Orange – 02

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Orange

Let me say up front that I am not fond with either romance or melodrama. We usually mistaken romance for love but whenever I think about love I’d think of commitment. Melodrama don’t do well to me either as I always feel forced, like most of the time when the show goes big, emotional scenes, it often implies us what to feel and I feel manipulated instead. Orange, unfortunately go straight to these directions which naturally would put me away for good, but there’s something that keeps me hanging here, and that is the sense of regret. While I said before that I can feel for Naho’s behaviors and the way her shyness keeps her from doing what she should do that lead to her regrets later on, I can’t deny that Naho is NOT a well written character. It got even worse in this episode that she ends up as plain and unremarkable. And I don’t mean her introvert and shyness actions; yes, usually the main protagonist needs to actively carry the story but that’s not a point here; I mean that she’s so average that there’s nothing that makes her stand out. And that’s a problem. We see the story through her eyes, and if she’s unremarkable then it’s hard for us to identify with her. The rest of the cast, while they are natural with each other, still need more development to become full-fledge characters.

Regret is one of the big theme of this show, and it comes straight from the regrets of older Naho towards what she could do in the past for Kakeru and that feeling holds so much weight. The one thing that I really like from the premise of Orange is that this is the younger version of Naho who has to deal with it. Naho the 16-year-old is still immature, she’s still and will make lot of mistakes in her life and as one scene of the show nicely puts it, those letters tell her what to do to avoid regrets do not mean it will change her personality. She’s Naho and she will always be Naho. At least for those first 2 episodes she manages to do what her previous self didn’t have guts to do: to hit the final ball and to make Kaheru a proper lunch. All the details so far strongly foreshadow that Kaheru is going to die in a year’s time, even if Naho tries her best to prevent it. But it’s the actions that count. At least she tries and it’s the time that the group enjoying together that will be their most treasure moments, and that holds no more regret. There’s a real potential if the show ends like this.

Then again, it’s never a good sign that we can see how it would end up just after 2 episodes. This would be predictable and I really expect Orange would do something different to surprise us, or if they go that route they have to be very well executed. There are still more rooms for character’s development and I want to see more from Naho herself. Kakeru’s revelation about his mother committing suicide; for example, is a step in the right direction, because the detail gives us more light to Kakeru’s personality: the way he hides his emotions away and the way he yearns for a female figure. This is where Orange really shines and I expect more of this in coming episodes.

And I still hope they’d tone down the melodrama later on.

~SuperMario~

Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World – 15

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World

I have a certain belief when it comes to anime and it is that in a great series there is “That” episode. You know the one, the one you will always remember. The one that comes to mind when the series is brought up. Of course depending on personal opinion, that episode can be different for other people. However I think that sometimes in a series, there is one episode that truly hits the hardest. Some examples for me are Madoka’s episode 10, Cowboy bebops final episode or Fate/Zero episode 23. That episode that when the credits roll all you can really say is, wow. This is likely premature of me as we are only over the halfway point but I believe that this is Re:Zero’s, That episode. When this series is brought up in the future I am certain the image that will come to everyone’s mind is that of a decapitated Subaru holding Rem in the snow. The studio might agree on that point as a new Key visual came out on the official site which displays Subaru carrying Rem in the snow. But let me dial back a bit before I am labeled a zealous fanboy.

We finally hit the point where Subaru dies and it’s after finding the corpses of Rem, Ram and the children of the village. The bodies of Beatrix and Roswaal are oddly missing but considering their fighting potential they are likely guarding Emilia and if they are guarding Emilia that means they are dead center of the snowstorm. The room Subaru was about to enter is likely where they hid out and we get a rather unexpected death of Subaru, as he’s frozen to death and shattered. Thus we finally get the first death of the arc and find out where his “save point” is. It looks like it’s in front of the apple salesman again and upon first seeing it I thought Subaru had returned right back to the beginning. However it turns out to be in the middle of the shopping trip he and Rem went on. It also happens to be after Subaru and Emilia’s argument and his foolhardy mistakes at the selection which I am truly grateful for. It could have been so easy for the writer to just undo the mess and put Subaru on top but instead he took the high road and made it that Subaru needs to live with his mistakes and mend his broken relationships. Though he’s not doing that now as he’s gone completely insane and no longer has the mental capacity to deal with things anymore. This is the point where Rem has pretty much won the main heroine title. I don’t care if Emilia is technically the main heroine, Rem’s earned it ten times over by this point. Which is surprising as it wasn’t all that long ago when she caved in Subaru’s skull with a flail.

Subaru has been rendered a unresponsive vegetable at this point and despite not knowing how this suddenly happened, Rem sticks with him. Though she does make an accurate guess in that the witch is likely involved due to the scent of her growing over Subaru. She even fights to the fight to save his life after he’s abducted by the witches cult. That brings me to what I would call the biggest flaw of an otherwise perfect episode, Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse is the main villain of this arc and boy, does he want you to know it. For Subaru’s development he’s perfect as he’s so unredeemable evil and unforgivable that he drives Subaru to fight him. However while in some aspects I like his purpose, I rather dislike his overly cartoonishly exaggerated insanity. He’s trying far too hard to be creepy and unstable that he’s just too hard to take seriously. He bares a heavy resemblance to Gates from Full Metal Panic: The second raid who also had a spastic personality as well as a pendent for killing his own subordinates. This kind of villain suits the needs of the plot but as a character he just comes off as weak. If he can manage to tone down his mood swings I think he has potential in how perceptive he is of others. Particularly he managed to see that Rem had unrequited love for Subaru and more importantly, that Subaru was retreating into insanity.

