Category: Other:

Hetalia: Axis Powers Second Season Review – 77,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Hetalia: Axis Powers



Okay, so it might be a bit pointless to write a review about a show whose next season is going to air in a week or two, but who cares? Comedy sequels very often suffer from a lack of quality, whether it’s from a lack of inspiration, a burn out of the best jokes, or simply from trying too hard, it’s rare to run into a comedy that’s as good as its original. Hetalia however, is one such series. It’s not the best comedy out there by far, but it knows what it is: bite-size chunks of international humour.

The series still is far from the funniest show out there; in this season alone, I can name eight series that made me laugh harder than what Hetalia had to offer. However, in its second season it’s become much more consistent when compared to the first season: every episode was guaranteed to get a chuckle out of me, and it didn’t waste its time anymore on the pointless sketches as the garage cleaning, and the most annoying character of the first season (Liechtenstein) Only made one very small appearance. The historical and cultural references throughout the series are still spot-on, despite the at first seemingly stereotypical portrayal of all of the different countries.

The weak point of this season lies in the gay jokes. There are way too many of them, and they’re just not funny. Well, to me at least, but I found that the awkward moments in which whichever two countries made these embarrassed facial expressions whenever something even remotely ‘cute’ happened get old soon. I don’t have anything fundamentally against gay jokes, I enjoyed them for what they were in Junjo Romantica, but here they just won’t work.

Reviewing comedy series of course is something very personal, since everyone has a different kind of sense of humour, but I do want to praise Hetalia for this: its subject matter. Remember how last year, a bunch of Koreans got offended because this series parodied it? It just shows how easily ticked off some people are, by simple and innocent jokes. This series opened up a lot of discussions on that matter, and I hope that it helped along to build a bridge, so that we can in the future simply make innocent fun of other cultures without having hordes of angry people condemn you to death.

Storytelling: 7/10 – Consistent, quite funny, though too many gay jokes.
Characters: 8/10 – A colourful cast of different personified countries, though don’t expect anything deep here.
Production-Values: 7/10 – Nothing special.
Setting: 9/10 – Spot-on historical and cultural references.

Some Quick First Impressions: Hipira-Kun and Working!!

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Hipira-Kun

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is the prince of vampires!
This is another one for the people who like the kids’ stuff, but it’s surprisingly well made. I originally didn’t give it a chance because… yeah. It’s a kids’ show about vampires. Prior to the past season, kids shows were nearly all somewhat mediocre. The art direction for Hipira-kun kicks ass, though. It may be entirely in 3D, but the creators did really well in making it look cool. The direction is also very dynamic, where you’ll often see lots of things happen at the same time. Episodes are only five minutes long, so it’s not really a big commitment to watch this either. Interestingly, it’s created by the same guy who did Deathtic 4 of Genius Party. To be honest, I enjoyed this episode more, although the story is still rather silly.
Potential: 50%

Working!!

Short Synopsis: Our lead character starts working at a restaurant with strange people in it.
To be honest, the first show to debut this spring season is a disappointment. I was looking forward to this series because it promised to be another mature slice of life series that focuses on actual adults… and yet the main characters turn out to be teenagers. The lead female was too much of a complete moron in this episode, and the main character can’t seem to decide whether he wants to play the straight man or not. The biggest problem with this first episode however was that most of the characters rely too much on their quirks for their characterizations. Especially that incredibly shy girl who hits men was way too exaggerated.
ED: Meh, another one of those obnoxious J-pop songs.
Potential: 30%

Seikai no Senki Review – 85/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Seikai no Monshou



I like how, even though it’s a direct sequel, Seikai no Senki is completely different from Seikai no Monshou. It shows that the creators aren’t one trick ponies, and it makes the premise much more dynamic to see it explored in all those different ways. Seikai no Monshou was pretty much a space adventure series. Seikai no Senki however, is war. And let me tell you, I can count the series that managed to portray science fiction battles in a more realistic way than what we saw here on one hand.

During the battles, the lead characters Lafiel and Jinto may not be the centre of the focus. They may not hold the key of victory, and they may not possess a god-mode weapon that can take out several enemy ships in a row. Their ship may not magically dodge bullets, and they also may not fight according to their own battle plans, and instead have to follow orders. But that’s the great thing about it! The battles here are believable and purposefully kept from going over the top. 2000 years (or however long humanity may take before developing stable spaceflight) into the future, I can totally see large-scale space battles happen in a similar fashion.

As compared to Seikai no Monshou, which walked all over the place, Seikai no Senki is a very focused story, and much more consistent. It tells two stories at the same time. One part is focused at a single ship, and the people who command it. The other focus is at the top officials and admirals, who attempt to steer the battle in the right directions. Due to the large amount of time that it spends fleshing out these people through their dialogue, it becomes fascinating to see these people strategize.

As for the dialogue… well, Seikai no Monshou did just about everything there was to do in terms of hard-hitting and confronting dialogue, so there was no way for Seikai no Senki to beat it. Instead, the dialogue is much more subtle. It’s still very noticably there and Jinto and Lafiel still don’t hesitate at all to speak their minds in a very un-Japanese-like fashion, but it lacks the edge it once had. This one is also much more about creating an atmosphere of what it’s like to command a small battleship at the front lines. The dialogue instead excels in the small things, like characters taking subtle jabs at each other, or subtle hints that are actually meant to flesh out characters beyond what they tell straight-forwardly. Oh, and I loved that cat, who just keeps coming back. There’s hardly anything comedic about it, but it brings a surprisingly human side to the main cast.

