Author: psgels

Winter Season Preview

by psgels, posted in Seasonal Previews

I’ll be blunt: the upcoming winter season looks abysmal. I mean, I have seen bad seasons before, but this might go down as the worst season aside from Winter 2010. There are basically two series that I’m really looking forward to. And they are sequels. Beyond that… oh lord… there is a whole lot of mediocrity. It’s been a while since I raged so much at compiling a preview as today.

That alone doesn’t make this season so bad. There is a fair share of series coming out, so there might be surprises. No, what really gets to me is that this season seems specifically designed to piss me off. It may not have incest or Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but it does have just about everything else that gets on my nerves. I think that seven or eight of people from my top 10 of staff members that get on my nerves the most is doing something this season, it’s unbelievable.

Seriously, it’s a good thing that the current season is so awesome, because this is just… ugh…

As always, I cannot comment much on the original source material because I’m not familiar to it.

Puchimas

Summary: Based on the Idolm@ster Franchise. “The anime depicts the overly hyper daily life of the 765Pro idols of The Idolmaster and mysterious creatures named Puchidoll who somewhat resemble the idols.” – (Taken from AniDB)
Produced by: Gathering
Director: Mankyuu
Series Composition: Sao Tamado

The Positives: The most interesting part of this production seems to be that nearly every voice actress in this production will voice two or three characters. It might be fun to see them switch between their different ranges in one series.
The Negatives: Yes people. There you have it. More Idolm@ster, from the creators of 30-Sai no Hoken Taiku, otherwise known as that one show about the 30-year old virgin. The animation will be really bare-bones, and seeing as I have never even laughed at one single joke these creators made, this one seems destined for my drop-list.

First-Glance Potential: 0%

D.C.III ~Da Capo III~

Summary: Based on a visual novel
Director: Kenichi Ishikura
Series Composition: Kenichi Ishikura
Original creator: Circus
Music: Ryousuke Nakanishi
Character Designer: Kouhaku Nishio

The Positives: I have nothing.
The Negatives: Good lord, even more Da Capo? There have been four TV-shows already, totaling 78 episodes already, and now they want to make more of this dating sim? Really? What’s so good about this one to warrant it so many adaptations? The creators also seem like nothing special: the writer seems decent, but nothing really special. Same for the director: they have nice experience, but nothing outstanding whatsoever.

First-Glance Potential: 0%

Senran Kagura

Summary: “” – (Taken from )
Produced by:
Director: Takashi Watanabe
Series Composition: Takao Yoshioka
Original creator: Yukinori Kitajima
Character Designer: Takashi Torii

The Positives: Takashi Watanabe. What happened that caused you to make Starship Operators and Boogiepop Phantom? They were so good, and so completely different from all other series you usually do…
The Negatives: Oh for Christ’s sake.

First-Glance Potential: 0%

Maoyuu Maou Yuusha

Summary: “The story centers on the characters Maou (Demon Queen) and Yūsha (Hero) who live in a world where humans and demons are at war. Yuusha confronts Maou about the destructive war that the demons have imposed on humans. However, Maou tells him that the war has created a reason for humans to work together and improved human society overall. She convinces him that humans would fall into a bloody civil war without their battles against the demons. To prevent such a conflict, Yūsha decides to join forces with Maou.” – (Taken from )
Produced by: ARMS
Director: Takeo Takahashi
Series Composition: Naruhisa Arakawa
Music: Takeshi Hama
Character Designer/Animation Direction: Hiroaki Karasu

The Positives: The soundtrack from the same guy who did Kobato? Fair enough, sounds promising.
The Negatives: Oh lord. Here is one match-up that I really fear: the creators of Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai, Aki Sora, Yosuga no Sora, Love Love? and other really bad fanservice shows (and Spice and Wolf; I still have no idea how that happened), together with Arms, the single worst animation company out there. Who the hell found that a good idea?

First-Glance Potential: 10%

Ganbare! Lulu Lolo

Summary: “The anime centers around the daily life of two twin bear sisters: the orange-colored Lulu and the yellow-colored Lolo. The two take on new jobs and despite the occasional failure and tears, give their best efforts.” – (Taken from ANN)

The Positives: This is another one of the kiddie shows, apparently based on a best-selling children’s novel. Nothing is really known about who is going to make or produce it, but this seems nice enough for the smallest children.
The Negatives: It’s for really small kids, and there are no signs that it’ll be for anyone other than that.

