Category: Some Quick First Impressions

Some Quick First Impressions: Digimon Xross Wars, Tono to Issho and Nurarihyon no Mago

by psgels, posted in Nurarihyon no Mago, Some Quick First Impressions

Digimon Xros Wars

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is the legendary hero who can save the world from an invasion of Digimon.
Well, so this was going to be the biggest question-mark of the season. It’s digimon… but focused on an even younger audience. Would that really be able to work? Well… after watching this episode… it seems that the creators intend this to be one of those cheesy mecha series from the seventies and eighties, and I don’t mean that in a good way! Battles descend in flashy transformations in which the good guys are able to wipe out hordes of evil digimon at once, everything is unnecessarily spunky. The direction unfortunately also sucks. Things just… happen. There is no build up, no attempts to create suspension of disbelief, it’s just an adventure of a bunch of kids who happen to have superpowers. I will say this though: it is better than most other kiddie shows. There’s a hint of drama, and one or two scenes actually didn’t have cheese. But yeah, let’s face it: this one’s never going to be as good as Digimon’s first season. I know it’s a kids’ series and all, but that’s no excuse to look down on them and treat them like idiots.
OP: Decent enough.
Potential: 10%

Tono to Issho

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a famous person in the Sengoku era.
So… if you were wondering whether the tv-series improved on the OVA… don’t bother. IT’S EXACTLY THE BLOODY SAME! Seriously, as it turns out, the tv-series is just going to consist out of the OVA, chopped up into episodes of ninety seconds. I mean… eh?
ED: The only thing new, but still crappy.
Potential: -70%

Nuyarihyon no Mago

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is the grandson of some lead of some large youkai family.
Some shows go all out with their first episode. This one didn’t, but there still is enough to like left. This episode was wonderfully subtle for a shounen series. There’s no overacting, there is no fanservice, the lead character isn’t some cocky idiot who charges into fights, and yet the drama that’s there is handled really well. The characters get to say what they want to say without going over the top, and this episode already established the lead character beyond a mere caricature by showing how he chose to grow up as a normal human, despite the house full of youkai he’s raised in. I especially want to praise that soundtrack, which turned out to be really atmospheric and added an extra layer of emotional depth to the dramatic scenes. The series still is a bit childish, as we see a lot of scenes of middle schoolers, hanging out with each other, but there was nothing bad about them. There were no obvious stereotypes or characters who abuse their own gimmicks, it pulled no cheap tricks, nor were the characters acting way too stupid for their own good. The youkai designs range from cute to simple to actually quite beautiful and well drawn. Overall, a solid start to a series that surely is still holding back a lot of its cards.
OP: Decent at first sight, but it has this innocent charm to it.
ED: Um… yeah. Why does this work so well?
Potential: 85%

Some Quick First Impressions: Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin, High School of the Dead and Seitokai Yakuindomo

by psgels, posted in High School of the Dead, Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin, Some Quick First Impressions

Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is the daughter of the head of some supernatural high school.
How awesome. This was everything a first episode should be! Funny, entertaining, tense, mysterious, intriguing, engaging, this episode was all of it. I was really afraid of the way that the promo material portrayed the lead characters, but there turned out to be no need to worry. The female lead at least is a very colourful character, and most importantly: this episode really wasted no time to delve into her background. It just went “screw carefully introducing characters and waiting with their background until the last minute. We’ve got only thirteen episodes here, you know!” This episode was full of weird and entertaining plot twists that had a ton of charms. The jokes were quite creative, and most importantly: while it definitely made its characters out to be a bunch of oddballs, it never turned them into idiots. Especially the part in which that ghost pretended to be the lead character’s dead father, she really saw through such a shallow trap immediately, instead of getting all sentimental about it. However, I do have one thing to say about this episode, and this is a pretty big issue: this clearly was a “let’s go all out with our first episode”-first episode. That is NO EXCUSE for the show to dull in after this. This has the potential to become a classic if all the episodes are of this caliber. However, will the creators really have enough material to make every single episode entertaining, or will they just descend into random fluff after this?
OP: Very neat art there.
ED: A decent ballad
Potential: 95%