I can’t say which one of Seikai no Senki and Seikai no Monshou is the better one. They’re too different to really say for sure: Seikai no Monshou had a bit of a disappointing finale, but an excellent beginning. Seikai no Senki instead doesn’t really have an episode that I’d crown as awesomeness, but instead was excellent from beginning to end. Still, Seikai no Senki did have the advantage that it could use the build-up that was provided by Sekai no Monshou, without which I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much as I did.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Very realistic space battles. No God-mode beams whatsoever and it’s still an action-packed series.
Characters: 9/10 – Less focus on character-development, but the dialogue is incredibly rich in fleshing out its cast.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Still solid, but nothing really special for its time.
Setting: 8/10 – Not as interesting as in Monshou, but still very solid.

Cobra The Animation – Time Drive Review – 80/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Cobra The Animation



Here’s a quick review. I think that my biggest issue with Cobra is that I unfortunately happened to watch one of the worst Cobra episodes as my introduction to the franchise (the first episode of the Psychogun), and because of that I was reluctant to check out Time Drive. Still, I’m glad I did, because especially that first episode stands out to me as one of the best Cobra episodes I’ve seen.

The main problem with Cobra has always been that he God-moded himself through any sort of problem that he ran into. This OVA shows a unique side of his character, though. It’s not just the fact that we get to see a younger Cobra, but also the older Cobra is much more interesting than he usually is. Not to mention the huge amount of ideas that the creators managed to put in just thirty minutes. It’s an excellent adventure.

The second episode is a bit of a step back. Nowhere near bad or anything, but it lacks the punch and the amount of creativity of the first episode, plus the transitions move a bit awkwardly at times. Nevertheless, it’s a nice conclusion to that excellent first episode.

Storytelling: 8/10 – A bit rough around the edges but packs a great sense of adventure, which is exactly what

this series should be.
Characters: 8/10 – In two episodes, it showed more variety to the characters than the 40 TV-episodes that I’ve seen so

far.
Production-Values: 7/10 – Hmm, lacks the excellent animation of Cobra 1982 or the eye candy of Cobra 2010, and it’s

supposed to be an OVA. Though Yoshihiro Ike kicks ass as usual.
Setting: 9/10 – So. Many. Neat. Ideas.

Just one side-note: what is it with Japanese confusing “dive” with “drive”? First Real Drive, and now this. When characters are clearly diving into

something metaphorical… why call it that way?

Mobile Suit Gundam – Stardust Memory Review – 62,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews



The Stardust Memory Gundam caught my attention mainly because one of its directors: Mitsuko Kase. While I’m also a bit of a fan of her, her directional style is completely different to the stuff we usually see in Gundam: both the early Tomino Series and the later incarnations.

And seriously, the work that she pulls off here belongs to her best. The animation is beyond incredible, and the battles all know how to not go over the top. The weaknesses of the different pilots in combat play a huge role here, and this makes the battles much more intense than your usual Gundam battles. The tension between the different characters is great, and the characterization, despite throwing in lots of Gundam archetypes (most notably, ignoring orders) gives an entirely new dimension to the Gundam formula.

Oh, how I would have wished to sing these kinds of praises for the entire 13 episodes of this OVa. Unfortunately, Mitsuko Kase only directed the first five of them. Derailing is a big word… but that’s exactly what this show does after that point.

And I’m not kidding here. Few series I’ve seen have transgressed from so good, to so utterly bad in such a short amount of time. I really wish I could, but aside from the animation I just can’t say anything positive about the mess that this show eventually devolves into. As the characters move into space, the show loses all of its subtlety and battles simply turn into the endless repetitions that we’re known of Gundam. The characters all lose their charms and devolve into generic archetypes. The male lead once was an interesting new version of Amuro Ray due to his rookie status, but he soon develops a bad case of constipation, somehow gets to be the only one who can pilot the Uber Gundam of this series and has as much personality as a brick wall.

There is a plot, and it would have been a fairly good one if only the execution wasn’t so ridiculously stupid. Plot twists are pretty much pulled out of the creators’ asses. Is your Gundam destroyed? Well, conveniently people have been developing a brand new one behind the scenes. Need some extra drama? Well, you wouldn’t believe the stuff that this show pulls in order to get there. Not to mention the godawful ‘foreshadowing episode’ (you’ll know which episode I’m referring to, right when you see it due to its elephant-like subtlety). Even for Gundam’s standards, the plot twists are just BAD beyond belief.

I often see people praise the UC Gundam timeline, and how it’s so much better and superior than the other Gundams and stuff, but I disagree. For me, Gundam has been a string of series that actually disappointed in their second halves more often than that they didn’t, often derailing the plot completely into pointless angst or stupid plot twists like this one. Oh, let’s hope that the currently airing Gundam Unicorn can avoid this because for me, it’s likely to be the most overrated franchise in anime at this point.