As the Joker stated in the famous comic and soon to be animated adaption “The Killing Joke” “So when you find yourself locked onto an unpleasant train of thought, heading for the places in your past where the screaming is unbearable, remember there’s always madness. Madness is the emergency exit…” Subaru tried to take that exit but Betelgeuse wouldn’t let he close the door and that’s the strange thing about this. Betelgeuse did horrible things, brutally killed Rem and left Subaru screaming bloody vengeance but in an odd manner, he “helped” Subaru. Well, help might not be the right word, more he gave Subaru drive and focus. With the next loop Subaru is ready to fight back but the look in his eyes isn’t that of a hero. It’s the eyes of someone out to kill a man called Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse put down some nice hints in his scene, with him labeling himself Sloth and aptly wondering if Subaru was pride. It looks like all the archbishops of this “gospel” are representative of a sin and in the manga Betelgeuse does say that he knows everyone’s face but pride. I must admit however that I am really getting tired of the seven deadly sins being used as symbolism. When Full metal alchemist did it that was cool but lately everything under the sun has been using the seven deadly sins motif. At least change it up a bit. After all, there were originally eight deadly sins. Those original sins had despair instead of envy and the eighth sin was vainglory. Vainglory being the human desire to be seen, appreciated, acknowledged, and accepted. If this writer is very smart it could be possible that Subaru is Vainglory and that suits him to a much greater degree than pride.

What is by far the signature of this episode is the closing credits. Rem limped her way to Subaru and released his chains.(Still questioning how she’s still alive seeing as I was sure Betelgeuse broke her neck.) After she confesses her love and dies in his arms, Subaru carries her all the way to the manor which has been overtaken by a sudden snowstorm. After seeing Ram’s dead body a giant beast comes out of the top of the manor and upon locking eyes with Subaru, freezes and decapitates him. As the credits roll and Subaru is buried under snow and fog, this doesn’t feel like the end of a single episode of a series. If feels like the dramatic end of a movie and is just mesmerising. The music on this point as well is just superb with orchestrated violins. I think it’s fairly safe to say that the beast that froze the manor is Puck due to the ice powers, his tendency of calling Emilia his daughter and looking closely at the silhouette you can see the earring Puck wears clearly. It was previously mentioned at the selection and by Puck himself that he is a very powerful spirit and this is likely his true form revealed after the death of Emilia. His killing of Subaru feels like a mercy killing as he didn’t want him to see Emilia dead. Or it could be possible that he is aware of Subaru’s power to a degree as he has shown elements of a mind reading power. The real question now is what happens after this, when Subaru now is ready to strike back. My guess is Wilhelm will notice the change and play a part. My biggest worry from this point forward is that Re:Zero may have played it’s strongest hand, hit the peak and after this it’s all downhill. It has so far managed to avoid that but truthfully, I am not sure how it can top this.

~AidanAK47~

Berserk(2016) – 02

by AidanAK47, posted in Berserk(2016), Currently Watching:

Well this isn’t going to be an easy watch for me. Back in the days I was just getting into anime and manga I happened upon a series called Berserk. I watched it, really liked it and then went to read the manga. Eventually I read it up to date but over time I lost interest in it due to the ever slow release of chapters and just the story being stuck in a dull arc with no end in sight. I truly pity the fans of the series as their suffering must be immense. To such a degree that just the act of Gut’s making it off a boat after seven years is a cause of massive celebration. To make matters worst it has not fared well in regards to animated adaptions. The first adaption is the best and manages to be a good watch. However the animation is bare bones and it left off on the cliffhanger of the century. Several years without a sequel until a new series of movies came out which covered the events of the anime series. The movies had better looking 2d animation but suffered from poor CGI during battle scenes. Regardless this gave fans hope that this could lead to the possibility of the rest of the manga getting adapted but sadly this wasn’t the case as the series was left to the side again. Now here we are with a brand new adaption covering material never adapted before and we shall finally see the rest of berserk in its true glory….right? We it’s times like this that I wonder if Miura named his manga series rather appropriately, for the fans are most certainly berserk and for good reason.

The episode reviews are likely going to beat this point to the ground but when it’s as glaring an issue as it is I must bring it up. The CGI animation is truly awful, there’s no getting around that. It’s ugly, jarring and unnatural. However the main issue with this animation choice is the lack of consistency for that is what is causing the vast majority of problems. I have watched fully CGI shows before and I can tolerant even bad CGI or awkward CGI. Bubuki Buranki I think did an excellent job with it’s CGI animation and Knights of Sidonia still had a compelling narrative that allowed you to look past stiff motions or off putting shots. But those two series had a consistently in it’s style whereas Berserk does not. Berserk switches between 3D animation, 3D animation with sketch overlays and 2D animation and in doing so it never allows the viewer to become accustomed to a style. It’s especially jarring because of the difference in quality between each style. When you finally start to accept the uncanny CGI models, the story switches to 2D animation and gives you a glimpse to the quality this series could have had. Even if this meant we would get more still frames and less animation, this is the Berserk the fans would be happy with. But then it jerks you back to the CGI which when it switches to a sketch style becomes somewhat passable but keeps jerking between passable and bad, never letting the viewer settle into a style. Berserks high quality art style is one of it’s highest points of praise for the manga and I like it the most for just how expressive it makes the characters. There may be some who say that we should give them a break and that the CGI is the best the studio can do but I say nay. For there is a Berserk Musou game coming out and the animation in that games trailer tops everything this series has displayed.

What makes this especially sad is that there are moments, moments when the quality of the story shines through. I look at this anime as a diamond covered in mud and at some times the mud slides off and the shine of the diamond flows through but a minute later they throw muck over it again. The scene with Guts getting integrated by the knight commander, him in the cage getting worried over the demons beginning to come after him, Guts running to attack the female commander, the moments of the manga adapted true then manage to help you forget about the quality of the shows visuals. However it isn’t only the visuals at fault for there are other problems. In particular the conversation between Guts and the vice commander had far too fast pacing, to a degree that it felt on fast forward. Puck tends to break immersion when her turns into his chibi form and overall his character isn’t very likable in his current form. Small details are getting lost such as the Female Knight commander actually enjoying whipping Guts which is a pretty big part of her character and this arcs theme overall. Which mainly has to do with religious fanaticism and how people use it to justify their own base desires. I am also not fond of the hint of tidings of more anime original content which regardless of whether it’s written by Miura or not isn’t what this series needs. For now I see Berserk as a tough watch in that it takes a lot of tolerance to look past it’s numerous flaws and see the good in it. The studio needs to step up and keep a consistent style, otherwise this will be as disappointing as when Miura inevitably once again puts the Manga on hiatus.

