Fate/Apocrypha – 15[Differing Paths]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Fate/Apocrypha

It’s funny that only now, when we are well into the halfway point of the series that it takes some time to flesh out its cast. Sisgou has gotten some backstory, Fiore was fleshed out a little and even Gordes got some time to prove he’s not a complete caricature. The last one is something Celenike really needed before she was decapitated by Mordred as at least now Gordes has a little more to him than just being some arrogant mage. When I saw Gordes approaching the injured homunculi I was preparing myself to see him start abusing them or taking out his frustration on them. Instead Gordes completely surprises me and actually starts giving advice on how to heal them. He’s still arrogant but now that the Holy Grail War has gone nothing like he expected it’s caused him to look at himself and recognise where he went wrong. He’s just as antagonistic and shortsighted as ever but this at least makes him a better character than what he was. Celenike meanwhile just remains a sadistic bitch and gets her rocks of seeing others suffering. If we had just a few minutes like this to show she had anything else then maybe her death could have held more value.

Flore has also been a character solely lacking development as her defining traits are just that she’s wheelchair bound and has Doctor octopus mecha gear. The flashback to the death of her dog shows that even though she can be a strong leader, she can also be quite naive and too kindhearted for her own good. An observation that Chiron happens to notice thanks to his history as a teacher. It really is small moments like this which can really make a character and what may be the main pitfall of the start of this series as a whole. I mentioned previously that as the death count climbs this could result in the survivors getting more fleshed out and that does appear to be happening. Even learning that Atlanta wishes for all children to be loved is a rather kind hearted sentiment despite her rough disposition. All the more important when you take into account her history where she was abadoned by her parents in the woods and only survived thanks to the pity of Arthemis. Sisgou has managed to keep being an entertaining character thanks to his skills and interactions with Mordred but finally knowing that he has a personal wish as well makes his stakes in the battle all the more important.

I really do love how the two of them delight over planning to stealing the grail while everyone is busy fighting over it. So we now have our factions, the red team has come together under Shirou’s command though there was a mistranslation in UTW subs regarding Karna’s motivation. Put simply Karna said their interests align at the moment so he will fall in line but his one desire is to serve his true master, not Shirou. Shirou seems to have some plan detailed out so that using the Grail won’t backfire on him as that is how it works. The grail has the power to skip the process and deliver the result but you need to know what result that you want. This was the big mistake Kerry made in Fate/Zero when he wanted to wish to save the world, but had no real idea on how to do so. So seeing as the grail was corrupted at the time, it choose to go with the worst way possible to grant his wish. Shirou here seems to know exactly what he wants and the grail here isn’t corrupted so he could very well get it. The big problem is that to accomplish his task could very likely result in something rather horrible, like humanity giving up all free will.

The black team are gathering what forces they can to launch an attack on the Gardens of Babylon which Sisgou and Mordred temporarily working with them. So what of our little rogue element? Assassin of black has done pretty much nothing for quite a while and I worry she might end up being a throwaway character much like Avicebron was. As some last notes, I really, really don’t like that they seem to be going with this Joan and Sieg romance. I have heard others say that if Sisgou and Mordred took over the main character slot then this show would be significantly better and I am quite inclined to agree. Besides that was clear favoritism of your part Joan, giving Sisgou one command spell and Sieg two despite them doing the same amount of work. On top of that they appear to be planting some chekhov’s gun for what looks to be a Deus Ex Machina in the future with his odd command spells. Also can we have more Shakespeare please? His character is criminally underused.

Kino’s Journey -The Beautiful World- – 02[Colosseum]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Kino’s Journey -The Beautiful World-

In an odd turn of events, the second episode of Kino’s Journey 2017 is a retelling of a story done in the original 2003 version. Where Kino is forced to participate in deathmatches upon reaching a country. I find this choice odd as I would consider the Colosseum story in the original to be the weakest story as instead of Kino acting as an observer to the countries rules and society, she instead is an active participant. When asked as to which of the versions of this story I prefer, I would say the 2003 version did it better but more because that version gave this story two episodes which it could flesh it out more. However despite that it seems that this newer version is actually closer to the source material from what I have heard.