Storytelling: 6/10 – Starts off tense and realistic. Ends incredibly unbalanced, wastes too much time, and pulls random plot twists from out of nowhere.
Characters: 5/10 – Start off full of promise, ends with a ton of archetypes and caricatures, a ton of emo and pathetic romance.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Starts off amazingly fluid with an excellent soundtrack. The animation dulls in but it’s still very good, aside from a cop-out at the climax. Oh, and the good music somehow disappears.
Setting: 6/10 – You’ve got to love, how at the end some disclaimers and Deus ex Machina are pulled to fix the continuity errors that this show created…

February Summary

by psgels, posted in Monthly Summaries

Overall, this probably is the season in which I watched the least amount of series since Winter 2006 or something. Nevertheless, this season also has a very nice collection of interesting and engaging series. Especially the kids’ series and the series that put a lot of effort into their settings are doing well. The upcoming spring season seems to be one of opportunities:: there’s a ton of series with a great production-team and a generic premise, or generic production teams and a great premise.

#18 (14) – Hanamaru Youchien – (7,5/10) – Seriously… what happened? Here we have a nice series about a bunch of kids who have fun in a kindergarten… and suddenly this show decides that it also wants a brother complex drama. This series had such a simple formula… so why are the creators forgetting that?
#17 (16) – Ookami Kakushi – (7,75/10) – Yeah, now I’m convinced that this, like most other works of the director, is a wasted potential. The source this time is the “useless lead character”-syndrome: he’s the least interesting character of the entire cast, he never really does anything, his part in the story and especially his central role doesn’t make any sense, and most importantly: he gobbles up all of the precious airtime that could have been focused at the more interesting characters. Right now, the rest of the cast can’t show their best sides because of this guy and the plot events just happen without a lot of meaning to them.
#16 (15) – Kimi ni Todoke – (7,75/10) – The brother arc was nice, PROVIDED that the creators won’t stretch it any further than what they have now. It was a great way to develop these two characters, but I know that my patience is going to break if it gets stretched out any further. Oh, and seriously: is there any reason why Sawako and Kazehaya haven’t hooked up yet? Seriously.
#15 (12) – Katanagatari – (8/10) – There’s still lots and lots of talking in this series, but it’s still interesting and witty. The series does need to think about character-development if it wants to remain interesting for 10 more episodes, though.
#14 (9) – Gag Manga Biyori + – (8/10) – It’s a bit of a shame that out of all the episodes it decides to recap, it picks the dullest ones. Ah well, the original episodes, especially episode five, were just priceless. And I still can’t get enough of that ED.
#13 (8) – Letter Bee – (8/10) – ZOMG Second Season! That one announcement totally re-established my faith in this series. The episodes this month haven’t been among this series’ highlights, but they served their purpose as build-up well.
#12 (18) – Anymaru Tantei Kiruminzoo – (8/10) – Last month I had my fears, but this series picked itself back up again, and is as enjoyable as ever. One thing that also really helps here is the great voice-acting for the lead characters: it’s inspired, fun and creative and continually makes the characters fun to watch.
#11 (13) – Cobra the Animation – (8/10) – This show knows exactly what it is: space adventures, and it delivers on this. The creativity in this series in my opinion beats that of Cobra 1982 by miles and despite the fact that Cobra kicks ass in just about every way imaginable, it’s consistently enjoyable.
#10 (10) – Tentai Senshi Sunred – (8,25/10)

Most comedies would have burned out at this point, but not Sunred: it still keeps fresh jokes coming, and it skilfully knows how long it should repeat certain jokes before they get stale. Or how long it should repeat certain jokes to turn them into running gags. After nearly fifty episodes, it’s still a fresh source of comedy.

#9 (11) – Kaidan Restaurant – (8,25/10)

It’s a kid’s show, yes. But I find myself enjoying this series more and more with every episode. The different horror stories are consistently well told and varied. I can always count on this series to give me a weekly fix of horror.

#8 (new) – Heartcatch Precure – (8,5/10)

Finally another good mahou shoujo appeared again. Heartcatch Precure is miles away from regular Precure series, it’s got a very strong direction, the characters’ expressions are very detailed and varied and the comedy itself is consistently funny as well. Not to mention the gorgeous Casshern-esque character-designs.

#7 (9) – Marie & Gali – (8,5/10)

Noo! Episode 38 showed the beginning of the finale, meaning that this wonderful series is going to end soon. Such a shame, but at least it’s good to see that this series ends at the point where it’s at its height, rather than dying a slow death. And the finale itself also did not dent the quality in any way either: the creators have chosen a very appropriate story for this series.

#6 (6) – Kobato – (8,5/10)

I must praise the creators for how the developed Kobato: she’s gotten downright adorable at this point, and the rest of the cast also has so much charms. This is a simple series, but because of that it’s wonderful to see how well the development has become.

#5 (4) – Cross Game – (8,5/10)

Since the baseball matches never were Cross Game’s strong point, I wasn’t really looking forward to this point. But to my surprise, the characters did not lose their unique charms. In fact, while the series’ mood changed to less subtle, this show avoided jumping the shark and instead still is an utter joy to watch due to these developments.

#4 (7) – Sora no Oto – (8,75/10)

This series has really proven itself to be more than just moe. The characters are well written and down to earth, and yet it also proves that it can hit hard with episodes as episode 7. the direction knows when it needs to be subtle and when it needs to be powerful, I’m very impressed.

#3 (3) – Durarara – (8,75/10)

This series has proven to be excellent at weaving together so many different stories in the same episodes. It’s witty, funny, powerful, touching, engaging, well characterized, varied and the way that every episode is told through the perspective of a different character gives quite a unique dimension to everything.

