K – 02

by psgels, posted in K

… as for the reason why I picked this series over Code Breaker… ehehehe. It was to avoid a certain… problem. Allow me to elaborate:
– Sword Art Online: 25 episodes. Will end next December.
– Kamisama Hajimemashita: 7 DVDs, so will probably have 13 episodes.
– Hunter X Hunter: with the ratings it’s getting there is no way that Madhouse will cancel it after the Yorkshin arc
– Space Brothers: everything looks like this will be 50 episodes long.
– From the New World: 25 episodes.
– Zetsuen no Tempest: episode count not yet known, but there is no way Bones will make this just one season long.
– Magi: is on the prime time slot. There’s no way that this will be 1 cour.
– Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: 8 DVDs, so longer than 1 cour.
– Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo: 8 DVDs, so longer than 1 cour.
– Psycho Pass: 22 episodes.
– Robotics;Notes: 22 episodes.
– K: 13 episodes.

Are you starting to see the problem here? I mean, it’s awesome to have all these long series and all, but I’m going to have a huge problem in about three months from now. Especially considering that Chihayafuru’s second season will debut next season. If I ended up swapping SAO with Little Busters, then without K I would be unable to blog any new show for the upcoming winter season! Especially considering how many of them are set to deliver in their second halves! And even without this: the people saying that this season is too big: prepare youselves, because unless the upcoming winter is completely terrible, it will be completely crazy with all the continuing shows!

So, K. Granted, it lacks a bit of depth to some of the other shows this season, but it is the series with the best animation of the series, and it’s just very fun to watch. Compared to the other show with amazing graphics this season, Shin Sekai Yori, the animation may be less varied, but it’s also more consistently gorgeous. Shin Sekai Yori has parts that look just simple. In this show, every scene looks great. Gohands are a studio that tend to abuse CG lighting a bit too much, but it’s great to see how much movement the creators managed to put into this series considering that it’s just a TV-series. Also, when characters move in this series, they move with their entire bodies, rather than just turning or looking up in simple ways.

This episode had much fewer characters than the first episode, but the cat and mouse game (pun half intended) between the sword guy and the white-haired guy and the cat who suddenly turned into a naked girl was a lot of fun to watch. That kind of snarkiness is by the way something that Jormungand can learn a lot from: The characters are having fun, and there are definitely a few snarkers here, but there is much more to their charcters than that and there are many characters who are completely different. The question for this show will be: will this just remain a fun show to watch, or will there be more?

Most of the details in this show go to its settings. I mostly mean with how well it’s drawn and animated. The moving backgrounds of last episode were a treat, but also the detail it puts in the houses and building. This episode also animated some delicious looking food; I especially like that scene of the spring onions being cut. That looks so hard to do right.

Also, props to the music department! This episode also showed some insert songs, which I tend to appreciate provided that they’re not used for crappy montage scenes. I mean really: Psycho Pass, From the New World, Jojo, Zetsuen no Tempest, K: all shows with awesome soundtracks this season. Talk about a treat!
Rating: 5/8 (Great)

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo – 02

by psgels, posted in Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo

Ixion Saga’s second episode was funny, but not as funny as the first episode, which has me a bit worried. Can it keep up its pacing for its entire airtime?

Also, there is only one reason why I picked Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo over Little Busters. It’s a simple reason that could have very easily been fixed, but it’s massively affecting my enjoyment of the series: the female voice actresses! I mean I get high-pitched and all, but you don’t have to feed them helium. It had good parts, but that alone turned this into the show with the worst two opening episodes for a Key series for me. It’s still quite good and I will pick this up if I ever were to drop SAO… but I first need to numb myself to those antics.

As for Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, here is the thing: after watching so many annoying, flawed and poorly done shounen romantic comedies, I want to follow one that is actually done right. That’s another reason why I didn’t go with Sukitte Ii na Yo, by the way. Both series have a lot of romantic tension and good drama, both are quite underrated, but in the end, Sakurasou’s characterization is just better. Add that to Kamisama Hajimemashita and it would be a bit of a romance overload…

What sets Sakurasou apart is the small bits it adds to the characters. They’re stereotypes, but this show fleshes them out in very interesting ways. Like the detail in eating baumkuchen, or saying congratulations with the cabbages. Little Busters for example did not have that: that also had characters who were really trying to be quirky, but there is little variation in them, and it also lacks some of the wit. Granted though, some of the yelling does get on my nerves, not to mention the pointless harem set-up involving that female classmate.