So today is a tale of revenge as shown by the subtitle of this episode presented at the end. We have several kinds of revenge here in this story. Petty revenge in how the cruel king killed his father due to his upbringing being too strict. Revenge for a loved one as Shizu came to kill his father for what he had done to his mother and him. Revenge out of principle as Kino kills the king for all the travelers that unknowingly went to his country and were forced into deathmatches. Then finally revenge out of grief as a young woman sends travelers to the country so that they can suffer as she has suffered. The last however is kept ambiguous enough that it could be seen as the woman sending Kino to the country knowing that she would end up killing the king but frankly I think that would require the woman to know Kino’s capabilities. No, I find her sending oblivious people to their deaths to be far more fitting as revenge need not be taken against those that wronged you. Some find themselves too weak to do so and settle for a simpler revenge, such as pushing others into misfortunes that have effect you. It’s fitting that at the end of all this the one that truly fulfilled their revenge deems the entire concept pointless as it indeed is pointless. Revenge is born out of a need to balance things out but it won’t truly bring anything of substance. Kino got her revenge and in the end only felt frustration over how she was tricked and used.

Again I don’t really like the level of participation Kino had in this story as she has passed through countries in a more reprehensible state than this and never passed judgement on them. Here she literally destroys a country with her new rule. It is not out of character for Kino to be so merciless to kill a country as she has shown the capability for killing or allowing atrocity. But it is a very emotional move on her part. You can find some poetic justice in how Kino refused to kill any of her combatants and instead had the audience which shouted for blood, kill each other. I would also like to believe that only the people in the colosseum would die, leave those  not involved with the death games to guide the country. Though this seems to suggest that the entire country was doomed. Hard to be on Kinos side here when you take into account that her rule would apply to the children too. I am willing to make a bet that this will be the only remake of an old story in this version and I believe the only reason it’s here is just because of one thing. That being the character introduced in this story, Shizu and the talking dog Riku. In later stories sometimes the protagonist isn’t Kino and hermes but instead these two and i think the only real reason we got this episode was to make their introduction so we are not caught off guard later when they take to spotlight for later stories.

Dies Irae – 01[Twilight Girl]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Dies Irae

There may be those of you who ask why I would cover this series despite it’s rather disastrous prequel episode. Even I will not be attempting to defend this adaption as I sorely believe it will be rather poor indeed. But when you truly think about it, isn’t it the case that I would be the best to judge this series quality? This is clearly an adaptation made for the fans, considering that it was a crowdfunded adaption to begin with and as while i cannot consider myself a fan per say, I have read the original visual novel. As an anime this won’t be anything special but for someone just looking to see DIes Irae animated as a visual novel fan i think someone needs to step into evaluate this. Though truth be told upon hearing this will have an 18 episode run I find my feet getting cold. We shall see how this all turns out.

This is truly the first episode of the series and where the story truly starts as the previous 00 episode was a side story about how the villains came to be. The previous episode has cause quite a number of problems in that it makes for a poor introduction to the story and the animation is bound to scare off any potential watchers. But on top of all that, there may have been people who planned to keep up with this series solely because “At least it isn’t some edgy harem crap with teenagers in highschool.” and along comes this episode to introduce a harem, teenagers and high school. Indeed…I don’t think many people will be keeping up with this series. I might as well point out that the school has about as much significance as the school in Fate/Stay Night. Basically as the story continues it just becomes less and less featured until it’s not even relevant. I will also say this episode is an improvement over the last episode but sadly still in mediocre levels. Animation and storytelling has improved but now it has to deal with the thing that more or less all anime adaptions have to deal with, a slow start.

In visual novels it’s a rare thing for stories to start straight away. You may get a flash forward to future events but more often than not you will spend some slice of life segments with the characters first before the story gets going. The purpose of this is to form an attachment to the characters to that when the story gets down to business things hit a lot harder. It’s the kind of emotional investment that can make visual novels far more powerful experiences than anime but as well it’s very much a double edged sword. For if you don’t find these characters interesting then these parts make a story feel slow. Enter Kasumi, who makes this episode so much harder to watch. I never really liked this girl despite understanding the need for her role. It’s not that I have a prejudice against childhood friend genki girls but in terms of those kasumi is certainly the most annoying type. Loud, obnoxious and trying way too hard coupled with the fact that she’s supposed to be annoying. But intentional annoying is still annoying.. She’s certainly the thing that makes the start of Dies Irae harder to get through than it needs to be.