#2 (2) – Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – (9/10)

The way in which this series really sets itself apart from others is its focus on finding allies:Ed and Al by far aren’t the only ones in the middle of this story; there are so many different characters who are trying to accomplish the same or similar goals to their own, and they all work together to get there. It also of course really helps that the execution is as solid as ever.

#1 (1) – Armed Librarians – The Book of Bantorra – (9,25/10)

Even though this series has been among my favourites of the past five months, it still continues to impress with such a powerful and imaginative plot, along with strong themes and messages. I salute the two central characters that we saw for their beliefs.

Halo Legends Review – 85/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews



Those who have been reading this blog for a while now probably know that I’m a big fan of those compilation-movies: the ones that challenge all kinds of different artists and storytellers to produce a short animation film of 10 to 20 minutes, and combine them all together into one. The fact that Halo Legends is based upon an American franchise makes it even better, giving these films an international flavour, combining east and west.

Overall, even though I’ve played none of the games, I was very pleasantly surprised by Halo Legends, there are some true gems among these stories. Here are some individual comments on all of them:

Origins – I – Just a background story of the world the games are set in. It’s a standard post-apocalyptic story, but well paced. It’s got a great soundtrack all-round, and the art looks pretty nice. The animation however… not so much.

Prototype – I went into this without any background story whatsoever, so I did miss who these characters were, but that was the beauty of this episode: it possesses enough characterization and background to make them stand apart anyway, and the holes in their background added to their mysterious characters. This one produced a great feel of the battlefields that the Hal-games envisioned.

The Babysitter – This one starts out mundane and boring, but ends as the best one yet. Despite the weak set-up it continues to push the right buttons and even gets some development into the short time-frame. The graphics also move from rather ugly to utterly gorgeous, and you can really see that the guys from Studio 4C are trying out a ton of different animation techniques.

The Package – Entirely rendered in CG – yes, even the characters’ faces. It looks great, but this episode tries to be a bit too much like a game, and the formula hurts a lot. Game adaptations are great, just because out of all possible adaptations they require the most input from the creators of the adaptations, in order to really work (there’s no way to animate game-over screens, after all), and this one took too little liberties, and just went for the eye-candy. I like eye-candy, but not when I don’t care about the rest of the story.

Homecoming – Whoa! Another excellent example of how much you can do in just fifteen minutes. Instead of showing a random story, the creators succeeded in showing a character here, one with actual depth that gets explored perfectly in such a short time-frame. Oh, and best soundtrack yet, and the backgrounds are also gorgeously detailed. The characters’ faces were a bit too much of plastic, though.

Odd One Out – And now for something completely different. Odd one out has no depth, it’s got a basic story, premise and lacks any sort of intelligence. What it is, however is a fun ten-minute shounen episode with lots of loud people fighting. Nothing special, but the characters all have their charms, and that’s what I think the creators of this one tried to achieve.

Origins – II – Oh, the graphics in this short kick so much ass! No frame feels the same, every frame is full of imagination and incredibly varied. This one is again back-story, and the slide-show it presents while the central character has her story does wonders to illustrate her narration. This drew me in far more than the first Origins, and smartly uses the build-up provided by the former.

The Duel – This one also is done entirely in CG, but with a really weird filter put on top of it. It’s… intrusive to say the least. In any case, what sets this one apart is the classic Japanese style of storytelling: here the creators took an evil alien race, and turned it into a Japanese-esque tribe of pride and stubbornness. The characters are pretty static, though, and the scenario was a bit too predictable at times.

If I’d have to rank these eight from least favourite to most, it’d be the following:
8. The Package
7. Odd One Out
6. Origins – I
5. The Duel
4. Prototype
3. Origins – II
2. Homecoming
1. The Babysitter

The top four were a bit of a weird experiment. For those who were looking forward to Mamoru Oshii’s involvement: don’t. He only worked on The Duel, and while it was an interesting attempt to show that animation is more than just 2D and 3D CG and Japanese or American, it was 1) too Japanese for that to really work, and 2) you could clearly see that it was just 3D CG with a random filter. Anyone with a video editing tool could do that.

The bottom four however, were definitely worth it, and Bones, Bee-Train and Studio 4C did an amazing job bringing these short stories to life. I especially loved Homecoming and the Babysitter: even though the characters looked a bit weird in the beginning, they made up with it with some amazing eye candy and a ton of personality. It’s very difficult to get sympathetic characters out of just 15 minutes, but these two more than did it.

The best in terms of graphics came from Studio 4C; while just about every episode aside from the Duel looked great, Origins and The Babysitter push good looking even further by not focusing on extreme detail, but instead on creativity. Their shorts are a visual feast, mostly because they throw in so many different artworks that are varied, bold and all kick ass. The music… hell, do I need to even say it? While the music was excellent for every short, Homecoming had by far the best soundtrack.

All I can say is: Studio 4C, Production IG, Bones, Bee Train, and just about every other anime studio who’s ever participated in these kinds of projects: please keep doing them! The beauty of these projects is that with so much diversity, there are so many interesting and different stories to tell. Sure, there will be some disappointing episodes, but even then the nice ones are bound to make up for them.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Prototype, Origins II, Homecoming and The Babysitter make excellent use of their short time-frame and put forth a truly engaging story.
Characters: 8/10 – A bit held back by the cardboard characters of Odd One Out and The Package.
Production-Values: 9/10 – Gorgeous and varied graphics, though at times the animation itself could be better.
Setting: 8/10 – I’ve never seen Halo, and I’m impressed at how they portrayed such a seemingly cliched back-story.

