Author: SuperMario

Hanebado! – 04 [I’m Lost Right Now, Too]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Hanebado!

Hanebado goes full drama this week, in fact it’s so dramatic that it sucks out all the fun of it. Hanebado just doesn’t know how to handle over-the-top character, resulted in them riding the plot in a contrived fashion. Last week we had Kaoruko who is basically a sore thumb, this week Conny serves basically the same purpose – a destined rival to Ayano. The show doesn’t reveal it yet, but it’s quite clear she’s the girl that Ayano’s mother trained, and judging from the way she was looking for a match against Ayano, I can say that there’s some jealousy issue here (most likely: “you’re a prodigy, Conny, but your sister’s Ayano was more of a natural talent” kind of stuff). In any case, Conny wants to showcase how much she wants to take down our girl that she effectively goes against the spirits of double match and even the spirits of sport itself. In a double, teamwork is one of the most important factors. Playing solo not only shows how short-sighted you are, but also inform us that you don’t respect the sport. Damn, I might sound harsh here but it’s irritating to see a character tries to make her point by stop playing altogether. You leave a bad taste to my mouth, Conny.

The pacing of this episode, likewise, is way too slow. It takes a while until the match begins and they even cut the first Nagisa’s match. Everything feels forced from the get-go, start with the club finds out about the other school’s team, to getting Ayano to supermarket so that she can meet Conny, to the dramatic way Connie acts (dropping the coins, really? It’s so cliché now). There are two more potential conflicts rising. One of them is about Isehara, the younger sister of the team, who seems to have a beef with Ayano. I’m guessing for now it’s because everyone regards the lefty as talent that it annoys her, not from jealousy but more about recognition issues. Second, Ayano is trying hard to harmonize with the team. Both of these plot threads don’t particularly excite me to be honest. Hanebado works the best when it can integrate personal drama into the sport. Last week’s Elena feeling left out, for example, sheds another angle to her relationship with Ayano. Using bold characters who force her way into the story just ain’t gonna make it. To make it worse, the match animation doesn’t wow you like it did in the first few episodes.

I swear it’s the curse of the 4th episode in effect (usually when the show is at its lowest point), but I’m a bit worried that this going to be the direction Hanebado will take for the rest of the season. Nagisa this week is relegated to one-note character, Ayano has a compelling backstory but her bland personality can’t carry the show, and all the subtlety in characterization the show did so well in first few episodes is replaced by contrived Drama (with a capital D – also stand for Dumb Danish Damsel or Do Double Deferently!!!). I hope it can turn around because this episode becomes something that I fear the most: a generic high school sport anime.

Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight – 02 [The Stage of Fate]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight

Please check out the Starlight theme to get in the stage-dueling mood.

This show climbs up to be my favorite show of this season. It has all these elements that personally are my cup of tea: many layers of symbolism, a surrealism sense and a stage duel set piece that is even more impressive than an actual action show.

Disguised itself as an idol show with Love Live-esque character designs, the first half of the first two episodes could fool viewers thinking it’s a harmless idol girls, until the surreal part comes in and sweeps everything out of its way. In retrospect, I couldn’t think any better way to turn the Idol genre inside out than this. In the genre, girls with different personality working together for the same goals, and they regard each other like a family members. Revue Starlight put them against each other instead, making it a whole lot more complex in character motivation and interaction.

But that was just an on-the-surface part of this show, so let’s dig a little deeper. What I love the most about Revue Starlight so far, is its sense of surrealism and its heavy use of symbolism. The way the show uses symmetric images and put Karen right there in the middle, for example, suggest that she’s the one in the central (ground zero), the place where the lead role usually occupy, and signifies that she’s the one who brings the cast altogether. Many have said that Revue Starlight taks an inspiration if Takarazuka theatre, and at the same times criticize some traditional aspect of it. Karen (or BaKaren), is a stark contrast to what the Takarazuka build around, and to a larger degree what this Starlight audition is for. The audition is about exclusion to pick out the top star, yet she wants to include everyone together. In Starlight, the girls fight for themselves, yet Karen fights for the shared dream of her and Hikari. The talking giraffe asks her to leave when she entered the audition ground for the first time, yet she basically gate-crashing the audition. She has a great role so far that compatible to Utena’s role in her series. And that isn’t a far off comparison either since the ballet duel reminds me strongly of Utena duel, for good reasons.

I also like the theme of individualism in the focus of unity. Like the way Revue Starlight shows their costumes are mass-produced or the use of mannequin. To become a star, they need to stand out from the rest. And the girl Junna really shines throughout this two episodes. She’s in the position where she’d devote every effort to become a main star, yet she knows doesn’t matter how hard she tries, she can’t close the gap to the top stars. I reckon that her arc is basically done now that she accepts “her lose”, but knowing this show I know she won’t get sidelined in the service of the plot. We have a total of 9 girls in this series but judge from the way this show treats Junna, I have a good faith that Revue Starlight will develop them thoroughly.