~AidanAK47~

Some Quick First Impressions: 91 Days, Amanchu! and Alderamin on the Sky

by AidanAK47, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

91 Days

Short Synopsis: During the prohibition of America, A man seeks revenge against the Mafia for the death of his family.

We I believe we have a winner for the best first episode of the season. This series is oozing with potential and so far the writing has been solid. The characters are quite dynamic though I hope the main doesn’t pull this bit too try hard “cool” act for the rest of the series. I think the studio picked up some tips from Durarara and Narita’s writing style because this episode felt somewhat like Baccano. I really dig that. The character art could be better as some far shots the characters faces don’t look quite right but otherwise everything is solid and has style. The music and sound are of particular note as it captures the era perfectly. Of course this is only the first episode and what will really define the series is where it goes from here. But I see real promise in this and I hope it can live up to that. Then if they succeed, all we need is a Baccano styled english dub with accents and this will be glorious.

Potential: 95%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

Truth be told, while watching this, my mind keeps wandering back to Joker Games last season. Joker Games started out really strong and compelling, then went completely off the mark later on. Here in 91 Days I sense some of the same vibe so I’m a bit worry here. This first episode’s execution is solid to say the least, with gritty and dark themes about revenge and might as well about survival. I particularly enjoyed the muted color palate and the sound designs of this show. Those jazz music reminds much of this bygone era, and the dark color design nailed down the gritty world they live in. The cast so far is likeable enough, but they serve more as a vehicle of the plot than as a real person. Finally, about the plot, it sets up for a big revenge plot and for now I’m pretty much on board with the direction they head in, but like I mentioned earlier the revenge plot can stretch out too thin or can easily become a trainwreck and given how much I enjoyed the first 2 episodes of Joker Game, I have a bit of doubt on 91 Days. Then again, original shows don’t appear quite often and for the show as solid as this one, 91 Days is a must-watch of this season.

Potential: 90%

 

Amanchu!

Short Synopsis: Two girls become fast friends and decide to join the scuba club at their new school.

I thought I seen those weird cats before. In my preview I missed that this particular manga was by the author of Aria which you may know as one of the best animes to sit back and relax to. It was never deep nor did it have a story with much meat but you would be hard pressed to find another anime that could mellow you out after a few episodes. Here it looks like he’s aiming for a similar story and or the most part it’s done well. The odd deformed puppet look the characters get somethings can be weird at times but the show does have a certain optimistic charm to it. We now have two shows this season aiming for the same general feeling though in terms of quality both are on the same level. I will bump up the potential on this one due to its pedigree but really you can’t go wrong with checking either out. The friendship between the two leads is quite adorable to watch and the animation is pretty good. If you need some healing this season I say this would do the trick, especially after watching a certain other show this season which is emotionally tearing people to shreds with suffering….perhaps I will be watching both of these feel good shows this season.

Potential: 70%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

Amanchu! Is based on a manga written by an author who also wrote ARIA, and the series composer of this show who also worked for Flying itch last season, so I think you know what to expect here: a slow, tender slice of life series that relies heavily on atmosphere and endearing cast. That is exactly what you get here. The show’s pacing and occasionally silly faces remind me much of ARIA. The first half especially brings the ocean to life, while at the same time shows how each girl responses to the ocean: Hikari just loves being a part of the ocean, while Futaba’s somehow disconnected and being busy with her phone, since she feels insecure about the new place. The second part spends time as they met each other and being introduced to the new class. I like the dynamic between the two leads so far, since they bound off each other rather well. If you like ARIA, Flying witch (I do), then this show definitely is for you; otherwise, you can just check out this episode to see if you like it, as I am sure the rest will offer more of the same here.

Potential: 80%

 

Alderamin on the Sky

Short Synopsis:  After getting shipwrecked and saving a young princess, a group of military cadets must find a way to escape enemy territory.

Madhouse delivers standout adaption yet again but in this case my thoughts on the story still remain murky. I still am not fond of how the main character tends to be the only person with a plan and is always right. There are also some light novel cliches we could do better without and those weird goblin things are still so out of place that I really have no idea why they are even here. All and all this is a solid start and I like how they sped up matters to get to the meat of the  story. This does the job but doesn’t excel. There is potential for this to grow into a story about a general overcoming great odds to win large scale battles but I don’t think the writing is strong enough to get the most out of such a premise. What I expect here is a decent show but nothing more.

Potential: 50%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

Well, I was expecting this to be a lesser show out of the three shows today but it turns out to be quite solid. Then I looked it up, and found that Madhouse is behind this project so I have my faith.  There are fair shares of good and so-so elements but as a whole this first episode succeeds nicely. The biggest strength of the show is in its settings. It’s nice to see something besides the usual school settings and all that. I like the look of ancient Egyptian designs, with fairies somehow mix in and the conflict between two nations is also an interesting aspect. Being said that, put characters with different personas together before things went horribly wrong is the kind of plot we have seen so often, and most of them don’t offer any distinctive traits to stand out yet. Also that cast comes from noble upbringing (except for our main character) that it already felt like they act over the top. And that speech “Invincible LAZY General” at the end? I know it’s unintentional but it makes me laugh so hard. In the end, I’m not too sold about character’s department; but structurally, the story moves confidently and I want to explore that world even more after this episode.

Potential: 40%

Some Quick First Impressions: Regalia: The Three Sacred Stars, Planetarian and Kono Bijutsubu ni wa Mondai ga Aru!

by AidanAK47, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Regalia: The Three Sacred Stars

Short Synopsis: Fights break out in the city when loli’s turn into giant robots.

