Somne Quick First Impressions: Nyanpire, Kamisama Dolls and Morita-San wa Mukuchi

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Nyanpire

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a vampire and a cat.
Gonzo is back! Unfortunately, I do have to say that this is Bad Gonzo. This was just… very poorly produced and it looks more like the commercial for a crappy j-pop band. Here is the thing with this series: its episodes are only 4 and a half minutes long. Only 3 minutes are actual content. The rest consists of a 90-minute live action music video that’s supposed to be the ED. That’s 33 percent of this series! I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a big percentage completely devoted to OPs and EDs, but the worst part is that the ED is pretty much the worst ED of the season. The dancing and choreography are all terrible, in the “we try to be funny but totally aren’t”-way. As for the actual content… it was pretty dull. It’s understandable that the animation is very simple, but the acting was really bad as well. The entire episode was the main cat looking for food, but any attempt of it to be cute didn’t work thanks to bad voice acting and timing.
ED: Live action mixed with traditional animation doesn’t necessarily have to be bad. But here it’s utterly terrible.
Potential: 0%

Kamisama Dolls

Short Synopsis: Our lead character has a sister who can summon a god.
Here’s a show that realizes that it’s only got 12 episodes to work with! Dear god, it put a ton of stuff into just this one episode without feeling rushed (it does have very large mood-swings, though). It established the main cast, it gave them depth, it showed their background, it fleshed them out, it introduced the main villain and made him one heck of a force to be reckoned with, it did romance, comedy, action, mystery and adventure all together. This entire episode felt like a strong standalone thriller. The writing was rock-solid and the animation courtesy of Brains Base was excellent, the action scenes were awesome too and the few cliches that were there were made up by great characterization. It’s a bit of a shame that the promotional material only showed the main characters’ little sister: she’s like, the only teenager in the entire series so far, with the rest being adults.
OP: Holy crap, what a song! Ishikawa Chiaki’s vocals are amazing, the track itself is very inspired with this latin-ish theme and the visuals are based on a great visual idea.
ED: More traditional for Ishikawa Chiaki, but still a great song. Spoiling the next episode is a bit less of a good idea, though.
Potential: 90%

Morita-san wa Mukuchi

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is shy.
Ah, that figures. Morita-san’s episodes are only 3 minutes long. I was really wondering how the heck the creators were going to deal with this TV-series when the OVA already was ridiculously poorly produced. Having short episodes makes this slightly more bearable, but this remains a gimmick series: it’s entirely about the lead character being shy, and this episode just consisted out of a few typical scenes where shy people have problems with. Being shy myself, I can understand where the creators are coming from, but it all just feels way too shallow. It just lists these scenes with predictable outcomes, its comedic timing misses the mark completely and the characters are just one-dimensional stereotypes who are entirely dominated by their quirk. It had its charms and at least this was much more bearable than the OVA, but I still fail to see the point in watching this.
OP: Really feels like it was thrown together at the last minute.
ED:
Potential: 10%

Fafner in the Azure Review – 85/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews




Fafner in the Azure is another one of those series where a bunch of teenagers pilot to save the world. Unlike a lot of other series of its genre though: this series is actually aware of how many things are wrong with that, and actually provides a number of very good reasons for it, making it one of the core themes of this series, up to the point where this becomes a character study first, and a mecha series second.

If this show does anything right, it’s the way in which it explores its themes. This series is about so much more than just the atrocities of war: it’s about using children to fight for you, it’s about existence, and how other life forms view humans. The villains, the Festum, seem like your average brainless monsters at first, but as the show goes on they take on a very interesting role in the entire series. This show, is inspired. It knows exactly what it wants to do and delivers one heck of a tragedy.

As a character study, this series also really delivers on its characters. The cast is quite big, but this series makes sure to give everyone the time and opportunity to show off his character and develop. Soshi is a great main character to make this happen: he has presence as a main character, but at the same time he also gives his co-stars plenty of opportunities to stand in the spotlights. This doesn’t just go for the major side-characters, but also the minor ones: every named character has a very clear and inspired purpose in this series.