In addition, the stage duel is simply stunning. It’s bizarre, yet gorgeous to look at and it has so much personality on its own. Now, it’s when the surrealism really kicks in. Many of its images: like talking giraffe, Karen get pushed down the Tokyo tower, might or might not be real. But it makes sense. You could take the stage duel as a battle to survive, as an audition,as a performance all you like and it still works. As a final notes, there’s some hints that we’ll have yuri undertone and for that I say: Bring it right on.

Chio-chan no Tsuugakuro – 03 [Bloody Butterfly Effect 2 – The Kabaddic Four]

by SuperMario, posted in Chio-chan no Tsuugakuro, Currently Watching:

I have a feeling that Chio-chan is trying to test me. “You said you like me, huh? This is the real me, see if you can take it”. Well, I think what happened in the second half is bound to happen anytime. After all, we had the OP that pretty much setting up for this. Bouncing boobs, some panty shots, it’s written by a hentai artist himself (I “researched” his hentai works and apparently this guy has a thing for loli). You know which scene I’m talking about right? Yep, it’s the scene where Madoka, the kabaddi’s captain, gropes on another girl and refuses to let her hand off. The groping as playing for laugh is a NO NO in any situation, same sex or not, yet part of me still think Chio-chan gets away with it. Now, I’m torn, because I find it hilarious from start to finish. It’s unexpected the way things turn out and that is precisely why this show brings so much fresh air. Kabaddi…Kabaddi…Kabbadi

Take the first segment for example, it’s a continuation of Bloody Butterfly affair last week, now Chio just comes across Andou who is visibly shaken by his encounter with Chio, and tells the rest of his gang how fearsome she was. Now, normally comedy show would milk the misunderstanding aspect, like having Chio bluffs her way out again in a spectacular level. Here we have Chio telling Andou the truth about the incident. The whole joke here is the way Andou and the gang repeat that lame name “bloody butterfly” in a straight face numerous times, and it takes a toll towards Chio’s below-average philosophy. The confession, in turns, both impresses and shames the reformed yakuza even more. And he can’t go back to his words anymore, so he actually keeps the game going by going over the top. I didn’t expect that Andou would become a regular cast member, but now he shares such a nice chemistry with Chio and I can’t wait to see how their relationship will eventually turns out.

I swear the whole thing revolving around Kabaddi is just flat-out hilarious. Chio might regards herself as below-average, but this segment in particular suggests that it might not be the case. If she tries hard enough she can be amazing. I don’t know about you but now I’m sure interested in Kabaddi now. But what I found interesting is the way the issue escalate in seemingly random fashion. At first, we have Chio performs some random assassin moves she learns in her games (haha, this girl!), then it quickly turns into she’s hyper and just doing some random moves while chanting Kabaddi (obviously have no idea about the sports), then the ACTUAL kabaddi captain shows up and forces them to play tag kabaddi with her and Yuki. There’s just loads of Jojo references here, and the way Chio corporates this game into her gaming mode is priceless. Chio’s OP as heck, but to a degree that just make the game more awesome. I’m still not sure how I’m supposed to regard Madoka’s character. It’s meant to be the way to turn her character upside down, that despite she always says she loves the sports, the true reason comes from the more perverted side of her. Sure, I have no qualms with yuri tone, and I found the way Chio did all that was refreshing. But groping….

So,back to first question. Can I take the show for what it is? Alright, I give in, for now. Just don’t go overboard with it, Chio-chan.

Hanebado! – 02/03 [Meat’s the Best After a Workout!/ She Was Perfect]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Hanebado!

When people thinks about Hanebado, they tend to regard the excellent animation as its strongest point. While I partly agree on that, for me it’s the small character acting that makes this show sticks out for me. I do have a KyoAni vibe watching those relationships play out, especially in second episode with the recurring theme of Yu, the blonde girl, eating sausage after practice. There she meets the dropout senpai, she meets Nagisa in one of her rampant, and in the end she meets the senpai girls again with a newfound perspective. It’s the slow moments like this that Hanebado allows the settings and the characters sink in to our mind, and I much prefer this more than drama that relies on “shout until it works” moments.

In addition, both episodes follow a tricky formula. They flesh out the main characters through the perspective of side-casts. It works, for the most part, resulting that we have a feeling we learn about many characters within this badminton club. And for a show that is just in a beginning phase, it’s a remarkable feat. I have a reason to care for those characters, to support them from behind. This focus, however, has its shortcoming. Tachibana the male coach is a good character in his own right, but so far the show doesn’t know how to flesh him out to full potential. The reason being Hanebado wants these main characters to develop on their own, but at the same time wants him to have a positive influence for the team. Being stuck between two roles result in the unclear angle the show wants to develop him.