Maria-Sama ga Miteru Third Season Review – 85/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews



With this third season, I’m completely sold on the Maria-Sama ga Miteru franchise. The first season took a while to get going, while the second dragged on a bit too much in its second half, but this series of OVAs is perfectly paced, making for five excellent double-length episodes.

This season is all about character-development. It’s always been a big part of the Maria-Sama ga Miteru series, and it’s something that just gets better and better here in this season. It advances the characters, and also does wonders in fleshing out how exactly the characters have changed from the beginning of the first season.

While at first sight yet another high school drama, Maria-Sama ga Miteru sets itself apart in so many different ways. The unique drama that results from the fact that it’s a very neat school, so much that even the tiniest misunderstanding can create genuine and powerful drama. The way in which each student chooses her own younger sister gives a unique twist to these characters, and really allows them to get the best character-development possible in such a setting. It’s a series that’s elegant and innocent, and this shines through the third season more than ever. Even though some of the most interesting characters of the first two seasons have left now, the remaining characters picked up the pace perfectly and created their own story. Yumi, while I once criticised her for sticking her nose into everything, has developed into a wonderful character at this point.

The OVA-format also means that there was no budget wasted on broadcasting costs, so the graphics also look better and more consistent than ever. This third season is well paced, with just the right balance between drama, slice of life and character-development. Overall, I’m very impressed.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Excellent balance and pacing that gets the best out of the characters.
Characters: 9/10 – At this point the characters all have some sort of interesting development behind them.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Very solid, as expected of the OVA-format.
Setting: 8/10 – Is set in a high school, yet feels unique.

Ookiku Furikabutte Review – 85/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews



At first sight, baseball series must all look the same. I too had that same prejudice about the genre before I started watching them. However, what I like about them is that they all have their own things that they’re good at: Touch has its character-development, One Outs has its mind games, Cross Game has its slice of life and Princess Nine has its bombastic and bold execution. Ookiku Furikabutte is the proverbial page-turner: I found myself marathoning through this series, just to see what would happen next.

I’ve often criticized baseball matches for dragging on for too long, but here it’s different: the first season of Ookiku Furikabutte only has two matches, one of which takes up a whopping eleven episodes. Miraculously though, the creators somehow managed to keep it engaging from beginning to end. Out of all the baseball series I’ve seen, this is the one that put the most emphasis on teamwork. It does not have a god-moded pitcher or batter who can single-handedly save games: every single pitch, every single throw or swing is important and could have a major impact on the match.

Because the pitcher inthis series isn’t able to take care of the entire defense by himself, we for once get to see every member of the team in the spotlight, and with his own chances to shine, even the team of the opponent is fleshed out in this way. The baseball matches here are full of tactics that often need to be re-adjusted for every different player, and the creators have really shown that they have a deep knowledge about their subject.

Despite this, I still have a few problems withthe main pitcher, though. It seems to me that the creators tried a bit too hard to make him step away from your average lead character-pitcher that they completely dived into the opposite side of the spectrum. Mihashi is such a loser and socially inept kid that he’s more like some sort of a plot device, rather than an actual character, and I feel that the creators overplayed his strange quirks a bit too much, and that’s a shame because he does get the most ttention in this series. This takes precious time away from the side-characters, that could have been used to develop them.

Overall, A-1 Pictures animated this series also very skillfully: all of the character-designs are distinct and not just carbon copies with just different hair slapped on top of them. Their animation knows when to be smooth and when to cut corners in order to give a good feel of the ongoing baseball match, with the only notable annoyance being the constant facial distortions of Mihashi that get old after a while.

Overall, while I’ve seen more interesting characters in baseball series, I have not seen baseball matches as detailed as outlined here. This is really a series for the baseball fans out there, because this series perfectly captures the essence of how gruelingly long and intense such a match can be. That second season is looking very promising now.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Very well written baseball: every pitch, hit, throw and catch counts.
Characters: 8/10 – Good characterization, but simple characters and an overly quirky lead character.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Solid.
Setting: 9/10 – Very knowledgeable about all sorts of baseball techniques and concepts.

Spring Season Preview – Movie and OVA Edition

by psgels, posted in Seasonal Previews

So this is a bit of an experiment: with a lot of seasonal previews I’ve been noticing that OVAs and Movies often take the back seat (this also was the case with my own), up to the point that some gems like Furusato Japan completely passed the radar for years. So here it is: a seasonal preview that’s entirely focused on the upcoming OVAs and Movies. Do note that for the movies, you can expect them to only be available in six months or so.

In any case, the major players here are Sunrise and Production IG with four and three releases respectively. That explains why they felt rather absent with among the Television series. For the people who noted that the spring line-up didn’t look very impressive: a lot of the good stuff of the upcoming season also lies with its Movies and OVAs, with a number of awesome premises scheduled.

