Category: Other:

Spring Season Preview

by psgels, posted in Seasonal Previews

The upcoming season is relatively small: 27 series, 13 of which seem interesting. Production IG will be a powerhouse with many different series, and there will be a lot of mechas and bishies. There are a lot of sequels, and relatively little crap. Oh, and one of the reasons there are a bit fewer series is because I left out the kiddie shows this time. It just takes up too much of my time for some info that’s just completely useless.

Movies and OVAs to watch out for:
In the past I also did a separate post for the upcoming movies and OVAs for each season, but here is the thing: writing up these posts really takes up nearly an entire day. I can manage to do this once, but two days after each other… I don’t have the time for that anymore. Still, I do want to highlight the upcoming movies and OVAs, because there’s often a lot of good stuff amongst them. This is no complete list, just the ones that caught my attention:

Anime Mirai

Impressions: Anime Mirai, otherwise known as the Young Animator Training Project. For the third year in a row, four studios have received a budget and made a short story based on it. Madhouse, Studio Trigger, Zexcs and Gonzo each have their own entry and a lot of freedom, so now let’s see what they have come up with this year. I really like this initiative.

Hana-Saku Iroha – Home Sweet Home

Impressions: Aah, finally the Hana-Saku Iroha movie will air, written by Mari Okada her first movie) and directed by Masahiro Ando, so it’s pretty much the staff of the TV-series making a movie, and there is enough inspiration left. Looking forward to it.

Precure All Stars New Stage 2: Kokoro no Tomodachi

Impressions: I’m not going to watch this. I just to say: the counter is currently on 32 Precures. This is starting to turn into pokemon.

Aura: Maryuuinkouga Saigo no Tatakai

Impressions: You don’t often see this: a movie adapted from a light novel. Normally these things get TV-series. It’s from the same writer as Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita, so it’s worth a look. The premise reminds me a bit of Chuuninbyou demo Koi ga Shitai: a girl arrives pretending to be from a different world, and the main character suffered from delusions like that in his past.

Steins;Gate Fuka Ryouiki no Déjà vu

Impressions: Steins;Gate will also have a movie, and just like Hana-Saku Iroha it will also be the staff of the anime to adapt it, meaning that we have a very solid team behind the movie. The question to ask is: the series ended very conclusively. What will the sequel be about?

Saint Young Men

Impressions: The movie that starts like a bad joke: Jesus and Buddha sharing an apartment. And they made an entire movie based on that. A-1 Pictures is behind it and the promo material does look gorgeous. A-1 Pictures will produce it and it will be directed by one of the staff members who worked on a lot of Kyoto Animation projects. There really are not many comedy movies, so I hope that this one will work.

Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai.

Summary: “Living on the shadow of his prodigious younger sister, Kyousuke Kosaka conducts a normal lifestyle until he accidentally finds out that she hides a secret. In addition to being smart, pretty, and popular; Kirino Kosaka is also an obsessive consumer of anime and eroge (adult computer games). After being assured that Kyousuke is committed to not mock her and keep this concealed from their parents, she starts to share a bit of her world with him. Kirino faces several problems as she tries to keep the appearances and balance her exemplar school life with her hobbies. Her brother then becomes a crucial ally while dealing with all the difficulties that lie ahead.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: A-1 Pictures (?!?)
Director: Hiroyuki Kanbe
Series Composition: Hideyuki Kurata
Original creator: Tsukasa Fushimi
Character Designer: Hiroyuki Oda

Impressions: Blagh! Incest! Still the worst premise of the season. Next.

First-Glance Potential: 0%

Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Bride

Summary: ” The story takes place in Japan in the early 21st century, in an alternate reality where the Tokugawa Shogunate has remained in power. In this reality, student councils are tasked with oppressing schools. Yagyuu Muneakira is a high school student who rebels against his student council with the help of girls who’ve had the names of famous samurai heroes passed on to them.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: ARMS
Director: KOBUN
Series Composition: Satoru Nishizono
Original creator: Akira Suzuki
Music: Tatsuya Katou
Character Designer: Tsutomu Miyazawa

Impressions: Well, here you have ARMS again with their boobs. They continue to churn out sequel after sequel, so it’s no wonder that Hyakka Ryouran would end up with one, and this one is even more shameless than before with a title like that… Just skip this one if it’s anything like the first series. Just a lot of bad boob jokes, fanservice and terrible voice acting…
Trailer Impressions: Yup, lots of fanservice, bad fight scenes… and maid outfits.

First-Glance Potential: 0%

Pretty Rythm Rainbow Live

Summary: “” – (Taken from )
Produced by: Tatsunoko Productions
Director: Masakazu Hishida
Series Composition: Shuji Iuchi
Character Designer: Mai Matsuura

Impressions: Pretty Rythm’s previous seasons were just terrible. At least for the first episodes that I kept with, they were horrible cash-ins for the mahou shoujo idol genre with really annoying and paper-thin characters. The director for this season is completely the same as last time, so I really don’t expect anything from this series at this point.

First-Glance Potential: 0%

Haiyore! Nyaruko-san W

Summary: “” – (Taken from )
Produced by: Xebec
Director: Tsuyoshi Nagasawa
Series Composition: oboru Kimura
Original creator: Manta Aisora
Character Designer: Shintetsu Takiyama

Impressions: Why people just keep coming back to that godawful Haiyore concept is beyond me. We get it, she is the female personification of a monster from the Cthulu mythos. It’s good for a joke for one time. Not to drag this on for years now. The first series wasn’t even that good. It was just a string of bad moe jokes we’ve seen many times before. Why is there enough material for a second season for this?

First-Glance Potential: 0%

Uta no Prince-sama – Maji Love 2000%

Summary: “Nanami Haruka wants to be a song writer, so she attends an idol training school filled with beautiful bishounen. The school pairs each aspiring songwriter with an aspiring idol, but Haruka finds herself paired with 6 bishounen idols. To make things more difficult, Nanami is also not allowed to date any of her beautiful partners.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: A-1 Pictures
Director: Yuu Kou
Series Composition: Yuu Kou
Music: Elements Garden
Character Designer / Animation Director: Mitsue Mori

Impressions: So here it is, the inevitable second season of Uta Prince, which sold so incredibly well that it it mind-boggled me. I mean I could understand a good series with bishies selling well and all (like what happened with Hakuouki), but the first episode I watched of it was so ridiculously cheesy that I suspected it was some kind of practical joke or something.

First-Glance Potential: 0%

Date A Live

Summary: “In the story, a boy named Sido (Shidō) Itsuka meets a spirit girl who has been rejected by a devastated world. The girl, who Sido names “Tohka,” happens to have wiped out much of humanity 30 years ago, and now she is back. The only way to stop her is to date her.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: AIC Plus+
Director: Keitaro Motonaga
Series Composition: Hideki Shirane
Original creator: Koushi Tachibana
Music: Go Sakabe
Character Designer: Satoshi Ishino
Other Notable Staff: Takaaki Suzuki (World Setting)

Impressions: For this preview, Date A Live was the first series I looked at. And then you have a seires with such a ridiculously stupid premise… it did not give me the best first impressions for the rest of this season. Keitarou Motonaga has directed many different series, including a few good ones, but he only seems to try if he has an actually good premise, which is a very big problem here… Hideki Shirane’s works in the past years also don’t really seem that promising, with him having written Queen’s Blade Rebellion and Platonic Heart, both of which were horrible. And I also still haven’t forgiven him for what he did to Yumekui Merry’s second half… The nail in the coffin is that this is AIC, who haven’t exactly had the best track record with me.
Trailer Impressions: The soundtrack is pretty good for this series. The creators just have no idea how to use it. There are all these choirs, and the scenes include characters and mechas who try way too hard to look cool… and unnecessary panty-shots and harem hi-jinks…

First-Glance Potential: 10%

Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru.

