Some Quick First Impressions: Hakuouki – Seimei-Roku, Oda Nobuna no Yabou and Sword Art Online

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Hakuouki – Seimei-Roku

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a cute guy.
You know, after watching hordes of bishies in Brave 10, Hiiro no Kakera and Arcana Famiglia, it’s at least good to see some of them with actual emotions, rather than one-dimensional stereotypes who keep repeating their own gimmicks. As much as I dislike Hakuouki, I have to admit that out of the bishie series to come out in the recent year,s, it is the most solid. And I have to admit: in terms of storylines this episode had the best plot of the episodes I’ve seen of it so far. It’s a simple but effective story about being indebted to a bad person and the politics around this were solid enough. And what’s more: the single most annoying character, the female lead, was actually nowhere to be found here, which definitely made things more bearable. Yet, Hakuouki, I miss energy. Try to have some passion, because you’re still really boring to follow: put some effort in your delivery and your atmosphere. Make things seem interesting. There are enough tricks for that, but you hardly use any of them. Is this really going to be the future of the shoujo series? In which the best selling entry isn’t really trying?
OP: A decent singer, albeit still a bit dull.
Potential: 50%

Oda Nobuna no Yabou

Short Synopsis: Our lead character has been sucked into his favorite game world. Please… allow me to believe that…
You know Fate/Zero, in which the creators actually turned the famous King Arthur into a female? That was good! The creators made great use of the mysteries behind King Arthur and they made us believe that this was actually pretty plausible. So seriously, what is up with all these incredibly stupid historic gender reversals? In other words: Odu Nobuna no Yabou is the worst TV-series I have seen from Madhouse in the seven years I have done this blog. Yes, even worse that Kamen no Maid Guy, Stitch and Iron Man. Even these series at least had a premise. Even these works had more dignity than this thing in which it makes a complete mockery of history and keeps throwing in the most useless and annoying jokes and moe cliches. I’m not really sure who it was who got the idea to turn Oda Nobunaga into a typical tsundere, nor the guy who found it a good idea to greenlight this. And the bad thing is that the production values are pretty good. they wasted a wonderful soundtrack from Yasuharu Takanashi and the camera work also is pretty good here.
OP: Another OP that is exactly like all other OPs out there.
ED: FANSERVICE
Potential: 0%

Sword Art Online

Short Synopsis: Our lead character plays games.
At the start, I just couldn’t help but compare this to .Hack//Sign (one of my favorite series ever) but already quickly into the episode it turned out that the focus of Sword Art Online would be entirely different. Where .Hack focuses on social interactions, this series is more of a thriller, with its emphasis on the combat aspects of an MMORPG. And yeah, this episode was well made: the characters were well acted and this episode did a good job in outlining the overall concept of this series, without playing all of it trumps right at the start (I like how we’re only introduced to two members of the main cast here). The creators also got some really good background artists for this series, so that also definitely is a plus. Perhaps it’s not .Hack//Sign levels and Yuki Kajiura doesn’t really feel like she’s at her best with this series, but as for this being the most solid fantasy of the season? Yeah, pretty much.
ED: Nice animation, but it misses something, plus the song is bland.
Potential: 85%

Uta Koi – 02

by psgels, posted in Uta Koi

Before I start with this entry, there is one question that I just have to ask first: WHY, for the love of god, would you want to censor snakes!??

In any case, Uta Koi surprised me with its atmosphere that was completely different from what I expected. This is Josei, right? Then why was the narrator talking to us as if we were children? Why does the ED feel so ridiculously out of place? Why the need for such out of place comedy?

Despite all that though: TYO, THANK YOU for making this series. This is by far the most interesting series of the season, and that’s saying something in a season that has series about germs, the boundaries between virtual reality and real life and pitch-black food jokes. I only rezlize this right now, but I’m learning a ton of new things watching this series: out of the series that aired during the past years, I think only Hyouge Mono had a deeper historical context.

Last episode had two stories, but this one just focused on one, and this allowed the characters much more time to play out, including intertwining this with one of the stories from last week. This was a great portrayal to two victims of court politics, being forced to live together as husband and wife and both dealing with this in their own ways, and yet at the end of this episode the creators stressed that this is just an interpretation of what things must have been like for the two of them, based on the very little information we have. Heck,if this series is aimed at children, it really takes them seriously; this series really wants to teach something, rather than treating children like dumb sheep who will whine to their parents for toys.