Doraemon: Nobita no Ningyo Daikaisen

Summary: It has something to do with Doraemon and his friends fining a mermaid princess and becoming mermaids themselves.
Why you should look forward to it: It will keep your kids busy.
Why you should not look forward to it: This movie wins the prize for having the most annoying website, including a movie that just won’t. stop. playing. Even when you attempt to shut it off, it comes back to bite you after a few seconds. In any case, it’s a harmless kids adventure, but I don’t see much depth or fun for anyone of an older demographic.
First-Glance Potential: 0%

To Love-Ru OVA 6

Summary: Following the adventures and trouble that surrounds Lala Satalin (princess of Deviluke stellar empire) and her unwilling fiance Rito Yuki (a mere human), and friends. The story from “ToLoveRU” continues with a lot of fun caused by Lala’s scientific research, her twin sisters, friends, and Rito’s sister. – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: Boobs?
Why you should not look forward to it: Xebec is a strange company. It’s definitely able to produce charming series with a lot of personality and depth. And then, their other side is this: cheap harem shows. If you like this sort of stuff, then good for you, but I’ve gotten tired of them looooong ago.
First-Glance Potential: 0%

Mahou Sensei Negima!: Mou Hitotsu no Sekai #3

Summary: Negi Springfield and his gang of students, The White Wing (aka Ala Alba), continue their search for Negi’s father by planning a trip to the magic world. The series starts off with their arrival in London and their trip to Negi’s home town (Chapter 184). – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: This is how to correctly adapt a franchise: just animate whatever you can stuff into a bunch of tv-series, and continue the rest of the manga in a series of OVAs.
Why you should not look forward to it: Blegh, Shinbo. Plus, I haven’t watched the rest of Negima.
First-Glance Potential: 0%

Sex Pistols

Summary: The 2003 sci-fi story deals with romantic relationships between human men that evolved from animals besides monkeys, such as leopards and bears. – (Taken from AniDB)
Why you should look forward to it: This is just… wrong on so many levels.
Why you should not look forward to it: I’m… speechless. I mean, yaoi is one thing, but this premise is the product of deranged minds.
First-Glance Potential: 0%

Eve no Jikan – The Movie

Summary: In the not too distant future androids have come into common usage. Taking the androids for granted, humans treat them as if they were common everyday tools, while on the other hand, some people empathize with androids due to their human-like appearance (save for a digital ring floating above their heads). This has become a social problem and these people are frowned upon as a result. Rikuo, one who has taken androids for granted for his entire life, one day discovers that Sammy, his home android, has been acting strangely and finds a strange phrase recorded in her activity log. He, along with his friend Masaki, traces Sammy’s footsteps and come upon an unusual cafe. This cafe’s main rule is to not discriminate between humans and androids. – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: If you haven’t seen it yet, then this is your chance. While it could have been longer, Eve no Jikan was an interesting look at AI and science fiction. This is the movie release of it.
Why you should not look forward to it: It does seem like your average recap movie, though. It doesn’t have much to offer for those who already watched it like myself.
First-Glance Potential: 0%

Haiyoru! Nyaru-Ani

Summary: The full length 20 minute long Flash anime stars the cute silver-haired girl Nyaruko-san who is actually the ancient monster god Nyarlathotep (from author H.P. Lovecraft’s “Cthulhu mythos”). – (Taken from AniDB)
Why you should look forward to it: You have to give the creators credit from coming up with such an obscure background character. The director, Azuma Tani is nearly completely new to the business, so it can go anywhere.
Why you should not look forward to it: DLE, the animation company, is only known for very, very, very cheap flash anime that anyone with a flash program could have made. The original character-designs are from the same guy who did them for Kanokon!
First-Glance Potential: 10%

Crayon Shin-chan: Chou Jikuu! Arashi o Yobu Ora no Hanayome

Summary: Shin-chan causes trouble at a wedding.
Why you should look forward to it: What made Shin-chan set himself apart from most other kids shows was simple: most leads are cheerful, nice and always perfect citizens. Shin-Chan is the complete opposite of that. The staff behind this movie also does not share its history: Akira Shiguno is the director, but he’s mostly directed other kinds of kids shows. The screenplay is even more interesting: Michiko Yokote, who worked on the series composition of gems as xxxHolic, Strange Dawn, Hale Nochi Guu and Princess Tutu, and wrote the script of Bake Neko, Cowboy Bebop and Kaze no Yojimbo.
Why you should not look forward to it: But here’s my experience with the Shin-chan franchise, or the TV-series at least, when it aired on Dutch television for a while: it’s fun at first, but after a while Shin-chan’s excessive whining REALLY gets on your nerves.
First-Glance Potential: 20%

Tono to Issho

Summary: Adaptation of Tono to Issho 4-panel gag manga. The manga follows the humorous exploits of generals during Japan’s tumultuous Sengoku (Era of the Warring States) period. – (Taken from AniDB)
Why you should look forward to it: I have no idea. It could be a nice parody, though.
Why you should not look forward to it: But it’s most likely just another one of those gimmicky OVAs that’s not worth watching.
First-Glance Potential: 20%

Precure All Stars DX2: Kibou no Hikari— Rainbow Angel o Mamore!