High School of the Dead

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is in a school full of ZOMBIES
Yeah, it’s pretty much like expected. The story itself has the depth of a paper bucket, we have a school zombie invasion and your average teen-aged lead happens to be one of the few who manages to escape, along with his love interest. There’s a ton of fanservice as well. Does that matter, though? Of course not! This is just one of those shows that knows exactly what it is: adrenaline. This episode was a great taste in what is about to come, with a tight and over the top atmosphere, with a lot of passion and overacting. Right from the start, this would be a series that’s going to sell itself with its action, and well, in this episode it accomplished its mission! On the cliche side of things, though: while there are definitely cliches here and there (the childhood promise being the worst of them), the lead characters for once aren’t actually useless or weak. the lead female practices martial arts, while the lead male has also showed that he can kick zombie ass.
OP: Decent J-rock, though nothing special.
ED: Again, decent j-rock.
Potential: 75%

Seitokai Yakuindomo

Short Synopsis: Our lead character gets to be in the student council in a school with 90% females…. they’re not even trying anymore, are they?
Oh boy, oh boy! I hope that you’re a big fan of short-jokes, because this series surely has enough of them in its endless attempts to remind us that one of the characters is short. Seriously, the people from GoHands are terrific animators. So why the heck do they keep spending their time with these incredibly stupid premises? While not as bad as Princess Lover, Seitokai Yakuindomo is yet another one of those series in which we get to see cute girls with the depth of a paper bag parade around the screen, all around one male character who gets his usual harem. The jokes here… were terrible. They’re not funny, and some of them get repeated endlessly. I doubt that many people who visit this blog were planning to check this one out, but still: there are so many better shows of this kind. I don’t see anything that sets this series apart from its ilk.
OP: Glad to see that the jokes that the series plans to drag out in the rest of the series are even more terrible than what they showed in this episode.
ED: Obnoxious.
Potential: 0%

Some Quick First Impressions: Mitsudomoe, Shukufuku no Campanella and Kuroshitsuji II

by psgels, posted in Kuroshitsuji II, Some Quick First Impressions

Mitsudomoe

Short Synopsis: Our lead character has to teach a class containing three really annoying problem children.
Granted, some of the jokes in this episode really were terrible, but this still is a series that turned out better than I expected. I thought that this would be another one of those dull moe series like there are so many of this season, but it actually got a number of chuckles out of me. There are a ton of problems in this show, and some parts are just plain wrong, but I admire that in the genre of moe comedies, it attempts to do things a bit different by having cute girls make no attempts at acting likable. There are a TON of fanservice jokes in this series, but think of it this way: who didn’t at the age of ten make tons of stupid sex jokes that you didn’t understand? At the moment, some jokes worked and others didn’t, so this series still can go anywhere at this point. The biggest problem with this episode was its forced stupidity. The teachers are supposed to be the straight men in this series, but at times they fail their job at building suspense of disbelief. At a certain point the girls all asked the male teacher to pull down his pants, and he just obliged to that request without questioning it, just for the sake of a small penis joke. As a straight man, you should build up some sense of realism that can be broken by the comedic characters. This guy is unfortunately too bland for that, and his female teacher love interest is just entirely terrible.
OP: Obnoxious, yet somehow catchy.
ED: Hmm, works surprisingly well.
Potential: 45%%

Shukufuku no Campanella

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a mind-numbingly boring git.
I… have nothing. Seriously. What was that? It’s these kinds of series that really give anime a bad name. I already suspected that this show would be bad, but the depths that this series would reach were even beyond my imagination. This series is just… unbelievable in how incredibly dull it ended up to be. The characters, the dialogue, everything seems so designed to sap any sort of energy out of its viewers. The characters, and I mean EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM, become a goddamn chore to watch and listen to when they open their mouth. They just kept yapping and whining about the most pointless stuff, but the worst part was the way in which the creators seem really keen on reminding us viewer how incredibly beautiful the main cast is. Seriously, they just keep going on and on about that. The only way in which this show stands out is that girls can now get pregnant at the age of three. Worst show of the season BY FAR, this is pandering at its worst.
ED: Generic J-pop
Potential: -50%