First-Glance Potential: 20%

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT

Summary: ” Hasegawa Kodaka is a recent transfer student to St. Chronica’s Academy, a Catholic high school. As with every other school he has ever attended, he finds it difficult to make friends there because of his naturally-blond hair and fierce-looking eyes, which make him look like a dangerous “yankee” to his prejudiced schoolmates. One day, Kodaka accidentally comes across the equally solitary and very abrasive Yozora Mikazuki while she converses with her imaginary friend Tomo. Realizing that neither of them have any social lives, they decide that the best way to improve their situation is to form a club: the Neighbor’s Club precisely intended to make friends and learn social skills.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: AIC Build
Director: Toru Kitahata
Series Composition: Tatsuhiko Urahata, Yomi Hirasaka
Original creator: Yomi Hirasaka
Music: Tom-H@ck
Character Designer/Animation Director: Yoshihiro Watanabe

The Positives: The staff has changed. The writer of the original novels this is based on will join the anime staff, so this will be a pretty faithful production.
The Negatives: The director has also changed: the assistant director of the first season will take over, but unfortunately this was the director of Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate, which was incredibly boring for the few episodes that I watched it. Added to that, that the first season also just could not catch my attention: none of the characters were interesting and I just did not get the chemistry between them at all. Not going to follow this one.

First-Glance Potential: 20%

Youkai Watch

Summary: “The story begins one hot summer days when a boy named Keita discovers an old capsule toy vending machine in the forest. Keita receives a mysterious watch and meets a ghost butler named Whisper. Whisper tells Keita that the watch allows him to see supernatural creatures — both good and evil — that he could not see before in everyday life.” – (Taken from ANN)
Original creator: Level 5

The Positives: It will be better than your average kiddie show.
The Negatives: I’m really getting pissed off by Level 5 right now. Setting their games aside, all of their anime basically all just look the same if you remove the topic that they’re about (football, mecha, youkai).

First-Glance Potential: 20%

Vividred Operations

Summary: “” – (Taken from )
Produced by: A-1 Pictures
Director: Kazuhiro Takamura
Series Composition: Hiroyuki Yoshino, Kazuhiro Takamura
Character Designer: Kazuhiro Takamura
Other Notable Staff: Tensai Okamura (Script)

The Positives: Tensai Okamura… is this really where you want to be after Wolf’s Rain and Darker than Black?
The Negatives: Oh lord, this sounds bad. Really bad. Vividred seems to be an anime original series… from the director of Strike Witches. And yes, the girls are running around in underwear again. That alone already was pretty bad, but in combination with Hiroyuki Yoshino this is going to turn into a trainwreck of enormous proportions. In terms of adaptations this guy is fine, currently doing a very good job on Magi. But his original scripts, oh god, these have issues. Seikon no Qwaser, Mai Otome, Guilty Crown and Code Geass’s storylines all come from this guy. Granted, he also wrote Sora no Oto which seems to be much more in the direction of what Vividred will be, but even that show had some major pacing issues.

First-Glance Potential: 25%

Love Live! School Idol Project

Summary: “The school idol project is set at a school between Tokyo’s Akihabara, Kanda, and Jinbouchou neighborhoods. The school faces the danger of being streamlined out of existence, so nine of its female students decide to become idols to protect their school and boost attendance.” – (Taken from AniDB)
Produced by: Sunrise

The Positives: Err… there have been plenty of good idol shows. Seriously, nothing is known about this yet so I can’t say much about the staff yet.
The Negatives: But for god’s sake people, haven’t you learned anything from AKB0048? You can have idol shows that are awesome, just put some imagination in your premises. Not have the umpth school show with idols in id. Agh!

First-Glance Potential: 30%

Mondai-Ji-tachi ga Isekai Kara Kuru Sou Desu yo?

