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Papa no Iukoto o Kikinasai Review – 77,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

I remember Astarotte no Omocha last year. It was a show that looked like pedo-bait, yet seemed to have something deeper and charming, only to reveal after a few episodes that it turned out to be even worse pedo-bait than what it had originally seemed. I still regret giving that show a second chance, and at the start of this season I really was not keen on doing the same to Papa no Iukoto o Kikinasai, a show about a guy who suddenly finds that he’s the father of three cute girls.

Yet, this turned out to be the surprise of the season. I thankfully picked it back up after a lot of people started to recommend it again. And thankfully, this series avoided the Astarotte route and instead it actually tried to tell a very genuine story. It’s not perfect (believe me, it still has a lot of problems), but this series actually delivers quite an interesting look of what it takes to take care of teenaged girls and a toddler, especially when you yourself are only of college age with a measly paying job. It’s quite a heartfelt series, and I definitely did not expect this when I first learned about it.

Even when you ignroe the first impressions though it’s really easy to look past this series. Because it also tries to appeal to the otaku crowd. The result makes this seris a whole lot more annoying than what it should have been. There is a ton of pointless fanservice in this show, and I mean of the worst kind (characters randomly walking into each other changing or bathing. Over and over again…). There also is one particular character: the fat guy. This guy somehow managed to pull it off by being consistently annoying in every single scene he appears in. No exceptions. You’ll get what I mean when you see him.

So yeah, Papa no Iu Koto ni Kikinasai is a slice of life series that at first sight seems really bad annoying, but is very warm and charming on the inside. I wouldn’t recomment it immediately, because there is a lot of fluff in this show, but it’s not a bad watch either if you want to watch something that’s light, yet with substance. My one complaint about the substance is that the ending is a bit flimsy and doesn’t really solve anything. The final episode like, focuses on a problem that pretends to be the climax, yet leaves a bunch of stuff unresolved that really should have been addressed.

Storytelling: 7/10 – Why on earth did this show try to be as annoying as possible?
Characters: 8/10 – Bad moe cliches at first sight, but the development is actually pretty good and heartfelt./td>
Production-Values: 8/10 – Nothing special, nothign that stands out, doesn’t get in the way, although the character designs are pretty bad here…
Setting: 8/10 – An intersting look at parenting. Perhaps not as detailed as with Usagi Drop, but still good in its own way.

Suggestions:
– Usagi Drop
– Hanamaru Youchien
– Kimi to Boku

Inu X Boku SS Review – 84/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

The most difficult review to write thsi season is Inu X Boku. Most shows were fairly straight-forward to evaluate: the likes of Chihayafuru and Natsume were really, really good, Guilty Crown was pretty bad, Black Rock Shooter was pretty decent. Inu X Boku however, is slightly more difficult.

Those who follow this blog probably know already that I’m a big fan of the producers behind this series: David Production. They really spend time into making shows work best, they don’t bind themselves to genre conventions and their stories are always very creative. It’s because of this that Inu X Boku is the worst TV-series they have done so far, because for a large majority of its airtime, it didn’t really seem to be doing that. Instead we got a fairly mellow series about a girl and her bodyguard with a bit of a combination of shounen and shoujo elements, paired with a large and mis-managed cast of side-characters. The plot and characters never seemed to be really trying to do anything, and while it certainly wasn’t bad, if you compare it to the standard that David Production has set before, then it just ends up a bit borign.

And yet, this show has flashes of brilliance. For some inexplicable reason, this series, despite its boring moments, was able to put a smile on my face with nearly every single episode. This show spends a lot of time on the insecurities of its main character, and the way they play out is actually surprisingly heart-warming. Despite having obvious trouble to keep finding enough things for the characters to do in only 12 episodes, there are quite a few really heart-warming characters in this series.

And then the final two episodes arrive and deliver one of the best finales of the entire season out of bloody nowhere. It’s only here where the writing suddenly gets 10 times better, the build-up all comes together, the characters develop brilliantly, and for the first time in years I can say that I found a show that does the bishie genre justice. Seriously, this show closes off amazingly.