Summary: “The romantic comedy revolves around an antisocial high school student named Hachiman Hikigaya with a distorted view on life and no friends or girlfriend. When he see his classmates talking excitedly about living their adolescent lives, he mutters, “They’re a bunch of liars.” When he is asked about his future dreams, he responds, “Not working.” A teacher gets Hachiman to join the volunteer “service club,” which happens to have the school’s prettiest girl, Yukino Yukinoshita.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Brains Base
Director: Ai Yoshimura
Series Composition: Shoutarou Suga
Original creator: Wataru Watari
Character Designer: Yuu Shindou

Impressions: … is this another Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai or something? At the very least, this series deserves no points whatsoever in the originality department. Thankfully the rest of the cast seems competent: Shoutarou Suga has written an awful lot of interesting series and episodes. But romantic comedies? Can he succeed to make this one not boring? Another interesting point is that this will be Ai Yoshimura’s first full series to direct. I’m always one to encourage fresh talents here, so good luck! Try to give this one some spark, how difficult it may seem.

First-Glance Potential: 15%

The “Hentai” Prince and the Stony Cat.

Summary: “The story centers around a second-year high school boy named Youto Yokodera. Youto is always thinking about his “carnal desires,” but no one acknowledges him as a pervert. He learns about a cat statue that supposedly grants wishes. The boy goes to pray that he will be able to express his lustful thoughts whenever and wherever he wants. At the statue, Youto encounters Tsukiko Tsutsukakushi, a girl from his high school with her own wish — that she would not display her “real intentions” so readily.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: JC Staff
Director: Youhei Suzuki
Series Composition: Michiko Itou
Original creator: Sou Sagara
Character Designer: Haruko Iizuka

Impressions: Another series with a pervert main character, but at the very least this premise does seem to hint at some good character chemistry with the main characters being polar opposites, rather than just being there for the fanservice. As for the people who are going to adapt this… I don’t trust Michiko Itou. Her track record with series as Twin Angel and Ro Kyu Bu, which were both mind-numbingly stupid, gives me enough reason to be wary of this. It is not really easy for me to like a romantic comedy and if I do watch one, I want one with substance.

First-Glance Potential: 20%

Photo Kano

Summary: “The main character is an ordinary second-year high school student named Kazuya Maeda who gets a single-lens reflex camera at the end of summer vacation. He begins taking pictures of the girls at his school, and the photos may lead to romance.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Madhouse
Director: Akitoshi Yokoyama
Series Composition: Akitoshi Yokoyama
Character Designer: ae Shimada

Impressions: My first impressions for this one? Bad. I mean, I get the idea of a guy with a photo camera. It can be a very nice hobby. But if you do make a show about it… at least try to be a bit subtle, okay? Don’t just stuff a girl in bloomer with a box of valentine chocolate on the front cover. It leaves hardly anything to the imagination. In any case though, the director has me intrigued, looking at his track record. He is someone who whenever he is involved with something, is involved as a lot of different functions. He’s also both writing and directing this. Someone who likes to be in control and has a lot of different skills, and some of the episodes he worked on really were amazing and really well done. I wonder if it was his idea to go with that promo art…
Trailer Impressions: I am not a photographer or anything, but is it normal that you first take a picture of a girl’s crotch before you focus on her full pose?

First-Glance Potential: 30%

Yuyushiki

Summary: “The series follows the school life of three girls in the data processing club, Yuzuko, Yukari, and Yui.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Kinema Citrus
Director: Kaori
Series Composition: Natsuko Takahashi
Original creator: Mikami Komata
Character Designer: Yoshiyuki Tabata

Impressions: This… just… what? So, we have a voice actress for hentai-series. She then starts to direct and animate for a few series, and suddenly she’s directing a new series. Just… what the heck happened here? Beyond that this seems like an average “random girls doing random things”-series, in other words a genre that hardly ever manages to catch my attention. It probably will be solid for its genre, but not good enough to catch my interest.
Trailer Impressions: It’s a trailer that does its utter best to not show you anything that’s going on. All we got was a bit of random movement and some dull background song.

First-Glance Potential: 30%

Mushibugyou

Summary: “The action story is set in Edo-era Tokyo in the early 1700s. The eighth shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune ordered boxes to be installed so commoners can submit their thoughts. After hearing their voices, the shogun creates a new magistrate unit — Mushibugyō — to protect the people in the heart of the city. Each member is a specialist with unique fighting skills.” – (Taken from )
Produced by: Production IG
Original creator: Hiroshi Fukuda

Impressions: This is one of those series for which little is known yet, other than its original material and the fact that Production IG will be behind it. The premise also is a bit too vague to really say anything about it. It could become good with t the right people behind it, as a fun little action series. Even though the guy on the promotional material has drunk way too much coffee…
Trailer Impressions: Never mind what I said! When the very first scene is about a girl nearly getting violated by a giant spider… yeah. My only compliment is that the art style is surprisingly good, but when you’ve got your mind in the gutter like that it doesn’t really help your case….

First-Glance Potential: 30%

Hataraku Maou-Sama

Summary: “In another dimension the Devil King Sadao is only one step away from conquering the world when he is beaten by Hero Emilia and forced to drift to the other world: modern-day Tokyo. As “conquering the world” are the only skills the Devil King possesses – and are obviously unnecessary in his new situation – he must work as a freeter to pay for his living expenses.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: White Fox
Director: Naoto Hosoda
Series Composition: Masahiro Yokotani
Original creator: Satoshi Wagahara
Character Designer: Atsushi Ikariya

Impressions: The premise, in the right hands, can be comedic gold. But then it really as to be the right hands, otherwise it will end up horribly dull. So let’s take a look at the ones who are going to have to adapt this: Naoto Hosoda is the director of Mirai Nikki and the second season of Minami-Ke, which is regarded by many as the worst Minami-ke series… Masahiro Yokotani meanwhile wrote Busou Shinki. That does not bode well.
Trailer Impressions: Generic J-Pop, but misleadinglygood animation. No humour whatsoever…err…

First-Glance Potential: 30%

Aiura

Summary: “The story centers around Amaya, Iwasawa, and Uehara — three “annoying, spirited high school girls with zero motivation” — and their classmates. Their daily life is “what happens when there is nothing happening.”” – (Taken from Mangaupdates)
Original creator: Uji Chama

Impressions: Very little is known about this series and about who will adapt it, but this is a 4-Koma adaptation about three girls doing nothing. A genre that I’m not really fond of. If the characters change, or if there is more than just their daily lives. Otherwise I just get the feeling that I’m watching paint dry. Sorry!

First-Glance Potential: 50%

Karneval

Summary: “Nai searches for someone important to him, with only an abandoned bracelet as a clue. Gareki steals and pick-pockets to get by from day to day. The two meet in a strange mansion where they are set-up, and soon become wanted criminals by military security operatives. When Nai and Gareki find themselves desperate in a hopeless predicament, they encounter none other than the country’s most powerful defense organization, “Circus”. The Circus is a Defense organization that works for the government. They perform raids to capture criminals and solve crimes that the Security force otherwise cannot handle. After their raids, they put on shows as an apology for scaring the citizens. Their group consists of the strongest, most capable fighters that use a special type of bracelet, known as Circus I.D., to fight.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Manglobe
Director: Eiji Suganuma
Series Composition: Touko Machida
Original creator: Touya Mikanagi
Character Designer/Chief Animation Director: Toshie Kawamura

Impressions: Toshie Kawamura is something like Manglobe’s new in-house animation director and character-designer, because he is involved in a lot of their projects. It’s a shame that he is not very good though, although the promo art here does look like his best and most creative work. But we’re talking about Manglobe here: what happened to their ambition behind Ergo Proxy and Michiko e Hatchin? They used to recruit their staff all over the place, with all kinds of different backgrounds. Here, they just return to the director of Mashiro-Iro Symphony, which was an utterly crappy harem. The sole salvation here will be the original material, which granted does look promising with the right execution, but then we come to the one who will have to adapt this: Touko Machida is not good at that, and I really hope that she has learned ever since her adaptations of Okamikakushi and Allison to Lillia….
Trailer Impressions: The voice acting is really bad, but in terms of visuals it looks nice and colourful. At least the trailer shows a lot of movements and action.