Although the last two episodes give a much-needed space to develop our main girls, I find those developments through the point of view of these side girls add up magnificently. It adds another emotional layer to these relationships. Take Yu, she’s in an inbetween phase of the club; as one of the few “survivors” after Nagisa lashed out because she loves the sport. We can also sees her having a crush (but subtly so) to one of the club member. Likewise, Elena’s observant is possibly the best element of episode 3. Not only it informs us about the trouble her friend Ayano is currently experienced, it tells us about their own relationship. Transforming from just a supportive no-face girl into a much more complex role, we see a whole whirlwind of her own feeling regarding her best friend, many contradicting emotions: from caring about her, wanted her friend to rely on her (in a very tasteful way using the dialogue from the movie she watched), to jealousy that her friend can devote herself into something she love. Ultimately, she’s the best friend if there’s ever one, simply because despite all the contradicting feelings, she comes out for all the better. She cares deeply for her friend and that will always remain true.

Nagisa’s development in episode 2 is more straightforward but not necessary less effective. She’s in a performance slump, and her slash-out attitude is sometimes unbearable. In one of the stand-out animation sequence (in a show with many stand-out animated pieces), we see her as a kid in a chalk-line art struggling with the way everyone regards her as “having advantage for being tall”. She works harder than anyone else but they fail to recognise that. Her performance stumbles when she’s too conscious of placing the shot right without follow through her smash. It’s more of a psychological issue more than anything else, because once Tachibana puts her struggling into words, once she regains her confidence, she manages to smash her way through. It’s a release from all the feeling bottomed up inside her since when she loses to Ayano that day.

As for Ayano, after 2 episodes I’m a bit worried that her passive, withdrawn personality can’t carry the show, but thankfully, when we get to her flashback this week it’s easy to see why she acts the way she is now. She’s a natural talent kid. And I’m not talking about her physical talent, but more about her love for badminton (on that note, Tachibana keeps pointing out that being lefty makes her some sort of a talent, in which I say NO, no way. Lefty is not that rare anymore and it doesn’t automatically qualifies anyone as better than the other. In fact, when you get to certain level there’s no real difference between a right-handed and left-handed players). Her Mom was a legendary badminton player and she transfers that love to her kid. She was her Mom’s golden choice until one day, after losing her Mom left and raised other kid into stardom instead. Okay, get pass the absurdity of it all, ‘cause we know there’s more than meet the eye here, what get me the most in her flashback is how Ayano’s determined to win her Mom attention back by keep on winning at all cost. You can see in her eyes that it becomes something as an obsession more than a joy to play. It takes its toll after she learns that all she was doing would amount for nothing. Like how Elena points out, her love for badminton and her mommy issues are two separate matters, she can pretty much enjoy playing badminton without caring about her Mom. Based on the OP, it’s going to be her issues all the way and I’d love to see Hanebado address it again in the tournament stage.

Not that every character in Hanebado is a success. That twintails pink hair girl is an eyesore both for her larger than life personality (“I love myself!!!!”), but her role so far is squarely Ayano’s destined rival and boys, these types stand out in a bad way. For a show that relies greatly on subtle personal development like this, having an eccentric, loud character like her doesn’t add any flavor to this story. It’s like a spicy chili ice-cream that can’t help but stick out too much.

Chio-chan no Tsuugakuro – 02 [Bloody Butterfly Effect / Manana and Ootoro and I / Bump of Slave]

by SuperMario, posted in Chio-chan no Tsuugakuro, Currently Watching:

The misadventures of Chio-chan on her way to school continues with some extra flavour. As of now, Chio-chan splits its segments neatly in two halves, the first deals with Chio encounters the absurd events on her way to school, and the latter details her relationship with her friends. One highlights the adventure spirits of this title, the other provides more heart and depth. I don’t mind at all with this formula, since it’s done right so far, but I figure Chio-chan will eventually mix things up a bit in future episodes. The key that ties both segment together, is Chio herself. So far, she’s super relatable character, both due to her commitment to do her best not to stand out, but always find herself standing out in more ways than one, and due to her social anxiety that makes her both charming and real. The best weapon is her monologue, helped by her wild imagination (I say games help her much in that department), and it’s fun to see her stream of thought runs in free form and how she eventually makes her head-stretching decision. Being said that, the bit that I have mixed feeling about is Chio-chan’s OP, which play up the fan-service I normally avoid: jiggling boobs for one, long tongue for another, even nudist!!?

In the first segment, our Chio finds herself in a bind, quite literally, between herself, the blonde yakuza dude (he’s voiced by the seiyuu who voiced Nitta last season. Coincidence? I think not), his motorbike and a random bald salaryman. This is the motorbiker with an unzip pant in the OP (he zipped this time, I checked), but from the bike alone you can pretty tell that… he’s a delightfully weird dude. Pink motorcycle? And that weird seat? The situation where that salaryman and Chio have to walk quietly on the side is both hilarious and relatable, but there’s one nippick regarding that. Chio-chan gave an accurate explanation of the exhaust pipe, but it leaves more than a mark and a scream out of it. I’ve experienced it before and I’m pretty sure kids growing up in a motorbike culture experienced at least one in their lives. It’s second-degree burn for Christ sake so having Chio acts like nothing happened with her leg afterward is a huge slip of reality.