Then there is the genius subplot. In Tonari no Kaibatsu-kun, I could buy the really high grades of the female lead, but not from the male lead. With the geniuses in this series, I can buy it. Shiina has been so focused on drawing and nothing else that it makes sense for her to be this amazing artist. Misaki and Jin meanwhile feel like the kinds of eccentrics that aside from devoting time to study, also devote a ton of time to being weird/chasing girls.

And then there is Shiina. I mean this show has a ton of fanservice, and she is the biggest source from it. With her, this show is pretty much huge wosh fulfillment. What it does better than most other romances is character chemistry, and this especially stands out for Sorata and Shiina. The tension between the two of them is actually surprisingly engaging to watch, especially with Shiina’s incredibly blunt statemtns, and Mashiro being more than just yet another straight man for them.

Also, thsi show is concise. I remember how Nisemonogatari annoyed me with a similar set-up because it just refused to go anywhere with its endless dialogues. An even better comparison would be Denpa-Teki to Seishun Otoko, which also focuses on a guy taking care of a girl with mental problems. The balance between the dialogues is actually good here and the show actually does not drag itself out.
Rating: 4.5/8 (Good)

Magi – 02

by psgels, posted in Magi

As for the series I’m not going to blog:
– I still remain that I can’t blog Gintama. Even though I find it really hilarious again, I don’t think I can write about it every single week.
– Btooom had the bad luck to air this season, right next to Psycho Pass and Jojo’s Bizarre adventure it just feels inferior. I however like it and will keep watching, especially with how well they handled the female lead in the second episode.
– Sukitte Ii Na Yo: finally a show that’s about an actual relationship again, plus bonus points of having side characters who are also in a relationship. Still, it’s pretty much smut and not going to be interesting to write about every week.

As for Magi… I try to hide this sometimes, but really: I’m just a sucker for a good adventure hsow. This show can be quite silly at times, but it’s great to see an adventure show based on the tales from 1001 nights. It’s a great setting and we hardly ever see any series with Arabia as a background.

And yeah, that pretty much means that I’ll be blogging four shows of A-1 Pictures at the same time. They just completely dominate this season, and even though their best shows are From the New World and Space Brothers, there still is a lot to like in Magi. This episode had some neat graphics and a lot of interesting animation. Again, they’re not as god as with From the New World and they lack the freedom of that show, but this show instead has consistency behind it. Being the series on the Prime Time slot for anime, this is to be expected to remain consistent.

It’s also great to see that the silliness was a lot more enjoyable to watch in this episode. The bad boob jokes are gone and it actually contributed to making this a fun and whimsical series, with the highlight being Ali Baba fooling everyone about the ancient inscriptions he read out loud. The stereotypically evil slave drivers can be a bit better characterized though. I especially wonder how that big guy can still walk around after being repeatedly stabbed in the chest so much.
Rating: 4.5/8 (Good)

Sword Art Online – 15

by psgels, posted in Sword Art Online

What the hell kind of episode was that?! No. Just, no. I’m beginning to fear that this series is heading in a very unpleasant direction here…

First of all: why the sister? Yeah, I know that she’s not a sister and actually a cousin and all, but that makes it even worse: it’s the same kind of twist you see pulled in all of those other bloody incest shows in order to pretend that it’s supposedly “okay”. I mean dear god: anime creators: most siblings out there can get along with each other just fine without any romance, you know? Why does every show with a brother and sister have to have romance between them!?

Second of all, you actually did it. I so kept hoping for the creators not to do it after all that sappy build-up but instead of killing off Asuna, she was just put on a bus. Completely changed from a strong female character to a plot device to get Kirito back playing the game, and she seems to be reduced to a trophy that he needs to save. So much for feminism there.