First-Glance Potential: 50%

Ginga Kikoutai Majestic Prince

Summary: “The story follows humanity after it expanded its frontier into space in a quest for resources. Advances in genetic engineering research allow humans to adapt to the new frontier, leading to the advent of evolved children such as the protagonist Izuru. Izuru enrolls in an academy city called Gurantseere to fulfill his mission of “protecting humanity” with robotic mecha.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Dogakobo
Director: Keitaro Motonaga
Series Composition: Reiko Yoshida
Original creator: Rando Ayamine
Character Designer: Hisashi Hirai
Other Notable Staff: Fimihiko Shimo (Script)

Impressions: Both Keitaro Motonaga and Reiko Yoshida are doing other series this season. Okay. Still, collectively there is a lot of talent between the writing and directing staff, so this could actually become something. Dogakobo have shown that with Natsuyuki Rendezvous, they can do something actually good. The problem however is the premise. I mean, it tries to dance around the obvious, but we do have another high school mecha series here. What can they do to stand out?
Trailer Impressions: It’s a silent trailer so I can’t comment much on the music and voice acting, but what I’ve seen… good background art, overdone facial expressions, and unfortunately nothing that makes it stand out at first sight…

First-Glance Potential: 60%

Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-san

Summary: “The comedy story centers around Muromi-san, a mermaid who happens to speak with a Hakata accent. She is suddenly caught by Takurō Mukōjima, a boy in his high school’s fishing club.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Tatsunoko Production
Director: Tatsuya Yoshihara
Series Composition: Kazuyuki Fudeyasu
Original creator: Keiji Nashima
Character Designer / Animation Director: Kikuko Sadakata

Impressions: That is the ugliest mermaid I have seen in a long, long while. It’s not really the hair… but those eyes…. they are kind of unnerving. Anyway, Kazuyuki Fudeyasu wrote Milky Holmes. He also adapted Ben-To. This guy has energy. And something tells me that he’s also going to put that energy in this series… I’m expecting something bizarre…

First-Glance Potential: 70%

Danchi Tomoo

Summary: “The manga centers around a fourth-grade boy named Tomoo who lives in an apartment complex with his mother and big sister. With his father away on a long-term work contract, Tomoo gets into one misadventure after another with his friends.” – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Ayumu Watanabe
Original creator: Tobira Oda

Impressions: Apparently the manga this was based on was nominated for a Tezuka Cultural Prize, back in 2007, alongside works as Hyouge Mono, Moyashimon and Death Note. My impressions seems that the manga manages to capture the life of being a kid. And seriously, only the director for this production is known, but he is a really good one: Ayumu Watanabe directed Nazo no Kanojo X and is still working on Space Brothers. He will be able to bring that out.
Trailer Impressions: Really bad animation with lots of CG. Unfortunately this seems to be a very cheap production, so the question remains whether it will be enough to show why the manga is so good.

First-Glance Potential: 75%

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun

Summary: “Academy City is a highly developed place in terms of technology. It is said to be 20 to 30 years ahead of the rest of the world. Eighty percent of its 2.3 million residents are students. The focus of studies here is directed towards esper powers. Misaka Mikoto, one of the top level espers in town, shares a room with Kuroko Shirai, another high level esper who is a member of Judgement, a law enforcing agency composed of students. Both attend to Tokiwadai, a private school reserved for the high-leveled and the rich. Kuroko’s partner at Judgement, Kazari Uiharu, is a low level esper who studies at Sakugawa middle school. Her best friend and classmate there is Ruiko Saten, a level zero (no esper powers). Together, the four encounter several adventures in the exciting scientific town.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: JC Staff
Director: Tatsuyuki Nagai
Series Composition: Seishi Minakami
Original creator: Kazuma Kamachi

Impressions: 100 episodes of the To Aru franchise. Let that sink in for a while. I personally don’t think that it warrants so much. Collect the best parts in 26 episodes and you’d have one heck of a series, but this is just too long. In terms of the staff nothing much has changed though, and Tatsuyuki Nagai and Seishi Minakami? These guys are awesome! They worked on many awesome series including Anohana, Honey and Clover, Birdy the Mighty Decode, Shigurui and Asatte no Houkou.

First-Glance Potential: 75%

Devil Survivor 2 The Animation

Summary: “The setting of Devil Survivor 2 spans the whole country of Japan. It tells the story of Japanese high school students who received an email from a website foretelling deaths. Mysterious creatures invade the country, and the students enter a pact, enabling them to summon demons. The plot may unfold differently depending on the player’s actions.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Bridge
Director: Seiji Kishi
Series Composition: Makoto Uezu
Music: Kotaro Nakagawa
Character Designer: Etsushi Sajima
Other Notable Staff: Mohiro Kitoh (Original Septentrion Design)

Impressions: Another series based on a series in the games of Shin Megami Tensei. And it’s by the director of Persona 4. Oh god, no. I still have not forgiven him for what he did there. Thankfully, the rest of the production looks a lot ore solid here. Bridge only did comedies so far, and this seems to be their first full series, and they are looking very ambitious. Makoto Uezu is someone who sometimes delivers really good, and sometimes really bad adaptations. And that’s the thing with this series: it’s got interesting source material, but it can both become great, or crash and burn horribly. And Mohiro Kitoh behind the mecha designs rocks.
Trailer Impressions: A solid trailer, it’s short but shows some nice animation, the soundtracks is good and it doesn’t loo overly lciched or silly. The problem will be the pacing again and whether that will be better this time…

First-Glance Potential: 75%

Yondemasuyo, Azazel-San

Summary: “Akutabe, a detective, summons devils to solve the troubles of his clients. One day, a low class devil Azazel Atsushi is summoned by Akutabe and is used harshly by him and his assistant Rinko Sakuma.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Production IG
Director: Tsutomu Mizushima
Original creator: Yasuhisa Kubo

Impressions: Oh god, they actually made one: a sequel to Yondemasuyo Azazel-san. This is a comedy that is not for everyone, and I have seen very few other comedies in which the humour was as black there. There is so much bile in it, and yet it had me in stitches for many times. There is always the matter of this series losing inspiration, but with this premise there is plenty of material left that can be explored, especially if the episodes are only 10 minutes long again.

First-Glance Potential: 80%

Valvrave the Liberator

Summary: “The story is set in an era when 70% of the human race lives in space due to the development of space cities. Between two major powers — the Dorushia Military Pact Federation and the Atlantic Ring United States (ARUS) — there is a small neutral nation called Jiouru that has prospered economically. The protagonist Haruto, a high school student who lives in Jiouru, encounters the mysterious “forbidden” humanoid weapon Valvrave when the Dorushia army invades.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Sunrise
Director: Kou Matsuou
Series Composition: Ichiro Okouchi
Character Designer: Tatsuya Suzuki

Impressions: Holy crap, what a combination between staff members. The writer of Code Geass, together with Matsuo Kou of Red Garden, Kurenai and Natsuyuki Rendezvous fame. I mean seriously, this will be either the trainwreck of the season, or a really epic and creative series. It all depends on how much freedom the creators have. Matsuou Kou is at his best with the more freedom that he has, while Ichiro Okouchi works better when he has less freedom (just look at Berserk, and Overman King Gainer also was awesome because that had the famous Yoshiyuki Tomino all over it, for example). In any case this will become interesting to follow…
Trailer Impressions: Reaaaaaly vague. We just saw a bunch of mechas and characters, although I do like the choice of music. Apart from that, it didn’t really show off anything…

First-Glance Potential: 80%

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet

Summary: ” While fighting an intense inter-galactic war, a mecha pilot was accidentally warped into a space-time neither he nor the computer of his mecha could recognize. After waking up from a long-time hibernation, he found himself trapped on a planet, with human residents talking in an unknown form of language, using inferior technologies, and — most shocking to him — naturally breathable air.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Production IG
Director: Kazuya Murata
Series Composition: Gen Urobuchi
Music: Taro Iwashiro
Character Designer / Animation Director: Masako Tashiro

Impressions: Here is a series that put some effort in its promotional material. Just take a look at the official site, there’s a lot of neat artwork there. On top of that, we have Urobuchi Gen doing another original script of his. At this point he is in a very good position, where he has a lot of freedom. I really hope that he makes more and more use of this, while continuing to get better at writing. Kazuya Murata has not directed in a really long while. In fact, he seems to be returning after many years of not working on anything. I wonder what this can add to this series, because it definitely looks interesting here.
Trailer Impressions: Here I noticed a problem that I’ve often seen with Urobuchi Gen’s works: his characters are rather dull. The trailer was fairly long so we could see quite a bit about them, but there is nothing that makes them stand out. They’re just bland in every way.