Summary: Not sure, but it involves every single Pretty Cure lead character. All seventeen of them.
Why you should look forward to it: God, talk about overkill. When you take the characters of all seven Precure series thus far and stuff them into one movie, it’s going to be an interesting train-wreck to see how the creators plan to do all of them justice…
Why you should not look forward to it: It’s another one of these marketing ploys to sell toys. How can these creators, whoever they are, think that they can give everyone its own distinct role?
First-Glance Potential: 30%

Detective Conan: The Lost Ship in The Sky

Summary: Kaitou Kid has his eyes set on the “Lady of the Sky” jewel aboard Bell 3, the largest airship in the world. However, a mysterious terrorist group called Red Shamu-neko has hijacked the airship itself, along with Conan, Kogoro and Ran. – (Taken from AniDB)
Why you should look forward to it: At this point it has become virtually impossible to try and catch up to the Conan TV-series, but a movie could be nice. With such a huge franchise, Gosho Aoyama, Yasuichiro Yamamoto and Kazunari Kouichi must have either gotten really good at the mystery genre…
Why you should not look forward to it: …or completely burned up. The thing I never understood about the Conan franchise is how you can keep with the exact same formula for more than a decade now, and still not run out.
First-Glance Potential: 30%

Gintama: Shinyaku Benizakura-Hen

Summary: This seems to be a recap movie of the Benizakura chapter, in which Gintoki’s past gets its first major exploration.
Why you should look forward to it: Ah, back when Gintama was at its best. The arc was a bit cheesy, but well written and gave a lot of depth to the characters involved.
Why you should not look forward to it: But yeah, it sounds like a recap movie with some new things added and subtracted. Will it be enough of a difference for those who already watched that arc?
First-Glance Potential: 30%

King of Thorn

Summary: A mysterious virus, nicknamed Medusa, is spreading around Japan, turning its victims into stone. Given the impossibility of finding an immediate cure, the government opts for cryopreserving a select group of patients until they come up with a solution. Kasumi, one of the chosen ones, has been asleep for years and her awakening, more than a bed of roses, is a bed of thorns, and happens in the midst of total chaos where monstrous creatures lie in wait all around. – (Taken from AniDB)
Why you should look forward to it: Ah, the next big-budgetted blockbuster. This one promises a lot of eye candy, and it’s good to see that the Sunrise executives are trying more than just ripping off their own franchises. Hiroshi Yamaguchi may have been behind a few flops, but also has shown that he can handle writing a serious story such as Argento Soma, Peacemaker Kurogane, Gatekeepers 21 and Yukikaze. It overall sounds like a very interesting mystery action series
Why you should not look forward to it: This movie is like what? 100 minutes long? The manga it’s based on consists out of 6 volumes. That ain’t gonna fit!
First-Glance Potential: 60%

Bungaku Shoujo

Summary: The “mysterious school comedy” centres on the unusual members of a high school literary club. Touko Amano, a high school senior who calls herself the “literary girl” as the club president, is actually a supernatural creature (youkai) that devours stories — she tears pages from books to munch on them. Her club subordinate is Konoha Inoue, a second-year high school boy who writes stories every day for Amano to eat. He once wrote an award-winning novel, but he wrote it under the pen-name Miu Inoue so readers thought the author was a mysterious 14-year-old bishoujo novelist. The stress from the novel’s fame and its movie and television drama plans turned Inoue in an introverted recluse. – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: So, this is what Production IG will be working on for the upcoming spring season. The OVA of Bungaku Shoujo did a nice job of introducing the main characters, but I do hope that the movie will show them in more depth. Yuka Yamada behind the screenplay sounds very promising, considering that she worked the script for Bokura ga Ita, Hataraki Man, Mushishi and Umi Monogatari.
Why you should not look forward to it: Shunsuke Tada, the director of World Destruction doesn’t seem like the best director you could get, though. His works have been among some of the series that impressed me the least over Production IG’s repertoire.
First-Glance Potential: 70%

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn

Summary: The year is U.C. 0096. Three years have passed since the end of the Second Neo Zeon War. It is said that the Vist Foundation manipulates the Earth Federation and Anaheim Electronics from behind the scenes. Hoping to create a new world, the Foundation attempts to hand over a certain secret to the Neo Zeon remnants known as the Sleeves. This will mean the opening of Laplace’s Box, which holds a great secret tied to the origins of the Universal Century. The exchange between the Vist Foundation and the Sleeves is to take place at the manufacturing colony Industrial 7. This is the home of the student Banagher Links, who rescues a girl he sees falling through the colony’s zero gravity area. The girl gives her name as Audrey Burne and says she wants to prevent a war, spurring Banagher to step into the conflict surrounding Laplace’s Box—almost as if he is drawn in by his own bloodline. – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: At first sight, this looks like yet another one of those Gundam series. For me the UC Gundam time-line derailed in the second half of Zeta Gundam, so what could this one hope to achieve. Now, take a look at the director: Kazuhiro Furuhashi, the director of epics as Rurouni Kenshin Tsuioukuhen, Real Drive, Zipang, Chevalier, Amatsuki and Hunter x Hunter: now I really have to look forward to it. The series will consist out of 6 episodes of about two hours in length, so that should be enough time.
Why you should not look forward to it: But yeah, the big problem with Gundam series nowadays is very meddling Sunrise Executives who refuse any sort of creative freedom, just for the sake of a whole list of shallow marketing plot-devices, like a bunch of bishies or that masked guy. This whole OVA is going to be a tug of war between them and the staff of this series, so let’s hope that it’s not going to turn into another train-wreck because of it.
First-Glance Potential: 70%

