Category: Some Quick First Impressions

Some Quick First Impressions: Suzy’s Zoo and Fireball Charming

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Fujilog

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is in his mid-life crisis.
Fujilog… is a sitcom. You know, the kind where we follow a middle aged guy and his family throughout random boring adventures while he nags constantly at everything. (In case you’re wondering: no, I do not like sitcoms, with only very few exceptions). In this episode he whines about how good the prefecture is in which he lives and ends up running for governor, and losing. To be honest, I didn’t like it, but this admittedly IS deeply rooted in Japanese culture. Perhaps if you live in Japan, you might get a bit of a better appreciation of what this show is trying to do. There is plenty of animation here, but it’s entirely in ugly CG.
Potential: 10%

Suzy’s Zoo

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a stuffed animal.
At the start of each season, I also always review the kiddie shows that pop up. But seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one where so little happens as in this one. All this episode was about was a moving duck toy taking a stuffed bear outside, the duck gets distracted by a grass-hopper, the bear moves, they hug, and the episode ends. I know that this episode was only two minutes long, but still I’m not really sure what I just watched. Thee animation is good for a kiddie show, though. It’s obviously in CG, but the creators actually put in effort to make it blend in with the backgrounds. Really young kids (read: of age 2 and 3) will probably love this one. Apart from that though… well, I guess that if you were really desperate for a big hug then this show suffices as well.
Potential: 10%

Fireball Charming

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a robot princess who lives in a giant fortress in the middle of a big war between robots and humans.
Fireball Charming: the show without introductions! Seriously, this episode just… starts. Without ever giving the viewer a chance to sit back. This episode was only 2 minutes long, but it really made use of its time. It’s actually improved a bit here and there, but the formula is still the same: two robots just talk about all sorts of stuff while making silly poses. And again, it works surprisingly well. What they’re talking about is consistently interesting and its deadpan humour makes this even better. In the meantime, the characters are moving around even more compared to the first season, which forces you to pay even more attention during these two minutes. Very recommended if you’re looking for a quick comedy.
Potential: 75%

Some Quick First Impressions: Gintama’, Steins;Gate and Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions, Steins;Gate

Gintama’

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a samurai.
I originally dropped the first Gintama season around episode 120. In short, the reason was the change of direction: it was less funny, the focus changed from dialogue to bloody action and some arcs got dragged out needlessly. It wasn’t bad by a long shot, but nowhere up to the standard of the first 100 episodes. With that in mind though, I really have to say that this episode felt much more like the first 100 episodes than the second. It was a really hilarious episode that completely broke the fourth wall in usual Gintama fashion. This is really the Gintama that I’ve been waiting for. The dialogue is again sharp and witty and I loved this episode. However, I do have one major criticism here: After watching more than 120 episodes of this show, it is getting predictable nonetheless. I could see quite a few of the anti-climaxes in this episode coming from afar. While those punchlines were utterly hilarious, it’s this predictability that will be the biggest problem for this sequel. Also (but this is just nitpicking), another thing that bothered me in this episode was that the facial expressions tried too hard. I think that a little more deadpan would have been a better choice, especially because of how characters hardly ever seemed to change their facial expressions.
OP: Best OP song of the season so far. Awesome guitar riffs.
ED: Nice idea, bu the cheesy vocals don’t fit in well.
Potential: 80%

Steins;Gate

Short Synopsis: Our lead character gets involved in a time travel conspiracy.
Steins;Gate… again is an excellent addition to this already excellent season. This one stands out in the best atmosphere: it’s really good at using its quiet pacing to build up tension and to retain that tension with some excellent climaxes. It’s got a deliberately overacting lead character (another adult, by the way), who against my expectations contrasted sharply with the dark atmosphere of this series, which worked really well. He’s exceptionally good at keeping the balls into the air and making things consistently interesting. This is a series that depends a lot on its dialogue, and it passes here with flying colors thanks to this guy, who just keeps changing the setting and topic in order to remain fresh and interesting. And yet there is some order to his chaos, which pays off during the climaxes in this episode. The females also were really great to watch, and knew that they shouldn’t try to look like moe stereotypes, but just play themselves. This was a quiet yet very interesting episode and I’m really looking forward to seeing more.
Potential: 85%