Kuroshitsuji II

Short Synopsis: Our lead character has some sort of uber butler.
Okay, let me first explain how I went into this series: I have only seen the first episode of the original Kuroshitsuji, and I don’t really feel like checking it out at this point. The first episode felt too formulaic, it tried too hard to make Sebastien look cool and Ciel like a damsel in distress. It was too forced. However, with the new staff, new cast and new approach, I became interested in checking out the second season. And holy hell is it an improvement! I’m not sure whether I can watch or blog the rest of the series without knowledge of the first season, but nevertheless, this episode was wonderfully camp. The lead character here is an just crazy, and his butler here does things ten times crazier than what I saw in the first season. The scene especially between him and his maid was just…. WTF-worthy. And at the same time, the creators also managed to stuff in enough depth on the inner psyche of this kid, along with the weird relationship he has with his butler. It was wonderfully acted, it went over the top, yet it also had plenty of quiet and subtle moments that gave a ton of depth to these characters. Here’s definitely a big surprise this season.
OP: Standard J-rock, but very nice visuals.
ED: Nice ballad
Potential: 85%

Some Quick First Impressions: Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu, Amagami SS and Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi

by psgels, posted in Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu, Some Quick First Impressions

Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is looking for some legendary hero or something.
Aagh! Dilemma! I’m well aware that this is from the creators of Koukaku no Regios. That series also had a first episode that had quite a bit of potential… only to never realize any of it. This first episode of Legend of Legendary Heroes used a ton of tricks that other series like to use in order to impress wit their first episode. The action-scenes here were the best looking scenes that Zecxs has ever animated, the background art in this series is just gorgeous, but it just screamed “yeah, we blew our budget on this thing”. The comedy was the best I have seen this season so far, but that doesn’t mean that it’s also good. The comedy in this series is of the shotgun type: it tries to deliver as many jokes as possible, of which some of them end up actually funny. Let me put things this way: if this series can fulfill the potential it showed in this episode in its upcoming 25 episodes, then it will be quite entertaining. It’s a tongue in the cheek fantasy series that doesn’t take itself seriously, and the way that the deadpan female lead and expressive male lead keep snarking to each other had both its annoying and amusing moments. The side-characters… they’re varied and can become interesting with a little depth and development. I’d love to be able to give a favourable review for this one, but I know the director and his tendency to not use any sort of potential that’s handed to him. I’ll get back on this one in a few more episodes.
OP: Well, decent I guess.
ED: Again, decent.
Potential: 35%

Amagami SS

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is bland, shy but very kind, so he’ll probably date a bunch of cute girls throughout the series.
Here we have the first of the onslaught of AIC Moe series this season, but at least this one looked to be the most solid. And indeed, whether this series is going to work out right is a little more complex than with Ookami, but this series has a number of huge flaws against it. First of all it’s a harem based on a dating sim, and the creators really spent no effort to defy from the cliches that this series usually suffers from: annoying sister (who he’ll probably get to date eventually as well), the spunky best friend girl, the incredibly popular girl, the weak girl, and of course the male best friend of the lead character. The premise is utterly terrible, but there were a few hints at at least a bit of substantial drama. For one, the lead character isn’t entirely bland, but had his crushes in the past. That’s like an entire novel worth of background for your average harem lead! He also got rejected when he tried to confess to a girl he only got to know on that day, so at least the characters and females aren’t morons here, but in the end, the series is just too constrained by its premise. This episode showed the lead characters hop back and forth between all of the girls that he’s supposed to be dating in the future, making for an incredibly forced first episode. I know that this is by the creators of Solty Rei, which also had a very unimpressive first episode. But really, you can do a lot more neat stuff with science fiction than another one of those shows set just in high school.
OP: A tip for whoever sung this: stay away from English lyrics. You’re not good at them.
ED: Boring j-rock
Potential: 35%

Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is socially awkward, completely bland, but actually a pretty nice guy so of course he gets a cute girl as a semi-girlfriend.
Well, so the first real premiere of the summer season… turns out to be a disappointment. I was actually looking forward to how the creators would interpret the fairy tale premise that they had to work with. And somehow… they chose one of the blandest ways to do it. In the end, this is just another one of those series about a weird club in high school, with a tsundere, maid, typical lose lead guy, sarcastic boss, and really annoying best friend. There also is a narrator, and while she sometimes tries to actually say something witty, she loses herself way too often in small boob jokes. The fanservice here is just utterly pointless, bland and uninspired, which makes it even worse. The production values are nice, I grant it that, but this is exactly the kind of moe high school show that I’ve gotten more than tired of by now. If it had something interesting about this episode, it might have been serviceable, but this had just nothing. It was all just bland. No hints at potential whatsoever. This is only for the people who like moe humor.
ED: Annoying j-pop
Potential: 20%

