As for the series I’m not going to blog:
– It’s a bit pointless to watch Heroman as an action-series when the creators bluntly skip half of the fights.
– B Gata H Kei has a prime: an important side-character who actually has a boyfriend other than the lead male. Still, regarding blogging it… it’s not the series that I think I can be able to write about every week.
In any case, this season surely turned out to be excellent, and better than I ever could have expected. There are so few series that aren’t worthwile, and just about every series save from a bunch of kids’ shows and KissXSis, Ikkitousen and Koihime (and perhaps Arakawa, but that’s just my bias) has its own strengths. And the best of the season hasn’t even aired yet.
What I also love about this season is that it’s overall a lot darker and more down to earth than the previous season. There, we had a lot of bright fantasy that was a lot focused on brightness and heart warming storytelling. This season, while there are of course the upbeat Heroman, Daimaou and B Gata H Kei, the best shows of this season are actually far more based around down to earth and straight to-the-point dialogue. From the outside it indeed looks less flashy, the content might become even sharper because of it. It’s interesting, because this Spring Season is completely different from the spring seasons we’ve seen during the past five years or so. Usually, those seasons had lots of fantasy. This season barely has any.
Instead, there really is a TON of dialogue, and the beast in this hasn’t even aired yet. It’s also going to be a huge challenge for me to try and understand it, especially since in the previous season most stuff was either a) subbed fast, b) for kids c) didn’t have dialogue that was that hard to understand. There are a ton of shows this season however that look like they’re neither, so please do correct me when I make a mistake. My Japanese at this point is NOWHERE near perfect, so I might pick up a number of things wrongly.
Having said that, after Noitamina Ookiku Furikabutte was THE show that was bound to rock this season. Especially compared to the baseball series of the previous year (Cross Game and Taishou Yakyuu Musume of the last summer) it excels in exactly the things that those shows were rather bad at: the matches. You could really see that the creators put a ton of research in this.
Before they start however, we’re treated for a few episodes of slice of life, which in this series mostly consists out of people, talking about baseball, introducing characters and analyzing patterns that feel out of place in an actual match. The team that they have to play against for their next match also has a bit of a weirdo as their ace. If I understood things correctly, he’s a guy whose average isn’t that good, but when he hits he hits HARD. I can understand why the creators came up with him: his unpredictability promises quite a few interesting situations for Mihashi.
A lot of things passed the radar this episode, but a major theme was Abe versus Mihashi. In my review of the first season I mentioned that one of the things that annoyed me was that the creators overplayed Mihashi’s quirks, but at the same time they have no intention whatsoever to not develop them. And really, I can totally understand Abe for losing his patience. The guy’s a perfectionist, and quite a proud one at that, and while he tries to get Mihashi to feel comfortable, he just can’t lower himself to Mihashi’s level. Even in this episode, when he knows what his problem is, he still loses his temper. I feel like the rest of the season will focus a lot on him, trying to find a balance between pushing his ideas into Mihashi and allowing him to be himself.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
PS. Is everything clear about the episode numbering. This is basically how I always number my sequels unless they’re significantly different from their prequels. Basically episode 28 of Ookiku Furikabutte is just the same as episode 2 of Ookiku Furikabutte ~ Natsu no Taikai-hen~, but is that clear for everyone?
You say the best series of the season haven’t aired yet, but which series are you referring to?
Noitamina’s House Of The Five Leaves and (especially!) Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei.
I cannot wait for the latter, I dare say anime of the year contender.
Ah cool I am glad you are blogging this series since I will be following it as well. 🙂
From what I understand, the guy doesn’t just hit hard, he pretty much hits everything – his average was 1.000 after the first game (manga scanlation had it wrong, methinks)
So glad to see other people appreciate how technical the matches were researched.
There’s also Uragiri, but that’s catered for shoujo fans. It has a potential but I doubt if psgels gonna blog it.
With regards to the episode count: you’re correct. Season 1 has 25 episodes and there is a one-episode OVA after episode 25.
Anyone know when/if fansubs are going to be released for this series? I watched the first season dubbed, but I really enjoyed it and hope I won’t have to wait a year or two for this to be released in the states so I can see it. Any info would be appreciated.
