Category: Star Driver

Whoa!? This early?

Like expected, this show only got better as soon as it started focusing on one of the major characters. This episode, it was Sugata’s turn. His Cybuddy… has the power to make the user sleep eternally. It’s apparently the king of all Cybuddies (so much for Takuto getting himself a special Cybuddy), and based on the tale that the blue-haired girl was telling, it’s based on a king who got bored of his immortality and wanted to be put to sleep on purpose.

After that kind of exposition, I really did not expect the creators to use that card so early: I thought that only later in the plot, he’d be forced to use it. My guess is that he really is going to remain asleep for quite a number of episodes and that we’re really not going to be able to see him for a while. The creators really don’t seem like the type of people who would just chicken out after so much build-up.

Also, the birthday thing was something they probably got from Clamp: two characters with the same birthday, with a lot of irony put into them. It works in this context as well, though. It’s of course one thing for Sugata to hate his own birthday because of his father finding that day out of all possible dates the right date to tell him about his destiny, but Takuto having the same birthday is also interesting. We really don’t know much about him, but the creators do keep hinting that there’s something about him: that watch for example: we know that it’s important to Takuto, having it with him on his birthday and all, but apart from that we don’t know anything about it.

On a side-note: I love the use of insert songs in thsi series. It’s great for the atmosphere.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

After watching all of the shows that debuted this autumn season, I’m really sure now: Star Driver has by far the best direction and animation, and it’s one of the few series that didn’t blow its biggest budget in its first episode, and actually kept a consistent quality throughout all its episodes. And the great thing is that the animation here really helps in bringing the cast alive: some of the inbetween animation in this episode was really smooth and detailed. At that level, it really adds something extra to the characters.

Also, this episode was weird. There was this school nurse who used her cybuddy to make herself as young as a teenaged girl again, but the weirdest thing was that she was a huge raving fangirl for bishies. It was quite ridiculous, but the creators actually managed to make it work. It again managed to make this nurse into a great character to follow, even though she would have been obnoxious in most other series with a sub-par direction.

Also, regarding the battle: this episode convinced me: they’re going to be great. So far, none of the battles really looked like the others. Takuto managed to win in every one of them, but again: him winning every battle he’s in is trivial in a series in which there’s so much else going on. I liked how the creators actually went with the twist in which she is defeated by her own fetish and carelessness.

On top of that, you can also see that the creators aren’t forgetting the rest of the cast here: while the first few episodes focused on these relatively minor characters, they were also busy fleshing out the main cast, and this episode was no exception. That’s the sign of a good episodic series. I’ve said this before, but I really don’t mind an episodic series when it’s done right. If they can use these stories to build up the series as a whole, it’s only going to make the series better.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Well, so much for the formula: this episode already broke it and instead had one of the cybodies unleash an illusion on Takuto. The characterization here was excellent, and even though this episode was quiet and completely different from the previous three, it developed Takuto and Wako’s relationship quite well and showed a number of pretty interesting things about their pasts. What caught my interest the most however was the things that this episode promised.

I mean, at this rate I can very well imagine that the creators are planning to have Takuto fight a different character each episode. Because of this, it’s starting off with the unimportant characters: they both serve to introduce the concepts, and flesh out the main characters: Utena did the same in the Black Rose arc. In any case, this offers tons of opportunities to weave the stories of all kinds of characters into one, and this show definitely has the potential and creativity to pull this off.

I like how all of the main villains are different, and that has made all of the episodes so different so far, aside from the repeated scenes. The black-haired girl seems to like to brainwash people into submission. The interesting thing is that at the moment that Takuto saw through the illusions, the leader instead said that her plan worked out well. And to be honest, I’m not really sure what they really expected to do with this illusion, but if it had a bigger purpose than just “take out Takuto”, then I’m very interested in what the rest of the episodes are going to offer.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Hell yeah, this is looking really good: like Utena, Star Driver, beyond focusing on the main villains, also focuses on the people close to them. Right now, it may seem a bit random, but I’m betting my hat that these guys will return over the course of the series. It’s not like the cast of this series is infinite, and something really is telling me that the main villains will get plenty of time to show themselves.

As for the accusations of this series being formulaic: well, I guess it is partly. However, that’s the entire point of the series: Utena was the same: it had a ton of stuff that happened in every episode. The thing is however, that beyond that formula, you couldn’t predict it at all. The repetition caused it to become a bit ritualistic, which provided a beyond excellent framework for the characters to work with.