It’s a series that’s wonderfully crafted together. Now, it does use some techno babble at times, so some of the twists that depend on this may come a bit abrupt on this, but heck: this is the kind of series that looks generic on the outside, but has so many great ideas on the inside. If you’ve never watched a mecha and would like to know what the genre is about, this is a very good one to start with.

Storytelling: 8/10 – Well told, nicely paced, very good delivery of its plot twists, though a tad too much techno-babble at times.
Characters: 9/10 – A really well developed cast all around, ranging from the main to the side-characters.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Made in a time when 2D and 3D really did not mesh well, but the animation and visuals still are solid and look quite good.
Setting: 9/10 – Tons of great ideas and inspired themes and backgrounds.

Suggestions:
– Bokura no
– Bonen no Xamdou
– Star Driver

Steins;Gate – 14

by psgels, posted in Steins;Gate



Okay, so I do think that Okabe was overacting a tad too much in the first half of this episode. This stands out more than usual because the acting in this series was always so great, but that’s where the melodrama got a bit too much, especially because it caused him to not think of the obvious solution of using the time machine to travel further back in time. I also think it was a bit cheap for this episode to just “announce” that Okabe tried every possible way to save Mayuri: I understand that it was for time issues, but I would have liked to have seen Okabe to try some more and exploit other possibilities.

On the other hand though, this episode got right back on track when Christina returned to the main picture. Her level-headedness was exactly what Rintarou needed, and the plot turned really interesting with the actual introduction of leaping beyond the 2,5 hours of the previous episode. The big twist at the end that Suzuha turned out to be John Titor makes perfect sense. The prospect of severely altering time in the next episode also makes yet again for one hell of a cliff-hanger.

I do have to wonder what Suzuha meant with that the Y2K problem was one of the moments where world lines greatly converged based upon the choices made. Of course I was only 12 when it happened, but was it really as important as the Gulf War? I rather would have guessed that 9/11, the invention of the internet or the birth of social media would have counted as that.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Some Quick First Impressions: Natsume Yuujin-Chou San, Yuruyuri and Ikoku Meiro no Croisée

by psgels, posted in Ikoku Meiro no Croisée, Natsume Yuujin-Chou, Some Quick First Impressions

Natsume Yuujin-chou San

Short Synopsis: Our lead character can see youkai.
Oh, it’s wonderful to see this one back again. It still has the dreamy atmosphere it always had, and the way this episode started off with another episodic story was great to get back into it again. It’s a basic, but very charming story about another youkai who met Natsume’s grandmother a long time ago, and this episode once again did a great job of showing her story while keeping things simple. It may not have been the best episode so far, but it had a lot to like. The animation still is really good, and this episode also stressed some of the character development that Natsume went through in the first two seasons. It’s a very relaxed episode that did its job really well. Oh, and it also was great to see Nyanko-sensei again.
OP: Well built up song with a good use of instruments, though the visuals are a bit unremarkable.
ED: Simple and relaxing, fitting this series perfectly.
Potential: 90%

Yuriyuri

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a random junior high school girl.
Well, here we go again. Here’s the thing: this first episode of Yuruyuri wasn’t half bad. It’s an episode of a bunch of random junior high schoolers goofing off, but it had a number of good jokes, it made sure that its characters, while annoying, weren’t at least one-sided stereotypes and this pretty much was the best animation we’ve ever seen from Dogakobo. It could have been much worse, but the thing is: this remains a show in which nothing happens beyond the antics of a bunch of cute girls. I’m not saying that that on its own is bad, but those series tend to have one really, really big disadvantage: they get incredibly repetitive. Take A-Channel: it could have been decent but devolved into an onslaught of boob jokes and characters repeating their quirks over and over. Denpa Ona? Nice coming of age drama until the characters just kept repeating themselves and the horny aunt just kept hitting on the male lead. Astarotte no Omocha? Heartfelt until it couldn’t stop talking about panties and generic romance cliches. And the thing is: the first episode of Yuruyuri has yet to show any hint that it won’t follow the same path. It only had a few bad fanservice jokes, but you can bet your hat that once they run out of jokes they’ll start groping boobs on a daily basis. On top of that, the main character is a complete airhead. And while she was far from the most annoying airhead out there, there really is little what you can do with such a character in the long run.
OP: The usual generically upbeat j-pop song that will get annoying really fast.
ED: This just feels like the second part of the OP song…
Potential: 45%