Ore-tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is surrounded by a bunch of girls.
Keeping up in the tradition of this season in which series are either really really good, or not interesting at all, Oretsuba is utter crap. Of course, I pretty much expected it to be bad when I first learned of it, but this show is so bizarrely horrible in a way that I never saw coming. The best way to compare this show with is with Shukufuku no Campanella on weed. The production values here are utterly terrible, with especially the voice actors laughably bad, but what really striked me here is that the scenario writers had no idea what they were doing. This entire episode was just a string of random sketches with no point or purpose that were nothing more than endless unfunny and terrible dialogues between random characters. Most of the time in this episode is actually not focused on the lead characters, but some random dialogue between three random guys that just refuses to end. The lead character only appears twice. Once to be hugged by all of the main females (who also don’t appear for most of this episode in favour of a random waitress and young girl) and one that simply out of nowhere had him claim to come from a parallel dimension. It just… made no sense whatsoever. Oh, and the fanservice. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a TV-series with fanservice that was THIS lazy… to the point where it just gets bizarre.
ED: Um, random.
Potential: 0%

Some Quick First Impressions: Hana-Saku Iroha , Toriko and Tiger & Bunny

by psgels, posted in Hana-Saku Iroha, Some Quick First Impressions, Tiger & Bunny

Hana-Saku Iroha

Short Synopsis: Our lead character starts working at an inn.
Before this series started, I thought that it would be just a simple slice of life series. As it turns out though, Hana-Saku Iroha is as much slice of life as it is a drama. this series made excellent use of its first episode, and it really did a lot in just twenty minutes, especially for a series that will be 26 episodes long. It showed the lead character before, and after she moves to her grandmother after her mother pretty much abandons her. It’s both light-hearted, but also already showed what a huge change in lifestyle the lead character went through. What makes this series especially great though, is how detailed it is. The entire cast is versatile, the slice of life is realistic, the dialogue feels very natural and inspired, and the animation is of PA Works usual high standards. This series is definitely interesting: its series are either really great, or not worth checking out at all. There’s hardly anything in between for me so far.
ED: Decent J-Rock
Potential: 85%

Toriko

Short Synopsis: Our lead character has a straw hat and is a pirate.
No. No, no, no. They just didn’t do that. There must be some mistake. Did Toei really just use One Piece’s popularity to introduce the Toriko anime?! What the heck was Luffy doing there? What the heck was the entire One Piece cast doing there? Toei is known for their sell-outs and all, but this just takes the cake. It doesn’t even make any sense either: the One Piece cast just wanders off and runs into Toriko, with the rest of the episode just being people talking about food and eating. The One Piece cast was just… there. They were more obnoxious than helpful. And as for Toriko, the only thing it pretty much has going for it is its creature design. Seriously, I am no fan of Shounen Jump and all, but setting aside To Love-Ru, Toriko has to be the worst Shounen Jump anime I’ve seen in a long, long while and this episode showed that Toei has no intention whatsoever of making something good out of it. This was a terrible introduction, for a show that basically advertises poaching to young kids. Toei already have more than enough money. This is commercialization at its worst.
OP: “Wow Wow Wow Wow Wow Wow?”
ED: At least the song is decent here.
Potential: 0%

Tiger & Bunny

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a superhero who fights crime.
This season rocks. I mean, for one: only four series have premiered so far, and already we have two of them that features main characters that are older than 30. Heck, the lead of Tiger & Bunny actually has a daughter; when was the last time that we actually had such a series? On top of that, I love the concept of this series, as a kind of semi-satire on modern mass media that’s focused around a program that exploits superheroes, complete with sponsors and everything. The action is excellent, combining both great stunts and nice humour, and it just keeps changing dynamically due to all of the different characters involved. Characters who already have all kinds of charms. This can make for a very interesting series, especially if it will go beyond 13 episodes. My complaint about it is that it does tend to overuse CG, and the director of the whole Superhero show was a bit of a stereotypical corporate bastard who’ll do anything for money. Apart from that, this was a wonderful episode.
OP: The OP is just a collection of boring still shots and a dull J-rock song, though.
ED: As excellent as the OST is, this is just another dull J-rock song.
Potential: 90%

