As for the shows I’m not going to blog:
– Tamayura is great, but I’d rather cover a more eventful series. Let me get back to it when Bento or Last Exile turn out disappointing, though.
– Same for Kimi to Boku.
Chihayafuru though would be a no-brainer.So far it delivered the best opening of the new season so far (with Fate/Zero on second place, by the way). It sets itself apart through its characters: this and Tamayura are the only shows where they already come alive. And Tamayura cheated by already having four OVA episodes that preceded it. It’s a combination of a lot of factors. The animation is for example excellent, especially during the Karuta matches, but also the best still frames feel like the characters could just walk out of it.
The character designs here are wonderfully subtle, and Madhouse actually got itself a budget to make them shine. In fact, this season they are in no way plagued by their acting problem that has been bugging them for years now. Hunter X Hunter and Chiyahafuru have the perfect combination between good character-designs, while not being to complex, making them hard to animate.
The writing and acting also shine here, depicting the cast as gifted characters, but at the same time they’re still kids. The least interesting part is the reasons behind the drama and the cheap tricks that were pulled in this episode like hiding glasses (hey, they’re kids), but the way in which this show portrays emotions was really outstanding.
My question is: what can you do with Karuta to make this last for 26 episodes (and possibly even longer in manga-form)? Compared to Go and Shougi, it doesn’t seem as deep. I mean, as soon as you’ve reached the point where you remember every card in the game, doesn’t it just become like a contest of who can recite the digits of pi the fastest?
This is where the first episode comes into play though, because there that red-haired guy had the exact same worries that I’m having right now. This really started as a kid’s hobby and the three main characters will probably have a lot of fun playing Karuta in the future. However, the red-haired boy eventually grows to like other things, while the lead female wants to go further with it. I’m looking forward to see these kids change and grow apart, and Chihaya’s reasons for continuing to play on.
Rating: ** (Excellent)]]>
Some Quick First Impressions: Chibi Devi, Mirai Nikki and Mobile Suit Gundam AGE
Chibi Devi!
Short Synopsis: Our lead character receives a baby from out of nowhere.
Just… what the hell was that supposed to be? This was… so bad that it became hilarious again. This episode was five minutes long, and it featured some of the worst animation and most wooden characterization of the entire season. The plot where a bullied girl takes care of a devil baby who is literally dropped into her bed (I really do mean literally: there are two hands visible who really drop that thing from out of this random hole in the air) is just ridiculously stupid and the acting may be so stiff and wooden that it becomes hilarious, it’s the kind of hilarious that’s probably going to be fun one episode. Of five minutes.
OP: Those vocals! Make them stop!
Potential: 0%
Mirai Nikki
Short Synopsis: Our lead character has a stalker.
Ooh, I like this one. This one turned out to be an excellent suspense series, with a very creative premise of using diaries that can predict the future. This episode was especially good at portraying the main character, and especially relating in how he slowly realized how badly he has been screwed over; his reactions were just priceless, and it gives this show a whiff of psychological horror that I can really appreciate. This episode was well animated, which is also a plus and for once an episode was fast-paced, without rushing though everything. There was one part where this episode fell down, though: the bad guy of this episode. He was just… there and we really don’t know anything about him. The creators had better try harder for the next characters to run into our main character, because this has potential to become a really fun series. Oh, and finally a series has the balls to have school that doesn’t feature school uniforms. That gives the character designers much more freedom, and it shows: this show really has this unique look without having a particularly different art style.
ED: Clever
Potential: 80%
Mobile Suit Gunam AGE
Short Synopsis: Our lead character pilots a giant robot.
Oh you’ve got to be kidding me. The big selling point of Gundam AGE was that it would show a completely different version of the regular Gundam series. In the end though, all that that amounted to was a new coat. It actually did nothing to remove the most obnoxious parts of the franchise. The male lead still is a teenager who for very convenient reasons ends up piloting a giant robot stronger than all others, he instantly knows how to pilot it, the female lead is completely useless, and there is a lot of angst about how bad war is. Sunrise, for the love of god try something new for a change. Probably the most insulting part is how pathetic the military is: even though they have never been attacked, they’ve only got one capable pilot. On top of that, they allow a twelve year old boy to design new mobile suits for God knows how much money. Really guys: designing and coordinating such a large-scale project isn’t so easy that you can just take off to school at the same time. Oh, and another cliche: everyone is an idiot in order to make the male lead look smart. Throughout the entire episode he is the only one who worries about the incoming invasion. Please Sunrise: you’re mecha series rocked because of how creative they were. This is not the way to do it.