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée

Short Synopsis: Our lead character gets to take care of a young Japanese girl.
Oh my god. That was almost too adorable. This was once again an unbelievable first episode. This time in the incredible undeniable charm that this episode has. This goes beyond being just cute: just about everything about the lead female is just ridiculously charming. The animation isn’t trying to be anything big, but it is really consistent and does a great job of bringing the cast alive, plus you can also see the amount of detail that has been put into the background art. The lead character isn’t just an ordinary character: he’s a blacksmith. His shop is full of all kinds of interesting designs and furniture and a lot of attention was put into making the art as authentic as possible. Heck, the creators even got a number of fluent French voice actors as the narrator and vocalists. I really have to say that Satelight are making brilliant use of their French roots and connections here. Overall: Sato Junichi did it again. This once again was brilliant characterization. Although I do have to say that it is very dramatic. It needs to take care not to devolve into melodrama as the show goes on.
OP: A bit of a mundane OP, but quite well animated.
ED: Adorable. Just… adorable.
Potential: 90%

Hana-Saku Iroha – 14

by psgels, posted in Hana-Saku Iroha



Oh, I nearly forgot that this show had a fourth main character (as in, character who shows up on all of the promotional material alongside the three female leads). She’s really been a gimmick character so far, so it was a bit weird to see an episode fully dedicated to her. An episode that spent the rest of its time on plain fanservice and beach episode antics. Oh, and the male classmates of the cast were really annoying as well.

So yeah, this episode was a big step back from the previous arc. I would have hoped that with this, the character development would really get interesting, but that doesn’t really work with a character who hardly ever had any significant impact in the first half. Having said that though, this was the best episode for her so far where we got to know quite a bit more about her.

At this point though, I’m not sure whether she may have the distinction of being a main character. She still needs to convince me that she didn’t just get lumped together with the rest of the main characters just because she’s a cute girl. That spot would have been much more appropriate for Tohru or Ohana’s grandmother. This series is about the staff of the Kissuiso. What is she doing among them?
Rating: (Enjoyable)

Some Quick First Impressions: Nurarihyon no Mago – Sennen Makyou, Sacred Seven and Kami-Sama no Memo-Chou

by psgels, posted in Kami-Sama no Memo-Chou, Some Quick First Impressions

Nurarihyon no Mago – Sennen Makyou

Short Synopsis: Our lead character leads the youkai.
Okay, this season is definitely being adapted by different people. This episode fitted this series much, much better. It’s like, an improvement in every way. You can really see that the director of Hyakko worked on this: it has the same timing, the same camera angles, and there are actually jokes put in the lighter moments that are really similar to Hyakko’s delivery (oh and for the record: I really liked Hyakko and consider it among the better high school comedies out there). What’s more though, the animation also really got an upgrade, and actually looks really good. Characters look less like cardboard boxes, and the creators even found a way to get Rikuo’s hair to move. Finally after Giant Killing we get to see again that Studio Deen DOES know to create some eye candy. As for the story: I have no idea whether or not it’ll be better, because this episode animated a chapter that the first season forgot to animate and inserted at the weirdest point in the final episode. Peoeple kept promising that Rikuo’s friends would play a much lesser roles in the later arcs, but this episode still was all about them, so I’m not sure where they think they’re going with this.
ED: Neat visuals, catchy instruments, though cheesy vocals.
Potential: 75%