Break Blade 1

Summary: Rygart Arrow is the only one in his world who lacks the inherent ability to power up quartz, the energy source that makes all of the machines run. Nevertheless, he’s pretty well connected. The King and Queen of his country of Krisna happen to be old college friends. But so is Zess, the guy who is leading the army of a neighbouring kingdom in an attack on Krisna. How did it comes to this? There’s little time to ponder the implications as an army in giant, mechanized battle suits attacks. Arrow just feels like he’s in the way – until he comes across a powerful, ancient mech that no one has yet to be able to figure out how to run. But his natural affinity for the suit’s operating mechanism may just turn Arrow into the most important player of all. – (Taken from Mangaupdates)
Why you should look forward to it: It’s great to see that after Kara no Kyoukai’s success, there are more studios that release large series of movies in order to give their stories the time they need, rather than trying to stuff everything into just ninety minutes. Nobuyoshi Haraba, the director of Fafner and DNAngel is going to direct, which sounds like a solid selection.
Why you should not look forward to it: I’m a bit iffy about the chief director, though: Tetsuro Amino. while his experience is very broad, none of his series really seem that special.
First-Glance Potential: 70%

Trigun Badlands Rumble

Summary: The story is set in Makka, a town surrounded by quicksand. With rumours spreading that the legendary robber Gasback has his sights set on the town, the mayor Kepler has brought together bounty hunters to protect the town. These bounty hunters have been following Gasback from town to town in hopes of bagging the prize. Meryl and Milly have come to town to assess the situation as insurance agents, but are shocked by this turn of events. Moreover, Vash the Stampede is also in town, along with the female bounty hunter Ameria and Nicholas D. Wolfwood. – (Taken from AniDB)
Why you should look forward to it: The original director Satoshi Nishimura, who also directed the first season of Hajime no Ippo, is back with what apparently is a completely new story. Trigun had some great moments, so let’s hope that the movie can rekindle them.
Why you should not look forward to it: However, I had one problem with Trigun when I watched it: at some parts, it was a classic, but at others it tended to be a bit too dramatic than what was good for it, and it tended to drag this on for way too long, so that’s a potential pitfall. Yasuko Kobayashi, who is going to take care of the screenplay looks a bit iffy though. While she was the chief writer for Blassreiter and did the series composition for Casshern Sins, she also did the series composition for Claymore, Shakugan no Shana and Yume Tsukai…
First-Glance Potential: 80%

Eden of the East II – Paradise Lost

Summary: On November 22, 2010 ten missiles strike Japan. However, this unprecedented terrorist act, later to be called as “Careless Monday,” does not result in any apparent victims, and is soon forgotten by almost everyone. Then, 3 months later… Saki Morimi is a young woman currently in the United States of America on her graduation trip. But just when she is in front of the White House, Washington DC, she gets into trouble, and only the unexpected intervention of one of her fellow countrymen saves her. However, this man, who introduces himself as Akira Takizawa, is a complete mystery. He appears to have lost his memory. and he is stark naked, except for the gun he holds in one hand, and the mobile phone he’s holding with the other hand. A phone that is charged with 8,200,000,000 yen in digital cash. – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: So this movie will form the conclusion to Kenji Kawayama‘s Eden of the East, as its second conclusion movie. The original series had a great premise, and a lot depends on this movie for the success of this franchise. With two movies of a combined 172 minutes length, it’s bound to be interesting.
Why you should not look forward to it: But yeah, let’s not forget that the TV-series felt rather incomplete and disappointed a little in its second half. It’s really up to the movies to make up for it.
First-Glance Potential: 80%

xxxHolic Rou

Summary: Bundled with limited edition copies of XXXHOLiC manga volume 17. The OVA was originally announced for release with the 16th manga volume. – (Taken from AniDB)
Why you should look forward to it: Its excellent cast of characters. Watanuki is downright lovable, and through the course of two series, one OVA, one movie and a bunch of cameos in a ton of different series he’s turned into a very engaging character.
Why you should not look forward to it: But I’m still torn. After Tsubasa Chronicles pretty much decided to screw everyone who hasn’t read the manga, I’m very afraid that xxxHolic is going to end up doing the same.
First-Glance Potential: 90%

Tales of Symphonia – Tethealla-hen

Summary: This sequel will explore the world parallel to the one that the first OVA took place in, exploring themes as balance, racism and trust, in two worlds in which humans, elves and half-elves have many troubles coexisting.
Why you should look forward to it: Hell yeah, I’ve been looking forward to this! Finally it’s about time for my two favourite characters, Regal and Presea to arrive. The first OVA set itself apart by following the games faithfully, and yet taking its own route when necessary. The staff is the same, so it’s bound to be fun.
Why you should not look forward to it: But granted though, four episodes still feels a bit too short in order to give all of the nuances of the games ample attention. Let’s hope that Ufo Table can skilfully insert the most important parts.
First-Glance Potential: 90%

Armored Trooper Votoms – Phantom Arc

Summary: 26 years after the original Armored Trooper Votoms combat robotic mecha anime series aired, this new six-volume video series is slated to be the final chapter in the franchise. – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: Ryousuke Takahashi, an incredible director who has created a huge amount of unique and exceptionally well written series. Votoms is his pet project, and 26 years after the original air-date, we finally get the conclusion to this epic.
Why you should not look forward to it: Sunrise Executives, don’t you dare to touch this thing or make it more mainstream and marketable like how you ruined the Brilliant Heretic!
First-Glance Potential: 100%