Category: Series which were Dropped

Lupin III – Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna – 03

by psgels, posted in Lupin III - Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna

So this was a shout-out to train stories. And was I the only one reminded of the Sound of Music here?

Overall, again it was a very neat little episode with a ton of style that used its characters really well, ranging from the Samurai that stood central in this story to the king and his children he was supposed to assassinate to Mine Fujiko pretending to be a female tutor. It had a lot of elements that could have been overdone, but it was again the acting that made it great. Although it was probably the least interesting episode of this series so far.

Still, with this third episode this series focuses again on something completely different, and I have to say that this show uses its side-characters very well here: Lupin, Goemon and that other guy from last episode are all very different, and with this, all of them give a different flavor to each episode. If I had to compare the characterization here to what I saw in the Castle of Cagliostro, I think I’d prefer it here if I have to be really honest. At the very least this show caught my attention much more here.
Rating: *+ (Great)

Uchuu Kyoudai – 03

by psgels, posted in Uchuu Kyoudai

Okay, with this this show also has the best romance of the season. The one thing that I hardly ever buy from anime is the moment in which the couple actually falls in love. They either do so for no reason, they pull the childhood friend trick, or pull one superficial reason, or they just stuff the main couple together for a while and they automatically start to develop feelings for each other. This episode was the first time since ages since this actually caught my attention.

The build-up was perfect:there were a few scenes here and there of Serika catching Mutta’s eye, and at the end of this episode the creators threw in something quite funny that both had in common. Both Mutta’s characterization as hers was great in this. Overall though, I really think that Mutta’s voice actor is giving off a wonderful performance in this series.

This episode was mostly focused on the physical exams. Though it also raised an interesting question: how on earth is Mutta going to make it? I mean, Serika excelled everywhere, while Kenji is a great example of someone who is very solid at everything he does, yet doesn’t excel at any specific point. Mutta however… there doesn’t seem to be a reason for him to stand out, both in his average performance as in his physical abilities, mental abilities or knowledge. The only mystery is how on earth he managed to design such a hot selling car. The creators are probably going to use that somewhere later in order to make him pass.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Lupin III – Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna – 02

by psgels, posted in Lupin III - Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna

So when I made my preview for this season, I was convinced that in terms of promising staff, nothing could beat Sakamichi no Apollon, which would reunite Shinichiro Watanabe with Yoko Kanno alongside Madhouse’s top department going solo. And then this got announced: Sayo Yamamoto of Michiko e Hatchin fame, Takeshi Koike directing the animation, Mari Okada writing the series, Dai Sato doing some of the scripts, and Shinichiro Watanabe producing the music. I think that it’s fair to say that we’ve got ourselves the biggest dream-team of the year here. And it shows, with what is by far the most artistic series of the year.

This show just oozes retro, and it’s great to finally see another series that has its own visual direction. This is really common amongst remakes for some reason beyond me: these kinds of series are often made by big fans, who don’t just try to remake their series, but also try to make them better by putting a lot of their own influences into them. The result is often glorious, just look at Hi no Tori, Metropolis, Casshern Sins, Dororon Enma-kun Meera Meera, Tetsujin 28-Go, the new Mazinger, et cetera.

And to be honest, I’m not even a fan of Lupin III. the only thing I watched of it is the Castle of Cagliostro. The reason why there isn’t a review of it on this site is because I only had one thought on my mind after completing it: “that’s it?” Granted, that was because of Hayao Miyazaki’s influence and how there were a lot of people claiming that it was amongst his best works; it probably would have been at least a decent movie if that didn’t cloud my expectations, but because of that I never really had anything with this franchise. However, this series really caught my eye, and these two episodes were made with the intention of reaching new audiences.

With this episode, it’s also clear that this will be an episodic series, which means that the creators can get much more variety in than if this were a continuous story. This episode already demonstrates this by being very different from the first episode. Lupin is nowhere to be seen, and instead this focuses on the bearded bodyguard. The film noir style remains, but instead of a fun adventure it’s much more sober, and tries to tell a serious story. Overall, it works well together. The soundtrack also looks to be huge, and it felt completely different from what I heard last week. That’s Shinichiro Watanabe’s influence for you. He may not have composed the soundtrack, but like with Bee-Train you can really hear that he knows how to guide his composers to what he wants.