@Micheal: First episode has already been subbed (check your favorite torrent search engine or streaming site). Though I wouldn’t count on subs for this being released that soon. The first episode was only subbed last Wednesday I believe, April 6, nearly a week after the first episode aired.
Thanks a lot!
Well… I have to say that Heroman can’t truthfully attract my attention on it’s own merits. However, it does have a large amount of nostalgia going for it. If I had a son or nephew I could easily imagine watching it with him, and thinking back fondly on the days when I thought Transformers was the coolest show around.
The one other interesting thing that will probably make me watch it occasionally, is the odd effect of seeing America through foreign eyes. Especially since they seem to have done their research and actually tried really hard to get the American-ism accurate. It’s making me notice things around me that I normally don’t see because I just don’t notice. Like all the American flags. I thought “We don’t have that many flags around do we?” And then I started counting the flags I see on my morning commute to work… and suddenly realize that we really do have a lot of flags in America.
Anyway, that part of the experience interests me.
Also, have you watched any of the Katanagatari episodes? I think it’s an interesting art style to go with an interesting twist on an old story.
Oofuri is back, and I’m glad that a few bloggers (only the best ones, of course) have noted its reappearance. I wouldn’t compare it unfavourably to Cross Game, which has several other axes to grind and the usual (and usually good) Adachi motifs to explore. But Oofuri is something special in its viewpoint and pacing, and in the way it trusts and respects its audience.
@ Sacket: He’s already blogged Katanagatari, just search for it or click “Katanagatari (3)” on the right hand side.
You know, it really pains me how you find stuff like “an important side-character who actually has a boyfriend other than the lead male” as something distinguishable… You can find plenty of mature series if you just looked outside the world of anime too. What I mean to say is that while anime has a great amount of excellent fiction, you get frustrated at how it lacks in certain aspects, so let me tell you that there are plenty of series that are not lacking in that department at all, they’re just not anime… So if you want to watch series that contain the material that you want to watch, but is lacking in anime, just listen to me and watch Breaking Bad, or Lost, or Fringe, or House… And the list goes on…
Yup! My Oofuri is back and you’re blogging it. What’s more do I need?
I’ve got to say this 2nd series is really my savior. While I love the title I can’t bring myself to follow the story (and especially the games) presented in manga form because the art is a bit confusing for me. The anime, on the other hand, is just so beautiful and so well-handled it totally brings the manga to life!
With that said, I really hope they will continue to make more seasons to cover the rest of the manga. That would be great!
I’ve been waiting for spring JUST to watch this anime… Glad I just got into it last year so I didn’t have to wait for it as long as the others.
I also liked the fact that the animators took such great care in making this series high quality – sometimes I am into a manga series, then lost interest when it was animated in bad quality.
I also like it that the animators decide to stay true to the manga. While it does make the anime look slow, the wonderful characters are preserved and are not downgraded because of scene-skipping or stupid fillers.
Oofuri! Yes! I started the first season last week and finished in two days. I don’t watch sports, let alone sports anime, but Oofuri manages to make me really interested in both the game and the characters. Can’t wait for the next episode!
To the previous commenter: I hear some people have problems telling the characters apart in the manga. There’s always this helpful (and hilarious) guide to getting it right: “yukitsu.livejournal.com/311151.html”
@Duck: You’re referring to me, right?
Whoa, that page is such a GREAT read! and HILARIOUS! 🙂 Thanks!
I can identify the characters just fine, though. My problems mainly lie on reading the games on paper. It’s so much easier to follow them in the anime (and my lack of baseball knowledge doesn’t help).
@tanukichan: I’m glad you enjoyed the page! XD What never fails to get me laughing is the part about Hanai always looking victimized, because it’s soooo true.
And yeah, I can understand it being a lot harder to follow baseball on paper. I understand it better when it’s animated, too, plus I feel like things get the chance to be a little more EPIC when in anime form. Like Izumi’s catch + Hanai’s throw to home plate in the last season, and Tajima finally hitting the sinker. (Not to say that those moments aren’t awesome in the manga, of course. ;D)