Category: Some Quick First Impressions

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%

Some Quick First Impressions: Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou, Ookiku Furikabutte – Natsu no Taikai-Hen and Kaichou wa Maid Sama

by psgels, posted in Kaichou wa Maid-Sama, Ookiku Furikabutte, Some Quick First Impressions

Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a teenaged future demon lord.
Again: better than expected. On one hand we have horrid character-designs, some of the most pointless fanservice I’ve seen this season (seriously… why?) and an entire cast of teenaged mages. On the other hand, it’s quite well animated actually plays around with the tropes of its genre. Generic male leads often get confused into pointless misunderstandings. This show takes these to the ridiculous, and plays around with their irony. It actually made me laugh a few times. But yeah: this has the consequence that everyone in this series is a complete moron and just acts how the plot demands it. The jokes also often just fall flat, and are trying too hard. The classroom scene was hilarious. The peeping scene was horribly dull and predictable.
ED: Boring J-Rock
Potential: 40%

Ookiku Furikabutte – Natsu no Taikai-hen

Short Synopsis: Our lead characters continue to participate in the regional baseball tournament.
When comparing to Cross Game, it’s perhaps a bit hard to see, but Ookiku Furikabutte also has truly excellent slice of life, though in a completely different way. This episode showed that more than ever. The creators really managed to show all of the characters as they are, with inspired dialogue as they analyze and talk about the previous and next matches that they’re involved into. On top of that, it turns out that it had no intention to just forget past characters: the opposing team whose match filled the majority of the first season returns in this episode as well, in which we see two of its members (the captain and that first year that never got to participate in the match) deal with what happened at the climax of the first season. A-1 show that they can very much animate three series at the same time with some excellent animation that may not be the smoothest, but is really well directed and inspired, bringing the characters to life. This second season is looking very promising at this point.
OP: Decent enough J-Rock
ED: A bit of a boring song.
Potential: 90%

Kaichou wa Maid Sama

Short Synopsis: Our lead character
works at a maid cafe.
Romantic comedies are one of my least favourite genres in anime. But in this season, they’re either really bad or really good. My favourite opening episodes so far are from those romantic comedies. Again, Kaichou wa Maid Sama has elements that have been beaten to death in attempts to pander to otaku. And yet it gives a fresh look at the genre with well written dialogue and characters. Like B Gata H Kei, the creators really know their characters, and this episode did a great job of not just establishing the characters, but also exploring who they are, what drives them and a bit about their pasts, already slightly developing them. The lead character suddenly feeling ill was a bit forced I guess, but the rest of this episode was a delight to watch.
OP: Nice animation, decent song.
ED: Boring J-rock.
Potential: 80%

Some Quick First Impressions: B Gata H Kei, Heroman and Marie&Gali 2.0

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

B Gata H Kei

Short Synopsis: Our lead character wants to have sex with 100 men.
Look. Those who know this blog know that I often talk down on fanservice and moe series. I do not do that for the sake of fanservice. However, it’s more because shows that have lots of it tend to be really cheaply written without any depth whatsoever, and have a type of comedy that I don’t find funny at all. There really are too many of these things! Yet, when a fanservice series comes around that’s actually good… then who am I to complain? Really, B Gata H Kei is indeed full of fanservice. It has a lot of boobs, along with your typical male lead character. It also however, had the best opening episode I have ever seen of a shounen romantic comedy (and seriously, that has to be the most densely populated genre in anime out there). What made this episode so awesome was that even for a romantic comedy, it was surprisingly clever. It was full of a ton of witty jokes about the two lead characters. The dialogue really made this episode and you can really see that the creators have understood the characters they’re working with. Rather than just inserting random panty-shots, the creators really play with their premise, making for a hilarious episode.
OP: Well, decent enough for J-Pop
ED: Again, decent enough.
Potential: 80%
(Yes, this is the fifth year that I’ve been doing these first impressions. And yes, I have never given a fanservice show such a high rating before. I really hope that it continues to be as good as this episode.)