First-Glance Potential: 80%

Arata Kangatari

Summary: “In a mythical world where humans and gods co-exist, Arata has the unfortunate honor of being the successor to the matriarchal Hime Clan. This means he has to pretend to be a girl or face death if his true gender is discovered! On the day of his inauguration, an assassination plot forces him to flee – and he somehow winds up in modern-day Japan! Meanwhile, a boy named Arata Hinohara gets sucked into the first Arata’s world and finds himself dealing with people after his life!” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Satelight, JM Animation
Director: Kenji Yasuda, Woo Hyun Park
Series Composition: Mayori Sekijima
Original creator: Yuu Watase
Music: Kou Otani
Character Designer: Masahiro Aizawa

Impressions: Yuu Watase is a big name in the shoujo genre: she was the one who wrote Fushigi Yuugi, which had a big influence. I watched the first episodes of it, and the one thing that struck me was how mind-numbingly stupid the female lead character was, to the point of making it really hard to watch. It definitely had potential though, and this premise again can lead to a great fantasy-epic that relates back to the current world. The director is a Satelight regular, being involved in many of their series (including NOEIN), and directing Croisée, while Mayori Sekijima is pretty experienced in adaptations to make it work if it has the potential. On top of that this seems to be a Korean co-production, showing yet again that the people at Satelight have a lot of international connections (first France, now Korea)

First-Glance Potential: 80%

Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2199

Summary: “The year is 2199. The human race has been crushed in their war with the Gamilos, driven into underground cities by the invader’s assault. Scientists estimate they have only a year left. The young officers Susumu Kodai and Daisuke Shima receive a mysterious capsule from a ship that made an emergency landing on Mars and return with it to Earth. It contains humanity’s last hope: the planet Iscandar on the other side of the Magellan Galaxy has the technology to defeat the Gamilos and restore the planet. The space battleship Yamato is entrusted with this task, but they have only one year before humanity ends.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Xebec, AIC
Director: Akihiro Enomoto, Yutaka Izubuchi
Series Composition: Yutaka Izubuchi
Original creator: Leiji Matsumoto
Music: Akira Miyagawa
Character Designer: Nobuteru Yuki
Other Notable Staff: Hiedakki Anno (Opening Storyboards), Hiroshi Ohnogi (Script), Sadayuki Murai

Impressions: Yes, I also had to do a bit of a double-take when I suddenly saw Hideaki Anno (you know, the guy behind Evangelion…)’s name between the credits. And that really shows in what way this series stands out: it’s a remake, but it’s a really well produced one. There are a lot of great names who are responsible for some of the episodes here, and you can really see that this is made by fans, who want to make the original Yamato (which is incredibly outdated at this point) accessible to modern audiences. I have seen three episodes so far and was planning to catch the rest as it comes out on television, but the creators really managed to tell the original story, while also adding a lot of new stuff and details.

First-Glance Potential: 85%

Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge

Summary: “Haimura Kiri is a seemingly ordinary boy with one slight problem: he is obsessed with cutting other people’s hair. One day he meets Mushiyanokouji Iwai, the “Hair Queen” who cannot cut her hair because of an inherited curse. Kiri finds out that his scissor, “Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge” is the only thing that can cut them. But little did he know that their meeting sparked the start of an old murder game to kill the “Hair Queen” using the cursed killing tools, the “Killing Goods.” Can Kiri protect Iwai from the Killing Goods Owners? Let the game begin!” – (Taken from Mangaupdates)
Produced by: Studio Gokumi
Director: Yuji Yamaguchi
Series Composition: Tatsuhiko Urahata
Original creator: Tatsuhiko Hikagi
Character Designer: Katsuzo Hirata

Impressions: Aaand the biggest wtf-premise award goes to: Crime Edge. I mean, cutting people’s hair is already strange, but this show seems to go out of its way to make its premise as strange as possible. And you know, I don’t think I mind that. Just go a little crazy, it’s much better than having a normal premise. The director has experience with weird shows like that: he previously di Touka Gettan and Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito. Tatsuhiko Urahata meanwhile has experience with everything. He is an awesome adapter, with his works ranging from Horizon to Gunslinger Girl Il Teatrino and Hajime no Ippo and Master Keaton and Monster.
Trailer Impressions: This is how you do a trailer: really charming on one hand, and “wtf are those bloody scissors doing there?!” on the other.

First-Glance Potential: 85%

RDG Red Data Girl

Summary: “The story revolves around Izumiko Suzuhara, a girl raised within the confines of Tamakura Shrine, one of the Kumano shrines that are part of a World Heritage site. However, after Izumiko spent practically her entire life at Kumano until middle school, it was decided that she and her childhood friend Miyuki would enroll in Houjou High School in Tokyo. On a school trip to Tokyo, a mysterious entity known as Himegami appears and a terrible incident occurs. Izumiko’s family carries a great secret that Izumiko is about to learn.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: P. A. Works
Director: Toshiya Shinohara
Series Composition: Michiko Yokote
Original creator: Noriko Ogiwara
Music: Masumi Itou, Myu
Character Designer: Minako Shiba

Impressions: I must say, I’m intrigued by the premise here. It sounds pretty solid and has a lot of potential to develop into something good. What makes this even better is that we’re talking about the director of the Book of Bantorra, which was a series that I absolutely loved (he also directed the first season of Kuroshitsuji). Michiko Yokote is a scriptwriter who I trust and she can really make the premise work. This is based on a story by the same author of Good Witch of the West, which I really liked. It’s great to see that this time, her story can be adapted by a bunch of people who know what they’re doing, instead of rushing through it.
Trailer Impressions: Very elegant, and it takes itself seriously. The backgrounds are really good, and the narration is good. The animation also looks very good, and the trailer really knows how to build its atmosphere. Good signs, good signs.

First-Glance Potential: 85%

Aku no Hana

Summary: “The story opens as middle school student Takao Kasuga receives an F on a math test. But he doesn’t even seem to notice because he’s too engrossed in surreptitiously reading Beaudelaire’s The Flowers of Evil. And the day goes downhill from there. In a moment of weakness, he finds and takes home the gym clothes belonging to sweet, pretty Nanako Saeki on whom he has a major crush. Unfortunately for Takao, there’s a witness to the theft: Nakamura, who has a huge chip on her shoulder and a sadistic streak.” – (Taken from Mangaupdates)
Produced by: Zexcs
Director: Hiroshi Nagahama
Series Composition: Aki Itami
Original creator: Shuzo Oshimi
Music: Hideyuki Fukasawa
Character Designer: Hidekazu Shimamura

Impressions: Zexcs previously was a studio who made mostly unremarkable series, and sometimes got lucky and delivered a good one. They have been getting much better lately. And holy crap, the director of Mushishi is back! Finally, years after doing Detroit Metal City he’s ready for another one, and I must say: this sounds like an awesome drama. Finally there is a school drama that just immediately stands out from its peers with such a simple, yet deceptive premise.