Time for some story context. If you are wondering just what in the hell the Nazi’s were talking about at the end of this episode, don’t worry because that’s normal. For the first while of this story these people are going to be talking with their own little code. Lets just give the cliff notes and say they are Nazi’s and they are coming to this town to kill a lot of people for some reason. Now despite the last episode putting a lot of time into adapting a side story, it did a poor job of adapting the actual prologue in the VN. If you want to check it out then here. But again for the cliff notes it’s a introduction to the villains and has a speech from Reinard about how this world is trapped in a loop with the same events playing over and over again. And while it is fate for Germany to lose the war, they can still have victory at a point far into the future if they hand over their souls. And there was much rejoicing. As for why our main protagonist and his friend Shirou were beating each other up on a rooftop, Shirou suggested that they should fight each other to the death for shits and giggles. This may sound strange to you but believe me, for Shirou this is well within character. Well I am gonna see how long I can stay on this train as I am surprised by just how much I had to write here. Let’s keep going and see what happens.

Houseki no Kuni – 02 [Diamond]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Houseki no Kuni

Note: due to the fact that the whole cast of Houseki is agender and I DO care about the issue, I will address them either by their name or by gender neutral pronoun. But do forgive me if sometimes the old habit gets the better of me. You readers, on the other hand, can address them in whatever way you like. We all live in a free country after all, even more so with the net. Just be mindful not carry yourself overboard like the folks over animefeminist (where they no longer associate with the ANN source because the said source used feminine pronounce for these characters). Geez, I get their intent, but it was way aggressive.

We still stick to the introduction phase of Houseki, this time we follow Phos meeting the entire new cast of the team. Basically, we have the same plotline as the first episode: Phos have trouble coming up with ideas for the encyclopedia, the based team (this time consist of speaker Jade – the cutest screaming voice ever – and Euclase) advises Phos to meet some other member who is on patrol aka “Character of the week” and while they meet up, Phos learns about their trouble and they will have to fight with the Lunarians as well. Bear in mind that this plotline is Houseki at its most normal, because boy, Houseki is getting weirder and weirder even at its beginning phase. The melting Phos, for example, is something so striking that I won’t forget anytime soon. I believe most of you might notice that Houseki is a work that has strong Buddhism context. I mean, just look at the Lunarians, compare to this; or the fact that Kongou-sensei is the monk. The story so far doesn’t touch much of Buddhism philosophy yet, but since those are crystalline lifeforms, they might take the idea of “reincarnation/rebirth” to a whole new level. I myself expect a strong Buddhism reference that will pop up soon as the story progresses.

This episode gives us a closer look at Dia, whose despite being one of the toughest gems of the team and the most adorable thing on Earth, feeling deeply insecure about their role. In fact, the main theme of Houseki so far is the struggle of our characters towards finding who they are and what their role is in this world. From Cinnabar who curse their very own existence, Phos who literally looking a for a suitable role and Dia who feel totally useless despite being a diamond. Dia’s new technique, a baseball-style that first looks impressive, but too risky and even careless since Dia’s body can’t handle the constant pressure, and she knows it. Bort and Dia make up a complicated team since it’s clear that Bort go out their way to protect Dia because they love Dia, but it ends up making Dia frustrated that they can’t do anything and resend Bort for that. So far, Houseki has been quite successful in fleshing out the personal issues from the cast around Phos. Phos, on the other hand, don’t develop that much but it’s understandable since the story is still in its early stage.

I really love the art designs of the Lunarians. Appearing like a dark storm, they are frightening in how bright they are. The art designs of that sluggish thing, however, are so eerily out of this world, but that’s precisely what it is. It slurps Phos up and we can see him melting right before our eyes. We know pretty sure that Phos will survive, but how much left of them will remain? People have mentioned this show as a body-horror show, and while I can see some of that elements, the graphic details don’t upset me that much. It fits very well to this story. Houseki is weird, that’s awesome. Houseki is raw, that’s even better. I have absolutely no idea what will happen next or even how the hell will Phos get out of this sluggish monster alive, but you bet I’m intriguing. The wait for the next episode will be long for me.