But why the snakes?!
Rating: ** (Excellent)

AKB0048 – 11

by psgels, posted in AKB0048

This episode made me realize: this series has a really passive main character, hasn’t it? I mean, so far Nagisa has just been… there. Most of the best moments in this series focused on the side-cast, and during the building up parts, it’s often the side characters who are much more talkative who take the center stage.

In this show, I don’t think it’s a bad thing. The problem with most passive leads is how annoying they are and how they’re forced in their roles of main characters, where they don’t belong at all. This episode however actually used that cliche in order to build further upon the show’s themes.

I mean, anime in general is so focused on celebrating hard work and talent. Nagisa has neither, or should I say: she doesn’t stand out at either. She can sing decently, and she does practice, but there are many more talented characters, and there are many characters who work harder than she does. In a weird change of fate, the word of God for the AKB group randomly picks her to play the center of a new song they composed for the first time in years, completely ignoring the experience, hard work and talent of all of the other members to go for one who hasn’t really stood out or proved herself in any way, without having any need to justify themselves. We’re all just supposed to “accept” that they had a good reason for it.

I think that the creators knew very well what they were doing here. I mean, even her attitude doesn’t stand out compared to how badly the others want a spot on the performing list. Nagisa on the other hand… doesn’t seem to know what she really wants.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Hyouka – 12

by psgels, posted in Hyouka

The school festival arc, in which there actually are no mysteries. The problem with such an arc is that it has been done to death: you’re really going to have to bring something new to the table if you want to stand out. And yeah, I guess Hyouka did that with its trademark solid acting.

The thing with this episode was that it was full of life. This wasn’t just about the Classics club, but the entire school here was doing activities, and this episode was a great opportunity to show what the rest of the school looks like and who attend it. It’s a great way of world building. It’s a bit disappointing that there was no mystery to solve, but the problem of this episode was quite creative and realistic so that makes up for that.

Oreki in this episode was great: his portrayal of just doing nothing for the entire episode and liking it really fit his character. Ibara also showed a new side of herself. The pressures from the rest of her club members were really well portrayed here. Satoshi meanwhile was surprisingly more annoying than usual, and Chintanda was a bit of a sell-out in which the creator s were obviously trying to stuff her in as many outfits as possible here.

As for the new ED, couldn’t you really have been a bit more subtle Kyoani?
Rating: *+ (Great)

Rinne no Lagrange – 14

by psgels, posted in Rinne no Lagrange

There have been plenty of series in which five series that I was blogging would air on the same day. I cannot recall any season in which that number reached up to six, though. Seriously, Rinne, Uchuu Kyoudai, Total Eclipse, Jinrui, Hyouka and AKB0048 all air on the same bloody day, talk about overkill. The only explanation I can think of this is that series are trying to group themselves amongst the two most popular time-slots for anime: Noitamina on Thursday and the prime time slot on Sunday. Although that doesn’t make ay sense for Sundays either, because the prime time slot airs in the afternoon. Are they counting on people staying up watching TV until late at night?

In ay case, Rinne no Lagrange’s sequel has now officially started, after last week’s recap. And it does so very solidly with a 1-year time-skip. Most of this episode was meant to highlight the character-development, with in particular focusing on how Madoka has matured up. Those changes were definitely my favorite parts of this series., because they show how the island Madoka live son is alive: things change there too.

Also, there appears to be something that is so bad that it forces Muginami to want to kill Madoka. This will undoubtedly be a major theme for this second season, as it has been hinted that Muginami and Lan both went through a lot during thee time-skip. The biggest challenge for the creators will be to make all of this plausible and relatable.
Rating: *+ (Great)
OP: Same style, catchier song.
ED: The song here is a collection of musical ideas that just don’t work. It’s weird.

Total Eclipse – 02

by psgels, posted in Total Eclipse

I think that the four other shows that I’m going to blog this season are pretty obvious now, but as for why I chose Total Eclipse over the others:

– Tari Tari will only be 1 cour long. there is no way it’s going to live up to Hana-Saku Iroha with that.
– Moyashimon is just a series that you should watch, instead of talk about. Short blurbs each week are enough for that.
– In the same vein, I don’t really feel like blogging a comedy a la Binbou-gami ga.
– Kyoukai Senjo no Horizon is very creative, but it’s also completely forced and nonsensical.
– This episode was just that good.