OP: You can see that a lot of budget was put behind this, but it’s just too mainstream to really work. The flying scenes are good, though.
ED: This is pretty decent, though.
Potential: 30%]]>
Phi Brain – 02
Well, so unfortunately the only part that didn’t turn out worse than the previous episode was the female lead. She’s likable, plus she knows her role as a support character. Apart from that, this episode had some annoying parts with the introduction of a new, rather obnoxious character.
Overall, this series is interesting, but flawed so far. The biggest flaw is that I have no idea how it’s going to be able to answer the why of everything: what is that bracelet that the main character found last episode and why is there an evil organization dedicated to making puzzles?
Also, you’d think that this series would focus on solving puzzles. Things turned out quite a bit different, though. The creators don’t even show the solutions to some of the puzzles, especially the smaller ones. Instead, this show is all about trying to come up with the most creative puzzles. When I first read about this series I thought it would feature a number of riddles in the same vein as Professor Layton and Spiral, but surprisingly every single puzzle in this show is an actual puzzle that is based on numbers and figures.
And granted, the puzzles that the creators came up with so far are very creative.
Rating: (Enjoyable)]]>
Fate/Zero – 02
I didn’t continue with the Fate/Stay Night anime after its fourth episode or so, and the most annoying parts of these past two episodes were definitely the younger versions of the harem members of that show (with the possible exception of Saber), but apart from that Fate/Zero really is a step above it. This second episode was even better than the first.
I like how much dialogue there is in this show, and yet this episode brought in the first action of the series, and the animation really scaled up a notch there. Especially the Assassin part looked really good, but even the quiet scenes were interesting to watch thanks to good acting. Berserker in particular is fun to watch, but I also really like that this series doesn’t really seem to have a main character. There are several villains, but nobody really seems to have enough screen-time to be really called the central character.
One complaint I do have is that the gore felt rather unsubstantial. It was a bit… too much here, and not really well built up, especially with the Caster slaughter. I mean, the thing that makes gore effective is not just showing a bunch of people getting murdered in the most brutal ways imaginable. It’s about giving it a solid context in the series and building it up well. This episode also established that for the servants, death is something like a temporary annoyance, rather than actually a big deal (there is no way for Assassin to be really dead at this point), which does take away a bit of the sense of urgency.
Rating: ** (Excellent)]]>
Hunter X Hunter – 02
As for the series I’m not going to blog:
– Let me get back to Bakuman when Mirai Nikki airs. It really seems to be better paced than last season, but I’m not entirely convinced yet.
– Squid Girl is funny, but much of the same.
– C3’s second episode indeed was better than the first, and the artistic direction at least was interesting. But the acting and direction still are terrible. Even during the “good” parts.
– Majikoi has no confidence in its own direction. If you’ve got an original concept, go for it. Don’t half-heartedly insert fanservice, harems and a horny dog in the second episode.
– Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon’s source material is way too big to fit in 26 episodes, and the second episode didn’t really seem in a hurry to get to the good parts.
As for Hunter X Hunter, here’s my issue: the animated version of the Yorkshin arc was perfect. What can this new version hope to add to it, and how long does it take to find this out? The guy behind the series composition has a rather questionable resume, so I’m really not convinced that he can really do justice to that arc. I’m not worried about dumbing down the gore or violence, but rather that the subject material and dialogue are dumbed down.
But ah well, it’s not like the first season was flawless. Its slow pacing in its first half worked at times (the running exam for example), but at others it took a bit too long (like with Killua’s home). If this show can solve these pacing issues, it’ll definitely be interesting to see where it’ll go. The animation is also quite good so far: the characters move quite a bit around, and interestingly there is none of the usual CG that Madhouse likes to overuse.