Mahoutsukai no Yome – 2 [One Today is Worth Two Tomorrows]

by Lenlo, posted in Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction, Mahoutsukai no Yome

Welcome to the Fall Season everyone! Let me introduce you to Mahoutsukai no Yome, a piece about a young woman made a Magus’s apprentice and future bride. The first week introduced us to our main characters and some basics of the world. This week sets up our first arc, gives us more information about the world and magic itself. Lets jump in!

Mahoutsukai opens with its OP, which I doubt I will ever tire of. It then shows Chise on a plane, right before she sold herself into slavery. We see glimpses of her past, her family and their treatment of her. Apparently they didn’t want her. This most likely has to do with her being a Sleigh Beggy, something I hope we learn more about. Then the dream ends and we cut to Chise in her bed, waking 2 days after episode 1. She gets up, goes to the kitchen and we see Ainsworth and the maid. Mahoutsukai gives us some information here. That the maid is named Silky and that she is a fairy. A type that does housework, more of a landlady than a maid apparently. It’s just enough information to tide us over while actually addressing her existence. After that Ainsworth details the plans for the episode.

Continue reading “Mahoutsukai no Yome – 2 [One Today is Worth Two Tomorrows]” →

Fate/Apocrypha – 14[Prayer of Salvation]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Fate/Apocrypha

An action focused episode and as such I have very little I can say about it. Considering that Avicebron was more about brains than brawn it’s rather odd to see him get taken down like this. In a way I find this to be a big heel turn for him as I originally took him for the more logical type. I don’t think that him using his former master as the core for his golem is out of character as he has shown that all that really matters to him is the completion of his golem. However I thought he was working out of artistic integrity and not making this golem in some bid to save the world. Truthfully I am rather disappointed in that. I rather liked the idea of Avicebrons main goal being to complete his life’s work and that being his only reason for his position in this war. Upon completing it I thought he wouldn’t really care as to what purpose it served and that his only real intent was it’s creation. This however just transforms his motivation into something more petty and stupid. Bringing back the garden of Eden by creating a golem? Why not bypass the golem making process and just use the holy grail?

I feel it would have been better to make this situation more sympathetic. Have him sacrifice his master to create the golem. Upon it’s creation just let it roam wild, only to be destroyed by the servants. Once the golem is defeated, Avicebron is found by the servants where he laments at the realization that he killed a kindred spirit in blind pursuit of his goal. Avicebron then takes his own life as compensation for his mistake. Now that I believe would have really made this work. But sadly at this situation Avicebron is just made into a generic villain who is “saving” the world by destroying it. It’s a pity, as I at least like the situation of having the servants take on a massive golem and team up with Mordred. Even if it feels a bit like a unconditional mid-boss. I do find it funny that Ruler is still operating under the guise of a referee even at this point so that she must come up with cheap justification in order to help. The rules of this holy grail war have already been thrown out of wack so she needs no further reason to join a side.

Another servant has been removed from the game though even with that it seems the red side have a huge advantage. Looks like Atlanta and Achilles couldn’t manage to join the Black side so they are unwillingly on the red team. One thing I am rather disappointed about is that this anime cut out Mordred’s first reaction when she saw Ruler. Much like Gilles did during the fourth holy grail war, she first mistook her for Arthuria and as we know she has some daddy issues. Though I suppose at this point they have sexed up Joan of Arc’s servant design that it’s pretty difficult to see the Arthuria in her. Still it doesn’t solve the problem that she and Sieg are still dull as dishwater and it grows increasingly tedious to see them interact and build what looks to be some sort of romantic tension between them. So we have twelve episodes left for this series and for a halfway point assessment I would say this anime is a decent watch for Fate fans. It’s certainly lacking when compared to Ufotable adaptations but it may be on par with the likes of the 2006 Deen adaption to which I found to be decent as well despite the hate it gets. I feel like this story could have been stronger and A-1 have failed in that regard on adaption. Still with this animated that means Type Moon has one less Fate property to milk and with some hope that might finally get them to work on that Tsukihime remake they promised ten years ago.