If I would point out a theme for this segment, it’s that these characters carry the persona that don’t match their appearances. That “salaryman” turns out just a guy who is about to interview for part-time job (haha), and Chio, especially, embraces her “Bloody Butterfly” persona so effectively she fools the blonde biker. That persona might be a fake, but her reasons are strangely convincing (it has to do with the games she plays, but well…). While yes, it’s hilarious all the way to see how she manages to change the yakuza’s mind and STILL manages to stand out in front of her peers despite trying best to be “a normal high school girl”, I feel that the way she does it isn’t that convincing. Like, does she knock the guy out of consciousness by that swing? It might be a part of the absurdist but I’d love for a more crazy version than this.

The second half though is where Chio-chan totally grabs me again. If there’s a variation of supporting characters that I enjoy, it’s a normal girl who use her meanie acts as a mean to justify her own frustration AKA a true brat (last season we have Mami from Hinamatsuri, this season we have the entire cast in Asobe Asobase). Manana fits this bill like a glove. The mutual understanding between her and Chio (that they consider each other a trash, yet they deserve each other) is surprisingly solid. And throughout this episode we can see how (small-minded) devilish this girl can become to step up her social ladder. We see her spreading rumors behind people’s back, we see her snipping around spying on people, we see her telling lies to get other’s approval… this is delicious, I tell ya. Especially when her own efforts to get close to Hosokawa fallen into pieces when it turns out the guy she was just bad-mouthing is Hosokawa’s running buddy, and a president if some company to boost. Right then, she feels the distance between her and Hosokawa just like the distance she leaves Chio behind.

My favorite part of the whole episode, however, is when Chio and Manana spy on Hosokawa in hope for witnessing something lewd, but it backfires and they find themselves near-kiss each other instead (or is it officially their first kiss? They denied so, though). Both their reactions are pitch perfect (Manana ‘s blush, slowly touches her lip – Chio: snap out of that yuri-tone, Manana). It’s those off kilter moments like this that makes following Chio and her friends around such an amusing watch. They are equally mean, in addition, to point out that the guy’s a fake in front of Hosokawa. But it doesn’t matter, since the love for running is there. Based on the OP I would say that Hosokawa will have something more than her “perfect girl” status later on. Being both absurd and grounded, Chio-chan so far is going strong.

Note: I’m using Chio when I refer to the character and Chio-chan when I refer to the show. Hope you can recognize the distinction.

Summer 2018 Anime Coverage

by SuperMario, posted in About

With this seemingly never-ending stream of new shows finally comes to an end, it’s time again for the announcement of our seasonal coverage. While I agree with the sentiments that this season is lackluster in general, especially compared to the previous season with only one true hit Banana Fish, there are many under-the-radar, sleeper hits from wide range across many genres. This season might turn out to be more exciting than I thought it would be.

Here’s our schedule for the 2018 Summer Season:

Aidan: Grand Blue, Planet With, Satsuriku no Tenshi

Mario: Chio-chan no Tsuugakuro, Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight, Hanebado!

Lenlo: Steins;Gate 0 (carry-over), BANANA FISH

Once again, Lenlo handles another critical hit of the season. Aidan covers two shows where the main characters suffer amnesia (God bless him!) and I go back to my usual territory, cute high-school girls shows, albeit this time they’re a bit unusual: cute girls doing sport (that’s a first for me), cute girls on their way to school and cute girls fighting in a surreal stage play.

Let’s all enjoy this Summer season of anime, hopefully with a glass of beer and NOT with naked muscular men. That’d be depressing!

Some Quick First Impressions: Phantom in the Twilight, Jashin-chan Dropkick and Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes

by SuperMario, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Phantom in the Twilight

Short Synopsis: A girl accidentally comes across a cafe full of supernatural beings and learns that she’s the chosen one

Lenlo’s Review:

From this episode, I can’t see anything wrong per se with Phantom. The two biggest things I can think of are the stiffness, the genericness of our characters (excluding the heroine) and the stupidity of the lead girl. Seriously, she sees them batting monsters around like nothing, and tells them to run? That aside, the premise itself looks like fun. Reminds me of Kekkai Sensen in a way. A normal person thrust into a magical city (London here), who stumbles into a super powered group. If Phantom avoids the monster of the week trope and actually explores its setting, magic in modern day, what happened to the girls Great-Grandmother, etc, then it stands a chance. I’m always willing to give something outside the Isekai/Japanese Highschool pit that most anime fall into a try.

