katsuhiko Takayama can be a pretty good scriptwriter. When he’s dealing with actually good source material in any case.
The Negatives: Apparently the OVA will air “unairable content”. Guess what this one will be about?
First-Glance Potential: 0%

Nana to Kaoru

Summary: Nana and Kaoru are next door neighbours and schoolmates, but Nana is a model student and popular, while Kaoru is a poor student and social outcast. One night, however, their relationship changes forever, when Nana discovers that she enjoys being on the receiving end of perverted domination play with Kaoru. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: OVA
Director: Hideki Okamoto
Other Notable Staff: Atsuko Watanabe (Character Design, Animation Director)
The Positives: Atsuko behind the animation isn’t anything bad. She’s quite solid, though not the best, as a character designer as well.
The Negatives: Oh dear lord… they’re making anime about sadomasochism fetishes now? AIC, why don’t you just start making hentai series with these premises? Oh, and the director directed Nagasarete Airantou and Da Capo II before, so we shouldn’t really expect much from him either.
First-Glance Potential: 0%

One Piece 3D: Mugiwara Chase

Summary: Luffy and his crew must find his missing hat. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie, co-billed with the Toriko 3D Movie
Director: Hiroyuki Sato
Script: Yasuyui Tsutsumi
The Positives: It uses the One Piece name.
The Negatives: The award for the biggest cash-in… definitely goes to this movie. I mean, there is nothing inherently wrong with 3D and all, but to use it just as a gimmick here is just terrible. Not to mention that the plot is the most terrible premise of a movie I’ve ever seen, they really did not care in the slightest about this thing. Toei really needs to stop producing all this crap and focus on what they’re good at.
First-Glance Potential: 0%

Toriko 3D: Kaimaku Gourmet Adventure!!

Summary: ???
Type: Movie, co-billed with the One Piece 3D Movie
Director: Junji Shimizu
Script: Isao Murayama
The Positives: In this case they got the actual guy who writes the series composition for the Toriko TV-series for this movie.
The Negatives: The director is the director of Fresh Precure, various One Piece Movies, the YUGIOH movie, and some other random Precure Movies. Plus, like I mentioned above: it uses 3D as a gimmick, rather than trying to tell a good story with it.
First-Glance Potential: 0%

Doraemon: Shin Nobita to Tetsujin Heidan – Habatake Tenshi-tachi

Summary: Giant robot parts fell from the sky, so Nobita and Doraemon took it into the mirror world to build it and called it the Zandacross. It seems that Zandacross is a dangerous weapon so they kept it a secret. A mysterious girl named Lilulu appeared and asked for Zandacross for the invasion but she doesn’t agree to invade the Earth. Doraemon and the others join forces to stop the invasion of the robot army but it seems that Lilulu is the only one that can stop it. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie
Director: Yukiyo Teramoto
Script: Higashi Shimizu
The Positives: Every march of every year since God knows when, Doraemon has gotten a movie. This is no ordinary movie though, it’s a remake of the 1986 Doraemon Movie, Nobita and the Platoon of Iron Men.
The Negatives: Doraemon is a character that many people loved while growing up, but I never knew the guy and never really got into him. It’s also got the director of Boku no Imouto wa Koi Suru, which is slightly worrying considering how that was slightly badly written. This seems like just another one of those boring filler movies.
First-Glance Potential: 0%

Gekijō-ban Anime Nintama Rantaro Ninjutsu Gakuen Zenin Shutsudō! no Dan

Summary: The anime is based on Soubee Amako’s Rakudai Ninja Rantarō ninja gag manga (Asahi Comics) about the adventures of Rantarō and other ninja apprentices at an elite ninjutsu academy. The story is set in Japan during the tumultuous Sengoku Jidai (Era of the Warring States). As first-graders, Rantarō and his ninja-in-training friends are called “Nintama” — a contraction of the words “ninja” and “tamago” (“egg”). – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie
Director: Masaya Fujimori
Other Notable Staff: Tsutomu Shibayama (Supervisiom)
The Positives: It’s supervised by a guy who previously directed a whopping seventeen of the Doraemon movies.
The Negatives: The director of You Are Delicious is at the complete opposite of the spectrum. Again, it’s going to be just a kids’ movie.
First-Glance Potential: 0%