I mean, I don’t care that this show is based on one of the best visual novels out there. It has the director of Rosario to Vampire assigned. After Persona 4 I really wasn’t looking forward to another butchered work, especially since Rosario to Vampire had absolutely terrible pacings and camera work, that were bad, far beyond their premises.

This episode however, was really intense. I did spot hints of this in the first episode in how uneventful it was by allowing the female lead to play out her character, but with this, they followed that up wonderfully with one heck of a horror episode, and even before that, this series took its characters seriously. this episode showed that this series can deliver good horror, even when censored and that in this series, people die when they’re killed.

Some criticisms though: why do all these monsters look the same? With that, it’s hard to keep track of whether you’re actually making progress or not. Also, there is supposed to be a real lead character? I like how he didn’t appear so far: screw those conventions. However, do expect me to drop this show when he turns out to be a generic harem lead…

Also, if this is supposed to be the cutting edge of mecha that are being deployed, then why are they used in hand to hand combat? Wouldn’t long range weapons make more sense, since these monsters can only fire along a limited distance? Overall, this show reminds me the most of Blue Gender, but where that series took place at the stage where the earth has been completely conquered, this series looks more into the conquering process. The question is, will the creators be able to make the plot as interesting?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita – 02

by psgels, posted in Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita

This season I’m going to blog six new series, the first of which is Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita. the biggest reason for this is its creativity, and in terms of that, this second episode also did not disappoint. The fairies in this show are already one thing, but what this episode did with skinned chickens was just outstanding as a dark satire.

Now, this series has two types of humour: the first is its jokes that depend on the chemistry between the characters. Now, to be honest, I don’t find this to be that funny. Its uses of anti-climaxes feels rather forced as well and a lot of the other jokes fall flat, and I feel that their delivery could be better. It feels like the characters are forcing themselves to be funny, which doesn’t really work.

The second type of humour in this series is its pitch-black absurdist humour, like with the bread in the first episode, or how this episode featured skinned chickens that went suicidal from from a video o camera. Now, these jokes are really good and well delivered that I just can’t help but laugh at them, especially when the soundtrack turns to Ave Maria as well.

Now, this series will only be 1 cour long. Is that enough tie for a premise such as this?
Rating: * (Good)

The Manga Experiment – Week 28

by psgels, posted in Manga Experiment

This week I’m gong to continue with the manga I liked best from last week, plus I’m touch upon some of the recommendations you’ve all given me. I seriously never expected such a massive amount though, so obviously I’m only going to check out a limited number, in particular, I hope you can understand that I’m absolutely never going to check out One Piece. I know it’s supposed to be awesome and all, but it’s just way too goddamn long.

Hito Hitori Futari – ch.02: Second chapter is completely different here, I like that. This was a look at the state of mind of a prime minister who failed in his mission. He spoke very little in this episode, but the art in this episode showed very well how depressed he felt, and even though we were never told why he screwed up, it was quite an interesting chapter to read.

A Fairytale Judas ch.01: This is the second story of Shimizu Reiko’s “A Million Pound Love”-anthology, and it’s the first of two chapters in this story about a movie critic who takes care of a flying boy. Seriously, again what amazed me was the creativity in this story, and it really reminded me of the problem I have with a lot of shoujo nowadays: instead of going for this creativity, they all go for the same premises with the same looking shallow bishies. This however had characters who felt real. Again there has been a ton of characterization put in just 30 pages and it again plays around a lot with your expectations by slowly revealing new things about the characters and their personalities (for example it took about 10 pages for us to find out the gender of one of the characters). Perhaps not as good as A Million-Pound love, but there’s still a chapter remaining in this one.

Hotel – ch.01: Hotel is another collection of one-shots, this time by Boichi. This again is science fiction, but taken to the extreme as it shows the mindset of an AI Tower that is tasked with the protection of life’s DNA after humanity had died. “Interesting” is probably the best way to describe this, especially how much time actually passed in this one-shot. However, to really be engaging, 40 pages is a bit too short, as things moved a bit too fast at times to get a good grip of the mindset of the tower here. Also, one thing I noticed: music in manga doesn’t work for me at all. I’m not sure what the authors are going for, but just seeing a bunch of random notes along with lyrics has like it’s opposite effect because in most casts, I’m reading manga while listening to random music. There is no way I’m going to be able to recall the exact right song that the author had in mind here.

Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer – ch.01: And now for something completely different: a shounen action series where a strange lizard gives a random guy some random powers, complete with a bunch of random panty-shots. Out of this one, the only thing that caught my attention a bit were some of the jokes around the lizard, but other than that it was a simple introduction and nothing more. Unlike with anime, where I can vaguely guess whether or not a show will have potential from its first episode, here with this manga, I have no clue on what hints to pick up on to predict whether it’s going to be fun, or just completely boring. The pacing flowed well enough, but neither the “average joe”-main guy nor the “princess” lead female really caught my attention.

Uchuu Kyoudai – 15

by psgels, posted in Uchuu Kyoudai

This is the episode in which the tensions really start erupting. In Camp B, this is the usual stuff, in which one of the members cracks and starts causing tensions deliberately amongst the rest of the team. The reasons for him cracking are vast: having to live together with one fidgety guy, one very quiet guy, and one overconfident guy, but the straw that broke the camel’s back was a timer that was set off in the middle of the night, which was probably initiated by the guys from JAXA in order to test them.

In Team A there also was tension. However, in the circumstances there are completely different: a clock broke, and it was Fukuda who broke it. Why on earth would he want to do that?! Why he of all people? After last episode, he was the last person I’d suspect to have done it. But that’s the great thing: if the creators can successfully back up the reason why he did it, things really will become amazing. At first I thought that he was some sort of agent from JAXA, meant to stir up some trouble here and there, but with the previous episode and his reaction while breaking that clock this seems highly unlikely.

Especially Mutta was amazing here, and very different from his usual self, especially after he again had the luck to witness what really was going on. I really liked how he, after witnessing that, decided to remain quiet about it. Seriously, this show has some very annoying cliff-hangers. Rating: ** (Excellent)

Some Quick First Impressions: Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon II, Dog Days’ and Tanken Drilland

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon II

Short Synopsis: Our lead character walks around naked.
Well, this was pretty much what you’d expect: this first episode continues immediately with Horizon’s formula in which the creators pull the most creative and nonsensical powers and plot twists out of their asses, all combined with some really bad fanservice jokes. As much as I’d like the creators to tone things down a bit so that it can focus on what it’s really good at, I can’t deny that this episode wasn’t fun and exciting to watch. The plot itself continues at a pretty steady pace as well, which is also good to see. Yeah, if you like the first season you’ll like this.
OP: This OP also took cues from “how to make a generic OP 101”.
Potential: 80%

Dog Days’

Short Synopsis: Our lead character fights a bunch of cats.
Ah, Seven Arcs: you have shown in the past that you know how to take a second season, and have it improve vastly over its predecessor with Nanoha, Sekirei and the big one: White Album. And for this show you also brought in a director I really like, Junji Nishimura, who directed Simoun. Whether that really lead to a better series… I can’t say yet, especially since I didn’t watch the first season. I do have some observations though: the screenplay and animation seem better and crisper. Also, what exactly has happened in the story-department in this series? I mean, I could see quite a few changes in the characters compared to the first episode of the first season, but we’re still at a point in which there’s a war between dog and cat people with overpowered leaders. Does this show actually move anywhere?Other than that, this episode was pretty dull and didn’t really capture my interest, and it felt too much like a copy of what I saw of the first season. A second season should evolve, not stay the same with only slight character variations.
OP: The song for this OP has been pretty much directly copied and pasted from every other generic OP out there.
ED: Generic J-pop with a slide-show.
Potential: 35%

Tanken Drilland

Short Synopsis: Our lead character wields a sword and kills evil monsters.
This.. was actually surprisingly cute. The drawings are very childish, but this is a take back to the classic 90’s fantasy series. what made this stand out was the surprisingly good characterization, rather than having the same band of adventurers, or the same old harem participate as the center of the story. The lead female is acted well, and Toei has put some good effort into making the action-sequences stand out. The big potential pitfall of this series will be placing too much focus on combat. This IS a game adaptation after all, which often favor random combat scenes over everything else, and this episode looked like this series was willing to spend extra time into the characterization, but not the story, because that one really is generic: things are happy, evil comes along and threatens things, the lead party goes on adventuring and fighting evil monsters: it’s all so bland there and this episode gave away no hints that it’s going to deviate from the norm in terms of that, and that will prevent this series to really stand among the greats of the RPG adaptations like Popolocrois.
OP: Cheesy fantasy.
ED: Helium voices with cheesy slide-show and running images.
Potential: 70%