Potential: 45%

Mario’s review:

We have a first supernatural thriller original of this season (the second will be Tenrou), and as far as supernatural thriller original goes it fares well. The “pretty boys” (subjectivity here) serving in a restaurant have me worried for a second there, mostly because I worked part-time in a restaurant years ago and I know it takes much more than 3 people to run the thing. But soon the main heroine appears the show goes into a much better territory. The main improvement is Ton herself. She has a strong personality and she’s the easy protagonist to get behind. Normally, girls within that genre is a blank who get dragged into problems and found themselves out of depth in most these situations. Ton, on the other hand, adapts herself to the situation quickly. Being say all that, the cast so far is still too generic. The supernatural dash in a London settings is welcomed, although again it pushes the story into formulic fashion. We all know she will become a regular in the restaurant despite they wash away her memory at the end. Overall, while the first episode doesn’t wow me, I can see its ambition. The production is on the brighter side and the story has some potential to be deeper, whether or not they can reach that potential remains to be seen.

Potential: 50%

 

Jashin-chan Dropkick

Short Synopsis: A bunch of anime tropes sit around a table, eat hot pot, and kill each other.

Wooper’s review

This entire premiere was a complete misfire. Jashin-chan wants to be a crude and violent gag comedy, but its desperate attempts to satisfy naked monster girl fans and goth loli-obsessed otaku dull its murderous edge. It also wants to maintain a cute atmosphere during those moments where its characters aren’t attempting to kill each other, but the mood is shattered by the snake girl’s rotten personality every thirty seconds. The only asset the show has is passable animation, which gives it flexibility when deciding how to portray Jashin-chan’s next mutilation (and subsequent regeneration). You read that correctly – the best aspect of this series is one that gives it the freedom to be as stupid and shitty as its tiny brain can manage. The only way Jashin-chan Dropkick could possibly be worth your time is if you’re an unemployed, uneducated whackjob who has to watch every seasonal anime to completion or else you’ll spontaneously combust.

Potential: 0%

Mario’s review:

Dropkick is a comedy show that only has two things on its mind: being a slice-of-life cozy show about cute monster girls spending time together, and being an ultraviolence slapstick show whenever the titular strikes an opportunity to kill her human friend, but she gets beaten in a gruesome way. It doesn’t do justice for either if them, given the characters lack the warmth, or depth. The simple character arts might remind you of anime product from twenty years ago, even its slapstick humor feels dated as well. I don’t mind the extreme gruesome, by the way, but its jokes weaken fast every time it repeats itself, and by the end we can only see several variations of the same joke. There are some meta jokes as well, which I find it mildly amusing. Make no mistake, Dropkick’s appeal is its commitment to the several gorefest ways our heroine will endure (and she deserves it), if that exactly what you’re looking for then by all means continue, because otherwise it doesn’t have many other things to offer.

Potential: 10%

 

Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes

Short Synopsis: two teenagers work in an antique store who also solve mysteries.

Lenlo’s Review:

Holmes is an odd one. I really like the actual antique aspects of it. The analyzing, descriptions and explanations for them. I also like Holmes as a character, this impersonable, out of touch sort of character. Reminds me of anime like Fune wo Amu in a way, a sleeper hit for me of 2016. But the actual drama/character interactions, like the counterfeit plot, just seem so ham-fisted. There’s no nuance to them. And while I like the deductions, they could be better. Look to the RDJ Sherlock Holmes movies for instance, where specific details are pointed out and built on. Here, some of it strains credulity. For the main story, for once I feel Holmes would be better suited to a weekly sort of story format. Like each week we see a new antique and hear its story. Similar in a way to Mushishi. Use it to teach history. I liked the ending Monk story more than the counterfeit story afterall.  If Holmes dodges/downplays the underground counterfeiting ring storyline I suspect is coming, it could be a treat for those like me. I’m not hopeful though.

Potential: 35%

Mario’s review:

Holmes of Kyoto’s debut episode has fair shares of good and bad. This premiere both builds up the relationship between our two main leads, and sell the appeal of antique appraisal, as well as Holmes’ amazing deduction skills. On a good side, the antique appraisal part is really solid. It comes from the appreciation of this work of arts, and like any famous painting it takes skills, and knowledge behind it to fully value the works. Second, the relationship between him and her grow naturally, and while his deduction strain some credulity, overall it sells his character well. On the negative side, the counterfeit case is extremely hammy, especially the bad guy image is just too on the nose. Consider that the counterfeit thread will become the central plot in the future, I have some reservations. Furthermore, the drama isn’t quite good. The drama of the lead girl for example, is too underwhelmed, emotionally distant and resolve too quickly that I don’t feel anything at all. I will give this show 3 episodes to see if it’s worth following all the way.

Potential: 30%

Some Quick First Impressions – Asobi Asobase, Hyakuren no Haou to Seiyaku no Valkyria and Planet With

by SuperMario, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Asobi Asobase

Short Synopsis: A group of deranged high school girls form a pastime club.