Girls’ Last Tour – 02 [Bath – Journal – Laundry]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Girls' Last Tour

Here’s for the most comfort food of this season. One thing you will notice when watching this show: despite its dark, post-apocalyptic settings, Girls’ Last Tour is a slice-of-life moe show at its heart. There will be no deep implication of the dark world, and those girls will not develop much by the end. But then, only two episodes in and I can confidently say that this show will stay as one of the best of its genre. First, it fuses seamlessly between its dark theme and light-hearted tone, making it a well-balanced show about two girls finding small wonders in this grey world. It helps that the source material is strong, depicting two (and only two) characters who have rock-solid chemistry and the ruined world with great eyes of details. The small stories so far vary greatly, and moreover they’re heartfelt.

But its best assets so far lie in the direction. Girls’ Last Tour is the only anime show I’ve watched this year (aside from Scum’s Wish) that makes me feel it would be right at home in live-action movie medium. Apart from the girls’ round (and getting rounder) moe faces – which have its own charm – it feels downright cinematic. Great shot composition everywhere, they nail the right color palettes (whether its dusty world, the warm of fire, or the coldness of snow), make a perfect choice regarding the use of sound (they know when to insert the scores, when to just let the natural sound – like the sound of the tank – take up its noise), and the pacing is just about right. It’s a goddamn perfect production in my eyes.

In order to fit with the slice of life nature of this gem, where they more likely produce the same atmosphere every single story; thus give me a difficult task of repeating myself over again, I will blog it as a written account for its chapters. It’s note-worthy to mention that the three main titles of this week’s chapters are all mundane everyday activities, but of course in Girls’ Last Tour, “mundane everyday activities” are as far-away as normal activities as possible. Hence when those moments happen, it feels like a special occasion.

“Bath”

Our girls Chii-chan and Yuu encounter a big snowstorm and they look for a shelter – a Japanese power plant (in which Chii-chan can’t understand the sign, suggests that our current civilization is long, long gone). The girls are still freezing until they notice a pipe that isn’t frozen – the pipe that contains hot water. Yuu blasts it apart with the help of Chii-chan to steady the gun (man, I love their teamwork) and voila – they make themselves a man-made hot spring. Time for a hot bath, something that those girls don’t have a luxury to do often since they left their “Grandpa” (they only took bath three times before that).

“Journal”

This is the chapter where we can see the difference in the way the two girls approach life: Chii-chan wants to reserve the memories by writing these events down in her journal. Yuu, on the other hand, voices her opinion that memories only get in the way of living. That contrasted philosophy is neither right nor wrong, and it’s precisely the reason why they make such a good team as they balance each other out. But Girls’ Last Tour goes even further by having the careless Yuu literally destroys a book by unintentionally throws it into a fire. Chii-chan saves it just in time but of course she’s mad as hell. Yuu then says sorry with the only way she knows that will make Chii-Chan smile: drawing her sleeping face with a mispronounced written apology: “I’m sokky”

“Laundry”
One of the factor that Girls’ Last Tour chapters have been succeeded so far is how they blend the interior settings (those girls doing something together, like the previous two chapters) and the vast exterior setting. This time they stand above a massive building with a still-functioned drainage system. The lost city used to be a grand industrial city, now only filled with ruined, scrapped metals… and a dead fish. It further suggests that there’s still a life-form left in the post-apocalyptic world beside our two heroines, but those poor girls don’t even see a fish before, let alone know how it taste. Doesn’t matter at all since they grill the fish and eat it anyways. Then, with a full stomach, and a laundry’s job done, those girls lie there in the vast world and take their good nap, leaving behind all the worries to God’s hand.