These flashes of brilliance can be found throughout the series, but the big problem with the first 10 episodes is that they don’t use this often enough. The cast of side-characters in particular didn’t work out for this series, as there are a bunch of characters who have a lot of potential, yet hardly get any screentime, while there are also a few characters who just have one gimmick and keep using that over and over. The fangirl lady is by far the worst offender of this.

But you know what? Because of these flashes of brilliance, I’m going to give this show a relatively high rating, because it at least HAS them. Seriously, there are not a lot of shows I can say that of. It’s not like this show falls apart in the middle and I really have to say that I enjoyed watching it a lot. If you want to know why I’m a fan of David production though, this is not the series that best shows their talents. Instead, go pick up Level E or the Armed Librarians or something.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Surprisingly heart-warming, it knos when to get creative. Amazing finale.
Characters: 8,5/10 – Loses points on its side characters: some are fun, others are badyl written, others are underutilized. The main cast is surprisingly well developed.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Crisp animation, though nothing special.
Setting: 8/10 – The seetting is far from the main focus of this series. It’s got some nice dieas, and it’s solid, thtough.

Suggestions:
– Tactics
– Meitantei Loki Ragnarok

Ano Natsu de Matteru Review – 81/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

Amongst the studios that focus too much on moe, I find JC Staff among the better ones. Sure, they have their bad shows, but you can see that they put more effort into their series, compared to the likes of AIC, Xebec or ARMS and their lazy recycled premises. Ano Natsu de Matteru is a great example of this. Yes, it unfortunately has all the cliches: the main character living together with a hot girl, a childhood crush who is in love with him, him being the bland likable guy, spiced up with the deadpan snarker and the ladies’ man. It’s a very bland romance, but ultimately surprisingly well executed.

The best praise that I can give this series: the romance actually goes somewhere. Yes, in a genre that thrives on indecisive characters and pointless and annoying drama, here for once we have a romance that actually develops naturally. The main characters actually realizes what he wants, and rather than waiting for the final episode to get to some sort of confession, this show deals with that stuff slightly earlier than usual in order to actually give everyone the opportunity to sort out their feelings. The result is a surprisingly good drama.

In the character department this series also demonstrates that you can go an end with cliches when they’re well developed. It unfortunately doesn’t apply to every single character, but half of the cast here is actually pretty interestingly developed. To contrast with unfortunately, there are a number of uninteresting characters that drag this show down a bit. The main character ultimately is too bland to really carry this series. The childhood friend also completely gets caught up in her role as childhood friend, without having much else to offer, and the deadpan snarker also has just one gimmick that gets old fast. There also is this horrid beach arc in the middle that shoehorns two very annoying side-characters into the picture who end up doing nothing other than turn this show into a harem.

With the director of Ano Hana behind this series, Ano Natsu is definitely a step down in comparison. Yeah, it’s probably a bit more realistic due to its slower pacing, but I dislike how this show uses half of its cast as walking plot devices, rather than actual characters, when it on the other hand tries to deliver a somewhat realistic romance. More than anything, this feels like watching a mellow version of the first season of Birdy the Mighty Decode with a lot less emphasis on action and its setting.

Yet, I liked this show, and you can definitely see that a lot of attention went into making it work. The romance that works really works here, and it’s got a healthy amount of character development. The animation is also consistently vibrant, successfully bringing these characters to life.

Storytelling: 8/10 – A romance that actually goes somewhere and that doesn’t drag on. Finally!
Characters: 8,5/10 – Half the cast is bland, but the other half is great and well developed. Does that make them worth watching? Yes, actually.
Production-Values: 8,5/10 – Not the best of this season, but that animation still remains very expressive.
Setting: 7,5/10 – The backstory of this show is nice, but it does have its very flimsy sides that are hard to buy at times.