Summary: “The story follows Izayoi Sakamaki, a boy bored with the entire world. One day, an envelope arrives for him. The moment Izayoi opens the envelope, he is transported to an alternate world. There, he discovers that two other “problem children” were transported by envelopes as well — a taciturn girl named You Kasukabe with a cat, and a beautiful yet haughty girl named Asuka Kudou. A girl named Kuro Usagi (Black Rabbit) summoned the three to the community “No Name” to overthrow the devil.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Diomedea
Chief Director: Keizou Kusakawa
Director: Yasutaka Yamamoto
Series Composition: Noboru Kimura
Original creator: Tarou Tatsunoko
Character Designer: Naomi Ide

The Positives: Uh, one of the directors has experience directing with Valkyria Chronicles, and Keizou Kusakawa directed a few good series (Nanoha A’s)… at least it’s something.
The Negatives: This again looks pretty bad. Most of the shows these guys worked on were downright mediocre, and on top of that they’ve got yet another badly sounding light novel with an impossibly long and quirky sounding title that was inspired by all those incest shows.

First-Glance Potential: 30%

GJ-bu

Summary: “Each of GJ-bu’s nine volumes contains 36 four-page short stories about the lives of high school students.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Dogakobo
Director: Yoshiyuki Fujiwara
Series Composition: Hideaki Koyasu
Original creator: Shin Araki

The Positives: New blood: this will be the debut for the director on a full series. I wish him best of luck. A show about four high school girls is all about its chemistry, which you need to portray well otherwise my interest just gets lost completely.
The Negatives: So, chemistry. This is more than just adapting, it’s writing the characters in such a manner that they’re appealing and interesting to watch. So what kind of experience does Hideaki Koyasu have in this area? Akikan, Limeiro Senkitan, the Kurenai OVA, Yuruyuri… yeah. Don’t get me wrong: this guy is great when he has a crazy script to work with, but with four random high school girls this just doesn’t seem to be the case.

First-Glance Potential: 40%

Mangirl!

Summary: “The story follows the daily life of naive Editor-in-Chief Hana and Japan’s cutest manga editors as they attempt to realize their dream of launching the #1 manga magazine — even though they have zero experience in actually editing manga.” – (Taken from AniDB)
Produced by: Dogakobo
Original creator: Kagari Tamaoka

The Positives: Aaaaaand the winner of the worst pun of the year is….. *drumroll*
The Negatives: The staff behind this series has not yet been announced yet beyond Dogakobo (who after Natsuyuki Rendezvous unfortunately seem quite content to go back to bad moe shows), but what can they ever hope to do with a premise as stupid as this? The only salvation I see for this show is if they take it over 9000, but can Dogakobo really do that?

First-Glance Potential: 40%

Hakkenden: Touhou Hakken Ibun

Summary: “Miyuki Abe’s manga inspiration for the anime reimagines the setting from the classic Hakkenden samurai novel as a female-oriented manga with supernatural elements.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Studio Deen
Chief Director: Osamu Yamasaki
Director: Mitsue Yamazaki
Series Composition: Osamu Yamasaki, Mitsue Yamazaki
Original creator: Miyuki Abe
Character Designer: Hiromi Kato

The Positives: I still have no idea what made Toward the Terra so good, but I keep hoping. Osamu Yamasaki! Return to that brilliance! Mitsue Yamasaki is also quite good for the episode he’s worked on, and this will be his first work as an actual director for a whole series.
The Negatives: Agh, Studio Deen with its bishies again. No, not again! Miyuki Abe’s other works all seem to be generic yaoi and shounen ai. Try to do something different for a change!

First-Glance Potential: 50%

Amnesia

Summary: “The game begins on the morning of August 1, when the protagonist wakes up and discovers she has absolutely no memories of the past. A boy appears before her, and he introduces himself as a “spirit” named Orion. The protagonist struggles to regain her memories under the guidance of Orion. She then gets a phone call, but she does not recognize the name on her mobile phone screen. She meets her apparent “boyfriend,” despite not knowing his face.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Brains Base
Director: Yoshimitsu Ohashi
Series Composition: Touko Machida
Music: Yoshiaki Dewa
Character Designer: Maho Yoshikawa

The Positives: If this show has anything, it’s experience: Touko Machida has written a lot. Some of those things were actually good (GA, Muteki Kanbanmusume), and Yoshimitsu Ohashi has also directed a lot, some of which was very good (Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto, Witchblade, episodes of Michiko e Hatchin, Witch Hunter Robin).
The Negatives: They were behind a lot of bad stuff, though. However, this remains a otome game adaptation. I have never seen one that actually worked. Still, could this be the first to actually do something right? I sure hope so.