First-Glance Potential: 90%

Shingeki no Kyojin

Summary: “Several hundred years ago, humans were nearly exterminated by giants. Giants are typically several stories tall, seem to have no intelligence, devour human beings and, worst of all, seem to do it for the pleasure rather than as a food source. A small percentage of humanity survived by walling themselves in a city protected by extremely high walls, even taller than the biggest of giants. Flash forward to the present and the city has not seen a giant in over 100 years. Teenage boy Eren and his foster sister Mikasa witness something horrific as the city walls are destroyed by a super giant that appears out of thin air. As the smaller giants flood the city, the two kids watch in horror as their mother is eaten alive. Eren vows that he will murder every single giant and take revenge for all of mankind.” – (Taken from Mangaupdates)
Produced by: Wit Studio (Production IG)
Director: Tetsurou Araki
Series Composition: Yasuko Kobayashi
Original creator: Hajime Isayama
Character Designer: Kyoji Asano

Impressions: Back when I dabbled in manga (I really want to continue with that experiment… as soon as I have time again), one of the mangas that I checked out and really liked was Shingeki no Kyojin. Holy crap, that was intense, but it would also have been very difficult to animate properly. And here is the thing: if there is any director who can bring out the strength of the manga, it would be Tetsuro Araki, the director of Death Note and Kurozuka. He really can make this work! Yasuko Kobayashi also fits this show perfectly with his brilliant adaptations of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. Add that to Production IG’s expertise, and yes. I am really looking forward to see this in animated form.
Trailer Impressions: Fucking epic.

First-Glance Potential: 100%

Some Quick First Impressions: Doki Doki Precure!

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Dokidoki Precure

Short Synopsis: Our lead character gets to be a mahou shoujo.
My big issue with Precure: there is so much of it! I’m not going to devote so much time to it, unless it’s really good, like what happened to Heartcatch Precure. Now, did Dokidoki’s first episode reach the same level as Heartcatch’s first episode? No. For me it lacks the fresh emotional touch and the energy that I noticed there. However, I am positive about this episode and it stands out among the better ones. For once, the lead female is not a ditzy airhead anymore (seriously, there were too many characters in precure like that…). Okay, she still is incredibly naive, but her resourcefulness at least is a start! If I have to be honest though, with the current execution, I do not think that I will continue with this series. I miss emotions. I miss some passion. The characters may develop well, but I do not want to be bored while waiting for that. The current pacing… I think that I will get bored.
OP: Not the worst, but also not that good of an OP.
ED: You’re still not done with those crappy CG dance EDs?
Potential: 50%

January Summary

by psgels, posted in Monthly Summaries

Okay, so this season is crap. I’d like to go into a bit more detail than that though, because there are a few things going on here. First of all, it is true that this season is in between two really good seasons. Producers are burnt out so that means less variety. Dear god, less variety. Everything just looks like each other, and the only really innovative series that isn’t a sequel got bogged down by bad characters and boobs.

However, when I compiled this entry, I did notice something… the last time I wrote a summary in a Summer or Winter season that had as many entries as this one was back in the summer of 2007, which was like the best season… ever. Seriously, 42 shows is normal for Spring or Autumn, but the small seasons usually only have around 30 entries, no more. If there is anything, this season has a huge quantity of series. This is both due to the stupid 3-minute series, and a lot of series that continued over from previous seasons.

But that makes even more bizarre to see just how much crap managed to accumulate in just one season. I mean, the below list is huge, yet I’m only going to continue with about 18 of them. That means that for 24 of them, I just did not find them worth my time. The thing with this season is that there just are really few non-sequels that I find interesting enough to continue. Because of that, I’m going to label this season at this point as the second-worst I have ever blogged, after Winter 2010.

The positive about this season? The amount of series that continue from the previous seasons is staggering, and there are so many of them that deliver and managed to evolve into interesting ways. Seriously, we’re bound to get a huge load of awesome climaxes in the next two months.

#42 (new) – Puchimas! Petit Idolmaster – (3/10) – Idolmaster… I didn’t like it, but I didn’t find it to be the worst series. This however, is just poorly produced crap meant to just get some dollars off the idolmaster name.
#41 (new) – Mangirl – (3.25/10) – Worst title ever. Dropped.
#40 (new) – Boku no Imouto wa Osaka Okan – (3.5/10) – Screw incest! Dropped.
#39 (new) – Da Capo III – (4/10) – Generic harem with stupid and uninteresting characters. Dropped.
#38 (new) – Love Live! – (4.25/10) – Stupid premise with cliched characters. I saw nothing interesting in this one, talk about the difference with AKB…. Dropped.
#37 (new) – Ai Mai Mi – (4.5/10) – Really bad jokes that try way too hard to be edgy. Dropped.
#36 (new) – Line Offline Salaryman – (4.5/10) – Bad office jokes. Dropped.
#35 (new) – Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru – (5/10) – Ohoho, this series thinks that it’s got a fresh new take on a tired formula… while in fact it’s completely cliched anyway. Poor characters, stupid premise, nothing that stands out. Dropped.
#34 (new) – Senyuu – (5.1/10) – Bad RPG jokes. As a parody, it just isn’t funny enough. Dropped.
#33 (new) – Cuticle Detective Inaba – (5.25/10) – The problem with this series is that it’s incredibly silly, while it thinks it’s funny. It isn’t! It’s trying way too hard! Dropped.
#32 (new) – Ishida to Asakura – (5.5/10) – What the hell was that?! Incredibly corny and silly, yet dropped.
#31 (new) – Vividred Operation – (6/10) – Vividred is way too calculated. It does things because it thinks that they are popular, and rips off specific scenes for this. Seems to be working, but for me: dropped.
#30 (new) – Mondaijitachi ga Isekai Kara Kuru Sou Desu yo – (6/10) – Feels like Dog Days, in which the characters somehow end up playing light-hearted games, which reduce all of the tension from the show for the sake of having fun. It if was fun it would be excused, but I found the first episode to be really trite and boring.
#29 (new) – Senran Kagura – (6/10) – Boobs. Dropped.
#28 (new) – GJ Bu – (6.1/10) – The standard format of a club with a guy and a bunch of girls doing a bunch of random stuff. Not funny nor interesting, stereotypical characters. Dropped.
#27 (new) – gdgd Fairies 2 – (7/10) – Had some good jokes about going against your expectations, but not good enough. Dropped.
#26 (new) – Bakumatsu Gijiden Roman – (7.25/10) – Too childish. The problem is that it thinks it’s edgy, while it’s incredibly cheesy. I see no potential. Dropped.
#25 (new) – Haitai Nanafa – (7.4/10) – Quite the gorgeous series, actually. Didn’t continue with it due to lack of time though. Dropped.
#24 (new) – Sasami@Ganbaranai – (7.5/10) – This feels like just another Shaft series. The thing is, that it could end up with a good climax again, but I don’t want to sit through hours of random crap to find out. I lasted two episodes here, and the series just wasted too much time on bad jokes and characters trying way too hard to show off their stereotypes. Dropped.
#23 (new) – Yama no Susume – (7.6/10) – Mountain climbing. Sounds fun, but ultimately three minutes plus rather boring characters weren’t enough to make me keep watching Dropped.
#22 (new) – Nekomonogatari (Black) – (7.6/10) – Do I want to watch more of the monogatari series? Do I want more of the style of this series and the really good animation? Do I want to see more of these incredibly annoying characters? Dropped? Not sure, actually…
#21 (new) – Minami-Ke Tadaima – (7.6/10) – Unfortunately, Minami-Ke just isn’t my series. I do not like shows in which there is no progression whatsoever. There needs to be some kind of red thread, instead of just watching random sketches. For that, it just wasn’t funny enough. Dropped.
#20 (new) – Maoyuu Maou Yuusha – (7.75/10) – The problem with this series is that even though the politics are interesting, it’s got some terrible characters and awkwardly forced romance. It may have potential, but I don’t trust the creators here. Ultimately, I’m dropping this one.
#19 (new) – Zettai Karen Children The Unlimited – (7.75/10) – Ultimately I dropped this one. Lack of time is the biggest reason, plus I feel like I’d be too left behind on the background for this show.
#18 (new) – Hakkenden Touhou Hakken Ibun – (7.9/10) – Surprisingly good, I’m keeping up with this one. There are times when the animation can’t fully keep up with the storytelling, making things look silly, but it’s got a good array of different characters that play off each other well enough.
#17 (6) – Hunter X Hunter – (8/10) – This feels like an entire recap of the Nippon Animation OVA of it. I have this with this arc much more than with the other arcs so far. And with that, there is very little I can say about it. It’s lots of build-up and training arcs. They were interesting when I watched them first, but the thing with watching exposition you’ve already watched before is that it gets more easily boring than the other parts…
#16 (16) – Shirokuma Cafe – (8/10) – This series still is an enjoyable comedy. Nothing new to say really: I don’t really laugh out loud anymore, but this show does get the occasional chuckle out of me still. I especially like the small moments, like when two characters end up talking about an undiscovered past they shared together.
#15 (17) – Little Busters – (8/10) – I still want to follow this one, although I’m only at episode 15 so far. The thing is that it did get quite charming.
#14 (new) – Kotoura-San – (8/10) – This was actually quite cute. The big problem with the series is the male lead, but Kotoura has enough depth to make up for it with her feelings. The side characters also work really surprisingly well with each other.
#13 (new) – Tamako Market – (8.1/10) – The problem with Tamako Market is the bird: hilarious in the first episode, but he got old really fast afterwards. Thankfully there is enough in this series to make up for it, but it’s not as fresh as I originally hoped at this point.
#12 (12) – Magi – (8.1/10) – The reason why there hasn’t been an entry on this one is a lack of time. I’m going to try and combine multiple episodes for one post for this one, because I’d like to prioritize the other series I’m blogging over this one. It’s not like this one’s bad, but rather that the other ones are better. Where every other series is moving into new directions, this one’s direction with democracies felt the least interesting.
#11 (new) – Amnesia – (8.25/10)