Fairy Tail

Summary: Lucy is a 17-year-old girl, who wants to be a full-fledged mage. One day when visiting Harujion Town, she meets Natsu, a young man who gets sick easily by any type of transportation. But Natsu isn’t just any ordinary kid, he’s a member of one of the world’s most infamous mage guilds: Fairy Tail. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: OVA Side Story
Director: Shinji Ishihara
Script: Masashi Sogo
The Positives: Masashi Sogo did write the script of a bunch of really good series: the Snow Queen, Yukikaze and Rurouni Kenshin – Tsuiokuhen.
The Negatives: But couldn’t they have chosen a better promo picture for this one? Seriously, what the hell? Wasn’t this supposed to be a simple shounen fighting series fighting series? I remember that there were a lot of reasons why I didn’t like Fairy Tail’s first anime episode, but excessive fanservice wasn’t one of them. The staff both worked on some good stuff and bad stuff, so it could have had potential.
First-Glance Potential: 0%

Seitokai Yakuindomo OAD

Summary: Takatoshi is a new student in a recently gender-integrated high school, and is asked to join the student council as the vice president. Thus begins his days as the only normal boy among 3 female student council officers. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: DVD OVA
Director: Hiromitsu Kanasawa
Script: Makoto Nakamura
The Positives: If you liked Seitokai Yakuindomo’s sense of humour: there’s more!
The Negatives: I didn’t like it at all, though. I found it really repetitive, and often badly delivered and just not funny.
First-Glance Potential: 0%

Ghost in the Shell S.A.C. Solid State Society 3D

Summary: A.D. 2034. It has been two years since Motoko Kusanagi left Section 9. Togusa is now the new leader of the team, that has considerably increased its appointed personnel. The expanded new Section 9 confronts a rash of complicated incidents, and investigations reveal that an ultra-wizard hacker nicknamed the “Puppet Master” is behind the entire series of events. – (Taken from )
Type: Movie
Director: Kenji Kamiyama
Script: Kenji Kamiyama
Other Notable Staff: Masamune Shirow (Original Creator)
The Positives: It’s Kenji Kamiyama again.
The Negatives: Aaand also jumping on the 3D bandwagon is Production IG, converting the Solid State Society Movie into 3D. I haven’t seen the first movie (yet), but isn’t this just going to be another recap movie that will be exactly the same as the original save for updated graphics? Again: 3D should be used as a part of the storytelling. It’s NOT SOMETHING YOU MARKET YOUR MOVIES WITH!
First-Glance Potential: 10%

Precure All-Stars DX3 Mirai ni Todoke! Sekai o Tsunagu Niji-Iro no Hana

Summary: This movie aims to bring all lead characters of the eight Precure series together.
Type: Movie
Director: Takashi Otsuka
Script: Isao Murayama
Other Notable Staff: Daisuke Suzuki (CGI Director)
The Positives: If you thought the second All Stars movie had a lot of characters, you haven’t seen anything yet: this movie has 21 main characters: Cure Aqua, Cure Mint, Cure Pine, Cure Melody, Cure Egret, Cure Moonlight (yes, she’s in this movie, even though she didn’t appear in the previous one), Cure Berry, Milky Rose, Cure Marine, Cure Rhythm, Cure Sunshine, Cure Rouge, Cure Peach, Cure Lemonade, Cure Blossom, Cure Bloom, Shiny Luminous, Cure Black, Cure Passion, Cure White and Cure Dream: they all will make their appearance here!
The Negatives: … now this is just getting crowded. Not to mention that it also will have the same director as the previous All Stars movie, which… was rather bad and cheesy.
First-Glance Potential: 10%

Detective Conan: Quarter of Silence

Summary: The story begins with a threat against the Tokyo governor, but Conan’s quick thinking prevents any fatalities when a subway tunnel is blown up. Conan learns there may be a connection to a village that was relocated for the construction of a dam, and he races to stop the criminal before the next attack. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie
Director: Koibun Shizuno
Script: Kazunaru Koichi
The Positives: Kobun Shizuno is strange because he has worked on several different anime as the “co director”. I’m not sure what that exactly entails to, but at least he has the experience. This does sound like a decent thriller at the very least.
The Negatives: I still have yet to check out anything of the Conan franchise. The huge length is the culprit. I have no intention to try and what all of that when I can watch other, much more interesting sounding series.
First-Glance Potential: 20%