By far the strangest aspect of this show is how it essentially pairs up romantic relationships between a lolita girl and a older sister. Or in this case the Loli is the older sister? Also the loli is actually a giant robot. Um…You know I often try to dispel the common misguided belief of anime being “weird” as often it’s just a matter of cultural differences or the foreign audience not realising that the thing they find weird is meant to be a joke. However sometimes a show like this comes along that put some credence behind that belief. Still I still haven’t encountered anything in anime that tops the absurdity of superhero comic storylines.(Well, modern anime. Old OVA anime…well that’s another matter entirely.) I remain puzzled at what demographic this anime is aiming for exactly. Mecha Yuri lolicons? Do those exist? I mean they likely do but it has to be a small demographic. The mecha fight animation is quite nice and I would like the effect of the summoning of the loli mecha if she didn’t add that silly meaningless chuunibyou chant. The relationship between the two leads is puzzling as while they do refer to each other as sisters, it’s clear he anime is painting their relationship in a more romantic light. I can’t say the other aspects of the show stood out as it seems we are in for a more typical mecha show and whatever illusions to a higher plot are just way too vague to be guessed at. Whatever it is though I am sure it’s nothing impressive.

Potential: 20%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

This show starts off with a bang, literally, but this time I don’t mean it in a positive way. For all the shows that I have watched this season, Regalia is the most uneven production in terms of pacing and story. Even within its mecha genre, the show mixes in other elements, loli and yuri, to create one heck of an episode. It begins quite conventionally with a story from 12 years ago, pretty much to set the setting up than offers any backstory. But then the show gets weirder as it goes and the whole thing doesn’t really add up. For once putting an emotional scene about their relationship right in the middle of climax action is a terrible idea, since the scene will slow down the action. Indeed, it feels like we watching two shows at once as they are unsure if they going to focus on romance or action in this episode, moreover the transition between romance and action is awkward. The relationship of Yui and Reina seems bizarre to me more than earnest, as there are hints of romantic development here and there (like calling their hangout together a “date”, or the gift “ring”. The action sequence, nonetheless, is flashy and entertainment. I think this has some potential, but I have my reservation as the story and pacing are all over the place for now.

Potential: 20%

 

Planetarian

Short Synopsis: A scavenger in a world torn by war finds a robot in a planetarium still waiting for customers to see a starry sky.

This is actually an OVA rather than a full series, hence why it wasn’t featured on our preview. Though there have been some surprise entries that I wasn’t expecting. Well then, for the uninformed, this is indeed an adaption of a 3 hour long Key Visual novel and if you are familiar with the company in the slightest you know what you are in for here. Now i have made it clear my negative feelings about Key as a whole so you might expect me to warn you that this is typical of their output and to stay away if you aren’t into forced drama. However if I was to pick a favorite of the works of Key, much to the dismay of Key fans, it would be Planetarian. For this story is essentially the best aspects of Key rolled into a small digestible snack and manages to avoid the greatest failing of many of their works. Does that mean it’s perfect? The answer is no. It has a heavy dependence on the chemistry of it’s two leads who are the only characters in the story and practically everything is a waiting game for what is actually a pretty excellent climax. However with a five episode runtime it will be a difficult task to keep the viewers interested to that point and even during the middle part of the visual novel I start to yawn and get bored. It will have a pretty damn good finale but the question is if you are willing to watch till that point.

Potential: 55%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

I really like the way the show uses its first POV shots in this episode, so that we would see things the way the characters see, and that’s important, because Hoshino the robot is such a deranged character, stuck in time and seems happy all the time that we need to understand her perspective in order to sympathize her. That was unfortunately the only good thing I find in the episode. There seem to be something that triggered the biological bombing strike in the first place and the world-building so far hints at the conflict between human and machine (or citizen vs. government for that matters), but we don’t know much as the first episode spends its time on the interactions between Hoshino and the Junker. That part unfortunately was just below-average, since their chemistry was a bit off and Hoshino gets more annoying by the minutes. From what I heard this is going to be a 5-episode show, and for that I say it’s a perfect length to both explore the world-building, and develop Hoshino’s character act. But truthfully from what I had seen I don’t plan to go back to it anytime soon.

Potential: 25%

 

Kono Bijutsubu ni wa Mondai ga Aru!

Short Synopsis: The story details the activities of the art club which is filled with wacky characters. I enjoyed watching this but it isn’t a show I could say stands out. It’s fairly watchable but depends quite a bit on a romance between a girl and an oblivious boy. Here’s the thing with these kinds of shows and romance, it never goes anywhere. There are very few examples of these kinds of comedies were the romance element develops into anything substantial. Dagashi Kashi it never went anywhere, Servant X Service it never went anywhere, Umaru it never went anywhere and plenty of other examples where it never ever leads to anything. So this romance is certainly doomed from the start and that leaves us with the comedy which is just alright. I repeat that this isn’t a bad show, in fact I say it’s a nice watchable show if you want to add something light to your watching plan. However this is just like a small snack, quick and satisfying at the time but you won’t recall it a week later.

Potential: 40%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

I had such a good time with it. Yes, the premise seems like an unoriginal story, it is an execution that sold me here. I like all their character’s quirks and they produced many enjoyable little moments in this first episode. The comedy bits were light but I did enjoy some of its humor (the Apple Man, or the marriage ceremony scene for example). The most impressive character for me was a blonde girl who sneaks in a classroom’s locker box and didn’t even got introduced this week, but I’m already impressed by her enough to look for her first official appearance. The obsession of Subaru for his 2D waifu wife, and his total oblivious to Mizuki’s feeling are still amusing to watch for now, but can easily become dragging if they rely too much on those gags. This first episode offers something sweet and amusing, and I know this is my type of show, so I’ll give it more watch. For those of you who don’t like high school settings, cute girls doing cute things in an after-school random club, or slice-of-life in general, watch it with caution.

Potential: 40%

Some Quick First Impressions: Masou Gakuen HxH, Tsukiuta. The Animation and Fate Kaleid Liner PRISMA ILLYA 3rei!!

by AidanAK47, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Masou Gakuen HxH

Short Synopsis: The world is on the brink of collapse and the only thing that can save it is tits and ass.