And yeah: I’m not going to pass up what pretty much is the cream of the crop in terms of shounen series. This show is miles above the likes of Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail and all of the other cliched shows that have loud-mouthed brats fight in over the top fights that take on for bloody ever, nor does it have cheesy romance. It’s full of creativity and imagination and what also makes it unique: every major arc is significantly different from the other. There is not one moment like the other. Now THAT takes some real skill. In the end, this is just too good to pass up, even though I’ve already watched this story.
This episode also was no disappointment and what I’m especially glad to see: it wasn’t dumbed down. Instead of just brainlessly fighting, the creators still required the characters to think, and they did. Kurapica in particular seems very intelligent, and he is definitely the best portrayed so far. Leorio’s voice actor is a bit of a mis-cast, but it probably won’t be hard to get used to him. Gon’s voice actress though… that really was a bad decision. She lacks experience, and yells too much.
Rating: * (Good)]]>
Some Quick First Impressions: Ben-To, Shakugan no Shana III and Sekai-Ichi Hatsukoi 2
Ben-To
Short Synopsis: Our lead character is hungry.
So, it’s finally time for my most anticipated harem show of the season, and this definitely is a step above all of the others. There is first of all the premise of this series, but on top of that it also had by far the best direction of the bunch. This first episode was well told, had some great ideas into it, and especially the way in which the creators used amnesia in this episode in order to introduce everyone worked well, but also the use of camera angles was quite inspired. David Production also delivers in the animation: they really have the talent to breathe life into characters who seem very generic at first. Also, here is the thing about the next-best harem shows this season: Horizon and Majikoi may be enjoyable, they’re also badly acted. This episode of Ben-To wasn’t. The acting was actually quite good. The male lead is one of the first to actually do impressions (including a bizarre Norio Wakamoto impression), the females are based on stereotypes, but their behavior tries to move away from that. and attempts to give them a more colourful personality. Oh, and the use of music also was very good: it was well timed, the soundtrack is creative and it helps building up the tension.
OP: It has energy, but still a bit dull.
ED: Not a bunch of images, but actually relates to the series, though it does seem rather cheesy. The song still is badly sung.
Potential: 80%
Shakugan no Shana III
Short Synopsis: Our lead character is gone.
Okay, so apparently things actually happened in the second season. I gave up on that one after its second episode so I wouldn’t know exactly how it happened, but what this episode seemed to hint at rather scared me a bit. Of course, it’s good to see that at this point Shana has predictably changed from tsun to dere, so there’ll be no more “urusai urusai urusai”, and this episode was admittedly better than Hidan no Aria’s opening(not that that says much, though), but seriously. Are the creators really building up to a cheese ball finale where Shana is forced to have to fight Yuuji? Is that what these 80 episodes are building up to? Such a soap opera twist?! Please tell me that I’m wrong. I mean, pulling such a thing for a novelty is one thing. but to make it the main focus of 80 whopping episodes!?
OP: Not bad, but nothing special either.
ED: This is dull J-pop, though, where the limitations of the singer are really shown.
Potential: 35%
Sekai-Ichi Hatsukoi 2
Short Synopsis: Our lead character is gay.
Here’s the thing with this series: cut it in half, remove the two non-main stories, and you’d have a very good story about a bunch of manga editors. The only reason why I dropped the original series is because it switched over to the second story, which put fanservice and blushing bishies before story and characters. This first episode of Sekai-Ichi Hatsukoi’s first episode reminded me again of why I originally liked the series: it’s good slice of life, it portrays the stress of being a manga editor quite well and it’s quite funny. There is progress: instead of dealing with manga authors, the main character now has to deal with colleagues and printers, which take a completely different set of skills. In terms of the romance though… I didn’t feel like I missed much actually. Only this episode developed the relationship between the two male leads further and really, they’re pretty interesting characters. The biggest thing that this series needs to worry about now is to avoid Junjo Romantica 2’s big pitfall of not going anywhere.
OP: Try to do something different for a change.
ED: Dull J-rock
Potential: 70%]]>
Hyouge Mono – 25
This series is starting to turn into a parody on post-modernism. Furuta Sasuke once again delivers a crazy set-up to hold a tea ceremony, dressing like a cavemen with people playing drums in the background. Indeed, here he took the beauty of poverty and simplicity way overboard, and it looked like a bad play or something (just as like how we nowadays like to dress up like historical figures and professions).