Sekai-Ichi Hatsukoi

Summary: Onodera Ritsu has just transferred from his father’s publishing company to Marukawa Shoten. Assigned to the shoujo manga division, he crosses path with the person he’d least expected to meet. Takano Masamune is the editor-in-chief of the division Ritsu’s been assigned to, and the two seem get off on the wrong foot right from the very start when Takano unexpectedly kisses him. However, there is more to than what meets the eye… Takano is actually Saga, Ritsu’s senpai and high school love– whom Ritsu had thought to have played him for a fool by taking his affections for granted when he confessed and summarily dumped him. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: OVA, Bundled with Manga Volume
Director: Chiaki Kon
Script: Rika Nanase
The Positives: So, prior to the TV-series, the creators are also whipping out a quick OVA.
The Negatives: I never really saw the point of these kinds of OVAs, though. What do they really hope to tell extra with these episodes?
First-Glance Potential: 20%

Eiga Crayon Shin-chan: Arashi o Yobu Ōgon no Spy Daisakusen

Summary: The bratty lead character Shin Chan becomes a secret agent.
Type: Movie
Director: Soichi Masui
Script: Kyoko Kogure
The Positives: Soichi Masui is really an excellent choice for the director of this one: he’s the director of Anyamaru Tantei Kiruminzoo. He can really make good kids’ movies with that experience, and he has done two Shin Chan movies before. Out of all the rip-off movies this season, this one is looking the best because it actually has some creativity in its premise.
The Negatives: I do have to admit that I don’t really like Shin Chan, though. I mean, his antics were fun for one episode. Not… 720 episodes and nineteen movies.
First-Glance Potential: 30%

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu OVA

Summary: Advanced placement into a school of higher grade proof-reading is determined by the results of the Promotion Test strictly for class type. Ranging from A class with the best facilities anyone can offer all the way down to F Class which is composed of low dining tables, rotten tatami mats and other worn out facilities. Students can change classes by competing using the Examination Summons Battle system or ESB. Students summon characters with their equivalent test mark scores and use them to compete with other classes. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: 2 Episode OVA
Director: Shin Oonuma
Series Composition: Katsuhiko Takayama
Other Notable Staff: Kouji Azuma (Art Director)
The Positives: This seems to have been delayed a season, so I’ll just copy what I said about it during my last preview: “Katsuhiko Takayama’s work on Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru, Ga-Rei Zero, Hantsuki and the first seasons of ef and Natsu no Arashi was very solid. Same goes for Shin Oonuma on Pani Poni Dash and Natsu no Arashi and ef’s first seasons, and finally he can do something without Shinbo.”
The Negatives: “I didn’t like the TV-series of Baka to Test much, though. It felt like it wasted all of its best jokes in its first episode, and quickly got repetitive and annoying afterwards. ”
First-Glance Potential: 40%

Spelunker Sensei

Summary: The online four-panel manga itself is based on Irem Software Engineering’s Spelunker action game franchise. Tomokazu Sugita stars as the title character, the world’s most reckless explorer who becomes a high school teacher. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: OVA adaptation of a 4-koma manga
Director: Minoru Ashina
The Positives: Just… take a look at the trailer. Just… watch it.
The Negatives: FYI, this is coming from the creators of Boku, Otariman, which aired about a year ago. Boku, Otariman stood out with its incredibly slow delivery and jokes that didn’t fall. It did however produce a good satire on otaku. This, however… what the hell is it supposed to be anyway?!
First-Glance Potential: 40%

Katteni Kaizo

Summary: Kaizo Katzu is a former student of the “Institute for Genius”, but his childhood friend Umi Nattori make an idiot out of him by hurting his head. His crazy ideas had put the “Institute for Genius” in jeopardy and then shut down. The Kaizo’s former co-students comes to him looking for revenge for their “half-cooked skills”. So, Kaizo, Umi, Suzu Saien (also know as “The doctor”) and Chitan Tsubouchi are shown in the most surreal situations. The humor is sometimes vulgar and some sex scenes are shown. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: OVA
Director: Naoyuki Tatsuwa
Series Composition: Fuyashi Tou, Katsuhiko Takayama
Other Notable Staff: Kouji Kumeta (Original Creator), Akiyuki Shinbo
The Positives: Katsuhiko Takayama usually compiles quite some solid series for Shaft, as long as he doesn’t go for second season. This series definitely sounds interesting for an OVA, and it is done by the mangaka who wrote Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei as well.
The Negatives: Blegh, Shinbo. That’s four series at once that he’s working on this time. On top of that we have the series composition of Bakemonogatari, which also doesn’t promise that much.
First-Glance Potential: 40%