Some Quick First Impressions: Nichijou, Dog Days and X-Men

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions, X-Men

Nichijou

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a random schoolgirl.
There’s no shortage of creativity in Nichijou. Its entire premise is based around the fact that it’s about the every day lives of a group of random school girls who live in a world in which anything can happen. This episode shows random explosions, androids and goats and the characters don’t even seem to find them unusual. That’s what’s good about Nichijuo. Its problem is that that’s also pretty much the only praise I have for this series. Unlike K-On and Lucky Star, this show tries to be a comedy… and it’s just not funny. It does not know what punchlines are, nor how to build up a good joke. It’s full of randomness for the sake of randomness, and seems to believe that just by doing something completely random, it can get funny, though such a thing already got old in the OVA. In the same way, the characters aren’t much to write home about. Kyoani has this thing with characters who are cute for the sake of being cute, and this is no exception. Nichijou just tries way too hard to be mainstream and popular. It’s just too forced.
OP: Badly sung and not really special.
ED: Again a boring song with that just feels like a copy paste of just about every other ED out there.
Potential: 30%

Dog Days

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is the legendary savior for a country of dog people.
That was just insulting. This show had the privilege of being anime original, and yet the creators actually come with this kind of crap? The creators of Nanoha A’s have sunk to a completely new depth here. this was by far the worst I’ve ever seen from them. I can see the intentions of the creators: creating a fantasy setting where two countries have to participate in all kinds of fantastic games at fantastic setting hols potential to be an enjoyable and fun series. But this was just so ridiculously poorly executed. It committed just about every flaw imaginable. The characters are a joke, the setting of having dog people fight cat people, surrounded by teenagers with unexplained superpowers is equal to a slap in the face. The character designs are utterly terrible, the script is abysmal, and the worst thing is that it actually believes that it’s funny and witty. It refuses to make proper use of its silly setting, and it doesn’t even make jokes. It just expects tot get laughs from… nothing. This is… this is even worse than Rio Rainbow Gate. At least that series was aware that it was terrible.
OP: Boring visuals and boring song.
ED: Ridiculously generic.
Potential: 0%

X-Men

Short Synopsis: Our lead characters are a bunch of mutants who fight crime.
That was actually… pretty amazing here. Seriously, this episode hit a ton of right buttons, and sets the X-Men already one step higher above Wolverine. The graphics were utterly gorgeous, the atmosphere is just awesome, and already this show has put in a lot of characterization for its five main characters: Xavier, Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine and Beast. The atmosphere is heavy and the drama tends to get a bit sappy at times, but it all works surprisingly well with each other. Plus, this show also isn’t afraid to sometimes toy with its characters (the joke around Wolverine’s entrance especially was hilarious, in a “couldn’t resist”-way). As for Madhouse’s usual acting problem: the thing is that the character-designs of this series are utterly amazing. The creators not only gave a wonderful rendition of the X-Men in anime form, but they gave every single character, even the minor ones, a unique and individual look. That’s obviously harder to animate, but even then the animators do a pretty good job here. Instead, my qualm is that the voice actors should have tried to be a bit more varied, and they’re a tad too hammy at times. On the other hand though, the soundtrack is yet again amazing, and at this rate it could get even better than Wolverine’s. Seriously, ti’s been a while since the start of a season has been this impressive.
OP: Best one of the Marvel Anime so far!
ED: Again, no vocals, and a good way to close off each episode.
Potential: 85%

Some Quick First Impressions: Danbooru Senki

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Danbooru Senki

Short Synopsis: Our lead character possesses the legendary tiny robot to save the world.
This season, the first series to debut was also its biggest mystery: the director of Berserk and Figure 17 doing a kiddie show. Now, after watching this first episode, it’s unfortunately not like this series strays far from the usual formula of these kinds of series: three lead characters, one main rival, a tournament arc, and the lead character who possesses the single most important robot in the world. Not to mention the way in which every single adult in this show leaves the fate of the world hanging on the shoulders of a young boy. OLM have really become lazy during the past decade. I mean, I know that they’ve got successes with Pokemon and all, but even Toei comes with shows like Mononoke or Trapeze once in a while. Having said that, though: for a kiddie show adhering to this overused formula, it’s not half bad; I’ve definitely seen worse portrayals. There is none of the obnoxiously bad acting that you usually see with these kinds of series, and the creators immediately state that the lead character is special due to his father’s influence as the inventor of these strange fighting robots that this series focuses on. He also doesn’t find his own robot by accident, but for some reason his father made the conscious decision to send the world’s most powerful robot to his teenaged son. That does bring up the question of what an incredible bad parent you must be to involve your kid in international schemes like this…
OP: For a kiddie opening, it’s pretty decent.
ED:
Potential: 30%