Then there was the old man, Sennou Soueki’s brother. Seriously, who was that old hag who he brought with him? It was a hilarious scene, especially with how she had an implied crush on the tea master. The strange thing is that usually in anime, the oldies are meant to be the veterans, whose part is to step back and let the young ones stand in the spotlights. Here though, they’re completely dancing around and manipulating the main cast.
Also, Sasuke’s son is actually growing up! Seriously, having a kid is already one thing, but this kid takes it much further than usual by being so normal. He has no importance to the plot, and seems to be quite a generic character who is too lazy to do something of his own at the moment. He really feels like this young brat who won’t listen to his father, without being a complete tsundere for it.
Rating: ** (Excellent)]]>
Mawaru Penguin Drum – 13
I dislike it when a series revives a character back from the dead. But seriously, when it’s done this well, I really can’t complain. With this episode, the creators made Himari’s revival such an integral part of the plot that I have no problems with it. The revival had enough repercussions on its own, it had an amazing effect on the characters and we got to know a lot more about them. The kinds of revivals that got on my nerves were the half-assed ones: the ones who are just there to generate cheap drama without actually killing someone.
In any case, I loved how well this episode was told. It was an aftermath, but the pacing was just perfect. The dialogue was just excellent for every character: Shouma, Kanba, Tabuki and that pink-haired guy all had some amazing monologues, and I loved the use of music throughout this entire episode, and all had something interesting to tell as they analyzed what happened last episode and related it to their own experiences.
The new ED also is amazing. It’s not just a case of “let’s insert a random song here!” – it fitted perfectly with the end of the episode. For me, the best EDs are the ones that force me to keep watching them, and the transition was just seamless. The piano at the end also was absolutely wonderful.
Rating: *** (Awesome)]]>
Some Quick First Impressions: Persona 4 The Animation, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai and Chihayafuru
Persona 4 The Animation
Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a transfer student with special powers.
Seeing as how this was the most hyped up series of the new season… it felt oddly disappointing. I’m not referring to the characters, although that pee-moment certainly didn’t help, but what striked me the most is that the storytelling was completely off. In particular, this episode didn’t seem to care much about timing or build up. It didn’t seem to know how to create an atmosphere, it jumped around way too much instead of establishing things, and everything happened way too quickly . This episode had a very short attention span, which really hurt any attempts on drawing in the viewer: one moment the main character is in a shop, the next he dives in a tv. It just doesn’t flow well and there were a lot of anti-climaxes in this episode. Was the game really that long, forcing such a fast pacing? Oh, and this is just a small detail, but I consider it very important too: the show had what sounded like a great soundtrack, but it didn’t seem well used at all. There were lots of scenes with no background music at all, and it only started playing at the most predictable moments.
OP: Funky
ED: Again, funky. If only the rest of the soundtrack was like this.
Potential: 60%
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
Short Synopsis: Our lead character is surrounded by cute girls.
For a while, this episode actually avoided the usual warning signs. When it was just the main male and female together, this show avoided fanservice, the female lead was eloquent, rather than stupid, and about the only big cliche was the deadpan snarker male lead. Then the second female lead arrived, the girls turned tsundere and they wasted no time in making boob jokes. This show… when I first read that it’d be about people who are bad at being friends, I thought that this would be a show about outcasts. Instead, the main cast consists out of two people with foreign looks, suffering from Japan’s xenophoby, and another character who refuses to talk to others because of… arrogance I guess. That was not what I expected. Strangely enough, these people didn’t seem to suffer from insecurities at all. Instead, the emotion that prevailed here was annoyance for not being able to make friends. It doesn’t have the biggest cliches: aside from the boob jokes this episode refrained from beating any dead horses, but it has relatively little that it can call its own. The xenophobia was probably this episode’s biggest asset, but that was handled very one-sidedly: everyone is afraid of the main characters, aside from the really good-looking girls (yay for subtlety!). This was neither the worst moe show of the season, but it also certainly wasn’t the best.
OP: FANSERVICE!
ED: Why the nuns?
Potential: 40%
Chihayafuru
Short Synopsis: Our lead character plays card games.