Nichijou OVA

Summary: While the title suggests a story of simple, everyday school life, the contents are more the opposite. The setting is a strange school where you may see the principal wrestle a deer or a robot’s arm hide a rollcake. However there are still normal stories, like making a card castle or taking a test you didn’t study for. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: OVA Bundled with Manga
Director: Tatsuya Ishihara
Script: Jukki Hanada
The Positives: Well, so Nichijou also gets a preview OVA (officially titled as “Episode 0”). At the very least it’s good to see Tatsuya Ishihara back again.
The Negatives: While episodes like these make a bit more sense for Nichijou than for Sekai-Ichi Hatsukoi, I still wonder whether they’re the right point to get introduced to the series, because it’s bundled with the 6th volume of the manga…
First-Glance Potential: 40%

Saiyuki Gaiden

Summary: 500 years before the story of Saiyuki, a heretic child with golden eyes is brought into Heaven. He is given into the reluctant care of a minor deity named Konzen, the nephew of the Merciful Goddess Kanzeon Bosatsu. Konzen eventually gives the child the name “Goku”. Goku becomes friends with two other minor gods, Marshal Tenpou and General Kenren of the Western Army of Heaven. He also meets a strange little boy who seems to be his own age, the War Prince Nataku. Although Goku is happy in his new home, Heaven is not kind to heretics. There are those who would use Nataku and Goku as tools in an attempt to seize the throne of Heaven, and Konzen, Tenpou, and Kenren may not be able to save them. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: OVA
Director: Naoyuki Kuzuya
Series Composition: Kazuya Minekura
Other Notable Staff: (Minefumi Harada)
The Positives: It’s a prequel of the Saiyuuki manga, so you probably don’t need to have seen Saiyuuki (I haven’t seen it in any case) in order to get it. The writer of the manga this is based on will also handle the series composition in order to prevent continuity issues.
The Negatives: We do have the director of Bus Gamer here, which may have been nice, but it wasn’t very solid…
First-Glance Potential: 50%

Bannou Yasai Ninninman

Summary: Something about a strange blob with a big grin that harasses a bunch of school children.
Type: Third installment of the Young Animator Training Project
Director: Masayuki Yoshihara
The Positives: Okay, so the Young Animator Training Project is an initiative to fund four 30 minute anime in order to train young new animators. Because they’re all different stories by different creators, I decided to give all of them a separate entry on this list. PA Works is responsible for the third installment. The director seems to be fond of little projects like these: he’s also doing Mai to Mahou to Katei no Hi this month.
The Negatives: This does look the weakest of the Young Animator Training Project, though. If you look at the trailer, you’ll notice that the blob here is a bit too cartoonish. Plus the soundtrack they chose sounds really bad.
First-Glance Potential: 60%

Kizuna Ichigeki

Summary: Some sort of fighting story.
Type: First installment of the Young Animator Training Project
Director: Mitsuru Hongo
The Positives: The first installment of the Young Animator Training Project is done by a completely new production company, Ascension, but it has a veteran director: the guy behind Igano Kabamaru, Outlaw Star, Reideen and the Spirit of Wonder OVA, which really sounds quite promising, especially if you look at the animation in the trailer.
The Negatives: The looks are a bit childish, though.
First-Glance Potential: 70%

High School of the Dead OVA

Summary: – (Taken from )
Type: OVA Bundled with 7th Manga Volume
Director: Tetsuro Araki
Script: Yousuke Kuroda
The Positives: Tetsuro Araki (the director of Death Note and Kurozuka) and Yosuke Kuroda (adapted a ton of different series, including Trigun, Phantom, Ookiku Furikabutte, Honey and Clover and Gungrave) both managed to make High School of the Dead much more than a generic fanservice series with their great sense of atmosphere. The anime ended right in the middle of the action, so extra episodes are always good here.
The Negatives: Obviously the large amounts of fanservice, which probably will only increase in the DVD only format…
First-Glance Potential: 70%

