Okay, so Hunter X Hunter is hereby dropped. I just have no clue what to replace it with. After watching both Nazo na Kanojo and Jormungand’s first episodes, I think I’m either going to blog Jormungand, or go with a Kaleidoscope. I’m leaving that for next week to decide.
The thing is: we really have a special season this time. It really needs to be successful, because it has the potential to raise the bar on anime. Last Summer I also was very enthusiastic about how good it was, but this time it’s different: there are so many series this season that put in a lot of effort to stand out in their own ways. There are no immediate instant classics, but there are so many series that have the potential to become so. This will very likely become the best season of the entire year in terms of overall quality.
My thing with Jormungand is that it does not belong among those series, yet it has the potential to stand out. It’s not the only series this season that has this. Really, I had a ton of difficulties picking between this series and Nazo na Kanojo X. Seriously, the runners-up this season also really have some potential to stand out, and that’s something I haven’t seen in a while. A quick overview of them and why I didn’t decide to weekly blog them:
– Nazo na Kanojo has a great female lead and excellent characterization when it gets down to business. It however has only 13 episodes and I’m not sure whether it’ll be enough to talk about weekly.
– Natsuiro Kiseki is very creative, and again deserves a lot of points with the interplay between its cast. It is also very bold in spending so much time on small things. It however, is too angsty at times.
– Polar Bear Cafe is wonderfully creative and delightful Iyashi-Kei. It’s also so boring.
– Same for Kimi to Boku: I’m only starting to like this show more and more and the characterization only gets better, yet the annoying parts are also still there.
– AKB048 just puzzles me with its bizarrely creative premise.
– And then there is the wildcard of Medaka Box, which is very overblown moe, but I can see it break the boundaries of genres like what everyone says about it… if it ever gets to that point and the director doesn’t ruin it.
– Not to mention that Legend of Korra which promises an interesting look at modern day heroes.
And then there are the series that don’t stand out, but are just very good entertainment:
– Kuroko no Basuke knows how to be fun. But yeah: it’s both too shounen and a shounen jump series.
– Saint Seiya has Yoshihiko Umakoshi‘s animation, but unfortunately it doesn’t really add much to what we’ve already seen from him in Casshern Sins and Heartcatch Precure.
Now that I’m typing this up, I see a lot of potential for a good Kaleidoscope here. The past summer season had me saying that it could become an incredibly good series. In the end it didn’t turn out as good as I expected due to a number of bad and incomplete endings. This season has that much less: only Zetman is an obvious culprit here, and even that show is actually trying to make up for it, rather than ignore it.
Anyway, Jormungand. I actually chose this show because it was out of the ones mentioned above, the show I wasn’t going to blog, yet have the most to say about. Again, this can really grow to stand out: the manga is also fully finished and there will be 26 episodes, not to mentioned that the semi-episodic nature will makes sure for a ton of variety. This can really work, and yet I am missing something from this series. Something that doesn’t place it among the top of this season. I’ll try to explain what that is.
Because really: I am a big fan of war dramas. Anime in the past have done some really great things with it. And that’s a thing: this series does feel a bit derivative. I’ve seen a lot of people compare it to Black Lagoon, but that’s also probably because the OPs sound similar (and indeed: the OP does in no way match the classic OP that Black Lagoon had), but I think that the problem is more with the way it ends up setting itself apart because of this: its humor and entertainment value.
This series indeed is very slick, fun and fast-paced. This episode also threw in a lot of character development for the side characters, which also is a good sign. What I do feel however, is that it has its tongue a bit too far up its own cheek, and overplays the comedy a bit too much for a war drama: it always needs to have a joke ready, or it always needs to have a character looking cheeky. Despite the solid production values overall, this is something that it fails to recognize. It makes this series very one-sided. Especially Coco is guilty of this. Think a bit about the most memorable characters out there who use comedy: they use it with a natural charm: they don’t try to be funny, but this comes naturally to them. Jormungand seems to go for this effect, but ti tries to force this too much by trying to give the characters too much natural charm, making them forced. This is something that this series is going to really have to take care of.