The one disadvantage of this series is that with such graphics, it becomes hard to properly animate everything. I think that it’s here where TMS’s inexperience seeps through: they really tried something different this season, and pretty much are the boldest studio of the year for me at this point, combining this with what they’ve done with Zetman. However, this episode again was not animated as well as its predecessor, and some movements were rather jerky at times. The show still looked gorgeous, but the difference remains. What I really hope is that they will take chances, and really push their animation despite their graphical limitations. They really have it in them: both Zetman and this series’ first episodes didn’t just look great because they had a slightly higher budget: they also were stunning because of how expressive they were. You can get that too with a talented animator on a short budget.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Hunter X Hunter Follow-Up

by psgels, posted in Hunter X Hunter

I’m probably going to piss off a lot of people with this post, but look: I’m getting tired of this. I’m in the need of some opinions. There are some very vocal Hunter X Hunter fans, but I also want to know what others have to say about this: do you still want me to blog this series? The thing is, that I’m not enjoying this in the slightest. It’s not just this series, but also the discussions that follow it and the people who all tell me that I’m talking about this series in the wrong way. For the past half year, I feel like I have been trying way too much to please everyone, and I reached my limit here.

It may seem strange, but yes, I have been trying to hold myself with my criticisms for Hunter X Hunter. I realized that today. The way I went on nit-picking: that’s something common for people who don’t like a series but can’t actually explain why they don’t like it. For the past half year I just kept on dodging the entire issue in an attempt to try and please everyone, but I’ll just say it here: my opinion of this adaptation of Hunter X Hunter is that it lacks soul. I can’t get into this series. I can’t enjoy this series in the way I did with the 1999 series due to how the story, music and animation don’t come together. I don’t care if there is CG or how the animation is never off-model: the animation doesn’t evoke anything from me, unlike the first series, which did look very crappy, but put emphasis where it needed to. Who cares if the 1999 series dragged; it had a ton more emotion oozing from every part. Who cares if it wasn’t faithful to the manga: it had its own story and it worked incredibly well.

So, now that I got that off my chest, what’s next: do you people want me to continue blogging this series with this mindset, or are there people not interested in reading that? I’m not going to try and be nice to this series anymore unless it really deserves it, because I’ve pretty much been forced to watch a recap (including two recap episodes) for more than half a year now. That is not how I enjoy anime. In the end, this remains a personal blog about my own experiences, and with this series, I’ve gotten tired of trying to be politically correct.

However, if I am going to drop it, it’ll be dropped forever. I’m not going to pick it back up even when we get to the yorkshin arc or the chimera ant arc. This series had its chances to impress me, but it went on for way too long without impressing me. So, what do you say?

Uchuu Kyoudai – 02

by psgels, posted in Uchuu Kyoudai

As for the series I’m not going to blog:
– Hiiro no Kakera’s female lead is an idiot and the side-characters are all one-dimensional stereotypes.
– Accel World would have been nice if it wasn’t for the main couple who is way too forced and unlikable.
– Saint Seiya Omega lacks context for me, not being familiar with the rest of the franchise. Also it suffers from overacting.

Uchuu Kyoudai however, is a no-brainer. Out of all the new episodes that premiered this season so far, it was the best, and it has by far the best characters out of any other show. Mutta in particular is just awesome. He’s not just incredibly likable, but within 2 episodes we’ve already seen so much of his character, both from when he was young and his 31 year old version.

This episode introduces us to his two aunts who live together, who also had a lot of influence on him with a giant telescope they have on in their attic. It really feels like they knew each other very well, but what’s also special here: Mutta has two parents who are alive, plus a great relationship with his aunt. It’s really rare to see a family that is this close and intact in anime. Mutta’s parents also really feel like parents. I’m only saying this based on 2 episodes, but based on how well the characters are done already: I actually think that the characters in this series could beat those of Tiger & Bunny. They’ve got this delightful extra touch of realism to it.

Also, with instruments: when characters start playing instruments in anime, usually they are either completely terrible, or amazing. Mutta’s trumpet solo was so refreshing. You could see that he knew the basics, yet had not played in a long while, and the sound really reflected that.

This series by far doesn’t have the best graphics of the season, but even then: the character designs have soul. This series doesn’t care about characters looking completely pretty, and to be honest, I’d much, much rather have characters that look like this, rather than the same moe and bishie designs you see repeated over and over again.

My one fear for this series would be Makoto Uezu, the guy behind the series composition. This guy just is not a very good writer and adapter, with adaptations like Seikon no Qwaser, Kore wa Zombie and Eiyuu Densetsu behind his name, among many mediocre others. Here however, the script was wonderfully translated to animation, getting the best out of the characters. At the moment there are a ton of rumours going around for the total number of episodes for this series. Please let it be 51, because that would just be amazing.
Rating: **+ (Great)

Hunter X Hunter – 26

by psgels, posted in Hunter X Hunter

Someone. Please fire the guy responsible for choosing the placement of the music in this series. This episode showed me that he has no clue what this show is about.