Mario’s review:
I found Asobi Asobase the most hilarious premiere of this season so far. Granted, Chio-chan is more grounded but as far as a show that can make me chuckle along the way, this one does an admirable job. Their core strength lies in how these girls betraying their own typecast traits, with a straight face. As such, they have such solid chemistry and bounce off each other well. The character designs are cute, until they display their meanie sides, which I found amusing. There remains an issue, however, how long it can hold up before it gets pale with a thin premise like this. With already four short segments, it doesn’t feel like it has enough fuel for an entire series. I hope they can find a way to get away with it, although as far as this first episode goes, I’m sold with its humor and the three cute-but-not-cute girls.

Potential: 50%

Wooper’s review:

This didn’t need to be a full-length series. The main appeal here is the ridiculous faces that the girls make as they play hand games, discuss school subjects, and set up inflatable pools in club rooms. The characters and their banter aren’t much to write home about, but the contorted expressions that the animators give them? They’re worth a chuckle from time to time. The ending of this premiere was the strongest part, featuring a gag wherein the school principal channels Detective Conan (with wildly inappropriate results), and an eyebrow-raising hand puppet scene. Everything that came before these segments, though, was hit or miss. I’d probably be on board if they condensed each airing to five minutes and threw the rest away, but the sheer amount of unamusing filler here is overwhelming.

Potential: 10%

 

Hyakuren no Haou to Seiyaku no Valkyria

Short Synopsis: You have seen this story and it’s just as terrible.

Aidan’s review:

As utterly tiresome this genre is, it is a fact that the most interesting aspect of an isekai is it’s beginning where the protagonist is slowly gaining up his power and resources. So jumping straight to the point where he has four girls in his harem already with one more by episodes end is like tearing out all the most interesting parts of a book. What’s this you say? Alexander the great and Oda Nobunaga invented the phalanx formation? Let me just do a quick wikipedia search here…dum dum…ah “The earliest known depiction of a phalanx-like formation occurs in a Sumerian stele from the 25th century BC. Here the troops seem to have been equipped with spears, helmets, and large shields covering the whole body. Ancient Egyptian infantry were known to have employed similar formations.”  So in other words Alexander the Great and ESPECIALLY Oda Nobunaga had nothing to do with it’s creation. Ladies and Gentlemen, that took me exactly one minute to find out. Which goes to show that this author couldn’t be bothered to do one minute of fact checking on his bullshit. And hoo boy this is something when the characters are so stock that I know their entire personally at the very first line of dialogue. Sometimes even before that as two men go up to our main character to talk and my immediate thought was “Oh these two are assholes whose sole purpose is to make the protagonist look good.” and low and behold that is exactly what they were. I felt like gagging at some of this dialogue whose intent is so goddamn obvious and sickening. Look if you are wanting for some dumb bargain bin Isekai show with fanservice then just go watch either of the demon lord ones airing this season. Even in that category you deserve better than this low effort trash.

Potential: 0%

Mario’s review:

Another generic isekai garbage? Dude, how can we end this nightmare? If you want to see all the snapshots of cliche, lazy written isekai story, you can’t go wrong with this one and Demon Lord earlier. It’s educational, after all, to see those that embrace all the tired tropes of the genre. Again, this boy transported into another world with knowledge (and a smartphone) that immediately makes him overpowered in this new world. Girls with different hair color and boob sizes following his every step, even blatantly hit on him. But of course the guy’s a Saint so he never thinks of them that way… you know… all the usual crap. This one doesn’t even attempt to make anything different, and shows with no identity like this are the most forgettable ones.

Potential: 0%

 

Planet With

Short Synopsis: A boy with amnesia is pulled into a fight between superheroes and alien beings.

Aidan’s review:

Satoshi, don’t tease the audience by having Lucifer and the biscuit hammer figures in it which don’t exist.(Yet) So it’s no secret that I love this authors works and from what I hear this project is 3 or 4 years in the making. Satoshi is the kind of author who writes on the fly but rather plans out his stories from beginning to end before he starts. So far it’s difficult to destern how this one will turn out as beginnings tend to be where he’s weakest as Satoshi generally uses a generic foundation and then builds upon it with character development and twisting the cliche. He’s already started what with the alien menace only seeming to give people flashbacks showing their hearts desires and the heroes seem to have some agenda. The main protagonist is already in the position where he is tasked with fighting not the aliens but rather the heroes. My main feelings of this episode reflect my first impressions of the manga as there is certainly potential here but it hasn’t quite captured me yet like his previous works. The main comparison people are making for this one is FLCL which it does somewhat resemble in how nothing is quite explained and the surreal character and mecha designs. Not to mention the quirkiness of the characters themselves.While I am not blown away by this episode, I am quite interested to see where exactly this is going and hoping Satoshi can knock this one out of the park.