Heroman

Short Synopsis: Our lead character finds his own giant robot in the trash.
Yeah, so it’s no surprise that the first episode of Heroman would be a rather bad one. The lead character starts out as even more of a wimp than your average lead character (nerd: check. Unpopular: check. A cute girl is in love with him: check. Really high-pitched voice: um, check?). The bullies and popular kids also were just… bad. This episode was clearly rushed and not as solid as we’ve come to expect from Bones’ opening episodes. My least favourite part was probably the part at which the hero’s romantic love interest just ‘happened’ to end up in a car crash accident (of course without any scratch whatsoever other than unconsciousness), right when the titular Heroman makes his appearance. Whether this show is going to be good or not is very hard to determine at this point, because the scenes in which Heroman starred were actually interesting enough, and had some potential, confirming even more that this series works best as an action series. And that’s the biggest potential pitfall of this series: there was surprisingly little action there. What if the rest of the series is also going to drag on like this episode did?
OP: Boring J-rock.
ED: Interesting style.
Potential: 40%

Marie&Gali 2.0

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is forced back to this series.
I’m really glad to see that this awesome series has made it to a second season. This episode was a bit low on the science, but that’s understandable since it was meant to introduce the premise of the new season, and introduce the new kid. The show still has its wonderful sense of timing that made the first season such a wonderful comedy. You can also see that the creators have taken a lot more liberties with Marika as well: she’s no longer the deadpan straight man she once was, but she also manages to keep the balls high. The new girl has this strange posh accent that moe series often like to abuse (seriously, do people actually talk like that in Japan?), but she has potential to be hilarious. The animation wasn’t as solid as it used to be, though. It’s still very creative, but the characters’ faces were a bit too often rushed.
OP: Um yeah, a rather annoying J-pop, but it’s not like the first OP was good either.
Potential: 80%

Some Quick First Impressions: KissXSis, Koihime Musou – Otome Tairan and Ikkitousen Xtreme Xecutor

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

KissXSis

Short Synopsis: Our lead character gets to live inside a house with two cute girls who pretend to be his sister.
Well… it’s porn. It’s as simple as that. Are people really going to check this show out for a reason other than the teenaged nudity? At the least, I do appreciate that the worst stuff in this season comes first. And yeah, this episode was pretty much even worse than the other shows in this post, and that has to say something. It’s full of the most ridiculous stereotypes that just about every fanservice show has. It’s been one episode and the lead character already has a harem of four girls who adore him for no reason whatsoever. These characters seriously have no lives. It did try to out-gross other fanservice shows with the pants sniffing and all, but seriously. With Chu Bra and Seikon no Qwaser last season, who’s it going to fool?
ED: Godawful J-pop and abysmal CG.
Potential: -20%

Koihime Musou Otome Tairan

Short Synopsis: Our lead character goes on an adventure to search for a bunch of random items to save some random woman.
Again: Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Again: find some other bloody novel to parody! In any case, the third season of Koihime Musou is exactly what this series has always been: realyl stupid slice of life. And seriously, these morons really take the cake when it comes to a lack of brainpower as they believe that someone with stomach cramps as pregnant. Well, i guess that stupid girls are really popular with otaku, which is why these kinds of shows keep getting made, and if this is your kind of humour, then good for you. but this episode felt so unbelievably boring to me. Slice of life series are great when the characters themselves are. With these stereotypical idiots however… ugh.
OP: Cheesy J-Rock
ED: Godawful J-pop.
Potential: 0%