Good! The whole paranoia about not knowing what is real and what is happening actually works quite well here. It’s like, a reverse harem with a lot of mystery elements, and I can keep watching that.

#10 (new) – AKB0048 – (8.4/10)

AKB0048 has continued to do what it does really well, but this time we already know the characters. In fact, the added attention to the characters so far have really worked and I did not see a few of the twists coming here. This show has ambitions for its second season.

#9 (11) – Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo – (8.4/10)

Sakurasou got more dramatic this month. And you know what? It worked really well. There was great character-development and the added romance made the characters even better, for all of the main characters. Even the sister, while still terrible, got better. The thing with this series is that it has a lot of small details put into all of its scenes that make it so much more worthwhile than a regular romance show.

#8 (15) – Saint Seiya Omega – (8.5/10)

Why do you make me teary-eyed like that!? What the hell is going on with just a simple fighting series?!

#7 (9) – Robotics;Notes – (8.5/10)

Robotics;Notes got a lot more serious this month, but it worked. A lot of build-up was used well, and I really like how it combined all of its loose threads together, bit by bit. Now keep this up.

#6 (new) – Chihayafuru – (8.5/10)

I’m behind! I know! I apologize! Nevertheless, Chihayafuru rocks and the second season continues with a bunch of strong new characters that can really add a lot of interesting stuff to the characters. I do have to note though, that the show looks less clean now. Where every shot was crisp in the first, there was a lot of awkward animation here. Possibilities are a smaller budget, or more outsourcing?

#5 (5) – Psycho Pass – (8.6/10)

Psycho Pass has headed into its second half, and with that it has gotten more in-depth with its setting and characters, and it did pay off. The developments were really interesting to watch.

#4 (4) – From the New World – (8.75/10)

We’ve just reached the third time-skip, and suddenly we’re dealing with fully grown adults. The most interesting part is the setting though. It just continues to evolve and it becomes more and more clear how screwed the characters are as the show goes on. I really like some of the cunning characters in this series.

#3 (3) – Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure – (8.75/10)

Holy crap, the over the top fights in this series really were creative, and incredibly intense. This series really knows its action yet again, and it just keeps pushing itself forward. Just a shame that the training arc broke up the momentum a bit.

#2 (2) – Zetsuen no Tempest – (8.75/10)

Something interesting went on for this month. The series changed a lot. It got more light-hearted, there were a lot of jokes as the show fleshed out its characters, and I love how it subtly makes its plot more and more complicated. It’s building up to a new mind-screw!

#1 (1) – Uchuu Kyoudai – (8.75/10)

This month was different for Uchuu Kyoudai. The comedy got removed, the pacing slowed down even more and things suddenly became nerve-wrecking. The most annoying are the cliff-hangers. I do have to say though… with a continuation announced, it’s going to get really boring to see Uchuu Kyoudai dominate this ranking month after month. Can we get a series that’s even better to even things out perhaps?

Jormungand Perfect Order Review – 84/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

I have been putting this one off for way too long, but that’s not because I was looking up to reviewing it. Rather there was so much coming out that I instead wanted to cover, but I guess that I’d just wrap up this sequel that really improved a lot over its original series. The key for that was its plot, for once.

The first Jormungand series really was a build-up series: it’s there to introduce the characters, get the viewers a bit used to the world and concepts of this series. It could have done this better though, because it was too monotone, both in terms of stories and characters. Perfect Order drops the random stories, and instead is much more coherent, not to mention varied in both terms of content and characters.

The improvements first become visible with the characters. The first season was flawed because it had too many characters who were trying too hard to be snarky. The second season then commences to both introduce characters with significantly different personalities, as well as develop the current cast to go beyond their snarky self. Suddenly, a cast that was once bland sparkles with personality, just as I hoped.

The plot takes a while longer to show its trumps, but in the end, it actually does pay off with a number of really good plot twists. Not going to say when they show up, but let’s just say that the characters were preparing for a certain events for a very long while. It really impressed me in any case.

This is not one of those cases in which all of the build-up comes together, though: the plot twists themselves are really good, but the first season’s random stories remain rather… random, and just could have been done better. It’s really the writing that improved so much, but Jormungand as a whole is not a series that is perfectly paced or told, not to mention that even though the setting for this series is very original (taking place over the whole world and not just Japan, America and Europe), it just doesn’t feel real or relatable. There remain a few too many one-dimensional characters in this series, despite the added variety. Nevertheless though: very solid show. Including an awesome soundtrack.

Storytelling: 8.5/10 – Big improvement: things feel much more solid and coherent and it finally starts building up to something, with a great payoff.
Characters: 8.5/10 – A varied cast, that really shines in comparison to the bland cast of the first season.
Production-Values: 8.5/10 – Solid animation, but what really stands out here is the soundtrack. Again a big improvement in how it’s used.
Setting: 8/10 – Nice choice of locations, but it doesn’t make enough of an impact for a higher rating.