Potential: 80%

Mario’s review:

Planet With is one of my most anticipated anime of this season based on staffs involved alone, but the fact that it’s an original show means that we don’t have much detail to form a concrete opinion until the first episode airs. So, how does it perform? Well, I have mixed feeling regarding this episode. Main lead with amnesia? AGAIN? The plot sure raises many red flags here, chief amongst them the main character himself. He’s so bland and uninteresting, and so far he does stuffs because others tell him what to do – a boring trait that I’m not sure if I can follow him for the whole season.Other characters don’t fare well, either. We have classic “Class Rep” type, an imouto-like character who basically takes care of him, and that Cat-like sensei… I’m alright with shows mixing unrealistic part to their world (after all Doraemon is anything but realistic but he fits into the world), but how the hell no one notices anything strange about him, whereas make a big deal out of UFO? The CG fights were alright, although I’m not a fan with flashback sections in the middle of the fight. Although not flat-out terrible, I have the same vibe between this and Darling in the FranXX, an original production with good animation but botched down by weak and forced writing and uninteresting characters. Hopefully this show can prove me wrong on these.

Potential: 50%

Some Quick First Impressions – Sunoharasou no Kanrinin-san, Harukana Receive and Chio-chan no Tsuugakuro

by SuperMario, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Sunoharasou no Kanrinin-san

Short Synopsis: A young boy travels to a new city and moves in with four women, one of whom has some pretty big tits and shit.

Wooper’s “review”:

I watched less than a minute of this before turning it off. The character animation looked like the popsicle stick episode of Kare Kano, and the story turned left onto Wish Fulfillment Avenue within seconds of its opening scene. This is a show for people who need to see their very specific fetishes reflected on screen, and don’t care how cheaply they’re portrayed. If that’s you, then please watch this trash so I don’t have to.

Potential: Check out Banana Fish instead

Mario’s review:

Boy, even with me, who is fond of slice of life shows, couldn’t find anything remotely interesting regarding this. This first episode had only two things going on: that this kid is a boy despite looks (and behaves) like a girl, and his boarding house caretaker has a massive bouncing boob. There’s no story to begin with, but the fan-service fares so much worse, uncomfortably so. You see, not only she waked the kid up by putting her chest to his face, she determines to wash his back naked and lets him touch her chest. Aahh! The show looks bland and other characters have some sort of fetish, not in the good way. This is just a huge waste of time.

Potential: 0%

 

Harukana Receive

Short Synopsis: A high school girl moves in with her cousin for summer vacation and learns to play beach volleyball.

Wooper’s review:

The best word to describe this show is “mediocre.” It’s a disappointment in most departments, but not a failure. Some examples: the character movements are stiff, but consistent throughout the episode. The girls’ personalities are simple, but effective for a sports series. The music doesn’t make any waves on a compositional level, but it has a coastal flavor that fits the beach volleyball theme. Harukana Receive epitomizes the bar that all anime should reach before setting their sights any higher. It even features a few quiet slice-of-life moments near the end that make it a bit more than just a sports series. In a season full of zero-effort productions and soulless cash grabs, this show is just good enough to merit a second look (but only if you’re a fan of the genre).

Potential: 25%

Mario’s review:

We have the second cute girl playing sports anime this season, and this one wasn’t half bad, all things considered. It isn’t anything stellar by any stretch but it does its job on selling the appeal of the sports and introduce characters we can get behind. Although aware of beach volleyball as far back as I can remember, I don’t really know much about it. So on that front this show does make me feel a bit interested and I particular like it when they frame the sport as partnership instead of team or single sports. Second, the two main girls are the exact opposite so their differences bounce off each other well, and having complex about height is something I feel as reasonable. The main story, however, is formulaic as we can all figure out that what this story is gonna head. The new girl will learn the sport, drag her partner to some sort of tournament and they will play against these girls in the final. I would love to be proven wrong on this.

Potential: 20%

 

Chio-chan no Tsuugakuro

Short Synopsis: A girl takes an enthusiastic shortcut to school.

Aidan’s review:

Now this is just fun. I admit that as far as humor goes I didn’t really laugh but more found the events on screen amusing but it was still quite the enjoyable watch. The main character is hella relatable at least for a gaming side to me and even I had the awkward moment where you thought someone was waving at you but turned out they were signaling to someone behind you. Either way I love the contrast of Chio’s social insecurity contrasted with her ridiculous means of going to school and dealing with situations. This is a girl that wants a normal life and yet goes to absurd levels to preserve it. It’s certainly fun, though not sure why we needed those boob bouncing animation and sound effect. Might be because the author of the manga is a genuine hentai artist which isn’t quite as rare as you might think. Anyway this looks to be a fun weekly dose of madness but it’s going to have a hell of a competitor once Grand Blue starts airing.