Some Quick First Impressions: Sekirei ~Pure Engagement~

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Sekirei ~Pure Engagement~

Short Synopsis: Our lead character has… ah screw it, I’m not going to make a Pokemon joke here; everyone and his dog is already doing that.
Here’s the big problem with Sekirei: it’s not like it’s another one of those brainless moe or fanservice shows; it’s actually got quite a decent storyline, but the comedy is utterly terrible. This episode too, the fanservice jokes were god-awful and uninspired. The creators took the most often used jokes and somehow found it a good idea to just repeat them. Within six minutes, the lead female had already tripped and planted her bosom into the conveniently placed lead character, and this episode was full of dumb jokes like that. The animation was interesting, though. The characters were drawn with a consistently as heck, but there was actually quite a bit of movement, and it actually looked quite good. Although there were times at which the animators also didn’t really understand what they were drawing (weren’t those plates hot? And what idiot closes off a program by using SHIFT, seriously?). The few serious parts reminded me of why I didn’t instantly drop this series, though. I can take this series seriously as long as it takes itself seriously. Let’s hope that the majority of this sequel will be like that, with as little of that awful comedy as possible.
OP: Standard J-pop; not good; very cheesy.
ED: Very annoying J-pop. Oh, but I guess it doesn’t matter because it has boobs…
Potential: 60%

Some Quick First Impressions: Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru, K-On!! and Mayoi Neko Overrun

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions, Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru

Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is the reincarnation of some woman.
Well, I’m intrigued. While it’s no Night Head Genesis, this episode of Uragiri was pretty good. It deals with a lot of heavy stuff, like insanity, death threats, parental abuse and orphans, but it handled all of the angst surprisingly well and down to earth. This episode was perhaps a bit fast-paced, but as an opening episode it did well to grab my attention. And best of all: it didn’t turn its characters in those stereotypical gay people you see everywhere. Instead, the lead character is just your typical shoujo lead in a male body (which in a way makes sense when you consider his backstory). We didn’t get to see a lot of teh plot in this episode, but what we saw of it has quite a bit of potential to be this season’s dark gothic series. My only problem with this episode was that group of random punks that just decided to kick that old man from out of nowhere. That’s an anime cliche that seriously needs to die unless you plan to do it well.
OP: Decent rock-song
ED: Again, pretty nice.
Potential: 70%

K-On!!

Short Synopsis: Our lead character enters her third year in high school as a member of the light music club.
You know what? As a slice of life series, this episode was pretty good. My biggest fear for this show beyond the moe overload was that it would go down the same road as Lucky Star (as in, a ton of repetition and no development whatsoever), but the characters have actually evolved beyond what I saw of them when I previewed the first episode of the first season last year. The lead character especially has gotten a lot more bearable now that she actually knows how to play an instrument. What I appreciated the most is that this episode had the characters act like what you’d expect from teenaged girls, without hanging all of the cheap moe stereotypes and paper-thin characters that you regularly see in these moe shows all over them. The animation also was very good, as expected of Kyoani. I was really disappointed by the live performances. I mean, with the budget that Kyoani has, you would expect that they’d… like… actually animate it. Instead, they skip it nearly entirely, even though actually performing is the most fun part of being in such a band. Now, while this episode was decent enough, I do have my doubts whether this series warrants 26 episodes. Do the creators really have what it takes to make it consistently enjoyable, rather than consistently repetitive?
OP: To answer my question below at Mayoi Neko Overrun’s OP blurb: yes.
ED: Hmm, probably the best ED I’ve seen from Kyoani.
Potential: 30%