Suggestions:
– Black Lagoon
– Irresponsible Captain Tylor
– Seikai no Senki

Some Quick First Impressions: Chihayafuru Season 2 and Mondaijitachi ga Isekai Kara Kuru Sou Desu yo

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Chihayafuru Season 2

Short Synopsis: Our lead character plays a children’s card game.
Like expected, Chihayafuru’s second season has blown away all competition this season. But there was no way in which it wouldn’t be able to do so: it has a smashing build-up with its first season with an incredibly lovable cast, on top of the work that Uta Koi did to give a background to all of the poems that are featured in this series. But even then: the jokes were spot-on again, and the series hasn’t started, or the creators just keep pushing the characters further even more by focusing on the difference of their goals. They then manage to create a new character who within one episode already manages to be really interesting in her search for love. It’s only 20 minutes, and it already feels like this series has never left. That’s not something I often get with sequels.
OP: I like this better than the first. Good song.
ED: Good ballad. I’d with it was more than a slideshow, though.
Potential: 100%

Mondaijitachi ga Isekai Kara Kuru Sou Desu yo

Short Synopsis: Our lead character gets called to a different dimension.
The three-minute episode series are of course annoying, but what I dislike the most about this season in general is the writing: quite a few series have writers who seriously need to follow some basic screenplay classes, because I keep seeing series that make beginner’s mistakes. For Monday blahblah, it’s the way in which it doesn’t establish anything. It just shows a bunch of teenagers, next thing they fall from out of the sky and they don’t even seem surprised about it. I don’t care whether this gets explained later on in the series, it’s just way out of nowhere. Another problem with this series is that it thinks it’s smart, yet actually is completely stupid. I know that physics are usually ignored with these kinds of series, but when characters start explaining it, and get it completely wrong, it’s a different matter. The only reason why this series is able to look smart is because it makes some of its characters complete idiots. It also really does not help that the main character is one of the most blatant Garu Stu’s I’ve seen in a long while. He’s supposed to be this dark and edgy alternative to the weak lead character you usually see, but the creators again completely lost the balance by making him ridiculously powerful in everything that he does that he can even punch dragons and just instantly kill them.
ED: Not bad, does some interesting visual stuff. Better than most EDs this season.
Potential: 10%

Some Quick First Impressions: Sasami@Ganbaranai, gdgd Fairies 2 and Vividred Operation

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Sasami@Ganbaranai

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a shut-in.
I thought that I was over my bias of Shaft after Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru and Madoka Magica. But no. This season really reminds me why I dislike these guys so much: wasted potential. So much of it! The animation in this episode was gorgeous. There were a few scenes that were incredibly fluid. Now if only they’d adapt some actually good series! For starters, this show loses a lot of points by its pointless incest. But the problems are beyond that: this series does not understand how to use randomness well. Over the course of the episode everything suddenly turns to chocolate, but it’s completely unconsequential: it doesn’t lead to anything, it has no point beyond being random and leading to some really cool animation sequences. It’s completely boring and filled with allsorts of fetishes once again! And what gets to me the most is that there seems to be no improvement in this whatsoever, and yet the solution is so simple: GET SOMEONE COMPETENT TO DO YOuR SERIES COMPOSITION. Balance out the characters. Manage your pacing. Give your scenes consequences. Drop the freaking stereotypes. It’s such a simple thing, yet Shaft is currently way too busy with looking cool and edgy.
OP: Artsy, but a bit of a dull song.
ED: At least an interesting parody, but the characters involved are incredibly annoying and it’s filled with incest.
Potential: 50%

gdgd Fairies 2

Short Synopsis: Our lead characters are fairies.
Gasp! Shock! This show’s episodes are not three minutes long. Instead, they’ve got fourteen minutes to work with. That is much better, although that did lead me to having to sit through this thing even longer. gdgd fairies looks so awful that I didn’t even give its first season a chance. As the episode started playing, my fears were indeed confirmed: terrible CG animation, really awkward voice acting, and really forced characters. For the first half of this episode the characters just kept going on with a bunch of slow and badly delivered jokes. And then… something happened and this series took a turn for the bizarre in which a bunch of oiled up men in tutus ended up dancing around in a field of flowers. Afterwards the characters poked fun at sound effects, which… I actually found a bit funny. I didn’t expect that. Don’t expect too much of it though: it wasn’t drop dead hilarious: this episode was enough to make me want to check out the second episode, but it was not funny enough to completely sell me.
OP: Lucky Star parody? More like you just copied Lucky Star’s intro…
ED: Ugly CG dancing ED alert!
Potential: 45%

Vividred Operation

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a magical girl.
Uh, Vividred: the gutter called. They want your mind out of there as soon as possible. Seriously. The first two characters in this show are introduced by their ass shots. Thankfully the rest of this episode was not as bad as Strike Witches, but nevertheless, pretty shameless. Vividred is a populist series: it does things very calculatedly, not for the sake of storytelling, but because of what it thinks is popular. The show is focused on cute girls piloting mecha near a beach, there are ass shots, and they’ve got a stuffed animal shoehorned in. Throughout this episode I could recognize various scenes that seemed to have been directly lifted from other popular scenes, and this was a bit too much for comfort. The biggest sign of this was the stuffed animal, though. The grandfather was actually an interesting, albeit archetypical character. But then this show found one of the most contrived ways to turn that guy into a stuffed animal. Not because it would fit the story (having him as grandfather would mean so much more for the female lead who lost her parents), but for the sake of marketability. Alone, this would not have been a big deal, but this show is chock full of tricks like this, to the point where it lacks its own identity.
ED: Clouds, and a boring song.
Potential: 20%

Some Quick First Impressions: Kotoura-San, Tamako Market and GJ Bu

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Kotoura-San

Short Synopsis: Our lead character can read people’s minds.
What they did for this series is that they handed what was actually a pretty cool premise to a bunch of soap opera writers. What I mean by that is that I actually quite like the concept of this series, of a girl who can read minds and how this affects her as a child. What I dislike is that the creators lack any sort of subtlety. Throughout the first half of this episode they do whatever possible to make the life of the female lead a complete hell. Of course, there are children who grow up in horrible environments, but this show, it starts off happily, only to throw one depressing plot twist after the other, to the point at wich it becomes laughable and adults completely overreacting. Nobody in this series has any common sense whatsoever… except for the male lead of course. So yeah: this series can go into two directions: wish fulfillment by showing a cute girl warm up to a typical lazy guy with dirty thoughts (ie, a target demographic often used for anime), or a charming coming of age story for a group of scarred teenagers. Which one will it be?
OP: It’s the way in which this contrasts with the really dark first half that makes it stand out.
ED: Good piano song
Potential: 70%

Tamako Market

Short Synopsis: Our lead character works at a Mochi bakery.
Someone shoot me. Tamako Market had the best first episode of the new season. I did not expect this from what was advertised as the next K-On. But really: to see this as the next K-On would be a grave disservice. You do not watch this series for the cute girls: cute girls are just a part of it. No, you really watch this series for the parrot. I love that animal. Beyond that though, this series also sets itself apart from a lot of other Kyoani series in a very interesting way: its cast is varied. It’s not just about a bunch of teenagers at school having a club. It’s got some teenagers, it’s also about a bakery, it’s got shop owners of all kinds of ages. There was so much going on, and not just random chatter. The characters as well: for once they’re not stereotypes. The lead female is ditzy, but it’s not her only character trait. The chemistry between the characters is also really good: no character is trying too hard to be annoying, which is a thing that really got on my nerves with K-On and Lucky Star.
OP: Mostly stands out through its animation.
ED: This is quite good: great visuals and nice song.
Potential: 85%

GJ Bu

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a random high school student.
So, GJ Bu is a show of the genre “bunch of teenagers hang out at school and do random stuff”. It’s a genre that I know is not for me by far. I can only enjoy these kinds of series when there is something else going on beyond just the random sketches… but GJ Bu doesn’t have that. It tries to be funny… but isn’t. It’s just various situations with sterotypical characters who try to be cute/charming/quirky. It also doesn’t help that most of the jokes are focused on stereotypes: the rich girl is rich, so she doesn’t know what instand noodles are. The catgirl eats a lot, so she eats a lot. The calm girl is calm so she isn’t afraid of anything. That kind of dull stuff. It all feels so forced, dull and uninspired, and this just isn’t my type of series.
OP: Some idols got their first singing job or someting…
ED: Generic J-Pop, cheesy visuals.
Potential: 10%

Some Quick First Impressions: Line Offline Salaryman, Senyuu, Amnesia and Bakumatsu Gijiden Roman