First-Glance Potential: 50%

Ai Mai Mi

Summary: ” The manga follows girls in a manga club — Ai, Mai, Mī, and Ponoka-sempai — who might be fighting evil invaders threatening Earth, facing off against rivals in tournaments, and dealing with other absurd situations when they are not drawing manga.” – (Taken from ANN)
Original creator: Choboraunyopomi (Just why!?)

The Positives: Nothing is really known about this show aside from the premise and the incredibly quirky name of the original mangaka for this one. Ah well, if they make it quirky enough this might be worth watching.
The Negatives: I do however wonder where the mind of this series lies. Base on the promo art showing a girl holding a bag of tentacles, I suspect the gutter.

First-Glance Potential: 60%

Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru

Summary: “A young boy called Eita enters high school aiming for the National University School of Medicine. Because of his parents’ divorce and his goal, he shuns anything to do with romance or love. One day Masuzu, the school beauty with the silver hair, who’s just returned to the country, enters his life in a most unexpected way. Chiwa, his childhood friend since elementary school, will not let this go without a fight.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: A-1 Pictures
Director: Kanta Kamei
Series Composition: Tatsuhiko Urahata
Original creator: Yuuji Yuuji
Music: Masatomo Ota
Character Designer: Mai Otsuka

The Positives: A-1: Solid. Tatsuhiko Urahata: solid (we’re talking about a guy who adapted a ton of stuff already, including Hajime no Ippo, Gunslinger Girl, Master Keaton, Monster). Kanta Kamei, hell yeah solid (the director of Usagi Drop).
The Negatives: Which brings me to the actual premise: just simple romance with a childhood friend and a really long and quirky title. You really couldn’t try harder? The staff here isn’t so good that they can make boring premises like this worth watching, they’re more the types of creators who can really bring out the best of any source material.

First-Glance Potential: 60%

Kotoura-San

Summary: ” The school fantasy story follows Haruka Kotoura, a girl who recently transfered to a new school. Kotoura happens to be able to read people’s minds, and she joins the school’s ESP club.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: AIC Classic
Director: Masahiko Outa
Series Composition: Takashi Aoshima
Original creator: Enokids
Character Designer: Takaharu Okuma

The Positives: A supernatural 4-koma adaptation from the director and series composition guy of Minami-Ke and the first season of Minami-Ke and Yuruyuri. It depends on the source material of course, but they can make this work.
The Negatives: Of course, I also thought this about Yuruyuri, which turned out to be a string of bad lesbian jokes, so I’m still withholding my enthusiasm until I see what kind of material they have to work with. There is very little to be found about the author of this thing, so anything can happen here. Although it also doesn’t help that this is AIC again. I don’t have the most confidence in these guys and that’s an understatement.

First-Glance Potential: 60%

Minami-Ke Tadaima

Summary: “There are three of the Minami sisters: Haruka, Kana and Chiaki, who have an average life. The girls only have each other to depend on and help each other get through everything from love confessions to cooking.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Feel
Director: Keiichiro Kawaguchi
Series Composition: Takamitsu Kouno
Original creator: Cohaku Sakubara
Character Designer: Gou Suzuki

The Positives: More Minami-ke, slice of life about nothing that is actually quite enjoyable, albeit nothing special.
The Negatives: To be honest, this seems to be the weakest line-up so far to continue with this series. Feel is not the most solid studio out there, Keiichiro Kawaguchi can be solid when he wants to, but also has a habit of being really boring, and most of Takamitsu Kouno’s scripts and adaptations also aren’t much to write home about. I like how the producers continue to change creators to keep things fresh, but this might not have been the best choice.

First-Glance Potential: 60%

Sasami-san@Ganbaranai

Summary: “The story follows a hikikomori (shut-in) named Sasami who is unmotivated about even changing clothes or eating. Her brother Kamiomi takes care of her, even though she despises his slave-like nature. Sasami spends her days viewing the outside world via a “Brother Surveillance Tool” on her computer. In the outside world, the three beautiful Yagami sisters and Sasami’s brother are in the middle of relationships worthy of a romantic comedy.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Shaft
Director: Akiyuki Shinbo
Series Composition: Katsuhiko Takayama
Original creator: Akira
Character Designer: Hiroki Harada

The Positives: Shinbo: when he’s good he’s really good. Katsuhiko Takayama: when he’s good he’s really good.
The Negatives: This… will get annoying. This premise sounds a bit like Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, and with the right people working on it it can really become great. I just really fear Shaft’s long drawn-out discussions about nothing and fanservice here. Please: just do something about that horrible pacing of yours! I really want to like Shaft and all, but they annoy me way too much for that.