Ikkitousen Xtreme Xecutor

Short Synopsis: Our lead character thankfully is completely absent in this episode.
Well, I’m at least glad that the worst shows of this season get released first, so let’s just get this over with. The only thing I’ve seen of Ikkitousen are the first episodes of the second and third season (both were godawful), so most of my comments here are about the execution, rather than the story that I know nothing about. Still, I do want to say that the thing I hate most about this season isn’t the fanservice or moe, but the truckload of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Seriously, pick some other franchise to parody. In any case, for Ikkitousen this was actually a decent episode. I expected the same kind of crap that the previous seasons became infamous for, and while the acting still is pretty bad, this actually was an episode in which you can at least shut your brains off and enjoy it as a random action show. The build-up was nice enough, and the lead characters this time thankfully were much less obnoxious as some of the other paper bags that this show has to work with. Nevertheless, the standards to which I’m comparing this are really low. This episode wasn’t abysmal, but one third of it was recap, the jokes were corny at best and the non-action scenes were pretty cheesy. Also, are these men really supposed to be high school students? I mean, how many grades did these punks repeat anyway?
ED: Boring J-Rock
Potential: 5%

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%

Some Quick First Impressions: Heart Catch Precure

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Heart Catch Precure

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is the umpth incarnation of the legendary mahou shoujo.
Holy crap! Pretty Cure has always been a franchise of cheap mahou shoujo series; that’s why I initially dismissed this series. But oh my god. This episode was just awesome: it was everything a mahou shoujo should be! Just one look at that opening scene should tell enough: the utterly gorgeous character-designs, the animation, the music and the tension. Everything was just wonderfully done in this episode. The humour was really funny and adorable. But the best part were the facial expressions: just look at how many different and expressive emotions they managed to convey in just one episode! Seriously, this episode took me by an utter surprise. The question now is: does it also have a good plan for the next 49 episodes. Precure has been… notorious for its repetition, however if it’s really the intention of the creators to finally come up with a good series, then I’m in!
OP: Fun and catchy.
ED: The ugliest part of this show.
Potential: 80%

Some Quick First Impressions: Nodame Cantabile – Finale

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Nodame Cantabile – Finale

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is studying hard.
Well, the big question with this series is of course: is it going to recapture the magic of the stellar first season, or is it simply going to turn into a nice though uneventful romantic comedy of the second season. The big problem here is Chiaki Kon, as she’s well on her way to become Shinbo II in the way that she’s been directing way too many series for the past two years. This episode started off pretty nice, setting up the premise for this season: Nodame getting her own concert. It’s about time for her to really develop, though, because I’m starting to get annoyed with her antics.
OP: Decent, but not very impressive.
ED: A quiet ballad, but again nothing special.
Potential: 60%

Some Quick First Impressions: Hanamaru Yochien, Seikon no Qwaser and Kaito Reinya

by psgels, posted in Hanamaru Youchien, Some Quick First Impressions

Haramaru Yochien

Short Synopsis: Our lead character starts his new job at a kindergarten for moeblobs.
First, let me say this: this show rocks for having absolutely no teenagers in them! It only focuses on young adults and 4-year-old kids, while teenagers only appear in a few flashbacks. Aside from that, it was a bit of a strange series; the best way to describe it would be a cross between Potemayo and Kodomo no Jikan. It has the moeblobs from Potemayo if they were to 3 years older, and it has a similar teacher to Kodomo no Jikan, even including a similar love-interest of his. The biggest problem with this sereis is obviously that most of the characters are too one-sided or stereotypical, but it does work. This episode was enjoyable slice of life. I especially enjoyed those small scenes after school. What this series needs to do is to somehow remain as light-hearted and enjoyable as it was here, not repeat itself too much, and flesh out the cast beyond the stereotypes that we’ve seen so far. If it’s going to focus on the romance, then I hope for something similar to Yume de Aetara (the OVA, not the TV-series. By GOD, not the TV-series).
ED: This is why voice actresses that pretend to be little kids should never sing.
Potential: 50%