Morita-san wa Mukuchi

Summary: The story follows the everyday life of Mayu Morita, a girl who is exceedingly gentle and thoughtful, to the point that she does not say much of anything to anyone in high school. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: 4-Koma manga Adaptation OVA
Director: Naotaka Hayashi
Script: Hiroshi Sato
The Positives: Produced by Studio Gram, who previously only worked on Lilpri. Great to see new companies emerge. Naotaka Hayashi also directed some awesome episodes of Birdy the Mighty Decode, Bokura no and Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto, while Hiroshi Satou is someone who can do anything: he did a soundtrack once, he worked on the composites of Heat Guy J, the screenplay of Ghost In the Shell Standalone Complex, 3D CG, Photography, Production, Background art and I wonder what he did to get a special thanks for Umineko no Naku Koro ni.
The Negatives: So, that makes me wonder why they went with such a simple looking slice of life story about a shy girl. I would rather have seen them pick a more interesting premise beyond a 4-koma manga.
First-Glance Potential: 75%

Ojii-san no Lamp

Summary: Something about a grandfather and a lamp.
Type: Second Installment of the Young Animator Training Project
Director: Teiichi Takiguchi
The Positives: The second installment will be done by Telecom Animation Film. They’ve only produced a few series themselves, most notably Mjuin Wakusei Survive and the Secret of Cerulean Sand. This installment will probably be quite down to earth, judging by the title and the promo art. The director was the director of the Fourth Kara no Kyoukai Movie, so he should be able to do this justice.
The Negatives: Again, it does look rather childish, but not as childish as Kizuna Ichigeki.
First-Glance Potential: 75%

Tansuwarashi

Summary: Something about a girl who suddenly has to take care of six young kids.
Type: Fourth Installment of the Young Animator Training Project
Director: Kazuchika Kise
The Positives: The last installment of the Young Animator Training Project also looks to be the best. Kazuchika Kise is a very interesting choice here, as he directed the animation of the xxxHolic movie, the second Patlabor movie, the Tales of Vesperia movie and the Eden of the East movie, among many others.
The Negatives: I do hope that this will be more than what the trailer suggests it to be, though.
First-Glance Potential: 75%

Eiyuu Densetsu: Sora no Kiseki

Summary: Blazers are gallant warriors that consider the well being of others and the safety of the land as their priority, and work hard to defeat monsters and criminals. Estel is an aspiring Blazer who lives near the city of Rolento in Rebel Kingdom. Together with her friend Yoshua, Estel continues to train herself in the arts of Blazers. The story begins when Estel’s father receives a strange letter, starting a chain of events. – (Taken from IGN)
Type: OVA adapted from an RPG
Director: Masaki Tachibana
Other Notable Staff: Atsuko Nozaki (Character Designs)
The Positives: We have the character designer of Tokyo Magnitude here. Plus its director. That’s plenty of reasons to look forward to this one.
The Negatives: Eiyuu Densetsu seems a lot more generic than .Hack//Quantum though, but I’m still very curious what the creators can do with this.
First-Glance Potential: 85%

Senjou no Valkyria 3 “Dare ga Tame no Juuyu”

Summary: Taking place during the Second Europan War, Valkyria Chronicles III focuses on Gallian Army Squad 442, also known as “The Nameless”. The Nameless are a penal military unit composed of criminals, foreign deserters, and military offenders whose real names are erased from the records and thereon officially referred to by numbers. Ordered by the Gallian military to perform the most dangerous missions and dirty work that the Regular Army and Militia will not do, they are nevertheless up to the task, exemplified by their motto, Altaha Abilia (“Always Ready” in Latin.) – (Taken from Wikipedia)
Type: OVA
Director: Nobuhiro Kondo
Script: Hiroshi Ounogi
The Positives: It’ll have different people behind it compared to the TV-series. Which people? Well, for one it has the guy who wrote Birdy the Mighty Decode 02 and Noein, along with adapting Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood and Shangri-la. This guy is awesome! Oh, and none of the annoying characters of the television series also seem to be making their return.
The Negatives: The director did a bunch of really weird 90s OVAs in the past. Is he the right person for this?
First-Glance Potential: 85%

The Moon – Tsuki ga Hoshii to Oujo-sama ga Naita

Summary: A young princess wants to travel to the moon, which results in her disappearance, which in turn causes an uproar at the palace. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie
Original Creator: Eleanor Farjeon
The Positives: The Moon is based on a story by Eleanor Farjeon, a children’s novelist who lived more than sixty years ago. To get a real idea of what this movie will be about, you really need to look at the screen-shots provided on the main website. They’re all over the place with many different designs and visual ideas. This movie will look really unconventional, but it’ll probably have some unique graphics.
The Negatives: No word yet on who’s going to adapt it, though. It might be that the storytelling is really terrible here, though being based on a classic story does help.
First-Glance Potential: 85%

