Category: Ristorante Paradiso

Some quick first Impressions: Ristorante Paradiso, Higashi no Eden and Hatsukoi Limited

by psgels, posted in Eden of the East, Ristorante Paradiso, Some Quick First Impressions

Ristorante Paradiso

Short Synopsis: Our lead character visits a restaurant managed by lots of bishies
Chance of me Blogging: 100% (Obviously, since I’m already blogging it)
This one was surprisingly relaxing, to be honest. while most people are probably going to avoid this one because of all the middle aged bishies, it feels like some cross between Bartender and Antique Bakery. While from the outside it looks like yet another josei series (okay, yet another… there hardly are any of them in the first place, but you get what I mean), this episode was strangely charming and I’m quite fond of the lead female character. I only have one big complaint, though: the overuse of CG. Even the most useless things that would have been much easier to just draw have been CG-ified, with some pretty bad results. Still, I really like what Fuji TV is trying to do right here, in creating yet another time-slot with interesting premises aside Noitamina. Especially after it was followed by Michiko e Hatchin. It’s going to become interesting if they can keep this up.

Higashi no Eden

Short Synopsis: Our lead character visits the white house and runs into a weirdo with amnesia.
Chance of me Blogging: 100% (Hell Yeah!!)
Okay, so what have we here? Out of all first episodes this season so far, Higashi no Eden has by far the best OP, the most imaginative setting, the most interesting characters, the best mystery, the best use of amnesia, the most natural dialogue, the best combination between quiet scenes in which nothing happens and eventful ones, the best Engrish (the best use of Engrish ever since Beck, actually) the biggest amount of weirdness and it has me more intrigued than any other show. Oh, I love how Production IG manages to come up with these premises that you’d never think of. Here I thought that Eden of the East would be some combination of Shangri-la, and any one of the long line of fantasy shows that this season has already so many of. Guess my surprise when it turns out to be a series about a naked terrorist with amnesia who befriends a twenty year old Japanese girl and goes to Japan with her. I’m really interested in this series, and what the heck the creators are planning to do in only eleven episodes.

Hatsukoi Limited

Short Synopsis: Our lead character gets confessed to by a huge streetpunk.
Chance of me Blogging: 0% (Interesting concept, but I already have enough plans for this season)
My first impression when the OP started rolling was “oh god… generic harem”. That’s why I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this wasn’t a harem at all, but instead a show about a bunch of school girls experiencing their first loves. It’s going to be interesting to see the modern version of Sentimental Journey here, with each episode focusing on a different girl (don’t ask me what the show plans to be doing in its final episodes, though). I do have some complaints, though: the girls just look like carbon copies of each other. There’s nothing that really sets them apart from each other. While the girls in Sentimental Journey all had their own problems and lives, the girls of Hatsukoi feel more like carbon copies of the same moeblob.

Ristorante Paradiso – 02

by psgels, posted in Ristorante Paradiso



Short Synopsis: Nicoletta finds herself a job at the restaurant.
Episode Rating: 7,5/10 (Good)
Okay, so my first impressions on this show are going to follow as soon as Eden of the East airs. It’s a bit of a strange choice to start blogging, but before I explain why, let me first hijack this post to write some sort of general impressions of all of the first episodes that aired this season.

On first looks, this season promises to be average: there haven’t been any instant-classics or truly original premises, but there’s a pretty good amount of nice and interesting series. What makes this season unique is the surprisingly large amount of series with short episodes of only five or ten minutes, and most of them are actually either very funny or very charming. I’m not going to blog any of them, for obvious reasons, but it’s going to be interesting following all of them.

The big disappointment this season was Madhouse: they’re usually a powerhouse that churns out one classic after the other, but this season the only thing they came with was Chi’s New Address and the next Koutetsu Sangokushi, and while I’m grateful that they still have Chi and Hajime no Ippo, I really expected better from them. But then again, since they’ve been such an active studio in 2008, it was only a matter of time before they needed to take a small step back. I guess that that time is now.

And as for the shows I’m not blogging:
– Marie&Gali and Chi’s New Address: both are very charming and funny, but Hetalia showed me that I just can’t blog those sorts of series. There’s just not enough to write about them for every single episode.
– Charady’s Daily Joke: the same, although I do like the concept: all sorts of different jokes from all around the world and every episode has a different art style. The only problem is that you never know when a joke will be hilarious or miss the mark.
– Queen’s Blade…. obviously not.

As for the reasons I did decide to blog Ristorante Paradiso:
– Because I can.
– I’m able to blog 12 new shows this season. Even during the best seasons, I find it difficult to find that many series that are interesting to blog. Hence why I end up experimenting.
– I’ve never blogged such a series, and after blogging some male harems during the past winter-season, why not go for a female harem this time? I’ve blogged much weirder stuff in the past.
– I’m interested in seeing what the director can do: he did Crystal Blaze and Saikano in the past. The guy is definitely flawed, and this episode also shows that he might be a bit too eager to introduce drama, but his shows have something unique, that is sort-of subtle but I can’t exactly explain what it is.
– I’m very interested in the potential for the Noise time-slot: Fuji TV is basically trying to create a second Noitamina here, and I’d love to see it work out. Previously, the time-slot aired Michiko e Hatchin, and if they could continue this string of original, fresh and diverse premises that aren’t aimed at teenaged boys (just like Noitamina is currently doing), it would absolutely rock.

But yeah, Ristorante Paradiso sounds like it’s got the potential to turn into a very interesting character-study, centred around the three lead characters of Luciano, Nicoletta and her mother. I really like how Nicoletta isn’t a teenager anymore, and is basically trying to figure out what it is that she wants to do in life, both in terms of her future, and trying out things in love.

The bad part is of course the way in which Nicoletta tried to rape Luciano in this episode. At this point, this series can really go both ways: there can be too much drama than that’s good for it, or it can end up with a great combination between slice of life and drama. I’m still not exactly sure about the key to a good combination like that. What I also don’t like is how the next episode previews are followed right after the episode, and spoil the biggest plot twists of the upcoming episode. I’m really not sure what the creators had in mind with that.

As for the graphics: it’s interesting that amidst the financial crisis, a relatively unknown production company takes the risk of producing its first anime. David Production only worked on a bunch of small series here and there, but never produced their own series, and I appreciate the risk they take with this. Especially since it actually feels like it can be quite a competent series. The character-designs are very nice, and while the big mouths look a bit weird at first, they’re strangely stylish. Still, I have one BIG complaint with them: the CG. Okay, I can understand that buildings and streets and stuff are easier to animate in this kind of show, but CG spaghetti and wine? I mean, come on. Also, people are making very strange faces when they’re eating something…