First-Glance Potential: 65%

Cuticle Detective Inaba

Summary: ” The series tells the story of Hiroshi Inaba, a part-man, part-wolf, former “secret doberman” who begins his own detective agency.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Zexcs
Director: Susumu Mitsunaka
Series Composition: Makoto Nakamura
Original creator: Mochi
Character Designer / Chief Animation Director: Satoshi Koike

The Positives: An exciting time for Susumu Mitsunaka: this will be his first full series to direct, so anything can happen. It’s a bit of a pity that he has such a silly premise to work with, but ah well. Makoto Nakamura is solid enough to back him up with the series composition. At least this doesn’t piss me off in any way, that’s also good in this season.
The Negatives: The thing with this show is that it has a really silly premise, yet it tries to look serious. Good perhaps for some deadpan humour or something, but will it actually work?

First-Glance Potential: 70%

Senyuu

Summary: ” In the story, a gigantic hole suddenly opened up in the world one day, and demons appeared. The king thinks that this portends the return of the demon king Rukimedesu, who was sealed away by the hero Kureashion a millenium ago. The king decreed that the descendants of the hero must take on the threat, and 75 people showed up. Hero No. 45 (Aruba) and a sadistic palace warrior (Rosu) team up, and their adventure begins.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Ordet
Director: Yutaka Yamamoto
Series Composition: Michiko Yokote
Original creator: Robinson Haruhara
Music: Daisuke Sakabe
Character Designer/Chief Animation Director: Ushio Tazawa
Other Notable Staff: Daisuke Okumura (Director of Photography), Takanori Tanaka

The Positives: Very solid staff members here: Daisuke Okumura has done the photography of many interesting-looking anime (Shikabane Hime, Gurren Lagann, Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna’s OP, Penguin Drum), Takanori Tanaka did some beatiful backgrounds (Dennou Coil, Ghost Hound, Seirei no Moribito), and Michiko Yokote has written and adapted many, many awesome series (Princess Tutu, Kobato, Strange Dawn, Bake Neko). The mangaka is a typical shounen mangaka, but he does seem to have his own unique style which actually seems retained in the promo art. I’d look forward to this, if it wasn’t for one thing…
The Negatives: Oh god, Yutaka Yamamoto. Not him. The problem with him is that he really wants to be there with the big guys, and he is ambitious, but he still needs to learn so much, and doesn’t seem to realize this. This lead to the disaster that was Fractale. And really: technically his series always look great and stuff, but they’re a mess when he starts to meddle with the story. This is an adaptation, but that still doesn’t convince me, considering how disappointingly out Kannagi (one of his other series) ended.

First-Glance Potential: 70%

Yama no Susume

Summary: “Aoi and Hinata promised that they would again see the sunrise they had seen at the apex of a mountain as young children. As time passes by, somehow without any apparent reasons, Aoi becomes acrophobic, Will they ever see the sunrise together again. A piece that became popular in a fanzine is now out on manga.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: 8-Bit
Director: Yuusuke Yamamoto
Original creator: Shiro
Character Designer: Yuusuke Matsuou

The Positives: The character designer of Black Rock Shooter? Could have been far worse. Also, the director of NHK ni Youkoso, Aquarion Evol (under Shoji Kawamori) and B Gata H Kei seems very promising here. Finally! Something new that is actually looking promising!
The Negatives: I have become very cynical while writing this season preview. It sounds promising, however the overabundance of moe on the promo art still has me worried. Have some variety dangit!

First-Glance Potential: 75%

Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman

Summary: ” The story of the game this is based on follows Roman, a phantom thief who operates at night in the Genroku era (1688-1704). The anime Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman will shift the timeframe to Bakumatsu, the era that spelled the end of the shoguns’ rule over Japan.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: TMS Entertainment
Director: Hirofumi Ogura
Series Composition: Tatsuto Higuchi
Original creator: Monkey Punch
Music: Hiroshi Takaki
Character Designer: Satoshi Hirayama