Juuni Taisen – 02 [Tricks Both Mongrel and Fowl]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Juuni Taisen

A Battle Royale anime is something that have been done numerous times before: Mirai Nikki, Btoom!!, last year’s Magical Girl Raising Project… It’s such a delicious meal that it’s hard not to have fun when players try to outsmart the others or think of a creative way to kill each other. Juuni Taisen so far fulfill that concept successfully. Nothing deep yet but what this show excels is the memorable casts and the unpredictability of plots. Two episodes in, Juuni Taisen manages to catch us off guard twice, last week with the revealing that Rabbit – Usagi (for the sake of consistency I will use the animal name for characters – but will mention their Japanese name when I first introduce the characters) is a necromantist and this week with the Dog – Dotsuku suddenly gets his face smashed, in mere seconds. Now, many of you might think that the deaths have a pattern: a reversed Zodiac order: first the Boar, now the Dog. It certainly helps as well that the title of the next episode “Cutting a Chicken with a Beef Cleaver” might mean that this is the end of our Chicken – Niwatori. Well, knowing Nisio Isin I don’t think that will be the case. If there is anything that makes the writer stand out amongst the rest of LN authors, it’s that he can manage to pull the rug out of our feet with satisfying results (the episode 4 of Katanagatari springs to my mind). In fact, the first warrior who died wasn’t the Boar, it was the Snake  – Ani, so it pretty much breaks the pattern.

Second, I believe the reverse order could be served as a narrative order. That I think explains the focus on those characters and if that is the case, the next episode will be dedicated to our Chicken. Not to say that this episode she hasn’t already left her mark. Come to the first lesson in this Battle Royale: never underestimate your enemy. The Dog had his plan all figured out: the only warrior who already had an antidote to the poisonous gem, making him the safest bet if he can lay low. On top of that, he’s tricky because he let others think that he’s a mad dog, but instead he’s calculated and use his venomous fang as a weapon to kill enemy. Come Chicken, who not only spots him unguarded, but displays a wide array of inexperienceness that let his guard down. Her innocence is just too adorable. When it comes to the crucial point, as Dog using Chicken as a decoy by boosting up her power, she smashed his skull off in a flash. When you think about that, Dog and Chicken make quite a pair, consider that their mottos aren’t all that different (Killing by Biting and Killing by Pecking – you all have to use mouth here). Question is, is it an impulsive act from Chicken because of the non-lethal drug kicked in or does she plan it all along? After all, letting herself bitten by the Dog wasn’t a wise decision at all.

Meanwhile, Rabbit team keeps marching ahead and the other team: the peaceful one, consists of Monkey – Shuryuu and Rat – Nezumi lay real low down the underground. It was Monkey who brought down the floor, but the person needed to be taken seriously is the Rat. He has an eye for details and he leaves all the other players the vague sense of déjà vu. Whoever this guy be? Monkey with her ceasefire approach could be the main development point for this series, so I expect this team won’t be killed anytime soon. Speaking of the one who was killed, the flashback from the Boar – Inounoshishi last week had me puzzled: We didn’t see her sister’s death. Or more on point, we even didn’t see she stabbed herself. My point being there could be something more than meet the eyes here. Maybe she saves her sister at last minute? Thus I believe her act is far from over so there might be some twists that bring her back to the game? Boy, I’m sure excited.

Not that these first two episodes don’t have its hiccup. First, there is a convention that whenever a character displays their strategy, or they have some character’s development, they’d be the one killed. So far, Juuni Taisen embraces that convention neatly (the shock the show provided so far comes from the way they were killed, not from twisting about who would get killed). Second, unless they properly invest the relationship and tension between the twin brothers Snake and Dragon, I feel they wasted a spot for a powerful character here. They could have many interesting ways to create a memorable Dragon warrior, so I hope the older twin is badass enough for me to forget about this. The Dragon doesn’t seem to be emotionally affected by the death of his twin brother. But if the first episode is any indication, siblings killing each other is the norms around here. There certainly isn’t lots of fights consider the Battle-Royale concept, but it’s the kind of battle I’m looking for; and I’m sure glad they don’t shy on the body counts. Bring all you got here Juuni Taisen.

As of now,

Deaths: Snake, Boar, Dog

Favorites to win: Bull, Monkey, Rat, Rabbit, no-one.