Rating: *+ (Great)
Black Lagoon OP, so good they just remixed it for the third series.
Please psgels, do another Kaleidoscope, but the one with the small paragraphs about each series. I know it asks more work from you but I’m pretty sure most people enjoyed that. It’s fun to know your thoughts about a certain episode (even if they’re brief) without having to check the whole chatbox to see if you might have commented on it. Plus with all the potential this season, this would be a perfect time for this.
agree! i love the way psgels does his first impressions at the beginning of each season, a kaleidoscope like that would be awesome
Coco is funny/smiley for a reason
they explain it in the manga and I’m sure they’ll talk about it in the anime too, but it’s also a good ways into the series (something like volume 7 out of 11)
all I have to say is to give it some time
So you drop Hunter x Hunter because you’re always butthurt that it’s different from your precious original adaptation that was full of fillers.
wow.. you are an idiot.
Would you like some cheese to go with your whine?
For God’s sake this is his blog. If he doesn’t want to blog it, he has all the rights to drop it.
Go suck eggs.
If he doesn’t enjoy the series why should he waste his time blogging about it?
Even though it’s not technically anime, I’d love to see you review Legend of Korra, which in its first two episodes has already proven its untold potential.
I’m hoping that the Autumn season, with Sword Art Online, Hagure Yūsha no Estetica and Oda Nobuna no Yabo, two of which are based on Light Novels, will largely overshadow this one, as good as you think it looks. Personally I’m finding this season quite dull.
Yea, I’m sure there is some place else to discuss HxH if you want to.
As for Jormungand, I agree something is a bit off about the show. It feels like a spoof on its own genre. Hard to take a show about hardcore killers serious when everyone is sarcastic and funny 100% of the damn time…
Well, I suppose this being the second episode sooner/later everyone’s 100% Awesome-mode would partly give way at some point for the plot to grow. If they can still keep it I don’t honestly know how much I can stomach before I start complaining. 😀
It’s the humor. If I had to put my finger on what feels off to this anime, it’s the humor. It’s trying too hard to be funny and it comes off as forceful and stupid. Especially when it goes into serious situations and then throw random jokes that feel completely out of place with the setting.
Loco is one hell of a arms dealer :]
@psgel, I couldn’t help but feel you tilted my perspective on jorgamund ever since you stressed its trying a little too hard on being tongue-in-cheek in the context of a war drama, probably because I haven’t watched enough anime war dramas to have an expectation of what is the norm. Other than that, I sincerely enjoyed what I consider a fresh break from what I usually expect from anime staple (magic powers and sci fi, slice/life, power levels over 9000, etc). Its people, guns, war, politics, and killer-smiles.
That aside, I suppose when I look at everyone’s faces in this anime its like they’re overflowing with this invisible yet palpable aura of intense bloodlust that makes you squeal on the potential victims behalf. XDD
That’s because Jormungand isn’t a war drama… If anything the characters are mostly paid mercenaries or former police/secret agents who are basically made to become body guards. They may enter into battlefields – as is their jobs. But they delve more into the political and moral aspect of being an arms dealer rather than playing on emotions as a result of loss or how pointless the battle being waged is. Hence, I find characterizing this as a ‘war drama’ would be rather wrong, again they may deal with political tyrants with personal armies but Jormungand does not involve itself into the complete aftermath of the battle but rather the aftermath of the arms sold (they try to be merely outside forces or neutral merchants after all).
And this is where the show focuses on – especially later on – on the ins and outs of the business.
“Okay, so Hunter X Hunter is hereby dropped.”
I’m gone. That was the only reason I discovered this site and the only reason I kept coming back.
I really love Jormungand – even without the Shizu-sama doctrine this would be a great watch. With her it’s a must-watch for me 😉
Fun times!
Finally we won’t get to read psgel’s incessant whining on Hunter X Hunter.
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