This had the best animation of the new season so far. Seriously, Madhouse made this series look absolutely gorgeous. The use of cg is excellent, while it completely lacks the acting problems of Madhouse’s usual series. The shots are all creative, the animation is smooth and life-like. It would be awesome if the creators could keep it up like that. The rest of the episode also was wonderful: instead of most series about games, the female lead Chihaya isn’t a complete rookie at the start: she has been playing the card games (and seriously, they’re not what you think: this is miles away from Yugioh) for a few years now. In fact, this series series shows how she got introduced to it when she was still a grade schooler. What especially caught me however was how well it used its animation to portray the game. The soundtrack is also exceptionally well used. This is one to keep an eye out for: rock-solid… though it’s a shame that it’s a manga adaptation. Of a manga that isn’t finished yet.
OP: A bit generic, but certainly not the worst of the season.
ED: Simple, but very pretty visuals, with a decent ballad.
Potential: 90%]]>
Some Quick First Impressions: Mashiro-Iro Symphony, Maken-Ki and Sengoku Paradise: Kiwami
Mashiro Iro Symphony
Short Synopsis: Our lead character transfers to an all-girl high school. While being a male.
This show is what I’d call pretentious: it tries to be serious, but has actually no idea what it’s doing. Here is what I mean by that: this show is very schizophrenic. On one hand, it really seems to want to tell a good story. It’s Manglobe: the character designs may be abysmal, but the inbetween animation is quite solid. This episode started off with a very quiet act, in which the main character is simply trying to find his sister, who got lost. This was actually very effective in establishing their characters, and to introduce the main female (no panty-shots, accidental groping or violence!). The acting here was pretty good. And then this show continues to just nullify that by having the sister attempt to bathe with the male lead. Nearly exactly like how TWGOK did it. Things then get from bad to worse when it turns out that the first half was saving all of its cliches for the second half. The most pretentious part is the drama, though. This show is trying to be very serious with it, but what is it about? The colour of pure love, and that the main female lead very stubbornly refuses to open up her school for boys. It’s completely insubstantial, even though this show acts like it struck gold with it. Also, who the hell designed that abomination that is supposed to be a cat?
ED: Who the hell designed that abomination that is supposed to be a cat?
Potential: 30%
Maken-Ki
Short Synopsis: Our lead character gets to live together with a bunch of cute girls.
I really have a question to ask to the fans of harem series like Maken-Ki: what is their appeal? What is the appeal of seeing the same characters over and over again? What is the appeal of watching shows over and over where the main character is a loser, the main girl characters are idiots and stereotypes? What makes it worth watching when the characters are so damn unlikable as these people, and that over and over again (harem shows are often the most represented genre in any season)? Is it really just the boobs, or is my bias preventing me from noticing their merits? Why are there so many series entirely dedicated to fanservice, when there is plenty of porn around? In any case, my impression of this episode was as follows: it had the most unlikable male lead I’ve seen in any first episode this year. His acting was bad and his only defining traits are being wimpy and horny: during the entire episode he was either just standing there and mumbling, or getting horny from nearby females. The females meanwhile were the standard uninspired idiots and stereotypes that happened to have special powers. The fanservice also was pretty tasteless with the camera’s uncanny ability to always look for some angle to how a person’s ass.
ED: Is it really interesting watching a guy getting turned on?
Potential: 10%
Sengoku Paradise: Kiwami
Short Synopsis: Our lead character is another re-interpretation of the famous sengoku lords.
Sengoku Basara, what have you done? Ever since you aired there has been a sudden influx of series that try to cash in on the popularity of the Sengoku era. This ranges from very good and well constructed series (Hyouge Mono), to very silly and poorly written gag shows (Tono to Issho). I was ready to label Sengoku Paradise amongst the latter… however this first episode was actually funny. This is mostly due to a director who knows what a crappy premise he has to deal with, and just goes all out for the heck of it. The result is a camera guy who hyperactively jumps from one shot to the other and characters who have a lot of fun overacting the hell out of their characters. There are some good jokes in this episode. But to be honest, this doesn’t seem like a show with much staying powers, and this was likely the best episode of the series. The characters are bound to get dull after more than 3 minutes (yes, these episodes are only 3 minutes long), the jokes are of the type that get old when they’re already repeated once and I don’t think that the creators have enough ideas to keep this one fresh.
OP: Very badly sung, but that was definitely done on purpose.
Potential: 45%%]]>