Seikon no Qwaser

Short Synopsis: Our lead character wants to protect her seemingly retarded sister as much as possible.
Ugh… that sister. What a horrible voice actress she received. Just about everything about her is annoying. Apart from that, this episode was decent. There’s potential for a decent action-series, although the direction was flawed at times (one moment the camera pans across a classroom, and the next shot from out of nowhere a girl with a ridiculous pink hairstyle just appears). About half the cast is interesting, while the rest of the cast are just dull stereotypes with a one-sided personality. The lead character herself is decent, but has a nasty tendency to overact. For this series to work, it’s really going to have to put in effort to correctly pace its storyline, and not waste time on pointless beach, hot spring and pool episodes.
OP:
ED: What was the mindset the creators were in when they came up with these visuals?
Potential: 30%

Kaito Reinya

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a phantom thief in the city with the most incompetent police.
There’s an art to making a good comedy: actually making it FUNNY. That’s something that Kaito Reinya completely fails at. It’s full of corny and overused jokes, the slapstick with the mouse is so bad that it becomes horrible, and the constant references to phantom thieves are uninspired at best. I guess that this series’ selling poing is that it’s fully animated in flash, but even that looks lazy: Hanoka, which was produced three years earlier, looked much better than this uninspired… thing.
OP: Obnoxious explanation of the premise of the show.
ED: Not really an ED, more like just a credit role.
Potential: 0%

Some Quick First Impressions: Ookami Kakushi, Dance in the Vampire Bund and Omamori Himari

by psgels, posted in Ookami Kakushi, Some Quick First Impressions

Ookami Kakushi

Short Synopsis: Our lead character moves into a new town and immediately gets himself a new girlfriend.
Yeah, the thing with this season is that just about every show has some sort of overused anime cliche, even the good ones. In any case, the best way to describe this episode was: intriguing. It was basically mostly introductory with a lot of slice of life and a few hints here and there that the town that the main character moved into is screwed up. It’s very promising, the characters are very moeified, but it’s not like they’re stereotypes and they’ve got potential to grow and develop. It also has the best soundtrack I’ve heard so far this season. Now, the question is mostly going to be: is it the creators’ intention to fully animate this story, or are they just going to stop in the middle?
OP: Yuki Kajiura delivers one of the best OPs of the new season.
ED: Pretty decent ballad.
Potential: 70%%

Dance in the Vampire Bund

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is the leader of the Vampires. And a little girl.
The biggest problem with this series is of course going to be Shinbo: is he going to be able to adapt this story properly, or is he just going to repeat himself and focus on the complete wrong parts of the story? I remember the last time he tried to do a series with a little girl who was a vampire (Tsukuyomi Moonphase), which turned out to be a pain to sit through. Though granted, this episode gave a much better first impression. There’s no way to measure it up to the rest of the series, because it was clearly an introductory episode, but let me say the following: if the rest of the episodes are going to be as interesting as this episode, then we’ve got ourselves a success. The TV-program about the existence of vampires was a nice touch, but none of the main characters really got a lot of screentime.
ED: Boring J-rock.
Potential: 50%

Omamori Himari

Short Synopsis: Our lead character gets to be protected by a hot chick.
Now this is really is one of those shows that I’d label as terrible. A few cliches here and there doesn’t usually hurt, but when a series packs a ton of cliches EVERY… SINGLE… MINUTE… then it becomes a huge problem. This series rips off just about everything in this episode from other harem shows. The cat allergy? Hello, Nyan Koi. The hot chick with mysterious powers that suddenly protects the lead characters? How often haven’t we seen that one before? The childhood friend who is in love with the lead character and wakes him up in the morning? Come on, please. Probably the most blatant part is the set of character-designs that it shamelessly ripped off 11Eyes: did it seriously think to get away with the lead character, who looks like a more energetic Yuka with only a different hair and eye colour? And how about that teacher, who also looks EXACTLY the same aside from her hair and eye colours? For the most part of this season, I’m being more lenient than usual because how week it’d otherwise become, but this is just nothing. It’s nothing that we haven’t seen before taken to the extreme, the build-up is abysmal. Only go for this one if you’re a hardcore romantic comedy fan or just like to see boobs or panty-shots.
ED: Obnoxious J-pop. Blegh.
Potential: 0%%