It really is something when upon starting an episode, I needed to stop watching and check whether I accidentally downloaded a hentai. Well the premise is that the girls of this show have super powerful mecha weapons which are needed to save the world from giant flying skeletons. However the only way to recharge these weapons is for them to go into a room with the MC and have some foreplay till the girl climaxes. Believe me I am not embellishing that point in the slightest. It is quite literally what they are doing and there’s hints that if the main has sex with them they will gain some sort of superweapon. You stay classy anime. Well we could call this sexist but at least the sexism goes both ways. The main is literally objectified here as he’s passed around like a battery charge pack. Either way this is a special kind of trashy which can only be enjoyed if you have the lowest expectations and find enjoyment in the lowest demographic aiming shows. I suppose animators need work and have to start somewhere, even if that somewhere is a place which you primary job is figuring out how much boob jiggle should be in a shot. I would give this show a break if it looked like it was somewhat self aware of it’s own trashiness, much like High school DxD. However here doesn’t seem to be the case and is more a calculated meshing of tired tropes to get the most sales possible. The sad fact is that if anyone is to blame, it’s the masses of people who still buy this tripe.

Potential: 0%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

I know it’s a matter of time before I encounter one of this in my review life: a truly fan-service garbage show. Let’s talk a bit about my relationship with ecchi anime – the main reason why I tend to stay away from ecchi shows isn’t because it’s rubbish (though most of them are) or because it’s perverted, but I don’t really get the appeal of big boobs and panties, which ecchi shows so obsessed about. Here in this episode, fortunately there is no panty, but again a lot of boobs – big boobs. Well, for this kind of shows, I guess we need to just shut our minds off and be entertained, and even in that regards the show failed too. The plot was more of a set up for the characters to hook up, and when they do, it’s just a series of groping, touching, opening parts… and there seem to be literally a line of big boob archetypical girls, each has their own body-builds (with big boobs), waiting in line to be “charged up”. Ecchi shows could be intriguing (most notably First Time’s Yamada or Mysterious Girlfriend X), mainly because they have something to say about their subjects. This show as far as I can see was just there to please the eyes by showing off boobs as much as possible.

Potential: minus 69% (it has to be 69, right? RIGHT?)

 

Tsukiuta. The Animation

Short Synopsis: A girl sends her brother to an idol event to pick up merchandise.

Alright Idol shows, rule number one. Do not just have the idols introduce themselves one after another as a means of letting the audience know who they are. We forget all their names by the time the scene ends. And this isn’t helped by the fact that you just have far too many of them. All these idols and it feels like the character traits are spread so thin than you could swap two characters personalities and I am not sure anyone would notice. Anyway the story here is a simple one, a boy is sent to an idol event by his sister and ends up unknowingly hanging out with his sisters favorite idol. He returns home and his sister is shocked to find out and starts bugging him for details. My guess is we will be getting episodic stories like this for each idol member but I just see no reason to continue watching. If you want a male idol show I say B-project is a better alternative. Or if they don’t have to be idols, Cheer boys is a much better show.

Potential: 10%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

Ouch, another male idol show. While watching this, my mind keeps wandering on Mr. Osomatsu first airing episode about its humorous take on male idol show. You know, updating their plain characters to become beautiful sexy male dolls and you will win fan all over. As I can see in this episode I can feel that joke stays true. As far as this first episode, the production and the characters are passable but there is no personality in any of it, be it the two groups or any of the character (and there are 12 of the, in total); even the plot and the art designs playing too safe into its niche audience that the whole thing is just plain. This episode focuses on one specific member of the group and he’s nice, too nice, that his personality comes off as thin as paper. In other note, the 3D dancing that bookended this episode doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the show. Seriously, while all around this is a standard show, it plays too safe to be nice and inoffensive that as a result offers no personality at all. All that makes me wonder why they trying to adapt it in a first place.

Potential: 10%

 

Fate Kaleid Liner PRISMA ILLYA 3rei!!

Short Synopsis: Illya gets thrown into a parallel world after her friend is captured by mysterious villains.

Well we have a fourth season of this show and I like that it seems things are going to be taken more seriously by Silver link this time. For one we have new character designs which remove the more deformed look of the first three seasons in favor of a style closer to the manga which I greatly appreciate. Shirou is the one who is most improved with this change as his old design looked far too off. Animation looks to have gotten a boost too as that snowy landscape looks quite stunning. I would like to bring up Sapphires original japanese voice actress who sadly died last year due to a viral infection. Rest in peace. I hope her new voice actress can honor her memory. For the most part half of this episode was basically retconning the original ending Sliver Link gave the last season and putting it back into manga adaption territory. The transition could have been better but all things considered it’s not a bad way to get back on track. Could have done without the extra scenes with Illyas classmates though. On that note I look forward to the fact that this will likely be the last I see of these school friend characters and thank god for that. Goodbye you representatives of all the worst parts of Zwei! So far I say this looks quite promising and it looks like Silver link are giving their all to this. So I am game.

 

Potential: Unbiased rating: 60%, Biased rating: 9001%
Mario’s thoughts: I will not review this one as this is a sequel.

Some Quick First Impressions: Servamp, Scared Raider Xechs and Cheer Boys!!

by AidanAK47, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Servamp

Short Synopsis:  A guy who finds out that the kitten he brought home is a shut-in servant vampire (hence servamp)

Ugh, the comedy is even worse in animated form. We have a shout till it’s funny comedy mixed with a rather run of the mill shounen style setup. One of the characters even mocks the main for acting like a “Shounen hero”. But as I said before, referencing that you are using old tired concepts does not excuse using old tired concepts. Other than that I don’t really have much to say, this is mediocre and that’s it. Animation isn’t noteworthy and the characters I find are just a bit too reliant on their comedy to carry them. It’s all just rather meh. Well to give it some props, the opening is refreshingly different.