Sacred Seven

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is the legendary hero who will defeat evil.
Here’s the thing with this first episode: this series needs 24 episodes. With that, it can make a great plot and cast of characters. Without it, it’ll probably have a difficult time. With this series, I really would have liked it if the creators put a big more imagination into the setting. I know who wrote this and the creators could certainly have been able to do something more than just another high school mecha show. But the thing remains that this episode was quite solid. The action is good, the characters are a bit emo, but with the right development they can really work (hence the 24 episodes) and it will probably make an entertaining, yet unremarkable series. The big problem is that it has very little that makes it stand out aside from small things like the OP and the fact that the main character is riding around on a very tiny motorbike. Those were really cool, but they also were just gimmicks. This show takes too many elements from other mecha series, and doesn’t even go with the most interesting ones. It lacks a signature, and will the creators be able to create this during the rest of the series?
OP: Yuki Kajiura delivers again.
ED: Yuki Kajiura delivers again.
Potential: 70%

Kami-Sama no Memo-Chou

Short Synopsis: Our lead character meets a girl who is Not in Employment, Education or Training and who works as a detective.
Holy crap. This was well written. I mean, heck: this was incredibly well produced. Rock solid in every single way. The premise of this series of yet another guy who finds yet another genius detective does far from justice to this episode. The cases and especially the dialogues are intelligent, the side-characters all are portrayed with exceptional detail and are miles away from the usual stereotypes. The story in this episode was great and really well built-up as well, but in particular it was the voice acting that really made this episode shine and bring the characters alive. This is a series which has episodes of 45 minutes, and it really makes use of that to make everything play out slowly. This was creative and the few jokes it put into this episode really worked. My only complaint is JC Staff forcing in their usual incredibly out of place fanservice shots at the end of the episode. They really need to stop doing that, because that was the only blemish on an otherwise consistently excellent first episode.
OP: Unremarkable music, but inspired visuals.
ED: Hell yeah, rock and roll really well done. Great visual direction as well.
Potential: 95%

Tiger & Bunny – 14

by psgels, posted in Tiger & Bunny



This was a really silly episode, but I absolutely loved it. The humour was exactly what this series needed after the previous arc, but most importantly: timeskip!

this episode was a riot to watch, but on top of that it contained a ton of character development because we skipped 10 months forward. Bison, Blue Rose, Tiger, Barnaby: they all changed, and it was awesome. The trust between the main duo is finally complete and got the chance to mature a bit, Bison changed to the resident loser and especially Blue Rose’s crush on Tiger gave an interesting twist to her character. Usually it’s nothing special when a girl falls in love with the main character and all, but Tiger & Bunny has never been a romantic comedy: it was immediately established that Kotetsu had a dead wife and a daughter and so far the creators never hinted at Blue Rose liking him so far: this was no love at first sight like you see at nearly every series, but instead it’s only something that grew over the course of the past episodes. As character development it fits great into this series.

Also, the comedy. The villain f this episode was hilarious, but especially the way in which he turned out to be that stand-in for Barnaby that was once used had me in stitched. Because of that the chase at the end of the episode was a really entertaining one, and Tiger’s powers getting wonky made it even better. His powers are changing, and yet this series has never shown anything like this before (the closest I guess was Jake getting two powers). There has to be a catch beyond simply “his powers are evolving”.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Ao no Exorcist – 12

by psgels, posted in Ao no Exorcist



I have no idea why Mephisto decided to build a theme part all for himself, nor why his brother wrecked everything in this episode. However, this episode still was really enjoyable. This indeed was no filler episode and some major stuff happened here.

The most baffling of which was the identity of the mysterious hooded “guy”, of whom I can now understand why “he” remained in the background all this time. It’s… completely out there, but I like how in this episode she was used to show how flawed Rin is by saving him. This once was a great episode to develop both Rin and Shiemi, and that’s actually starting to pay off quite well now. The chemistry between the cast is just getting better and better and this episode was no exception. Yes, most of the main characters in this show are simple and often just morons, but this series did succeed in making them likable morons.