Fall 2017 Anime Coverage

by SuperMario, posted in About

Well, we don’t normally do this, but considering that now we have 5 active writers for the site, I think it’s fair to make a formal post about who covering what for the new season. This should be a normal practice from now on and traditionally (because traditions have to start somewhere), this post will come after our last “First Impressions” post. Without further ado, here’s our schedule for the 2017 Fall season:

AidanAK47: Kino no Tabi, Dies Irae, Fate/Apocrypha (carry-over)

Mario: Houseki no Kuni, Girls’ Last Tour, Juuni Taisen

Lenlo: Mahoutsukai no Yome, Inuyashiki, (Shokugeki no Souma 3) (note: Lenlo might do a bi-weekly post on Souma. Or not)

Wooper: 3-gatsu no Lion 2, Ballroom e Youkoso (carry-over), Space Battleship Yamato 2202 (OVA)

Helghast Killzone: TBA

We’re all delighted with our choices here. The only show that I regret to not blogging is Children of the Whales, but that further demonstrate how this Fall season is an embarrassment of riches. Another note is that Wooper will take over my coverage of 3-gatsu, consider he’s even a bigger fan of the series than mine. Not that I think you guys will miss my 3-gatsu coverage that much but rest assured that the show will be in good hands coming forward. As for me, I am working on a project right now so make sure to check back in few weeks. I guarantee that you won’t be disappointed.

Here’s hoping for a new great season of anime. Thank you, folks.

Some Quick First Impressions: EVIL OR LIVE, Boku no Kanojo ga Majime Sugiru Shobitch na Ken and Inuyashiki

by SuperMario, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

EVIL OR LIVE

Short Synopsis: An Internet addict is thrown into a shady re-education academy.

Wooper’s review

How am I supposed to feel after having seen this dumpster fire? Should I sympathize with the MMO and FPS junkies trapped in their new prison, or should I pity them instead? Is the purple-haired inmate supposed to be viewed as a badass or a manipulative prick? There’s no way to know for sure, because Evil or Live is too amateurish a production to transmit a point of view. It struggles just to fill 22 minutes, stitching together on-screen text, live action scenes, and a creepy children’s song in the vain hope that the end result might be slightly entertaining. None of those things are show-killers on their own, but when combined with choppy animation, a senseless premise, and some of the worst voice acting I’ve ever heard, they certainly don’t do the show any favors. The only way this series could possibly cultivate an audience is by preying on the fears of real life Internet addicts, and to its credit, that’s precisely what Evil or Live does. Its chief villain is a physically imposing, verbally abusive, beatstick-wielding brute of a man, and he’s probably the most likable character in the show. In fact, his only flaw is that he didn’t emerge from my computer screen and beat *me* senseless so I wouldn’t have to watch this entire episode.

Potential: 0%

Mario’s review

Hello Chinese anime, my old friend. I’ve come to talk about you again. It’s funny that you can track how Haoliners progresses as an anime studio by following their seasonal offerings. This time, for example, they expand their artistic ground by including brief live-action and stop motion montages in the opening sequences that feel right at home with Shaft’s impressionist art, which for me is a welcomed experiments. But watching Evil or Live, I have a strong feeling of being manipulated by the show. There are two main themes this show wants to convey: first, the addictiveness from playing games online, which do have its social relevance but they make it way too serious here; and second, the abusive treatments that feel more like a jail than an institution. Those two themes conflicts each other in terms of direction, so to resolve this issue, the show decides to… get the main male lead hooking up with his crush from secondary school? Yeah, you heard it right. The male lead is a punchable dude who sobs and wets all the time and his motive is so trashy that he belongs right where this show is. Apart from those interesting visuals I mentioned above, the animation is on the lackluster side, the humor is depressingly awkward and I swear I see dozen of other characters who look like the main character here. Still not a good enough effort Haoliners, but keep trying by all means.

Potential: 0%

 

Boku no Kanojo ga Majime Sugiru Shobitch na Ken

Short Synopsis: A boys new girlfriend keeps relating everything in their relationship to excessively sexual matters.