The Positives: I must say, I have no idea what happened to TMS Entertainment, but suddenly they have become much, much more ambitious and experimental than what they were before. Here they adapt another one of Monkey Punch’s works after Lupin, and again they plan to give it a different spin by adding a few centuries to the setting. That’s what I like: an adaptation that takes both the original source, and a bit of its own style and flavour. The director is quite versed with this, having previously done this with Kuroshitsuji’s second season, even though his work on the Knight in the Area was a bit mediocre. The soundtrack will also be awesome, if going by Hiroshi Takaki’s previous work on AKB0048 and Kyosogiga.
The Negatives: I am not confident whether Tatsuto Higuchi can write a good script for this. He’s not bad or anything, but he definitely lacks experience in this genre (he did storyboard a bunch of manga, which were about cute girls fighting in fanservice outfits…). I am confident that he’s able to write a fun script based on his experience, but I’m most worried about the overarching story. Yes, that’s very important for an episodic series.

First-Glance Potential: 75%

AKB0048 Next Stage

Summary: “In the beginning of the 21st century, a world war broke out amongst mankind. In the aftermath of the war started by humanity itself, the earth’s ecosystem was irrecoverably affected, and it had no choice but to escape the now devastated earth to live in space. A new era began with the Star Calendar 0000. Shortly afterwards entertainment was prohibited by law and the sacred place for otaku, Akihabara, became the public entertainment’s absolute area of defense and the only place to perform such activities. In Star Calendar 0048 once more a group was formed in the hope to resume the legacy of the legendary idol act AKB48, which continued to shine even during the earth’s downfall. With the law in place they were deemed as an illegal act and unable to hold official live events. This is when the group’s concept changed. Instead of the idols you can meet they became the idols who come to meet you. Branded as terrorists by authorities they didn’t give up and decided to take up arms to protect the stage they stand on, the fans who cheer for them and the citizens who are deprived of entertainment.” – (Taken from AniDB)
Produced by: Satelight
Original creator:

The Positives: The official staff list has not been announced yet, but I think that we can be pretty sure that the main staff will be the same as for the first season. This means Hell yeah! Mari Okada and Shoji Kawamori once more together on one project. I remember how pleasantly surprised I was with the first season: it won me over, even though I hate the idol business, and it was exactly because of how it tried to bite the hand that fed it that made up for so much.This really was one series that needed a second season, and I’m really glad that it got one.
The Negatives: I really hope that this team will again get the freedom that they got in the first season. Considering the collective ego of both Mari Okada and Shoji Kawamori, this should probably be fine, but the chance still remains for this to turn into a sell-out.

First-Glance Potential: 85%

Chihayafuru 2

Summary: “Chihaya Ayase is a frank and ebullient girl who becomes fascinated by the obscure world of competitive karuta, a card game based on Japanese poetry. Introduced to the aggressive style of the game by a quiet and thoughtful elementary school classmate named Arata Wataya, the two quickly become close friends. They start playing as a group with Taichi Mashima, Chihaya’s smart and athletic childhood friend, until they have to part ways during their middle school years due to several circumstances. As their high school life begins, they meet once again.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Madhouse
Original creator: Yui Suetsugu
Other Staff: Has not been announced yet, but will probably be the same as the first season.

The Positives: Squeeeeee! By far the biggest flaw of Chihayafuru’s first season was that it was too short: the ending was inconclusive. I sure as hell did not expect a continuation, due to the bad sales, but I am SO glad that it got one. The first season was just so beautifully made, and the chemistry between the characters was fantastic. It left on such a huge cliff-hanger that it will be instantly awesome again.
The Negatives: You need to have seen the first season in order to really enjoy this.

First-Glance Potential: 100%

OVA Impressions: Kyosogiga – 03

by psgels, posted in OVA Impressions

I won’t deny: this was awesome. I already liked Kyosogiga a lot, but with this installment, they made it even better. It’s basically just a group of animators and storytellers having fun, but they’re doing it in such a creative way.

This episode was full of great ideas, but it’s also the direction that was particularly impressive, with half of these seven minutes being filmed from the perspective of a midget holding a camera. There seems to be this huge ritual going on with stuff drifting away in the city, and every seems to find it perfectly normal, albeit spectacular. And even though it sounds silly, the creators did give it some meaning by making everything that drifts away something that lost its meaning, even though there were things flying around that might make you doubt that rule.

I loved the camera midget the most during this episode though: the way in which he made this hacked-together report of what was going on and just showed some very spontanteous events. The point where that one kid drifted off was awesome too.

