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)

Yondemasuyo, Azazel-San Review – 77,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews




Once in a blue moon, Production IG makes a comedy. The results are… weird. This time in particular, they put Tsutomu Mizushima in the directing seat. The result is a completely vulgar and outrageous piece of animation with no sense of shame whatsoever.

There is a sharp difference between this series and Hen Zemi, which aired in the same block. Hen Zemi didn’t care how disgusting it was. Yondemasuyo Azazel-san doesn’t care how insulting it is.This show is outright sadistic and knows it, and that’s part of its charms. The characters are all the biggest bastards and yet their antics are really fun to watch. The delivery is chock full of the most ridiculously distorted faces which somehow works out quite well. It’s got a great sense of chemistry which often is much more enjoyable than the actual jokes it tries to tell.

The jokes are where this one just isn’t as good as the OVA. It just feels like at times this series just doesn’t seem to have any inspiration for jokes. At about half the episodes, I didn’t really know what this series was trying to make funny, and it came across as really forced comedy. The two arcs where this becomes especially clear are the fish arc and the Otaku arc. Throughout the series it becomes really clear that this series hates Otaku with passion, but it portrays them with so much bile and anger that it just forgets to make jokes, and just continues spewing fire without actually doing anything with it.

On the other hand though, the good episodes are totally worth it. Moloch in particular is an awesome character who despite only appearing in a few episodes, completely steals away any scene he’s in. The rest of the cast are also really enjoyable to watch when they’re on fire, and it’s often the small jokes that work out the best in thsi series.

In a way this is a typical series of Tsutomu Mizushima. I consider him to be an awesome director, but his pure comedies have always had this weakness of losing themselves in their shock value and forgetting to actually be funny (take for example Dokuro-Chan, Dai Mahou Touge, Kemeko Deluxe). He has been getting back to his level of Hale Nochi Guu, though: both this series and Squid Girl were quite good, but this series still shows his flaws as a comedy director.

Storytelling: 8/10 – Completely outrageous, vulgar and bile.
Characters: 8/10 – Excellent chemistry between the main character that makes this show enjoyable.
Production-Values: 8/10 – A unique look, courtesy of Production IG.
Setting: 7/10 – Lacks inspiration to remain consistently funny.

Suggestions:
– Jungle wa Itsumo Hale nochi Guu
– Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt
– Hen Zemi

Some Quick First Impressions: Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel – Kyun Kyun tokimeki Paradise and Blood-C

by psgels, posted in Blood-C, Some Quick First Impressions

Uta no Prince-sama Maji Love 1000%

Short Synopsis: Our lead character enlists on a school for idols.
This. Was camp. Heck, if you took four body-builders and made then play bagpipes while playing monopoly they still wouldn’t be as camp as this. I’m not sure how the creators did it, but they somehow succeeded in getting every single scene in this episode to not make any sense whatsoever. This show takes every reverse harem cliche, and takes it even further. The guys in this episode are completely ridiculous stereotypes, drawn by girls who I can only imagine haven’t spoken to guys in ages: that’s how ridiculously hammy they all were. Seriously,t his series takes bad acting to a new level. An sich, there is nothing wrong with campness: Antique Bakery did it and did this with great results. The thing however was that Antique Bakery had real characters. This is just a collection of badly acted stereotypes with an extra dose of sparkle. The one positive point is A-1: they made sure to make this show look good, plus the soundtrack too is surprisingly good. Whenever characters aren’t singing, though.
OP: This one is just… wrong.
ED: Again: it’s well produced, but the vocals are pretty bad.
Potential: 20%

Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel – Kyun Kyun Tokimeki Paradise