Potential: 10%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

As we get to halfway of this season’s first week, Servamp appropriately sits somewhere in the middle of the crowd too. The story about the boy and the vampire form a contract to bond with each other in a master/servant relationship (in a way like Koyomi and Shinobu’s bond in Monogatari series) is an okay premise, but nothing stands out either (thanks god though it’s not a FEMALE vampire). The contrast between the two leads makes for nice exchanges between them, but we have seen that kind of pair before. The main bad guy this week sadly behaves way too loud and plain. In addition, the way our main guy taking all the works by himself because “someone has to do it, it will be troublesome to fight over it” to be implausible as well, because it just makes him more like an anime character than a real person. The fighting sequence is short and stylish but still doesn’t offer enough catch. At the end of the day I don’t see any element in this episode that would make me wanting to return to.

Potential: 20%

 

Scared Raider Xechs

Short Synopsis: A group of boys must turn into power rangers to fight off an alien threat.

This started on a rather sophisticated note before falling into a pit with that opening scene. Let me say first that this show takes its premise far too seriously. We opened up with a group taking out some sort of superweapon much to a man’s dismay. The man claimed the woman in charge would get more than fired over it and is then promptly shot by the woman herself. Barely five minutes in and we have a plothole. So taking out a superweapon is unacceptable but taking out a superweapon and shooting the man who objected is completely alright? But hey, that’s not important, what is important is that acoustic guitar guy can’t transform into hero mode for some reason. Let me say this Show, don’t rip off Gurren Lagann’s design esthetic and use it for a throwaway comic relief character. That is wrong on all levels. Anyway whatever serious atmosphere this story was trying to build is broken upon the reveal of what this is. Basically this boy group transform into power rangers with outfits so utterly silly looking that I laughed out loud at first sight of them. I can’t really see this being all that worthwhile as no one in the male cast really stands out and the story follows a predictable path. It’s just fairly unremarkable.

Potential: 5%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

I’ll have to give this one my praise for having balls to start the show with the main character playing acoustic song, as the song dominates the first few minutes of the episode, which personally I find it a brilliant idea. The rest of the show, unfortunately, comes down to a very generic mecha show and not even a good one at that. The pacing is all over the place as we had the first 3 scenes (the main guy character playing guitar, the antagonist who takes control of the “thing”, the new girl in town) with 3 different settings and 3 different tones. When the show in high school kids mode, the comedy don’t land and the characters fall flat. When they switch into mecha/sci-fi settings they talk about “important stuffs” that I don’t even understand a thing they’re saying. And a main guy suddenly gains his ability, in a process saving an important girl is a kind of story that has been used many times before.

Potential: 10%

 

Cheer Boys!!

Short Synopsis: Two former Judo club members try to from a men’s cheerleading club.

Colour me surprised. After all seeing so many episodes this season with an all male cast which look to be aiming for the female demographic which just fall so short, this turned out to have quite a bit of merit. The chemistry between the male leads is excellent and they play off each other well. I particularly like the glasses guy as he really isn’t what I expected at first glance and he’s pretty perfect comic relief. I can’t say I have much interest in cheerleading as the only real interaction I had with it is Elite Beat Agents for Nintendo DS. To be perfectly honest I don’t really see the point of it as to me it looks like really strenuous gymnastics for just a breather in the middle of a match. But naturally this anime will make it look like the most amazing thing in existence, though I appreciate that they didn’t go too over the top in showcasing it. I am also so glad that it’s a college setting instead of a school setting. It’s just so refreshing after nearly every episode this season is in a school setting. It really wears on you. Though regardless of how well executed it is there is still the problem of it just not being my kind of show. Though I must admit that I am somewhat curious to continue watching as this show does have merit even for those not of the target demographic.

Potential: 60%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

Well, talking about perception! At first glance, the show has many factors that I normally try to avoid: the all-male cast, the group-forming storyline, and the cheerleading itself on top of all that. I admit I was hesitant to watch it, but this one turns out to be one of the most solid first episode I saw so far this season. For those of you who don’t know, cheerleading is officially a gymnastic section in some countries (I know Australia does), so it is indeed a sport. But what makes cheerleading so different than other kind of sport is that it is also about performing arts (in that sense, cheerleading is also in the same categories with acting or singing), all that’s makes cheerleading a very tricky but interesting sport to talk about. Now to the actual show, the great part of this first episode is not about how the boys selling us that cheerleading is magic (a usual pitfall for any sports series), but by focus on how they want to experience something new, and it happens to be cheerleading. They also handle many things right, like how the show understands the pressure of being in the sports family and the feeling that you are not born for the sports. But most notably it is how the show portrays the close friendship between the main leads. It always seems like they understand each other’s way of thinking without saying out loud and they are pretty fond of each other. This closeness is showed by many little details like the roof sequences or their small exchanges about the house. Cheerleading Boy might likely to put people off because it seems to target a specific demographic, but try watch it because there’s a lot of potential in this show.

Potential: 50%

Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress – 11/12 [END] – 75/100

by HelghastKillzone, posted in Currently Watching:, Koutetsujou no Kabaneri

Welcome to the Biba show where it all comes down to a cage match between steampunk megaman Ikoma and the Titan Kurokeburi version of Memui for the fate of Japan.

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With Ikoma out of the picture, Biba’s revolution comes strolling into the Shogun’s capital with the ease of a hot knife going through butter. I was expecting a bit more resistance out of the Shogun’s amazing artistic main city but the brisk pace of Kabaneri demands that everything must explode and the story hurried along before getting too far into the details. As quickly as the top dogs of Shogun are introduced, they are discarded in favor of Biba and the antics of his Hunters. Even when it comes to glimpses of Biba’s past, which could have been fascinating, are much too brief to provide any meaning commentary or salvage Biba’s flaky backstory. Biba’s reveal as a Kabaneri is particularly guilty of that since it begs the question of how he went from a twelve-year-old general to a mad scientist.