Kamisama Hajimemashita – 07

by psgels, posted in Kamisama Hajimemashita

Holy crap! The ending of this episode was just perfect. Overall it was a bit of a weird episode, full of the hormones of teen-aged girls. That alone was quite enjoyable in how the creators managed to portray it, but the thing that all of that was building up to was even better: Nanami (there are quite a few characters named Nanami this season by the way… which is quite confusing) actually gets mercilessly rejected by Tomoe. After all of the romantic hints, he has no intention whatsoever to become romantically involved with his master.

On top of that, this episode had a really good director working on it. I mean, this series usually has very creative and varied camera angles, but this episode was quite special: the variety in shots really impressed me, and it brought out a lot of emotion from the characters, even more than usual. When the entire point of this episode was romantic angst, it really helped to bring this episode to life with Nanami’s feelings being thrown on a roller coaster.

And then there was the ending of the episode where Nanami was first dragged on top of a building, only to fall off it. That’s where the direction really impressed me, because it really managed to portray Nanami nearly falling to her death. Oh, and on top of that, I also found out that Akitaro Daichi has been personally adapting the script for each episode. That definitely explains a lot, and why this show is so incredibly consistent. I mean, I have hardly seen one weak moment in the characterization between the characters.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo – 06

by psgels, posted in Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo

Now this was a very emotional episode, especially for Nanami. From the previous episode it would become clear that at some point it would be too much for her, and this episode immediately goes with it. Unlike Sorata who sits behind his pc all the time, she has a part time job, she has to put a lot of energy in getting her voice right. She’s overworked herself pretty badly, but what really impressed me in this episode was that despite collapsing, she still tried to go to her audition. Of course it was a complete mess and she failed horribly, but it was a worthy experience for her.

So from now on it seems like they’re going to split Mashiro duty, which seems to be the wisest choice. To split the load and stuff. The chemistry between the characters by the way still was great in this episode. Mashiro in particular was as sharp as usual again. She makes the most hard-hitting lines right from out of nowhere.

Meanwhile, the creators are doing a very good job in building up the subplot between Misaki and Jin, and it really works from both sides: I really felt Misaki’s loneliness there, but on the other hand Jin is a great character to watch as well. We still don’t quite know why he is purposefully trying to stay away from her, but this episode took it even further by showing that within a year he’ll be gone.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

Hunter X Hunter – 55

by psgels, posted in Hunter X Hunter

Yes! It has finally started! It was just one sentence, but it has started, and… must… AVOID… posting… spoilers…

So… Hisoka this episode. Talk about cunning; this is just one of those cases in which these elaborate plans are entirely justified, because this was the perfect opportunity for him to keep the Troupe in one place that would allow him to fight Chrollo. It entirely depended on Chrollo being smart as well, which only gave him more reason to get excited.

On Kurapika’s side time was mostly spent to get throught he final bits of build-up for Gon and Killua. I won’t comment on what it’s building up for, but I do want to say that I loved Killua at the end of this episode. This is a bit of a short entry, I know, but we’re NEARLY at my favorite point of Hunter X Hunter!
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

Uchuu Kyoudai – 32

by psgels, posted in Uchuu Kyoudai

Yes! Finally after such a long wait, we get to look into the mind of Azuma, and boy was it worth the wait. This was a wonderful episode, and I love how Azuma turned out to be completely different from expected, even taking into consideration that the creators were hinting a lot that there’s more to this guy than just the exterior he shows.

What really did it for me was that the creators portrayed him as a real character, just like a lot of other characters in this series. His love for his family was SO down to earth, and they really succeeded in showing how important they are to him without any sort of cheese. His disgust for the media also is very believable, and it does put the interview they showed a number of episodes ago in a very different light.

Meanwhile, the details around Hibito’s mission continue. I loved his media attention, how he described various details about space flight (the watch was a very nice touch, considering how time has been such a challenge for Mutta and the others in the second exam arc). They are really making him out to be some kind of supernatural hero, which I guess is pretty normal considering how today, Neil Armstrong and the other astronauts are regarded. Speaking of heroes: Brian Jay is also more and more turning into one. When we first saw his death, he was just a random astronaut, but as the show goes on, it just becomes clearer and clearer what an important guy this was.
Rating: 6/8 (Awesome)

Magi – 06

by psgels, posted in Magi

There is one thing that this series really likes to drive through, doesn’t it? Slavery sucks. Slavery is evil. Slavery should be banished from this world altogether. While I totally agree with that, my problem with that is that it makes the villains of this series rather one-sided. There just are a lot of bad guys in this show that look too much like each other, and I would have liked to see a bit more variety.