Aidan’s review

If anyone knows me, then they know I don’t find anime comedy to be very funny but this is even worse when a comedy anime is centered around a single joke. Boy wants a pure relationship but his girlfriend keeps misinterpreting all his desires as excessively sexual. Isn’t that hilarious? Not really. If you ask me a girl with a sex drive isn’t something to be shamed but rather I think it’s what most of us would want. My main problem here is that like that show we had last season about a sexually aggressive character they make it that the character is actually just a pure little snowflake and the whole desire for sex is actually some misunderstanding or front. I really hate that because I find this “purity” thing to be absolutely hypocritical and stupid. My guess is that this childhood friend of his that someone manages to make every line of dialogue into a double entendre actually gets all “Hazukashi” when it comes to getting down to be business. So what this show has to offer is sex jokes with some filler romance, fanservice and harem aspects in between. Despite not knowing how this series will turn out, I am nearly one hundred percent certain the romance will go nowhere. Because it’s a romance in anime comedy. It never goes anywhere.

Potential: 0%

Mario’s review

Oh anime about a bunch of teens who can’t control their hormones, just about what we need. You must have one of those to complete the season. How many times do we see the confession right off the bat between characters who we have no idea who they are? The premise sounds like a clone of Mysterious Girlfriend X but at least the latter had its own charm, this one is boring and filled with tropes. Already this guy has a harem who are physically closer to him than his own girlfriend. The plot is driven by hormones so there’s of course boob-bouncing, boob-grabbing and isn’t it great that the person who drives the plot isn’t our main characters but some random girl? Even I don’t get what Sho-bitch really mean so it’s clear that I’m not an audience target for this. Anime was indeed a mistake. Next.

Potential: 0%

 

Inuyashiki

Short Synopsis: An elderly man is turned into a cyborg after an alien encounter.

Wooper’s review

The series I was most reminded of as I watched this episode was Parasyte. The main characters of each show may differ quite a bit in age, but they both receive extraordinary powers after coming into contact with aliens, and are forced to battle at least one other person with the same abilities. Parasyte dealt mostly with questions of naturality, but Inuyashiki is more likely to tackle social issues, given the loneliness and age-based discrimination its hero is saddled with. That’s an exciting prospect in an anime landscape full of dumb teenagers, but it’s up to MAPPA to deliver a watchable product. So far I’d say the show looks… passable. The hybrid 2D/CG style is a necessity, given the main character’s robotic frame, but the show creates a jarring effect whenever it uses a 3D model for his human form. Even during traditionally-animated scenes, there are a lot of moments where characters ought to look anguished or furious, and they’re flat-faced instead. Still, the show looks clean and its events are well laid-out, which isn’t something that can be said about every series. I’m picking this one up for at least three episodes, but I’m not ready to drink the whole pitcher of Kool-Aid just yet.

Potential: 65%

Lenlo’s Review

I had no idea what I was getting into with Inuyashiki, and this first episode blew me away. I was interested from start to finish. First and foremost, the age of the main character. In a market where characters in their 20’s are a rarity, we are given a 58 year old salaryman with an unloving family and a bad back. Everything about his character, from his problems to his attitude, just feels like a breathe of fresh air. There are some issues however. As Wooper said, most characters are flat faced, but I would like to think that was done on purpose to show what the Main Character’s life was like. Based on his own expressions, they can clearly do emotion. The CG is also hit or miss. Normal scenes, with just humans, look wonky. Yet any scene involving the robotic parts look fantastic. Lots of effort clearly went into the Robot Model, as it should since it’s a centerpiece, and anytime that robot is doing something just looks great. I am concerned this is going to turn into some shounen affair, with the young man who was also hit. But assuming they can keep the old man interesting and really tackle the problems of his age I think Inuyashiki will be a treat.

Potential: 85%

AidanAK47’s review

As the others have said, the art for the faces comes off as rather stiff and the CGI can be a bit jarring. I will also say that it may be hammering home the point a little too hard. I like that it is showing the social issue of people being apathetic towards an senor generation but it goes a little too far with the doctor nonchalantly declaring a death sentence and the teenagers gunning for blood at the end. It’s not outside the realm of plausibility but I feel that, in particular the teenagers, they went too far to vilify them. Regardless this is a unique concept and I really like the execution of it so far. Whats better is that the Inuyashiki manga has been completed and from the looks of things this series could in fact be a complete adaption. Which has bumped this series up a few points in my eyes.

Potential: 75%