Suggestions:
Introducing the rating of 81/100 back again (rounded down from 81,25, which would be way too specific). When I scraped this rating I did this because I couldn’t really explain the difference between 81/100 and 80/100. Now I can, though: these are very good series, who have a few highlights here and there that make them enjoyable and worth watching.
– Birdy the Mighty Decode
– Aoi Hana
– Ano Hana

Chihayafuru Review – 87,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Chihayafuru




Most people here will be unfamiliar with the game of Karuta. Its rules are fairly simple: two people sit around a bunch of cards that each contain a half of a poem. Someone on the sidelines starts reading cards that contain the other halves of these poems, and it’s up to the player to get each corresponding card as quickly as possible. At first sight it doesn’t seem like your interesting game that you can make a full series off, unlike games as Go, Shougi or Mahjong. But after 25 episodes of Chihayafuru, I had to change my mind about this. This series really managed to show what makes Karuta a great game.

The execution of this series is simply stunning. When you take a look at the animation, for example, movement is incredibly fluid. Scenes are directed with a lot of force and energy behind them. Every single time a character claims a card, it feels like a ton of energy is devoted to just show how difficult this is. The acting also is really excellent, with just about every character and actor giving off a memorable performance.

What really sets this series apart is the way it handles its characters. Seriously, this episode has a cast of about five main characters. Every single episode manages to add something to these characters. Seriously, from the moment they’re introduced, this series very actively tries to flesh out these characters as much as possible, and every episode feels like we get to know more and more about them. The consistency with which this series does this is almost scary, and even the minor characters are colourful and surprisingly well developed.

What this show also does brilliantly is making the skills in Karuta of each of the characters grow. I mean, most training arcs in anime consist of “character trains for a while, character is stronger”. Chihayafuru goes in-depth to this much more than I at first thought it would. It examines what it takes to get good at Karuta, how the best players out there are playing, and it shows the full train of thought of the characters as they try to get better, and try to find out their weaknesses. I mean, this series closes off with an open-ended cliff-hanger (ongoing manga…), but even here the creators managed to actually make all this focus on training come together wonderfully at the end.

If I had to mention a flaw, then it’s this: the series takes place at a high school and is focused on a club whose members enter a bunch of tournaments. The detail on karuta is amazing, but beyond that this series uses a set-up that has been done so often already. This series is just karuta match after karuta match after karuta match, with very little variety along the way. It really solely relies on the karuta and the characters to spice up its story, and it does so brilliantly, however, it also is a bit of a monotone series because of this.

Storytelling: 8/10 – Amazing direction, wonderful pacing. Needs perhaps a tad more variety in its story, but really brings its story to life. The unfinished ending will leave you wanting more, though.
Characters: 9/10 – Amazing characters who keep getting developed and fleshed out. Every epsode adds something new and interesting about them.
Production-Values: 9/10 – Lots of eye candy, very fluid animation.
Setting: 9/10 – When this series started, I thought Karuta was a bit of a boring game. Right now however, I don’t think that anymore. This show really showed a ton of the different sides of the game.

Suggestions:
– Hikaru no Go
– Ookiku Furikabutte
– Shion no Ou

Another Review – 84/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Another



So, Another: the season’s horror series. Let me put a fair warning out first, because for the past months I have seen a few people unpleasantly surprised by its true nature: this show is brutal. If you don’t want to watch gore, then stay as far away from this show as possible, because it contains a number of very graphic death scenes. This is particularly nasty, because it takes a while for it to reveal this nature.

A lot of the airtime in this series is spent on building up. It’s nowhere as extreme as with Blood-C, but still this show really puts emphasis on creating an atmosphere to draw the viewer in, only to toy with this in a gruesome manner. This is also what makes this show great: the contrast between surprisingly relatable characters, and the really dark and intense scenes.

With a lot of the bad horror flicks, the creators spend little time on the characters themselves, however this series avoids this very well. This goes in particular through a very solid lead couple: the two of them have creative backgrounds, they’re well fleshed out, and this series also allows the two of them to play off each other really well whenever they are together. There really is a lot of detail in their acting and dialogue.

The show also rocks in terms of mystery. The show evolves quite nicely as we learn more and more about what’s going on and the characters. The series loves to drop random hints and red herrings everywhere, which really spice up its scenario. This isn’t the series that answers everything, but the closure it gives at the end does wrap things up.

However, this series also is far from perfect. By far the biggest flaw is that it’s trying too hard at times. This series really wants to be atmospheric and haunting, but the twists it pulls at times are just to forced or obvious to take serious. Think of being in an art class, with one of the students suddenly painting “The Scream” of all things. I like symbolism, but there is a line for everything. What also seems to plague this series, especially in its second half, is that it tends to pull very convenient plot twists, just for the sake of wrapping everything up.