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Line Offline Salaryman

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a salaryman.
I’m just going to cover all of these bloody three-minute episode shows, if only to drive home how many there just are this season. I mean, the original reason why I hated this season was something completely different: no non-sequels stood out and the majority of my top 10 of creators that gets on my nerves the most is involved in a show this time. But the sheer amount of these types of series is really helping things! Line Offline has no moe whatsoever. Instead, you can see this as a sitcom: a collection of sketches around a salaryman. The unusual thing about this episode was that it was entirely building up to one single joke at the end. That joke was… well… dull. The kind that might get a chuckle once or twie, but in the long run just isn’t worth it to spend more time on.
OP: At least they didn’t skimp here. Cool song, good use of a phone chat.
Potential: 10%

Senyuu

Short Synopsis: Our lead character fights monsters.
We’re up for a slight variation, people. Senyuu doesn’t just have three minute episodes, oh hell no: its episodes are four minutes long. Yes, you get a minute extra with this series! Isn’t it wonderful? Sarcasm aside, Senyuu is an RPG parody. Was it funny? Well, it got a chuckle out of me. The thing with it was that it, like many other series this season, just jumps into scenes without any sort of lead-in or build-up. Characters are cardboard boxes: the main character in particular got hit with this bad: his role in this series is that of the straight man. Burdened by this, he yells every single line of his. Yutaka Yamamoto, I know that you’re not the best director and all… but you should know better than this.
ED: Cheesy
Potential: 0%

Amnesia

Short Synopsis: Our lead character has amnesia.
Ooh, I like this. Out of all the non-sequels this season, this was by far the best first episode, and it will probably remain so for the rest of this season. I’ve been so used to otome game adaptations with crappy executions that this one actually took me by surprise by being really good. This too has the same premise of having a girl surrounded by bishies, but this episode added a few things that the others don’t have: intrigue for one. The main character has amnesia: so every character treating her like it was the most normal thing in the world, despite seeming completely foreign to the female lead. I like that a lot. For once, the bishies actually don’t try to fit themselves into stereotypes. Oh, they’re bishies and all, but they felt like actual characters for once. The soundtrack plays with this, especially the intrigue, leading to an actually good atmosphere for once. Yeah, this one works.
OP: I don’t like the song, but the visuals are interesting enough.
ED: Vocals are too washed out and feel off-key in some way but cool visual effects.
Potential: 85%

Bakumatsu Gijiden Roman

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a phantom thief in the Bakumatsu era.
This obviously was meant to be a tongue-in-the-cheek rendition of the Bakumatsu Era (the original creators is the same guy who was behind Lupin III). For those of you who don’t know: it makes use of the legend of Hiraga Gennai, an inventor with apparently a very eccentric reputation. That’s why people fly around with rockets in this series. It doesn’t really work though: you can get the same experience but much, much better by just watching Ooedo Rocket. The thing with this series is that it’s got some very sloppy editing: it jumps around from one scene to the other without much build-up. The result of that is that the main character who was already meant to be an ass becomes even more unlikable and the banter between the characters feels way too forced: every character is trying way too hard to be quirky. The use of sound and music is also cheap at best. This episode does try to be heart-warming at times, but in the grand scheme of things it just feels shallow. I like TMS Entertainment for how experimental they were in 2012, but this is just one of those experiments gone wrong.
ED: This is actually quite interesting…
Potential: 50%

Some Quick First Impressions: Zettai Karen Children The Unlimited, Ishida to Asakura and Senran Kagura

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Zettai Karen Children The Unlimited

Short Synopsis: Our lead character has esper powers.
I have not seen Zettai Karen Children, but I was able to follow this episode, and I enjoyed it. The music is quite good, and the animation is really solid, leading to quite a bit of eye candy during the action scenes. I like the story that revolves around espers and their powers, and the setting they’re placed in. The only problem so far is the cast of characters, which needs some definite work. I only had one character that caught my attention: the red haired guy. The white-haired male is too perfect and is way too busy trying to look cool, and the villains also seem bland and boring at this stage. I feel like this episode was a bit too forced as an opening, trying to show too much already in its opening episode, but it can keep up with the action of this episode, and add some good characterization as it goes along, it can end up becoming pretty darn good. Oh, and nice cliff-hanger.
OP: Best OP of the season so far. Has some cheesy bits, but finally something that feels different.
ED: Feels like the same vocalist as the OP on one of his lesser songs.
Potential:80%

Ishida to Asakura

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a high school student with an afro.
Two minute episode alert! Although this one can’t be called moe this time. In fact, I’m not even sure what the hell it was that I just watched. Ishida to Asakura seems to go with lots of deadpan humour, and while I normally am a big fan of that those types of jokes, they were so completely random and nonsensical here that I have no idea whether the jokes in this show were bad on purpose or whether the creators just have a terrible sense of humour. In any case, this was weird.
OP: Dull, but different from the norm.
Potential: &!#%

Senran Kagura

Short Synopsis: Our lead character has boobs and is a ninja.
Artland…. I used to be a fan of them. And to think that now, they’ve got the biggest and most shameless fanservice series of the season. Ah well, at least it’s not the most generic: the fight animation was better than usual for this type of show: for once the animation budget didn’t just go into the boobs, but also the actual action. Although that doesn’t excuse the fact that this series is constantly reminding us what gender the lead characters are. The stupid premise of this show leads me to believe that it wants to be a tongue-in-the-cheek parody, but here is the thing about parodies: if you’re adhering to the tropes without really making fun of them, you’re just being lazy. This show does have a soundtrack that’s a bit too good for its own sake….
OP: Generic copy paste OP
Potential: 0%

Some Quick First Impressions: Da Capo III, Love Live! and Hakkenden Touhou Hakken Ibun

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Da Capo III

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is surrounded by girls.
I… am just blank here. I mean, this was just completely generic in every way, except perhaps the fact that this is about a newspaper club. The first half was just the characters randomly talking about such a dull topic, then they went to some tree and did things, and in between there also was a bit of incest hints. Every character just looks utterly generic and I can’t believe that they actually made more of this. This is the 84th episode of Da Capo already for goodness’ sake!
Potential: 0%

Love Live!

Short Synopsis: Our lead character wants to be an idol.
Okay, let’s compare the two idol shows this season, shall we? One series is about an evil government who has outlawed entertainment and the group of idols that fires guerrilla concerts in order to stop them. The other is about a ditzy school girl who creates an idol club in order to prevent her school from getting closed down. One series subtly shows the darker sides of being an idol and how competitive it can be. The other is more occupied with a student council getting in the way, who thanks to the OP we now know will end up in the idol club as well. Seriously, especially compared to AKB0048, Love Live just looks incredibly generic. Where AKB0048 wants to tell a cool, albeit far-fetched story, this just is there for fan pandering: just show the animated versions of a bunch of idols being cute on a school. It’s completely generic and un-creative in every way. And then there is the background music: it’s actually better than the songs in this series itself. The songs feel like exactly copy-pasted from other generic J-pop songs.
OP: If the character-designs didn’t already make you suspect: they will be the main characters in this series. Bad CG and dancing.
ED: Right from out of nowhere one of the characters just starts singing behind invisible instruments and everyone just dances along with her. If she indeed was dancing and singing on her own: okay. But this was so obviously pre-recorded and choreographed. A complete lack of any subtlety, not to mention that the song sucks.
Potential: 0%

Hakkenden Touhou Hakken Ibun

Short Synopsis: Our lead character has special powers.
This one was surprisingly solid. It has its issues of being a bit childish at times, but in the end it’s well acted and it had a surprisingly good atmosphere. The animation also was pretty solid, and this actually was not bad at all. At the same time though, I also can’t really say that it was good, but it did spend a lot of time building up. I like some of the side-characters now, even though the male lead is a bit of a brat. The story as well has some potential, but I can’t really see it reaching many heights at this point. There is nothing yet that stands out about this series, but it has a few things that can grow and become quite good.
OP: Rather generic display of characters and powers, though it does look good.
Potential: 70%