On the other hand, I’m really digging the rest of the characters in this series. I even feel sorry for the really minor side-characters, so those villains are at least doing something well. This episode was all about Morgiana (and a half-year time skip!), and I really like that Goltias still plays a prominent role in this series. He could have just been some random goon that got forgotten as soon as he died, but the creators did a great job of making sure that he still has impact.

This show also has the talent to instantly make the people who the main characters run into likable. I’m not yet entirely sure why this is, but it still is something that definitely not every series can boast. Either way, I like the warmth between them, and they’re quite well acted, and together they feel like an actual community: they strengthen each other, which especially was true near the end of the episode.
Rating: 5/8 (Great)

Little Busters – 06

by psgels, posted in Little Busters

So in the end, Komari: a girl who couldn’t get over the death of her brother. As someone who tends to prefer characters with… at least a bit of independence, I do feel a bit let down. At least Fuuko and the Uguu girl had their reasons for having the minds of five year olds. Setting therapy aside, I really find her to be the most annoying Key character I have seen.

And yet, I actually really liked the rest of the cast in this episode. Riki was the only one who really was able to do anything, but I really liked the way in which everyone supported him. I also quite liked Riki as he tried to get Komari back on her feet. The story is here so simple that yeah, Komari did need to just get hit on the head a few times, so I liked their idea to do this with another picture book, and even though Riki was just terrible at drawing, I like how he still went through with it. That’s for me the biggest difference between the beginning of this series and Kanon: the Uguu girl also was annoying, but beyond that it didn’t have much else that caught my attention, making it a lot less bearable for me to watch.

I expected more from gramps, though. In the end he was also partially responsible for Komari ending up the way she did because he refused to help her, instead just staying away from her. He’s an important person in her life, and yet he just abandoned her under the pretext that she’d cry when he’d die. Well, in that case I’d better stop making friends if all I’m going to do is make people cry when I eventually pass on. This guy needs to be healed too here. Does he also have his own arc? I’d love to see that actually.
Rating: 4.5/8 (Good)

From the New World – 07

by psgels, posted in From the New World

This episode ends the first major part of this series. Where last week left us off with a very bleak cliff-hanger, this time was not as bleak as allied reinforcements arrived. Instead this episode was chock full of hints of how badly things can go wrong. Since we’re only at episode seven, there is plenty of time for the creators to live up to that.

What really struck me in this episode was how Saki and Satoru had to keep trying to look like gods: if they gave up or showed signs of weakness, they’d immediately lose their advantage in the battle, causing them to get killed off really easily. Then there was the threat of the Hornet colony, which really made a presence of being dangerous this episode. Squealer in particular was really good at only enlarging this feeling with his fidgety acting, on top of nearly betraying them once. Something tells me that we’re going to see more of him.

And then there was that scene in which all those larvae were captured. I mean, there have been many series about war and all, but I can’t recall one showing such a bleak picture, in which basically thousands of babies were taken hostage ON SCREEN, pretty much doomed for slavery for their entire lives. There have been enough series that implied this. But has it ever been shown so clearly?
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

K – 06

by psgels, posted in K

We’re nearly at the halfway point of this show and it’s time to bring in the background episode: the episode that shows who it was that Yashiro supposedly killed. It was a strange guy who liked to try out a lot of different things, hung around with thugs, even though he wasn’t one himself and who was also very charismatic to boot. This episode seemed to hint that at one point he split in two, with Yashiro being his other half, who afterwards just lost his memory. What the cat has to do with this… I have no idea.

Again, this episode was neat, but again I feel like the creators could have done more with this. It’s all very straight forward, and none of the characters really stands out or sets himself apart. What I liked best was Yashiro this episode as he realized that his memory was fake, but even that was a bit monotone.

Oh, and I still quite like the detail that the creators put in their environment. The backgrounds in this series are probably rendered photos, but they still look gorgeous. Plus, you can see that the creators of this show like food quite a bit, with all of the details they put into the different kinds of food that the characters eat. Whether this will be enough for this series though… I’m not sure.
Rating: 4/8 (Nice)