It’s understandable that this series wanted to get everything done in just 12 episodes, but that comes with a sacrifice. The cast of this series is huge, and unfortunately it just doesn’t have the time to flesh every single character out, even though this really could have improved this series considering the nature of the story. The same goes with the plot: with more episodes it could have wrapped things up more naturally, but that would have been at the expense of a few boring episodes. And really: the way Another is now, it’s a quick bite-sized horror show that despite its quiet moment never has a part that drags.

Storytelling: 8/10 – Excellent mystery, build-up and turns into very intense horror. Tries too hard at other times, though.
Characters: 8,5/10 – Very well acted main couple, but some of the side-characters could have been better fleshed out.
Production-Values: 8/10 – This isn’t as good as the standard that we’re used to from PA works, but this series still has its moment of very life-like animation.
Setting: 9/10 – I must say that the story behind everything is very creative, and this series knows it.

Yes, I’m also trying to experiment a bit with refining the ratings of these reviews a bit, because Another was a perfect example of a series that I liked better than most series I’d rate 82,5/100, but not as much as the series that I’d rate 85/100). Doing so would lead to a rating of 83,75/100, which is getting a bit ridiculously specific, so rounded a bit more sensibly this lead to the rating of 84/100. For me, this rating means a series with a lot of reasons to be worth watching and something I really enjoyed, which has something that holds it back from being really excellent, which describes Another perfectly for me.
Suggestions:
– Ghost Hound
– Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
– Hitsuji no Uta

Natsume Yuujin-Chou Shi Review – 87,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Natsume Yuujin-Chou



Let’s get this out of the way first: out of the series that debuted in the past Winter Season, Natsume Yuujin-Chou’s fourth season was by far my favorite. Can you watch it without having seen the other three seasons? No. It very clearly builds further upon what these three seasons did. It doesn’t matter though, because every series of Natsume Yuujin-Chou is truly excellent. Few series can boast to be as genuine and heart-warming as this one.

The people who have already watched the first three seasons know what to expect: episodic stories and small arcs about a boy who can see spirits, and all of the problems and miracles that come with it. The episodic nature again makes it a very varied series that changes every week, and again this series has a very good balance between really heart-warming stories, and stories that are almost like a thriller. The stories still are very cleveryl constructed, and yet they play out very naturally and believably. This season also likes its character studies, and quite a few side-characters also manage to get their place in the spotlight to actually develop themselves a bit.

Every season of Natsume also has a slightly different tone from the other. The first was about quiet and relaxing stories about all sorts of youkai Natsume meets. Season 2 instead put the focus more on the main plot and various recurring characters. The third season was dedicated to Natsume’s development, and the fourth season is about Natsume’s relationship with the people around him. Imagine what a wonderful total picture this all creates! And indeed, the cast still is amazing, in particular Natsume has gotten so much development at this point.

What makes the fourth season stand out in particular is that out of all the four seasons, it’s got the best beginning and the best ending. It really saved its best stories for those points, and especially the ending is a treat. The stories in the middle are also very good, but not as good as the middle episodes of the first and the third season. I’d really consider the First, Third and Fourth season to be just as good, all with their own highlight and standout stories that rock in their own ways, either by being incredibly heart-warming, really well told, consistently tense and intriguing, amazingly built up, wonderfully acted, or just all of those together. This series still is a huge believer of subtlety over bombast, and this leads to some of the best acting of the season.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Great variety, masterful at retaining a subtle atmosphere, and manages to consistently tell heart-warming stories.
Characters: 9/10 – Natsume has 52 episodes of development right now, and this season just continues to add things to his character. The side characters also get a lot of time to flesh themselves out and develop.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Great and very consistent animation. Perhaps not the best of the season, but there are a few very talented animators flexing their muscles here.
Setting: 9/10 – Everyone around Natsume is the main focus of this series. Yes, the setting got even better.