Potential: 70%

Mario’s review:

Chio-chan is a show with one simple premise: Chio’s misadventures on her way to school, which arguably is more suitable for shorts than a full-fledge 1 cour series. But if this premiere is any indication, I think we’re up for a good fun here. This episode walks a fine line between bizzare and relatability, boasted by the absurd situations she faces herself in, Chio’s colorful, silly yet rich inner voice and the unpredictability both in how the story progresses and in Chio’s mindset herself. These two skits paint two different aspect of her (her game nerdy side and her social anxiety side), and the tone and style in general remind me a bit of Nichijou, which is one of my favorite comedy anime. The animation is fairly basic, and not all the jokes land, most notably the bouncing boobs that just gets pale fast. Still, as someone who was dreaming the same goddamn things (what if something extraordinary happened on my way to school) in my junior years, this pretty much lands within my territory here.

Potential: 70%

Hisone to Masotan (2018 Spring) Review – 73/100

by SuperMario, posted in Anime Reviews, Hisone to Masotan, Reviews by SuperMario

Coming off as one of my most anticipated anime out of this last Spring Season, based solely on staffs involved alone – after all, an original anime written by Mari Okada and produced by Bones (which I regarded as one of the best anime studio working right now) – I can’t help but feel let down towards how HisoMaso progresses and wraps up. It’s a show with many highlights, mind you, as I consider the production as one of the best of the year so far: simple yet expressive character designs, stunning backgrounds and crisp animation. All you could ask for really. It has some interesting ideas, but that precisely pains me even more that the world-building just doesn’t support the ideas HisoMaso has.

To begin with, let’s address my main issues regarding this production. Unlike other anime shows which bring themselves down by treading the same tired path, HisoMaso is a show with many fresh concepts. I would applaud anyone who can think of the idea of them inside the dragons and piloting (note: not riding) as a military fighter jet. It’s a wonderful and whimsical mix concept that fit into the easy-going tone and the simple character designs. In fact, the first few episodes still carry this concept forward due to the fact that it never takes itself seriously. That’s when the issue arises when we need something more substantial when the appeal wears out, and it becomes increasingly frustrated to see the plot progresses without any backup. As an example, the show introduces the whole “ritual” concerning the whole giant dragon which “wakes up” every 82 years. It opens a whole new can of worms regarding the whole village who dedicated themselves solely for this event and even the process of it all. Equally under-developed and underwhelmed is the anastomosis bit, which for me is the prime example of creating conflicts solely for the sake if conflicts. As it stands, HisoMaso often feels like a first draft on a novel, many wonderful ideas but all of them are half-baked because the creators just don’t spend enough time to think this through.

The half-baked approach spread into the characters themselves. These girls have many quirks that distinct them to the rest of the cast, but at the end of the day there simply isn’t much development for them, or the development feel calculated and forced. Take Kinutsugai and Hitomi, the D-pilots who appear at the poster and the ED, HisoMaso just doesn’t know what to do with them. Same thing regarding the dragons, which feel more like mascots. The main lead Hisone embraces what could be the worst tendency of HisoMaso’s attempt of developing characters. Like the show, she tends to tell us out loud what her issues are, and like the show she tends to make rather weird decisions. Many of her conflicts are raised and solved within an episode, as a result the development doesn’t feel earned.

Speaking about making weird decisions, I can’t still put my fingers on the central message of HisoMaso. In some ways, Mari Osada underlines the struggles of working women in Japanese society, as they have to choose between career and family. Having Hisone and Hoshino fall in love that could potentially cause negative impact on piloting the dragons is part of that strategy. But how do they deal with it? By having the entire army unit work on “make them fall in love then crush their love apart”. That’s mean-spirited to the point of stupidity. On that note, they didn’t resolve the love’s conflict thoroughly either. Second, HisoMaso marks the relationship between the dragons and their pilots, as we see in how Hoshino struggling as she considers herself “a pilot” – not dragon caretaker; and we see the theme reflected by the titular characters. But the problem with its is the way Hisone regards her dragon. She considers Masotan as someone who see the specialness in her, and piloting dragon is something that make her worthwhile, as a result in episode 3 we have something as obscure as her demanding Masotan to “take responsibility” because he picked her. That level of dependence repeats later on, when Hisone argues with another girl solely about a boy. This questionable treatment to women is unacceptable, especially with a show about adult women written by an adult woman. As a result, HisoMaso become the first show from 2018 that receive a minus (-) mark from me.

But what HisoMaso makes up for the under-cooked story is the sheer power of visual presentation. Everything looks great, the characters are on the simple design, but that’s exactly why the studio can go wild on their facial expressions and characters movement. What it’s lack from the character depth is replaced by their mannerism, in which each character moves differently and has different tones. The background designs are simply gorgeous with bright color palette, and the animation are crisp and a feast to an eye. If you don’t mind the lack of deeper layer, HisoMaso’s aesthetic alone would serve as a visual treat. Indeed, at top of my mind only the recent FLCL’s production is on the same level with this show for the first half of this 2018 calendar year.

So yeah, HisoMaso is a show with many highs and lows. Its visual strength is amongst the best of the industry right now, and it’s an easy watch all around with some emotional resonance. The lack of a well thought-out world, however, hurts the show since it’s crumble as it moves along. It’s still a show worth checking out, but don’t delve too deeply into it.