It’s bad enough already that this was a recap. That’s the second recap in 26 episodes. For a show that already has a really long way to go before it can get to new material. I’d take the fillers of the 1999 series of this anytime. The premise of this episode was Gon writing to his mother, so I guess it was at least justified that the narrative was very jumbled. One detail is that Gon forgot to explain why Hisoka spared him. That makes that picture slightly different. But for a recap’s low standards, that part at least wasn’t bad.

But dear god, the music. For starters, this episode immediately started by making a mockery of my favorite non-Yorkshin episode of the 1999 series by playing the most generic tune the soundtrack has on top of it. That already was annoying, but I couldn’t believe my ears when Gon got to the part where he was quietly laying in wait for the correct opportunity to strike the bird and later Hisoka… and suddenly the ED started playing. Yes, that incredibly hyperactive song with lots of screaming and grunting. that was about the worst song you could have picked and it completely broke the mood. Hisoka in particular looked completely ridiculous with that hyperactive J-pop looping over his supposedly gloomy face especially when he actually started grunting alongside with it. Just… why? I really want to be fair to this new adaptation, but it doesn’t make it easy. Most of my previous comments can be classified as nit-picking, but this was just plain bad.

What’s next? Senritsu’s theme song being squeaky J-Pop?
Rating: — (Bad)

Some Quick First Impressions: Lupin the Third – Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna, Medaka Box and Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka – Of The Dead

by psgels, posted in Lupin III - Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna, Some Quick First Impressions

Lupin the Third – Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a thief.
The visuals in this series are incredible. The character designs, the background art: it all looks gorgeous and very artistic, and the animation really brings them alive. And this episode revealed something more: you know Shinichirou Watanabe? He’ll be the music producer in this series again, ON TOP of directing Sakamichi no Appolon this season. The soundtrack also was full of Jazz songs that fitted the show really well. Beyond that, this show will probably be a collection of stories around Mine Fujiko, with the center around adventure. This episode was quite interesting and entertaining, and especially Lupin and Mine Fujiko played off each other quite well. This episode showed how the two of them met, so you don’t need to be familiar with the Lupin franchise at all to get this series. There is a lot of nudity in this series however, but thankfully it’s nowhere near the usual fanservice you see all over anime. My one complaint is that the side-characters are rather one-sided. Let’s hope that the next episodes can bring some change into that, because this really deserves it.
OP: One of the most unique OPs I’ve seen in a while. And also the best.
ED: A bit less interesting, though still a good song.
Potential: 90%

Medaka Box

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a student council vice president.
Well, I do admit that Gainax’ execution helps with a premise like this. This episode was over the top and moved fast, which is definitely preferable to seeing another really slow-paced high school series. Overall there are some things in this episode that I disliked, like the camera’s uncanny ability to focus on Medaka’s boobs, or how she’s just way too perfect as a character, and most of the rest of the cast perhaps isn’t the most interesting, but they do have potential for later. At the very least the creators spent quite a bit of time on the main couple and how they were when they were kids. That’s a good thing for an opening episode to do. This probably won’t be anything amazing, but by the looks of it it’ll still be pretty entertaining.
OP: Unimpressive J-pop
Potential: 70%

Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka – Of the Dead

Short Synopsis: Our lead character lives together with a bunch of cute girls.
This episode really reminded me why i came to dislike Kore wa Zombie so much: it doesn’t even seem to be trying! This show is supposed to be a comedy. Half of this episode was nothing but repeating jokes from the first season and random out of place slice of life, which also just copied the first season. The other half was just building up to one joke, which was incredibly forced and half of which was also copied from the first season. There were two new characters introduced… both of which immediately got added to Ayumu’s harem. And then there was the animation: the creators blew all of the budget on the OP, making the actual animation of this show very dull, again with scenes blatantly copied from the first season. It’s clear that at this point, the creators have completely run out of inspiration and therefore are trying to fill their time with these gimmicks. Comedies should be bold! They should be entertaining and well thought out. Not these uninspired moe hacks like this.
OP: At least this is well animated. But Studio Deen, you’re putting your priorities at the complete wrong place.
ED: Oh come on…
Potential: 10%

Hunter X Hunter – 25

by psgels, posted in Hunter X Hunter

And with this, we enter what I found to be the worst part of the original Hunter X Hunter TV-series. It’s not like it was badly executed there, but it just took so bloody long and there were just too few characters who really went anywhere beyond the dull training arc. It’s here where the new series can finally set itself apart, and I wonder how it’ll be able to do this, beyond being a lot shorter.

As for the actual episodes, I’m going to nit-pick again, because both versions of the series took nearly exactly the same content for this one episode, although there were some differences here and there. The most noticeable was Killua: in the 1999 version he just waited behind the door while he let the butler play with Gon for a bit. Here, he gets impatient to see Gon and goes out on his own (right when the butler finishes his test by the way, so the outcome didn’t really change). What caught my eye in particular was how he lighted up when he was about to see Gon.