Suggestions:
– xxxHolic
– Porfy no Nagai Tabi
– Tenpou Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi

Rinne no Lagrange Review – 82,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Rinne no Lagrange




By far the biggest problem of the past season was a lack of ambition. The series were all very solid, but but a lot had the “this could have been much better”-syndrome. If only the creators took more chances and came up with some more imaginative premises, this season would have been amazing, because in terms of execution there certainly was the potential for that. Rinne no Lagrange was one of the most apparent examples of this, where we have a fun, exciting and interesting series about a teenaged girl who has to protect her school from invading aliens inside a mecha with special powers.

Yeah, there probably aren’t a lot of people inclined to pick this up based on just that premise. But really, the exeucution definitely makes it worth watching and the creators definitely tried to bring something appealing to such an overused story. For starters, it smartly turns the invading aliens into more than just a horde of monsters intent to destroy the earth. They’re civilized, they actively try to sympathize with their opponents and some of them also try to oppose causing unnecessary bloodshed. This series also cares a lot about continuity: houses that get destroyed remain destroyed in the next episode and it also subtly shows that there are giant mechas fighting near innocent people who have never been in a war themselves.

Beyond that, this is a series that focuses on the relationship between its three main characters. In the character department, it’s this that really stands out. The characters alone aren’t really special. There are a lot of cliches, they’re a tad too perfect at times and this show has really awkward moments of fanservice, but together they play off each other wonderfully. This also goes for the side characters, by the way. They really manage to flesh each other out. Some very good direction and camera work helps with this, and makes this show quite witty and fun when it wants to.

So yeah, it’ s a shame that the subject material of this show is slightly dull. These creators could really have made an epic series, but in the end, too little just happens for it to warrant that. Instead it chooses to let its story and characters play out, and while that produces a solid series, it really would have been nice a little less cliches, a little less focus on schools, and a little more complex characters.

There will be a second season though, so who knows whether the creators are saving that for then.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Snappy direction, solid action, great atmosphere. A tad slow-paced, but fun.
Characters: 8/10 – Solid, great chemistry, but there are a few too many moe cliches, and the characters could have been more detailed.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Solid. Nothing special for this season’s standards, but the action is still very solid.
Setting: 8/10 – The continuity in this series is very well done. Beyond beyond that though, it does little more.

Suggestions:
– Mahou Shoujotai
– Gakuen Senki Muryou

Last Exile – Ginyoku no Fam Review – 80/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Last Exile - Ginyoku no Fam




It’s a bit hard to recommend Last Exile – Ginyoku no Fam, because it had to live up to the expectations of the original Last Exile… and it didn’t. Still, I still consider it a series worth watching, and it is the proof that Gonzo isn’t dead yet.

But yeah, go into this expecting a war story that just happens to take place in the same universe as Last Exile. The mood and tone of this series have some signfiicant differences, and mots of all this series lacks the refinement that its predecessor has. The character animation often is sloppy, there is much less time spent at believable acting and realism, and the charactes too are a lot closer to caricatures.

The big difference is in the plot, though. It’s here where Ginyoku no Fam lacks creativity. It’s all just too average and straight-forward, and it tries too much to center aruond cute girls… in the middle of a war. Too many episodes are just dedicated to “war is bad”, without much refinement to it. To me, the creators seemed very conflicted on what they wanted to do with their main character, Fam. First they establish her character as a delivery girl, and there are times where she really does well to keep true to that role, in particular the ending. At other times though, they want her to be more involved in the actual war, and that’s where this show leaves the most to be desired, as we’re treated to a very whiny teenager who keeps preaching peace over and over again, and who gets shoehorned into politics that she doesn’t belong in.

So yes, be warned. Those who give it a chance however, will be rewarded by some absolutely gorgeous aerial battles, an excellent sense of world building and a pretty engaging atmosphere here. It’s especially the setting int his series that stands out, because the creators created a ton of interesting locations, with some of the most gorgeous background art and architectures. They dabble a bit in different cultures, and the creators really managed to bring the overall world to life, especially in the first half of this series.