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Since I’ve already beaten the narrative horse to death, what about the main draw of having Ikoma come in and save the day while explosions go off everywhere? Sadly, the climax of the finale was fairly lackluster despite all the pretty colours and great animation that has been consistent throughout the series. The music was nice with 1coma and Aimer’s version of Through My Blood making their first appearance but it didn’t quite fit right with Ikoma powering up to Super Saiyan levels. His appeal as an engineer that could innovate out of any situation was ignored in favor of having him obtaining lazer powers that could flip over a freight train coming in at full speed. It had the spectacle but none of the foundation of the earlier episodes. It was only after that Biba was dead that Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress became instantly better with Memui throwing Ikoma into a improvised trampoline and shedding the taint of the last five weeks.

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Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress ends up resetting its narrative back to episode six with the train speeding off into the sunset with the addition of the remnants of the Hunters. The Kabane still roam across the entire the country and our heroes are still on the move with their outlandish dreams of rice paddies fields and start fresh again without the downward spiral of his introduction unlike how Guilty Crown had to go through an entire 26 episode slog before being put out of its misery. Hopefully once Biba is disposed off, the shackles of his failed legacy can be disposed and focus on what made the series so great in the first place.

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There is immense potential in continuing this new franchise from Studio WIT as I love the steampunk/historic Japanese mashup, the aggressive characters, action, music and visual style. For the first seven episodes, it was extremely entertaining and fun and it would have been an easy 9 or 9.5 score if it could keep up the momentum. Unfortunately, the story and character development didn’t live up to the hype and I left with a show that was one half utterly amazing and one half Guilty Crown. I would love to see more Koutetsujou no Kabaneri in the future but there is no doubt that this is the disappointment of the season for me.

7.5/10

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Some Quick First Impressions: Taboo Tattoo, Puzzle and Dragons Cross and New Game

by AidanAK47, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Taboo Tattoo

Short Synopsis: A boy is given a magical tattoo by a man who clearly doesn’t care about his well being.

I can certainly tell this got the short straw when it comes to the animation budget as this is very cheap animation even by JC staff standards. You may be looking at this statement with a puzzled look as on the surface this anime looks like it’s fine. In fact the fight animation in the middle of the episode was quite dynamic. But I ask you to take a closer look, they try to cover it up with digital effects but the amount of movement in this show is utterly barren. Keep an eye on how often a character moves their body and you will find that a majority of the scenes in this episode were just still pictures with moving lips. With some camera zooms and digital movement of still images to try and fool you otherwise. Well that aside what’s here isn’t all that noteworthy. That one fight scene was good but this is pretty by the book shounen in all other regards. I said the same thing about Hero Academia last season but this is to a much higher degree. There’s very little in this episode that you haven’t already seen before in dozens of other shounen. The story feels lazy in that regard, particularly in how it handles it’s exposition so clunky. I say this isn’t worth your time.

Potential: 0%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

Already in this first episode, there are so much “coincidences” that it becomes jarring. The main character happens to help a guy who has a secret weapon. The next morning, he happens to meet a girl who knows about that tattoo. In the climax they happen to encounter the randomly guy who happens to be their target as well. This is just weak storytelling, and judging from the main character’s name “Justice”, I don’t think this show attempt to take their characters seriously. Even worse is the comedy, most notably the sequence where the main girl drinks milk like a cat: the whole sequence is awkward and the pacing is just plain out of place. We even have the side character who has big boobs and totally has a feeling for the guy to the point wants to cook for him. Such character tropes are so overdone that they immediately turn me off. The main storyline about the nature of the tattoo is the only plus point from this episode, oh and Justice’s natural fighting style (which is not some random fight but a for me look like a real martial art); but even in that respect I don’t think it will be anything worth remembering.

Potential: 10%

 

Puzzle and Dragons Cross

Short Synopsis: A boy finds a dragon egg and is pulled into a fight alongside someone who controls dragons.

Well this is an anime based on a Phone app with is essentially Bejeweled mixed with Pokemon. In that regard it’s pretty much expected that the end result of an anime base on it feels so reminiscent of the start of the likes of Pokemon, digimon, monster rancher, take your pick. One particular aspect that annoys me is that it holds the same annoyance of the monster doing all the hard work while the owner plays Pokemon trainer and steals all the glory despite doing practically nothing. Well he does stand back and play bejeweled to power up his dragon so maybe he does a little more than nothing. I also think it’s cheap to reuse the animation at the start of the episode again before the end. Either way, our main character hold the tradition of having ridiculous hair(The show is called cross and the main has a visible cross in his hair. Just in case you forgot the title.) and likely a pedigree ancestry seeing as he’s already special despite having done nothing to earn it. Lets face it, we are all a bit too old to be watching this. Maybe back in the old days when I watched Pokemon,(Ugh…my terrible embarrassing memories with that series.) if this was airing alongside it I would give it a watch. However now, frankly there are better shows worth my time.

Potential: 0%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

Well, don’t have really much to say about this one really. While I don’t say I wasted those 20 minutes there’s nothing to stand out either. The main character is destined to be “the One” so much that he already well-liked by almost everyone and seems almost like a superhuman, even before his dragon comes out of its egg. The fight scene is so-so and more of Yugioh card fight (which is understandable since this one based on card games as well). I’ll say if you a fan of this game, or if you like Yugioh, this one is for you. Other people won’t see any reason to spend time with it.

Potential: 0%

 

New Game

Short Synopsis: Cute girls doing cute things show, this time they are in game company and start to make a new game.

Meh. Too much cute girl antics, too little industry insight. Call me ignorant if you wish but I highly doubt there’s a game company with an all female workforce like this. These people act less like human beings and more like exaggerated anime characters. True they are anime characters but I am not supposed to see them as anime characters. These are the kind of people you see in a sitcom whom seem almost aware of the existence of a watching party and act as quirky as possible to entertain. The comedy is a miss for me as it’s more the 4 koma style of various one note jokes. Their isn’t really much meat in regards to game production and I suspect that’s going to remain the case for the rest of the series. I hope they don’t drag out things by relying too heavily on the characters quirks for the comedy as that often gets repetitive. It’s fairly watchable but not noticeable, if you want to add another show to your schedule you can certainly do worse.