What this version did better was how they handled Canary. In the 1999 version, this was done with a bit too much cheese (with cheese by the way, I mean heavy acting that fails to engage me and instead ends up a bit silly or detracting). The part where this series is inferior is where Gon cuts his eye to let out some bleeding. It again has to do with this series’ bizarre concept of pain, because Gon slices himself in the same way he’d slice a piece of meat for cooking. The 1999 version however, did it much more subtly.
Rating: * (Good)

Some Quick First Impressions: Saint Seiya Omega, Folk Tales from Japan and Uchuu Kyoudai

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions, Uchuu Kyoudai

Saint Seiya Omega

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is destined to save the world.
Oh yes. This show knows how to deliver good action. This entire episode was almost non-stop gorgeously animated, with a wonderful use of its character designs, colours and camera angles. There is detail both in the giant blasts that the characters fire at each other, and the subtle character animations. This will be a series chock full of eye candy. On top of that, the creators also succeeded in putting a lot of emotion into just this one episode. Toei, I’m impressed. The one thing that seemed to be missing in this episode however, was context. Who are these people? What are they fighting for? I mean, I understand that they’re protecting the world and all, but what world, and why should I care about it? Beyond the conflict of having two parties who fight each other, there was surprisingly little else in this episode. For an opening episode I can understand that you’d ignore this, but the next episodes should put some focus into that, then.
OP: Nice upbeat rock tune, again with some nice eye candy.
Potential: 80%

Folktales from Japan

Short Synopsis: Our lead characters come from classic folk tales.
Yes, this is actually a kiddie show that actually wants to tell stories, rather than sell merchandise. The stories here involve money, but apart from that there is nothing commercial about this series and instead the creators decided to bring life to a collection of folk tales that people used to tell children. The animation in this episode was realyl simple, but I appreciate what it’s trying to do. As for the stories themselves, they’re nicely told for a kids’ series, but when you start to look at the moral of each story things get a bit weird. At first sight it’s the standard “bad karma will bite you back”-stuff, but this series takes it a bit too much beyond the comfort zone: if you do good stuff you will be rewarded with vast riches, but if you do bad stuff, or even look like a bad guy, you get to live in poverty. I’m not expecting Mouryou no Hako or anything from this series of course, but the way in which nearly every good character got incredibly rich in all of the three stories in this episode was a bit too much.
OP: They actually got a good singer for this.
ED: Another “let’s have the cast walk”-ED. Good singer, though.
Potential: 40%

Uchuu Kyoudai

Short Synopsis: Our lead character wants to be an astronaut.
Now this was good. This was really good. First of all, we’ve got another series where the main character is a guy in his thirties. The kid who showed up in the promo art of this series is just there to symbolize his inner child and how he grew up. The meat of this series really is about how this guy is going to go into space. And that with a series that will be 51 episodes long. Considering the length, this episode did an amazing job to show who this guy is, what drive him, how he changed over the years and what his personality is like. This episode would have even be sufficient if the series only had 13 or even 6 episodes. The main character himself is really likable, and this episode had a number of very good jokes around him. Yes, this series set a very big standard for the rest of the series this season.
OP: A definite contender for the best OP of the season. Amazing use of images, and a great song
ED: The same “let’s have the characters running over a dull j-rock song”-ED that you see everywhere.
Potential: 95%

Hunter X Hunter – 24

by psgels, posted in Hunter X Hunter

Okay, so I was wrong. I mean, I still think that the previous episode left things to be desired in the cinematography department, but for some reason I actually thought that Canary was killed and wasn’t meant to appear after this. And then this episode starts out by fleshing her out. Either my memory deceived me, or these are two different yet both interesting ways to show her, but I don’t have the time right now to watch the corresponding episode of the 1999 series to be sure.

Also, I really liked Killua in this episode. I do have to wonder how these chains work he was hanging from, because they defy various laws of physics at first sight, but this episode added a ton of details to his character, and finally expanded a bit on his need for friends. His father at first seemed really out of character with this fatherly talk, but I like how the creators made use of how we’ve never seen him before.

One scene I did feel that didn’t work out as well was near the end of the episode, where Killua ran into his mother. Something seemed off, and the way these scenes cut into each other was a bit sloppy. I’m not sure what it is, but when that Zoldyck theme starts playing right from out of nowhere it also tends to break the mood, rather than add to it. It’s a bit too abrupt and unlike most tracks doesn’t feature any lead-ins whatsoever. It’s just silence…. CHOIRS!!!
Rating: ** (Excellent)