Some Quick First Impressions: Supernatural The Animation

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions, Supernatural The Animation

Supernatural The Animation

Short Synopsis: Our lead characters are a bunch of detectives.
So, finally the first episode of the Supernatural Animation has popped up. A very badly encoded version, so I wouldn’t recommend it, but nevertheless this was quite good. The visual style of the designs and the animation all look wonderful, and especially the animation in the action-scenes is stunning and imaginative. As for the story, this episode started off with a random case, which was a fairly straight-forward thriller until it started to get quite creative with its climax. Overall, I’m very interested in this show at this point. The characters are pretty interesting as well, though my one point of criticism is that the acting (especially the way in which the characters are animated) feels a bit stiff. A typical Madhouse problem. There is also this point where one of the lead characters gets hurt, only to completely heal again only hours later. Right after his co-lead specifically points out that that’s impossible. Continuity, guys.
ED: English with a bit of an accent, instead of the usual Engrish. It’s still a bit of a boring ballad, though.
Potential: 80%

Some Quick First Impressions: Suite Precure

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Suite Precure

Short Synopsis: Our lead characters can become mahou shoujo.
Um, yeah. The differences with Heartcatch Precure are ufortunately apparent: this much more goes back to the standard that the old Precures set with silly non-threatening villains, and uninteresting stock characters. The biggest issue though, is that compared to Heartcatch Precure this series lacks life. The poor animation is nowhere near good enough to really portray the characters beyond their stereotypes (the usual tomboy and smart girl who hate eeach other but actually love each other). Compared to the first episodes of other Precure series though, it’s not the worst. There were strings of good drama here and there, and the soundtrack is also really excellent. What stood out the most though was the obligatory magical world for this mahou shoujo. It’s completely bizarre with singing cats,living instruments and not to mention the three henchmen of this series’ villain: they communicate entirely bBY SINGING. The thing is, the Precure series is highly repetitive: it needs some sort of hook right at the beginning to get its audience’s attention. I did not see that hook here yet.
OP: Two small scenes of great animation. Apart from that, pretty generic.
ED: Even Heartcatch Precure’s EDs were terrible, but this one is even worse.
Potential: 30%

Some Quick First Impressions: Hourou Musuko and Fractale

by psgels, posted in Fractale, Hourou Musuko, Some Quick First Impressions

Hourou Musuko

Short Synopsis: Our lead character wants to be a girl.
At the start of this episode it was a tad hard to figure out who was who because the creators didn’t bother to introduce most of the characters (this episode started in the middle of an already ongoing story), but yeah: this is good. It’s got some of the best acting of the entire season, it’s wonderfully animated with its own distinct art style, and this episode did a great job of portraying its different characters. I like how all these characters have had a history between them, and act like it. It’s miles away from the usual “childhood friends” stereotype that you usually see, and even the fact that the male lead cross-dresses is portrayed in a way unlike I have ever seen. This show takes itself seriously and really knows how to do good drama. The only pitfall that I can see is that this is Noitamina: does the story of the manga fit within 11 episodes, or do we get another rushed ending like with Kuragehime?
OP: Decent, but cliched and nothing special.
ED: Well sung at the beginning, but then loses steam.
Potential: 85%

Fractale

Short Synopsis: Our lead character saves a strange girl from a bunch of bad guys.
Ah, now I understand why this got to be Noitamina: it’s heavily inspired by Ghibli. It’s been a while since we’ve seen such a series. This show pretty much tries to add the moe factor to Ghibli, with some parts that work and others that don’t. In a lot of ways this one reminds me of Dragon Crisis’ first episode. It’s only that the setting for this one is much more creative, while the characterization is far from as good. The annoyance of the characters is definitely going to be the biggest problem for this series: just about every major character had his or her moment that rather got on my nerves due to the stereotypical moe acting, the worst being the male lead whenever his hormones started acting up. Still, this episode brought quite a bit of interesting stuff to make up for it, including a really trippy OP and a very detailed setting that is unlike anything that appeared during the past two years.
OP: Very trippy, excellent example of how to do a low-budget OP correctly.
ED: A bit of a boring ballad.
Potential: 70%