The characters are a bit of a mixed bag, but there also is enough good stuff among them. Fam has her moments where she gets really annoying, but she also has a vew moments where she redeems herself, and the cast of side-characters has a number of interesting people walking around who do manage to spice up the story. It remains an unbalanced production though, but I do think that it gets too much flak. It’s no masterpiece, but it’s got enough reasons to make it worth watching.

Storytelling: 7/10 – Could have used a bit more ambition and gets distracted often, though its atmosphere is good.
Characters: 7/10 – The creators were conflicted in how to use their main character, and thefore she tends to get in the way of everything. It’s got some good moments of characterization, though.
Production-Values: 9/10 – Amazing background art, the action scenes in this show look gorgeous. The 2D animation… not so much.
Setting: 9/10 – Excellent and intriguing setting. This series has a lot of fun with its world building.

Suggestions:
– Shantri-La
– Guin Saga
– Simoun

Guilty Crown Review – 62,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

I have been following the Noitamina timeslot ever since 2005. At this point, I’ve watched and completed every single anime to appear in the timeslot, save for one, so yes: I do not say this easily: Guilty Crown has been the worst Noitanima series I have ever seen.

This is a combination of a hype that it miserably failed to live up to, plain bad storytelling and a ton of wasted potential. Here we finally had another Noitamina series that was allowed to go on for two cours with 22 episodes. In a timeslot where the biggest problem is being too short this really is an amazing chance, and even more of a bummer to see it trashed like this. This show is stupid, badly told, boring, inconsequential, and most important of all: it’s empty.

Seriously, this series does not know how to tell a story. This show has the idea that as long as it pulls enough plot twists, it’ll automatically get good. It wants this so badly, that it starts pulling these twists right out of its ass. Especially the second half of the series just keeps pulling the most convenient deus ex machina right from out of bloody nowhere. “Oh, we need this power to keep going, oh wait, that character conveniently had that power, even though it was never mentioned or hinted at before!” – and that’s just one of the least insulting ones.

Okay, so the plot is bad. On its own that’s not automatically a failure if the show has enough to make up for it. The thing is however: this show doesn’t. It looks pretty and all, but I can’t really recommend it for anything. In fact, the plot isn’t even the worst part of this show. No, that honour belongs to the cast of characters.

Shu has got to be the worst main character that I’ve seen in a long while. I mean, you really have to try to be as bad as him. This is the kind of guy of which the creators never really decided what personality they should get him. The result is that he completely changes character with every passing episode with no explanation behind it whatsoever. Whatever is the most convenient for the plot, he acts like that. The result is an incredibly annoying, inconsistent and bafflingly stupid character.

And the thing is: the entire show revolves around this loser. Every character is tailor-made to revolve around him, even though we’re never given a reason to actually like him. Everyone is forced into this role to help him tell his story… whatever the hell that may be. The lead female… is completely useless for the entire length of the show. I know that we often joke with romantic interests being pointless, but this girl is even worse. She literally does nothing other than talk here and there and go emo once in a while. The rest of the side-cast also isn’t better of, as they fit in with whatever role the male lead seems to want to play at the moment, acting as cannon fodder for him. The antagonists are just a bunch of screaming stereotypical evil guys who like to kill people because… well… because.

It’s very likely that this show had the biggest budget of the past half year. And yet, I wouldn’t rank the animation as the best or most interesting here. The show has great inbetween animation, but it hardly ever does anything interesting with its eye candy or direction. I found myself enjoying the visuals of Nisemonogatari, Black Rock Shooter, Milky Holmes, Last Exile and Chihayafuru much more, because they actually tried to bring their characters to life. Guilty Crown doesn’t even attempt to do that.

Overall, the first half of Guilty Crown is mind-numbingly boring. Hardly anything really seems to happen in it at all. This completely changes in the second half when it pulls the most bafflingly convenient plot twists that would make Code Geass cringe. And you know what? It’s still boring. It’s been a while since a show that was this hyped, that was this ambitious, fell so flat on its face as here. I read in an interview once that the creators want to make the male lead into the new Shinji Ikari of Evangelion. And indeed, parts of this show scream “Evangelion wannabe”. These guys however had no bloody clue what made that show good.