What’s even worse though was that completely unpleasant and nonsensical marriage subplot that was thrown in. I mean holy crap, what kind of sense does that make? Why won’t Kirito try to contact the police on that matter? I know that technically it can make sense, but it’s a completely disrespectful twist on Asuna’s part. Not to mention, how the OP treats her, shoving some kind of weird elf in her place.
Rating: 3/8 (Enjoyable)

Hunter X Hunter – 51

by psgels, posted in Hunter X Hunter

During the Hunter Exam arc, I really kept wondering: how on earth would they be able to do this part well!? Well, this is how. They actually managed to make this into a stunning episode in their own style. They took the lack of subtlety in the Hunter Exam Arc, and completely turned it around! That was awesome!

I remember saying that this version of Hunter X Hunter had a few voice actors who can only do one voice and try too hard with that. Boss was one of them. In this episode however, he wasn’t trying too hard. The part in which he kidnapped Neon was amazingly well delivered. The use of music also was just perfect. This is also the first episode in which I felt that knowing what will happen later on actually added to it: I know what’s coming up, and with that prediction that Neon made made even more impact than what it did when I saw it the first time, and had no clue on its meaning.

The music also was great: whereas it was badly used in the Hunter Exam arc, it worked so wonderfully in this episode. I also really like that they simply bypassed the ED and continued with the soundtrack as if it was nothing: they realized that that ED soundtrack just would not fit in at all, and they were actually allowed to just skip it. That is some great news.

Also, this is a major Level E spoiler, but I have to share this. While I was looking up Neon’s name on Myanimelist, something caught my attention. My mind is currently blown, and to think that I missed it!
Rating: 6/8 (Awesome)

From the New World – 03

by psgels, posted in From the New World

Something very interesting is going on with the animation of this series: its style keeps changing. The special scenes in this episode again looked entirely different from what they looked like in the previous two episodes. This episode also showed the actual animation for the ED for this series, and it looks absolutely gorgeous. What this shows is that the producers are putting a tight leash on the normal scenes, yet they’re giving the animators a lot of freedom to do what they like for the special scenes. Now that everything finished airing, I really can say for certain that this is the show with the best visual direction of the season.

What also makes this show stand out really much is its creature design. It’s been ages since I encountered something like that as good as how it’s done here. They’re deeply rooted in the folklore of this series, and they’re also really creative, yet believable, and really varied. They range from small bees to giant tentacled slugs that speak about technology, and these dogs with tiny heads. Usually when a show does this, it’s based on some sort of existing religion or background. This show just went and created its own.

That slug by the way gave a very surprising twist to this plot. So far technology has seemed to be quite absent, and yet it talked as if it was the most normal thing in the world. This show asked a ton of questions, like what was it doing there and why was it concerned with environmentalist issues?
Rating: 5/8 (Great)

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure – 02

by psgels, posted in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

I love remakes! But even then, this show was by far the most pleasant surprise of the season. I mean, by far the biggest problem with this series would be animating the complex characters. When the first episode started off slowly, I had a few doubts, but after that, those doubts were completely turned around. This show is so delightful to watch.

I love what the creators did with this series. I mean, normally I don’t like overacting and all, but this show does the overacting with such force and consistency that it becomes awesome to watch. Once in a while, I just want to watch a show that’s full of testosterone that just makes me want to yell at my screen, and that’s exactly what the creators established here. This is so incredibly over the top, yet there is so much passion put in this show. Everything it does is larger than life. Oh, and the great news: I checked on amazon, and already 8 dvd volumes were listed. There is no way that this will be a short series of only 13 episodes!

And beyond that, it has a very inspired direction. Out of all shows this season, this series goes the most into its own direction, rather than following established conventions. The way this show uses its camera angles and character poses makes up wonderfully for the lack of animation, especially the use of colours. The manga-styled sound effects look a bit weird at first sight, but they definitely give a unique effect. The way it handles flashbacks by showing a number of key frames in quick succession also really works well. And the soundtrack! After Tempest and Psycho Pass it definitely stands as the best soundtrack of the season, and it works perfectly in making this show feel EPIC.