Some Quick First Impressions: Dragon Crisis, Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka? and Level E

by psgels, posted in Dragon Crisis, Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka?, Level E, Some Quick First Impressions

Dragon Crisis

Short Synopsis: Our lead character meets a cute girl who can only think about him.
Hmm, this is one with a lot to like and a lot to dislike. To start with the positives, it has one of the best soundtracks of the season so far (and with this season, that is saying something), the animation is surprisingly good for a Studio Deen series and this feels unlike any other series they’ve done before. The action is creative, the car chases are exciting and the characterization for half the cast was actually pretty decent. Ryuuji may be very girly for a guy, but this show actually acknowledges it and gives him more personality beyond “ew, a naked girl!”, and Eriko also turned out to be much more than just that fanservice character which she appeared to be at first sight. Now, the bad thing about this show however is that it just doesn’t make any sense, and it believes that it actually does. This leads to some bizarre situations like hordes of incompetent faceless mafia members that are involved in a plot that has so many holes that there is no way that it can ever be explained, a guy who just skips school for the heck of it and BY FAR the most clingy female lead I’ve ever seen. It’s a very strange combination between something that tries to tell a serious story and something that just wants to act as wish fulfillment by having cute girls continuously spoon over the male lead. The different parts of this episode didn’t mesh well together at all, but I do admit that there’s some potential here.
OP: One of the most unique OP songs I’ve heard in a long while.
ED: Again unique, but this time in a bad way.
Potential: 60%

Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka?

Short Synopsis: Our lead character lives together with two cute girls.
Here is one that turned out better than expected. Of course, this show still has a completely stupid premise and it had quite a bit of fanservice, but it’s surprisingly well executed: the male lead has an actual personality, the scenarios are well written, the jokes are well built up and actually very funny and the action too was surprisingly good for a Studio Deen series. It’s a pretty effective romantic action comedy that knows when it needs to be completely over the top, and when it needs to be completely serious. Because of this, the few serious moments actually worked well and didn’t end up cheesy, and yet the crazy jokes also fit this show. But yeah, if you want to check this out, be aware of the fact that characters have bizarre costumes and very easily lose their clothes in this series.
OP: Decent song, but especially the visuals are nice.
ED: This one is just terrible, though.
Potential: 70%

Level E

Short Synopsis: Our lead character starts living together with an alien.
Hell yeah! Level E just delivered the best first episode of the new season, it had the most interesting back-story, it was the most intriguing opening of the entire season, it neither was overly moe or bishie, it had the best jokes of the new season, the best OP. For me, it completely blew all of the other episodes that have debuted so far this season out of the water. It’s one of those series of which I have no idea what genre it’s going to be: it has a high school student as a male lead, and yet it’s miles away from your average high school show. For a shounen series there was too little action, for a shoujo series there was too little sweetness. For a slice of life series it had a plot that is just way too interesting and a drama also doesn’t really fit. The episode was wonderfully told and I love the creativity that was put into a simple concept of an alien crash landing on earth. The chemistry between the lead characters was just fantastic. None of the characters here are typical. Hell yeah, if only because of this show, this season is going to rock!
OP: Best OP of the season BY FAR. Excellent song, great visuals.
ED: Much more generic J-Rock, but nothing bad.
Potential: 100%

Some Quick First Impressions: Oniichan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Oniichan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne

Short Synopsis: Our lead character has a sister who is in love with him.
Oh… the pain. Why did we have to get yet another KissXSis? There are too many things just wrong with this series. Or what? Do Japanese siblings screw each other on a regular basis or something? IS IT THAT HARD FOR THE BOTH OF THEM TO JUST FIND THEMSELVES A BOYFRIEND OR GIRLFRIEND? The worst thing is that this doesn’t even have the worst production values of the season, nor the series with the worst comedic timing or dialogue. With this execution it could at least have been a half enjoyable fanservice comedy (for fanservice comedies’ standards of course) if only the subject matter wasn’t this completely deranged, and overused. How many more retarded incest (or quasi-incest shows, in this case) shows do we still need to get before this fad dies down?!
OP: Boring J-Pop
ED: It’s gonna be a harem!?
Potential: 0%