Hoshi o Ou Kodomo

Summary: The story centers on Asuna, a girl who spends her solitary days listening to the mysterious music emanating from the crystal radio she received from her father as a memento. However, she embarks on a journey of adventure to meet a boy again, and thus comes to know the cruelty and beauty of the world, as well as loss. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Script: Makoto Shinkai
Other Notable Staff: Tenmon (Music)
The Positives: Makoto Shinkai, finally it’s time for him to release another of his works. The movie still is about teenaged romance, but the themes seem significantly different from his previous works. That could be very interesting, but in any case this will become a huge feast for the senses.
The Negatives: Makoto Shinkai’s movies have always been a tad too draggy and slow paced for my tastes to really consider them masterpieces. Let’s see how this movie will change that.
First-Glance Potential: 90%

xxxHolic Rou Adayume

Summary: Kimihiro Watanuki is a young boy with a cursed gift. He has the ability to see evil spirits, and somehow they seem attracted to himself. One day he meets a mysterious woman who names herself Yuuko. She claims to have the means to end his torment, but she never works for free, and she wouldn’t help him until he works for her enough to pay for her services. Thus he starts to work in her shop and discovers that in that place, nothing is what it seems. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: OVA Shipped with 19th Manga Volume
Director: Tsutomu Mizushima
Script: Nanase Oukawa
The Positives: Finally! It will have been nearly a year since the original xxxHolic Rou left with that damn cliff-hanger, so I’ve been aching to see the conclusion. Tsutomu Mizushima and Nanase Oukawa are still handling this show, so there should be no problems in the production department.
The Negatives: Oh, how I wished that this could have been a full length TV-series. xxxHolic Rou was one of those exceptions that worked perfectly, even though it skipped ahead many chapters. The biggest challenge will be to make this work for both the fans of the anime and the manga.
First-Glance Potential: 95%

Norageki

Summary: The story is set in a certain isolated prison with four prisoners and a cat. One day, a sudden power outage opens the locks and everyone is mysteriously set free from their cells. However, all of the guards are missing, and the prisoners cannot find any exits. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: OVA
Director: Hiroaki Ando
Script: Dai Sato
Other Notable Staff: Yuusuke Takeda (Art Director), Kimitoshi Yamane (Mechanical Designs)
The Positives: Here is one that I’m really going to keep my eyes out for. Hiroaki Ando worked on Mahou Shoujotai and a ton of other projects of Studio 4C, like the bizarre Chicken Insurance, Tobira o Akete and Princess Arete, and he even was the CGI Director of Steamboy. It’s great to see him direct something again. Dai Sato meanwhile was the one who wrote Freedom Eureka 7, Ergo Proxy and Eternal Family. Combine that with an awesome premise and you really have one of the most interesting upcoming OVAs.
The Negatives: The usual complaints I have with OVAs like this: it’ll probably be too short.
First-Glance Potential: 100%

Mitsudomoe Zouryouchuu! – 06

February 13, 2011 by psgels, posted in Mitsudomoe

This episode breezed through three entire months as we visit the new year, valentine’s day and april fool’s. It neither was the best nor the worst of this second season, but again it had some sketches that were really funny. My favourite was the april fool’s one, with its excellent punchline (seriously I’ve had nearly the same trick pulled to me when I was a kid, only it wasn’t on April Fool’s).

The worst was the valentine’s sketch, though. It’s the umpth one about the triplet’s father invading the school and being mistaken for a pervert. It’s good that the creators didn’t drag it on for too long though, like make an entire valentine’s episode out of it. That probably would have been really boring. The new year’s sketch meanwhile returned to the toilet jokes, but it had some really good ones.

Beyond that, this episode also took Satou’s three stalkers to a completely new level of creepiness. It was by far the most disgusting part of the episode when Mitsuba started throwing those snowballs. This is just one of those sketches that’s wrong on so many levels, but at the same time really well delivered so that it becomes hilarious, unlike for example the urine jokes of the first season that were just weird and forced.

The parents meeting meanwhile could have been good, but that one felt a bit forced to me. It seemed just like “let’s show off some crazy personalities that the parents of the different children have”. It would have been appropriate for early on in the series… but there are only two episodes left.
Rating: * (Good)