Mayoi Neko Overrun

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is loved by a cute girl.
Well… we’ve certainly found the series with the biggest amount of overused cliches this season. Where to start? There is the childhood friend, the tsundere, the panty shots, the annoying best friend, the catgirl, the horny sister, the maids, the rich spoiled brat, the parents who are gone, the waking up scene, the abuse of said tsundere whenever fanservice comes into play, and the female voice actresses also really don’t try to hide these stereotypes. While the tsunere was surprisingly likable, the voice actresses of the other female characters were just horrendously annoying and predictable. But yeah, I gotta admit: it’s well made. The direction and dialogue is snappy and funny whenever these three characters aren’t in the centre of attention, and the chemistry is pretty nice. It certainly beats out Nyan Koi and Sora no Otoshimono; AIC’s moe shows of the previous winter season. Due to time constraints I doubt that I’m going to continue watching this (especially when three of the four female lead characters are so incredibly and pointlessly annoying), but really: I expected a lot worse.
OP: Can it get any more squeaky?
ED: Annoying J-pop.
Potential: 30%

Some Quick First Impressions: Hetalia World Series, Senkou no Night Raid and Metal Fight Beyblade – Explosion

by psgels, posted in Hetalia: Axis Powers, Senkou no Night Raid, Some Quick First Impressions

Hetalia World Series

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is the personification of a certain mediterranean country.
Healia, please. Start putting labels on your characters. This episode introduced a bunch of new characters of which I had no idea who they were. It’s of course nice to see more characters like these, but it’s a bit pointless if you don’t know what coumtry they represent. It’s not good to assume that everyone read the manga, studio Deen. As for this episode, it was funny as usual. I do hope that the episodes will get released a bit faster now. This isn’t really like a series as Marie & Gali, in which I’m really willing to wait multiple weeks for the next episode.
ED: Same as usual.
Potential: 40%

Senkou no Night Raid

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is an international spy.
Well, there you have it, A-1 surely is on fire this season. This episode was really well made: it had a lot of spy action, but it cleverly kept everything from going over the top, and instead kept everything down and true to the abilities of the characters involved. The dialogue itself was also excellent: well written and it actually kept the language barrier: the Chinese people speak Chinese here. That was also a bit annoying though, because I had no idea what they were saying. But still, when you compare this to Canaan it looks very promising. The characters have a few quirks and traits, but despite that they don’t feel out of place. This should prove to be a pretty nice spy thriller during the upcoming season.
ED: Interesting visuals, but a dull ballad.
Potential: 80%

Metal Fight Beyblade – Explosion

Short Synopsis: Our lead character wants to have the legendary spinning top of the galaxy unicorn.
It’s hilarious how poorly produced this series actually is. Cutting corners is of course one thing, but this episode was just so ridiculously cheap. Take the first half for example: it shows an arena full of fans as they watch a bunch of people battle with their spinning tops (yeah…). At one point, the creators simply forget that there’s supposed to be an audience and instead turn the entire audience in some sort of fancy wallpaper as the matches stop and the characters start rambling on about some kind of kid who disturbed their match from out of nowhere. The second half has the lead character of this series search for some sort of legendary beyblade. When he finds it (yeah, this all happens in the span of one episode; no build-up whatsoever) it’s followed by a huge amount of cheap-ass tricks to try and make the moment of a boy grabbing a spinning top from a wall look as epic as possible. I got a good laugh out of it, that’s for sure. But the thing that I’ve been wondering about these kids’ shows is the following: if they’re going to be cheap, why don’t they just recap some sort of kids’ show from the nineties? That’s going to be even cheaper, and it’s not like these kids are gonna notice.
ED: I could swear that the vocalists were on drugs when they sung this in.
Potential: -20%

Some Quick First Impressions: Saikyou Busho-den Sangoku Engi, Arakawa Under the Bridge, Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Saikyou Busho-den Sangoku Engi

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is another famous character from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel.
I was not looking forward to this series at all. With all of the cheesy adaptations that have been done before, I had pretty much given up hope for this franchise. But damn, this episode had some of the best animation of the new season. There are hardly any still frames, everything is moving like it should. The animation is still a bit jerky at times, but it’s so much better than just show a bunch of talking heads whose mouths move up and down, or only move three or four frames each scene. The storytelling itself was a bit rushed and the characters tended to overact, but wow, this actually has some potential.
OP: Matsumoto Leiji homage?
ED: Decent ballad.
Potential: 50%%