Shiemi also really found her place in this series. She is a damsel in distress, but unlike many of her counterparts she isn’t useless: the creators actually find enough for her to actually do well and excel at in her own way, instead of forcing her to stand in Rin’s shadow as some sort of romantic bounty she actually has enough to do on her own.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Deadman Wonderland Review – 82,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Deadman Wonderland




Suspense of disbelief is this tricky thing. It’s because of that that it’s hard to recommend, but if you’re not bothered by the fact that this series show doesn’t make any sense at times, it has a lot to deliver in return.

The thing with Deadman Wonderland is that it has a completely insane setting. The creators really tried to create a prison that would be the equivalent to hell on earth. There is so much morally wrong with this series and just about every episode is filled with practices and protocols that would cause a complete outrage normally. The way in which the prisoners are treated in this series is reallly imaginative, but also completely dark and twisted.

Now, just throwing in some dark and twisted stuff is nice and all, but those alone don’t make a good series. What makes Deadman Wonderland so interesting is that it’s got a very likable and diverse main cast where everyone has his or her own purpose. There’s a lot of overacting, but that is to be expected in this kind of setting. There is a nice amount of character development for 12 episodes, and the pacing of the story hardly ever leaves a dull moment.

As for not making any sense, this series does need to pull a few things here and there to make sure that its main character doesn’t just immediately… die. He’s a fourteen year old kid and while a decent lead for his age, a number of deus ex machina need to be pulled in order to keep it that way. The show is rushed, so it doesn’t have time to explain every single detail while also devoting enough time to its characters and the few quiet moments here and there.

So yeah, this series has cheese, deus ex machina, overacting and a rushed plot. On the other hand it has amazing action scenes, excellent characters, an engaging and imaginative setting and a great plot. It’s really going to be a matter of balancing the flaws and stenghts here, but personally, for me it really worked and I enjoyed ths show a lot.

Oh, but this show does cut off a the end with a huge cliff-hanger with no hint to a sequel in sight. That sucks.

Storytelling: 8/10 – Uses Deus ex Machina, but makes up for it with a grat plot and an intense style.
Characters: 8/10 – The acting isn’t the betst at times and there is some cheese, but it makes up for this by great characterization, character development and a diverse and likable cast.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Not up to Manglobe’s standards and it becomes clear that the earthquake left its mark here as well, but makes up for it with gorgeous money shots and very fluid animation.
Setting: 9/10 – Imaginative beyond belief, and the creators really succeeeded in delivering a second hell on earth.

Suggestions:
– Blassreiter
– Blue Gender
– Jyu Oh Sei

Deadman Wonderland – 12

by psgels, posted in Deadman Wonderland



Well, this episode did stretch the suspense of disbelief again, but I liked it. There is of course a problem with Owl mowing down a small army in an instant, only to take a minute to punch Ganta, but heck: if it’s established that the Deadmen have superhuman healing powers… I guess it could have been worse. It’s a cheesy episode in any case with this episode relying a lot on the vaguely defined rules of insanity, but in the end the characters were good enough to make up for it. As a final episode though, this one left a lot to be desired.

To the people who are hoping for a second season, just based on that final scene: I’d like to introduce you Yumekiu Merry, Kuragehime, High School of the Dead, Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu, Sekirei Pure Engagement, Uragiri, Durarara, Darker than Black, Aoi Hana, Umineko, 07-Ghost, Guin Saga, Pandora Hearts, Tytania, Skip Beat, Blade of the Immortal, Amatsuki, Shigurui, Mushiuta and Zombie Loan: all ended with a huge cliff-hanger, all ended with the promise of another season, and all of them didn’t deliver. It’s probably all going to depend on the DVD-sales, but I’ve yet to find any data on that. Will the sponsors be able to give enough money for the sequel to actually be animated? Those are going to be important questions.

In any case, when a second season DOES come out, I’ll definitely blog it because I enjoyed this first season a lot.
Rating: * (Good)