The show is rushed, but in fact, I believe that this show can manage where Zetman failed earlier this year: from my perspective it doesn’t look like important details are skimped over right now, and instead of a bit of a wonky pacing, it turned its incredibly fast pacing into its strength by keeping consistent with it, while at the same time finding a way to flesh out the cast by making the scenes that were supposed to be quiet also completely over the top.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

Zetsuen no Tempest – 02

by psgels, posted in Zetsuen no Tempest

As for the shows I’m not going to blog:
– Tonari no Kaibatsu-kun has way too much competition. Beyond the other shoujo series this season, it also has Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo to worry about (I mean: we have a relatively normal lead who falls in love with a character with a huge personality problem, surrounded by a cast of colourful characters, and it’s directed and series composed by two members of the gender opposite of the target audience – it’s pretty much the same premise only shounen!) And with that, it just doesn’t stand out as the most interesting. There is just too little charm for me to keep watching.
– Chuuninbyou demo Koi Shitai is even worse though. With that series, the characters are all trying way too hard to be funny. I know that that’s the premise and all, but that doesn’t make it any more bearable.

Zetsuen no Tempest however is my top pick for this season. Fantastic soundtrack, great plot, great characters, interesting ideas, excellent acting, excellent action, very good animation and the pacing is also pretty damn good. There are more shows this season that have that though. What really sets this show apart is how it manages to bring all of that together. It all just fits, and out of all series this season, it is the best at combining its animation, soundtrack, characters, plot and acting together at the same time for its storytelling.

I really like the characters as well. They are teenagers, but the male lead is quite un-typical in his level-headedness, even quoting macbeth at one point. He’s the center of this story, but beyond that there is much more going on. The action also can be quite smart when it wants to, with the male lead using his cell phone in order to check up on the outside. Okay, it didn’t work, but it was much better than just sticking out his face without knowing what’s going on.

There was one strange moment of illogical decisions though: the point where that woman used gas to smoke out the male lead and drive him to the top of the school building. Her plan succeeds, and he ends up right where she planned him to be… and she just walks right into his trap. Not sure what happened there, but this episode did emphasize human weaknesses a few scenes later. It seems that magic can make anyone superhuman, though anyone without magic still has to obey laws that are more human, as shown from the shock that woman fell in when she nearly crashed to her death, probably also with the help of some G-forces.

Oh, and I still need to gush about the soundtrack of this show. It is just amazing, and this episode showed many tracks that didn’t appear in the first episode, showing that it’s far from a one trick pony.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

Some Quick First Impressions: Aikatsu, Psycho Pass and Robotics;Notes

by psgels, posted in Psycho Pass, Robotics;Notes, Some Quick First Impressions

Aikatsu

Short Synopsis: Our lead character wants to become an idol
Oh god no! After the past spring season I have been spoiled by good idol shows with AKB and Natsuiro Kiseki’s idol subplot. But this season serves to remind us that there also is a lot of crap in the genre. When not about idols, this show is decent: just your average slice of life, nothing special but nothing really bad. When the idol performances begin however… oh dear lord. The CG! The horrible, horrible CG! Make it stop! Make it stop!
OP: No CG, interestingly enough.
ED: Nice idea to use a record for the ED. Boring song, though.
Potential: %

Psycho Pass

Short Synopsis: Our lead character weilds a gun.
Well, one season, two series with a fantastic soundtrack. First the audio of Zetsuen no Tempest blew me away, now Psycho Pass did the same. This is the kind of soundtrack that I can listen to over and over again even outside the series. For some it’s a bit too much on the foreground, but that’s something I really like. Beyond that, Psycho Pass just is a really interesting series, and this episode was an excellent example of that. This may be the umpth time in which we see a story from the perspective of a rookie, but this episode really was there to drive home how naive this rookie is. I also like how this episode wasn’t told from the perspective of the main character himself; they used him well for that, especially near the end of the episode. Beyond that the animation is for most part of the episode very nice, but there are a number of scenes that have visuals that really stand out. The gore is very detailed in this series, but also random scenes of really detailed lips caught my attention. These are the kinds of scenes that add so much to the visuals. And at this point, this season’s Noitamina aren’t the biggest budgetted series in terms of animation. Instead they’ve got very solid writing and characterization. Psycho Pass and Robotics;Notes first episodes were in any case much more interesting than the opening episode of Guilty Crown, and this looks to be far from the trainwreck that that show was. Thank god, because what we really have here is unique: not one, but TWO series on the Noitamina timeslot that go on for 22 episodes!
OP: Creative use of sounds and vocals.
ED: A bit too poppy, but quite energetic and fits the show.
Potential: 90%