Potential: 25%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

I’m kinda curious to see how the team makes their game, and it seems to be the series main plot (I get some of Shirobako’s vibe here), but for this first episode, not a lot has happened beside the new girl get to know everyone working in the company (is it just this company or Japanese game companies just employ female hey?). The cast is variation of cute, cuter, cutest with each of them has their cute quirk (shy to the point of prefer messaging instead of talking; a girl who loves Star Wars) and they act just like how anime characters would act, meaning that they never feel like real people.On the other hand, I’ll say that I have an enjoyable time, the show is safe and light on character’s development and occasionally fun but I don’t think this will be a great show. I will give it more watch just to see how they get on with the game.

Potential: 35%

Some Quick First Impressions: Amaama to Inazuma, Fukigen na Mononokean and Tales of Zestiria the X

by AidanAK47, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Amaama to Inazuma

Short Synopsis: A father wants to learn how to cook to make his daughter happy.

This is one of those shows, the ones you watch on a rainy day after being stressed out at work/school and too tired to stomach something that requires more attention. This is fluff but it’s good fluff. If you can get past the rather ridiculous hair for the little girl you have a show about a single father and his adventures in cooking for his daughter. While watching I found myself relaxing and smiling as I watched the father and daughter interact. The two have some excellent chemistry and their dialogue never comes off as forced or unnatural. Luckily the food tasting isn’t over exaggerated like that of other shows about food and the characters are good. The biggest negative I can say is that it’s not the kind of show you will rave over or put you on the edge of your seat. Rather more of a soft pillow to take a break in between shows. In regards to that I say this could be a good watch for tired minds.

Potential: 80%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

By formula, the show is Bunny Drop in ways more of eating and cooking together. The two shows have the same plotline of single father (or father’s figure) learn how to raise a child on his own, but if I put it that way I’d sell this one short. Yes, this show’s about a father tries his best to raise his daughter, and determines to spend more time cooking to make his daughter happy; but the central theme here, as clearly shown in this first episode, is about their relationship. And their relationship is one of the most natural and real in anime. They’re a bunch of likeable people, and Tsumugi charms her way through very natural and spot on behaviors. This first episode also succeeds on showing subtle emotions from each cast (like the way Tsumugi sings her favorite song, and asks her father to sing it with her), making them lively and true to life. This is such a pleasant watch and I believe it would be a solid low-key show to follow.

Potential: 80%

 

Fukigen na Mononokean

Short Synopsis: A boy hires a student exorcist to get rid of a Youkai that’s clinging to him.

Welcome to Natsume’s book of friends School life edition. Not sure how else I can put it other than that. This series carries a lot of similarities with it in being about helping Youkai and having a somewhat episodic structure. Is it better than Natsume? Truly I don’t know as i didn’t really find Natsume all that interesting. I think I just don’t like the concept of Youkai as I find them more silly than intimidating. I think this episode manages to be a great adaption of the manga and animation seems suited to it. I can see others taking quite a liking to this show if you are fond of shows such as Mushishi or stories dealing with sympathising with supernatural beings. If it feel on one front I say I am not too fond of the comedy which seems too slapstick for the nature of the series. If it’s your thing I think you will enjoy it quite a lot so I guess just try it out and see for yourself.

Potential: 60%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

I’m surprised to say I enjoy watching its first episode, but at the same time I have my doubt on it. It’s simply because most of elements that I enjoy in this episode is going to be one-off. The yokai this week is the real star of course and I like the gag where Ashiya passes out at school and wakes up in nurse’s office. The comedy is spot on so far and I mildly interested in the main concept: about Ashiya and Abeno and how they exorcise the yokai monsters. But the elements that going to be prominent are sadly just not as interesting and predicable. The chemistry between the two leads is just average. They’re still nothing more than their archetypical role and putting them on the same class is as cliché as hell (pun intended). Moreover, the way this week’s yokai even has more emotional complex than our two leads is not a good sign. The show has my curiosity so far, but it needs to do more than this to get my full attention.

Potential: 50%

 

Tales of Zestiria the X

Short Synopsis: A queen deals with the world’s destruction as she waits for the arrival of the hero called the Shepard.

Interesting. This episode is actually completely anime original as the game doesn’t actually show what happened to the queen before she met the main protagonist. Though I think this was a wise way to start the story as the game starts with a much slower less interesting tutorial. It’s Ufotable so naturally it looks pretty beautiful but I really hope they pick something better next time to bestow excellent fight animation and lush backdrops. Maybe an Adaption of “The empty box and Zero Maria” perhaps?(They certainly could get some experimental animation with that and the series does share some similarities with their previous work Kara no Kyoukai) Or better yet an original anime. None the less I think this better presents the state of the world than the game did but I fear this may have given viewers the wrong idea about the tone of the series. You should expect things to get more lighthearted and typical JRPG in the next few episodes. From the tales games I played the story doesn’t stray too far from JRPG archetypes. For one that King Arthur symbolism is so obvious that it hurts. My original estimate still stands for this, it will look quite pretty but considering that the game failed to engage me even with gameplay, i doubt stripping out gameplay will make it more engaging.

Potential: 20%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

Man, talking about heavy-handed! Many of factors of this series scream “important” to your face: from the story itself about the young queen lose almost everything at the end of episode, to the many big talks, to the intense fight sequences to the dark and loud score to even darker art designs. As you can likely guess I’m not a fan of heavy-handed material and even fantasy genre in general but I’m quite impressed with the production values of this one and the destructive storms sequence is for me a glaring example on how CGI done right. I’m not familiar to any of “Tales” franchise so I can’t say how this one reminisces others. The visual and character designs remind me a bit of From the New World, which is a great sign. Story-wise everything is all over the place now but it’s no mean inconsistent, as I think we will understand more as the series continue. With the production is as great as this one, I really hope the coming episodes tone down a bit on its seriousness, but I highly doubt it.

Potential: 35%