Star Driver looks like it’s going to be the same: every episode has the meeting of the council, it sets up someone to become Takuto’s opponent, it shows this person open the cybercasket, the caged girl starts singing the same song, Takuto transforms, and after a fight Takuto wins and the opponent hands in some kind of badge. Beyond that, though: it’s new and fresh. It’s one of the very few series that’s willing to try out new ideas, half of the characters are unique and unlike anyone else, and even the characters that fit a certain archetype are fun to watch.

I’m also really glad to see that the graphics still look really impressive. This is the third episode in a row that ha d a really exciting battle here, and on top of that the creators have made every match different. This one centred around sword battles, and even beyond that the style of animation also was a bit different here. Again: just think of the potential for the future of this series when the creators just continue to up the ante here.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

As for the series I’m not going to blog:
– Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls is just bad. Its dialogue is so camp that it becomes silly, no matter what it does. Its voice acting sucks, the premise is worthless and there’s just no hope for this one.
– Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai keeps sending off the same hints that regular romances use for their lead couple. Learn some subtlety dammit.
– Super Robot Wars – The Inspector is full of cheesy morals, plus I know too little of the franchise to really enjoy it.
– Yumeiro Patissiere has its character development, but I’m missing too much in the other areas: the characters are annoying, and the pacing itself drags on, instead of keeping my attention.

In any case, before I move on with this episode, I do want to say a number of general comments towards the Autumn Season, and my main problems with it: I’m lacking some kind of adult touch here. Iron Man just sucks. Panty and Stocking does focus on adults, but it also has the toilet humour of a teenager, Togainu no Chi has its lackluster direction, the same goes with Hakuouki, and Arakawa just is hit or miss. What I’m trying to say is that, while these characters are technically all over 18 years old, there’s nothing mature about them other than Panty’s sex addiction. The good series that feature adults are Yakumo and Otome Youkai Zakuro, but those seem more aimed at a teenaged audience than a mature one. That just leaves Kuragehime and we don’t even know yet whether that one’s going to be good.

So yes, teenagers. That’s really the biggest fear I had for Star Driver, but this series has more than enough to set itself apart from all other teenaged series. This episode really established this series as Utena’s spiritual successor, and yet still feels new, refreshing and full of potential. I also really like how this is supposed to be a mecha series, made by people who don’t have anything with the genre: this way they can really go into their own ways, rather than follow all of the examples that have been set by series in the past.

Based on the fact that this series was going to be completely original and the exceptional staff, this really was the series I was looking for the most. The thing with the staff is that they may not be the best choice when it comes to adaptations. Yoji Enokido, the guy behind the series composition and script, also wrote the series composition behind Sailor Moon SuperS (haven’t seen it, but it seems regarded as the worst Sailor Moon series), Ouran High School Host Club (which I didn’t really like: it was unbalanced and there were too many boring episodes) and Nodame Cantabile: Paris (again unbalanced and nowhere as good as the first season). The director, Takuya Igarashi‘s previous two series also weren’t much to my liking: Soul Eater and Ouran High School Host Club. I’m not sure whether this was because of the material that they were working with, or whether they simply didn’t portray them right, but they have been involved with some disappointment.

And yet, we’re also talking about the guy who directed Ashita no Nadja, an incredibly charming and uplifting shoujo adventure and three of the Ojamajo Doremi, one of the supposed best mahou shoujo franchises, along with the guy who wrote Utena, a ground-breaking title with brilliant characters, a brilliant script and chockful of symbolism, and FLCL, another highly experimental anime with a ton of neat and original ideas, being consistently entertaining to watch. How could I not look forward to this? We could have a potential classic if these two manage to get in their element here.

And overall, I’m really pleased with the results. You can really see the influences on Utena, but instead of its elegance, the director here swapped that with flamboyance. On top of that, this episode toyed around with interesting ideas. I mean, take the kissing: at first it may seem random, and then it turns out that people have different powers. Also, “kissing through the glass”, could that be a reference to the strange glass balls in which everyone is caught during the fights in that strange dimension?

I love the concept of a mecha who can only move around in zero time. I’m expecting a lot of this series, though: if everything goes right, it can really become a potential classic. It’s only one of the two series this season that is really trying out something new and fresh. And since the other series that does this is Panty and Stocking, this really is one of those series that NEEDS to work out well, in order to set an example for many other series to follow.

Also, Shinichiro Watanabe (the director of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo) directed the OP for this one. How cool is that?
Rating: ** (Excellent)