Storytelling: 6/10 – Mind-numbingly stupid, boring and empty. Has no idea how to tell a good story and just pulls random twists whatever is the most convenient.
Characters: 5/10 – I really have nothing positive to say about these guys whatsoever. There was no character whatsoever who I liked. Everyone revolves way too much around the male lead. Everyone here is exceptionally bad.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Okay, the series does have pretty graphics, but with the budget it has it could have done so much more.
Setting: 6/10 – Who on earth green-lighted this? The setting behind this feels like no thought was put into making it actually work. Again, it centers way too much to the male lead, instead of the other way around.

Suggestions:
– Toward the Terra
– Neon Genesis Evangelion
– Eden of the East

Black Rock Shooter Review – 77,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews



So, Black Rock Shooter. It definitely raised some eyebrows when it was first announced as a Noitamina series. Sure, by that time we were already done with Fractale and all, but considering that the OVA was a boring teenaged angst-fest it didn’t exactly have the best papers in a timeslot that set itself apart through its focus on an older audience. There were hints that the creators were willing to experiment, though: it only had 8 episodes, preventing it from dragging on and allowing Thermae Romae to fill its slot in the meantime, Mari Okada was appointed as the head writer and the action would be directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi (you know, the director of Gurren Lagann and Panty and Stocking). As an arthouse project, it could have had some serious potential with this.

Now, if you haven’t watched the OVA though, there are a few things you should know about this. Black Rock Shooter started as a software program Vocaloid which allows people to make their own songs, which spawned an illustration, which spawned a song. This song spawned an OVA, after which a TV-series followed. It’s an interesting example of virality out there. In any case though, the illustration indeed looked very stylish and a good writer could do some great things with that. For some reason however, the creators of the OVA shoehorned a bunch of teenaged girls into the story who took up most of the airtime, reducing the titular “Black Rock Shooter” to just someone who “fights stuff”. It wasn’t that good. It was up to the creators of the anime to try better. Well, they succeeded in that, but there are a lot of bumps along the way here…

Unfortunately, in the end the TV-series of Black Rock Shooter also ends up focusing on teenaged angst. Thankfully where in the OVA this was really boring, they did try a lot of things to spice up this angst. Some things worked, others tried way too hard, and at others they just didn’t try enough. Especially the first half is a chore to sit through due to all of the hugely overblown angst that passes the screen. In particular the character of Yomi gets really annoying in how incredibly emo she gets, but there are more characters in this show who force themselves way too hard to create drama, and this undermines the rest of the characterization.

Thankfully in the second half this series redeems itself, and it actually starts developing its characters and setting. Along with the revelations, the characters are much better balanced together, and it does come down to a pretty decent, albeit sappy, conclusion. Yes, it actually avoided the biggest pitfall of Noitamina series of not being able to end well. In the end it does create an interesting link between the two parallel worlds so things do come together. I personally found the first half of this show a chore to sit through, but I liked the direction it took in the second half quite a bit.

Also, the action in this series is really sweet. We definitely were in for a treat in the animation department this past winter-season: Nisemonogatari, Milky Holmes 2 and Black Rock Shooter: these three series looked past their conventional animation, and really tried to do interesting stuff with their visuals and their visual direction. The action sequences in this series are really intense and well directed. Most of it is done in 3D CG, so that takes a while to get used to (because they don’t blend in too well at times), but it’s a sacrifice that was worth it, because otherwise the creators would never have been able to put as much movement in this series as now. The soundtrack complements it all well. I’d almost say: go and watch this as a multimedia experience. This is really a show where the visuals are as important as the story and characters. The emo is a bit annoying at times, but overall, it could have done a lot worse. It’s not the disaster that Fractale or Guilty Crown were, in any case.

Storytelling: 8/10 – An interesting attempt in combining story, bisuals and music together. Actually ends well.
Characters: 7/10 – A few interesting ones, along with a few characters who try too hard at being dramatic.
Production-Values: 9/10 – Terrific action scenes, a feast for the senses when it wants to.
Setting: 7/10 – The creators could have done a ton of things with this concept. Unfortunately, the setting they went with was centered around moe teenaged angst that is under-utilized in the first half. A missed chance.

Suggestions:
– Madlax
– Narutaru
– Shigofumi