Robotics;Note

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a gamer and high schooler.
Okay, let me get one thing straight: Steins;Gate had an amazing opening episode. Robotics;Notes does not. Instead, this show is more of a slow burner. We’re probably going to have to wait a while before this one really kicks off, but in the meantime Production IG delivered some solid characters and a varied cast. The two leads work well together and they’re well acted, even though they’re just teenagers. It’s a good set-up, especially with another Noitamina series of 22 episodes again. I still don’t like how this show is meant to glorify games, but this episode did a good enough job of dancing around that issue and highlighting some of their other parts, and this is far from as bad as with The World God Only Knows. There is this bit of realism in the characters that helps too, not to mention that even though the characters are teenagers, they don’t try too hard and instead their charms are natural ones. All in all, this can work out quite well if it knows its build-up.
OP: Solidly made, but too plain.
ED: Entirely dedicated to one character who only made one short appearance.
Potential: 75%

Some Quick First Impressions: Jormungand – Perfect Order and Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo

by psgels, posted in Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, Some Quick First Impressions

Medaka Box Abnnormal

Short Synopsis: Our lead character fights a bunch of strong characters.
Hmm, I just realized a very big danger for Medaka Box with this episode. I mean, the reason why I liked the first season was that it went from a perfectly normal school series to over 9000. In this season, though, I fear that it’s just going to be nothing but these over the top fight with nothing to contrast it with. Especially because this episode introduced your typical cliched gang of rivals that Medaka probably all has to fight at some point, and they all probably have some kind of gimmick. The problem with that is that it grows old after a while. Will the creators be able to keep all these fights interesting? How will this show avoid that formulaic path that it’s dangerously close to now? Will there be more to this than just fighting? Take for example the girl that was shown in this episode: the way in which she talked in numbers was nice and all… but that also was her entire gimmick. Beyond that the fight wasn’t really that interesting.
OP: Generic opening with the upcoming characters.
Potential: 70%

Jormungand Perfect Order

Short Synopsis: Our lead character sells weapons.
Jormungand’s biggest challenge will be managing its characters. The plot is bound to be interesting: this episode showed that with the central focus being weapon dealing. However, that will be a big waste if the characters just all look the same. This episode made a good start by finally showing Koko as an interesting character, but there still is a lot to do for this show, because the side-characters nearly all have the same personalities. On top of that this episode finally introduced a major villain (or at least it looked that way), and her personality is like all the other female characters, only more extreme. This lack of variety really bugged me in the first season, and I really hope that it will be handled better in the sequel. The best thing would be to just have a select bunch of snarky characters, while making the rest set themselves apart in completely different ways.
OP: I don’t really like the vocalist in this song, but it does serve as a rather strong opening for each episode.
ED: Bit of a random use of a piano, but the effect is nice.
Potential: 75%

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo

Short Synopsis: Our lead character gets to take care of a cute girl.
Well, there you have it. There is a lot of bad stuff in this premise. The show is riddled with fanservice. There are lots of cliched characters. The characters are not ashamed to be annoying, especially when it comes to fanservice… and it is really well delivered. I mean, it really shows that there are talented people working behind this. The direction was far from what you’d expect with these kinds of romance series: the characters were really well portrayed: they were full of energy and the direction is full of these small details that bring the characters to life. Think of the subtle movements of the various cats in this series. All the characters in this show have presence, and even though the nudity gets incredibly forced at times (I mean, this is a premise about a guy who lives together in a mansion with two girls who have no sense of shame), but the way it’s delivered is something else, and makesimpact. Also, I feel that JC Staff are currently quite underrated. Sure, they make some crap, but there are some very good animators among them. They really showed that with this episode where with the right director, they can really breathe life to characters in ways that most other shounen romance fail with their too restricted movement. In a way, this reminds me of Denpa-Onna to Seishun Otoko, but better and actually much less annoying.
ED: Very nice artistic direction. Shame for the dull song.
Potential: 80%