Arakawa Under the Bridge

Short Synopsis: Our lead character ends up living under a bridge with a cute girl.
I did a little check. In two years, most directors are able to handle two or three series, right? Well, in the same timespan Shinbo has done a whopping TWELVE of them, excluding four OVAs. At this point I’ve pretty much given up on trying to watch him delivering some half-assed product, just for one or two good episodes that might or might not come. This episode ultimately was dull. I usually like a lot of dialogue, but this time it was ruined by a hopelessly overacting lead character (it also didn’t help that he had exactly the same voice as a ton of other Shinbo-lead characters). The humour overall was predictable and hardly ever funny. With the high standard of the rest of this series, is there really a reason to continue watching this series? If there is, then please enlighten me because at this point I’m way too biased to give Shinbo’s series a fair chance.
Potential: 0%

Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is destined to be the legendery Little Princess. Get it? Lilpri. Little Princess. *har har*
As if this season couldn’t get any better, even the cheap mahou shoujo which I initially wrote off as just another Jewel Pet clone turns out to be much more enjoyable than I imagined. And don’t get me wrong, the story behind this series is utterly terrible. All of the fairy tale princesses are disappearing and because fairy tales can’t live without their princesses the queen of fairy land sets three animals out to wake up the “super miracle idols” (an actual quote from the dialogue. It sounds every bit as silly as it looks) who are supposed to very vaguely represent Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Kaguya-hime, in order to get them to sing horribly cheesy songs in front of live audiences. This premise is just… stupid beyond all belief. Even for kids’ show standards! And yet, despite such a cheesy plot, there’s one thing that this series did surprisingly well: the chemistry. The cheese and the characters made this into a surprisingly fun series to watch. The three lead kids in this series are surprisingly likable (and actually sound and act like real kids. I loved the part in which the animal sidekicks were looking for their princesses, and just dismissed the lead characters because they were too young.
OP: Don’t tell me they’re going to sing this in every episode?
ED: TOO. MUCH. SUGAR.
Potential: 30%

Some Quick First Impressions: Giant Killing, Hakuouki and SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors

by psgels, posted in Giant Killing, Hakuouki, Some Quick First Impressions

Giant Killing

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a famous football coach
Now this is why I love anime. There just are those times when these series come around, who completely exceed my expectations. This season was already full of these series, but Giant Killing takes the cake. It’s been ages since Studio Deen really came out with a new and fresh premise, so I wasn’t expecting much of them at this point (as shown by Hakuouki, which pretty much was them and their bishies again). And here this episode comes, and it’s SO WELL made. The characterization is by far the best of all the first episodes I’ve seen this season so far. It’s only one episode, and the creators have already shown that they know and understand their characters. The chemistry between the hugely varied cast was just awesome to watch. And on top of that, they actually portrayed English football fans really well, INCLUDING actual English, that gets spoken in full sentences, rather than your usual lazy Engrish. The animation also is just awesome: finally we have another series that attempts to experiment with its own style. The football matches are animated really smoothly. At first I thought that Ookiku Furikabutte would naturally become this season’s best sports series, but damn. It’s got some serious competition. And really: this season rocks because we haven’t even gotten to the best stuff yet!
OP: One of the best OPs of the year so far. J-Polka. What brilliant mind thought of that?
ED: Fun and exciting.
Potential: 90%

Hakuouki

Short Synopsis: Our lead character gets involved with the rather shady business of the Shinsengumi.
Another show, that while it has its problems, also has a ton of potential. Let me get these problems out of the way first: this series does suffer from the harem syndrome: the creators pulling a really far-fetched plot twist just to put the main characters amongst a group of bishies/moe cute girls. The reason the creators pull here is simply one that asks: why hasn’t this happened before? The acting also leaves a lot to be desired. The characters aren’t as well portrayed as they could have, and the characterization for all of the bishies feels kind-of bland. However, this episode focused a lot on characters, just interacting and talking to each other. The script did make up for the sub-par acting, and while the dialogue was nowhere near Amatsuki-levels, it still was surprisingly interesting (speaking of which, Deen: when is that second season going to arrive?!), not to mention that this series has got a pretty interesting back-story that verges on horror during the tense parts. The lead female is also surprisingly likable as well. And I guess that that’s one thing that female lead harem characters often have in favour of male leads: while male leads are often made to be as bland and uninteresting as possible, female leads always have some sort of story behind them that defines their character much, much better and Hakuouki is no exception.
OP: Slightly catchy.
ED: Surprisingly good ballad.
Potential: 60%

SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is the umpth incarnation of the lead character of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novels.
Sunrise… why? Just… why? This premise is awful in every single way. It’s the ultimate of all cheap cash-ins, combining the popularity of the Gundam Franchise with the one of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms franchise. So why the heck did you find it a good idea to give this show so many excellent background artists, and such a good soundtrack? These are COMPLETELY WASTED on such a silly script. Seriously Sunrise, is it that much to ask for you to go back to the way you were around ten years ago, in which you just kept delivering awesome premise after awesome premise, trying out new things?
ED: Cheesy J-rock
Potential: -20%

Some Quick First Impressions: Jewel Pet – Tinkle, Rainbow, Angel Beats

by psgels, posted in Angel Beats, Rainbow, Some Quick First Impressions

Jewel Pet – Tinkle

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is socially inept and gets to magical girl.
Last year, when the first season of Jewel Pet aired it really had been ages since a good kids’ show had debuted. I was glad enough that at least something was there. This season however couldn’t be any more different: with Marie&Gali, Heartcatch Precure, Kaidan Restaurant and Kiruminzoo, the standard for this season’s kids’ series has been set higher than ever, so for once, I get the chance to be really strict against a kids’ series! This episode was terrible; I couldn’t find any hint of creativity whatsoever. The creators just grabbed the weird animales of the first season and dumped them to another kid, who has been made as purposefully dull as possible. The hijinks that the creators decided to fill this episode with were just abysmal as well. We get to see endless jokes of the lead ‘Jewel Pet”s magic screwing up and causing trougle. And the animation! The characters all have plastic faces. Especially these jewel pets have had WAAAAAY too much plastic surgery in their life. The different expressions of the characters hardly ever change. Not to mention the utterly horrid character-design of just about every character (seriously… what the heck are those heterochromic cats supposed to be…?). If you’re interested in a kids’ show, go for one of the series I mentioned above. Skip this one.
OP: Horribly cheesy J-pop
ED: Uninspired and bland.
Potential: 0%

Rainbow

Short Synopsis: Our lead characters are delinquents in jail.
Okay, so it did turn out that this series does not have Madhouse’s best staff. The direction feels jerky, and the voice acting is often over the top and cheesy. These are the type of characters who aren’t going to be the most realistic or believable. Having said that, though, this was one heck of an intense episode. What this episode lacked in terms of good acting, it made up for atmosphere with an excellent soundtrack to boot. The prison here was definitely meant to model the worst kinds of circumstances you can run into: it has a paedophile doctor and a downright abusive warden. On top of that, the OP also very much hinted at the fact that the creators have no intention whatsoever to just cut this series off in the middle: they really want to show what happens to these kids when they grow up later, and that’s what I’m looking forward to the most. This can be an interesting test to see whether you can portray interesting characters, even with sub-par acting.
OP: Whoa!
Potential: 70%

Angel Beats

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is dead.
The thing I love about this season is that it keeps exceeding my expectations. From the outside Angel Beats looked like a bit of a Haruhi-clone directed by a comedy director who has never been known for his subtlety. This episode showed that the Haruhi-references were merely homages: it more than has its own story and characters to tell. The director also gives off a very strong performance in this opening episode, making this an excellent opening. There really was a ton of fast-paced dialogue in this episode, and at the same time it was full of subtle and not-so-subtle jokes. It makes use of the fact that it takes place in a world in which nobody can die by killing off people for fun, while still putting in the tensions and fears of being erased by ‘God’. The climax was also very well written and allowed the build-up to really come together. The animation is a bit simple, but the graphics themselves look pretty good, especially the concert scene. The thing I also loved was how this series showed that the NPCs of the world it takes place in all have lives. The concert, was really something to show that these people also just do things for fun, rather than existing randomly. Thumbs up.
Potential: 80%