Short Synopsis: Our lead character are magical girls who fight crime.
What the..? This is really weird: at first sight this series seems exactly like the OVA. In fact, the entire first scene was completely borrowed from the OVA. However, as the series went on, it became clear that there was one major difference that changes pretty much everything: they changed the villain! If you never saw the OVA you might wonder why this is such a big deal, but here is the thing: the OVA was meant to subvert the magical girl genre: it showed that fighting crime shouldn’t be taken lightly and it uses its far superior villains to teach the lead characters not to goof off just because they have special characters. In this episode however, the creators swapped this villain out for a bunch of total idiots. The result is that this series is now a really camp kaitou-series, with the bizarre effect that it tries to deliver a bunch of really weird scenes straight. This episode tries to take itself seriously while pulling a number of horses who have long since been beaten to death. This isn’t in the way most harems keep repeating each other. This episode was full of the plot devices that nowadays only appear in parodies. They’ve been long since beaten to death that writers don’t even bother with them anymore, and here this show comes and expects them to still make sense. It just doesn’t work, especially with all of the silly acting.
Potential: 20%

Blood-C

Short Synopsis: Our lead character hunts monsters.
Oh boy! Talk about a standard set for the rest of the season. This episode was rock-solid in every single way. Even the Noitamina series are going to have their hands full on trying to come close to the level of detail in this episode. Especially the big action scene at the end: now THAT is how you animate a fight scene. This episode also really screamed Clamp, but I really mean that in a good way. It has some of the elements that return in a lot of their other series, but also plenty of new stuff for them, not to mention the rock solid characterization. Saya is a teenager this time (who has nothing to do with the Saya of Blood+, by the way), but most of this episode was laid back and made excellent use of this to establish the main cast. They already seem like a unique bunch. Everything was really well acted, the pacing was really fluid, the characters are strong. All that’s left now is an engaging story. Please, someone say that this will go on for more than 13 episodes!
OP: A strong contender for the best OP of the year. Utterly gorgeous with music that fits it perfectly.
ED: Simple but effective.
Potential: 95%

Hen Zemi Review – 75/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews




This season had what I’d liek to call “the disgusting comedy block”. It’s a double feature of Hen Zemi and Yondemasuyo, Azazel-san. Both have just 10-minute episodes, both are really extreme in what they do, both were preceded by a far superior OVA and both… had no sense of shame. Hen Zemi was the weakest of the two: it’s fun to watch, but not much more than that.

One big factor in this is that it just never was able to get anywhere near the quality that its OVA had. The OVA really is superior in every way to the TV-series: the animation is much better, the dialogue is much more fast paced and detailed, the characters are more interesting. The TV-series really is a tamed down version, and it loses a lot of charms because of this.

To explain: the big difference between the two is that the OVA really described its disgusting content in full detail. That’s what made it so completely disgusting and if you want to watch something that gets under your skin: that’ the series for it. The TV-series however is just a kaleidoscope of various disgusting practices. It just lists a bunch of disgusting things. The effect of that wears off once the novelty disappears and in the end it becomes more of an exercise. This makes the disgusting stuff just predictable, and the nudity and sex references just plain fanservice.

Where this series does try to deliver is in expanding upon its characters. This admittedly worked out quite well, and there are a few cast members that are well fleshed out this way. On the other hand though, there also are plenty of characters who just have one defining trait or too much of a caricature. Especially the lead character is used as nothing else aside to be the butt of a joke, and the biggest pervert in the series is taken way too far.

So while I liked the OVA, I unfortunately can’t give a high mark for this series. If you’re interested, you can just check out the OVA: they’re short and sweet and perfect for this type of show, and even though the TV-series expands upon the characters, there are tons of other comedies that do that better. This was just too often too mundane. I watch comedies because I want to laugh or otherwise be moved, and that’s where this series had little effect on me as it neared its end.

Having said that though, I do want to praise Xebec for finally going with a fanservice comedy that does NOT revolve around teenagers. At least it’s something, but there still is a long way to go for them. Like Gonzo, there really is a Good Xebec and a Bad Xebec, with a very strong distinction between the two. I guess that this was amongst the best tv-series from Bad Xebec, but it really needs to give more space to Good Xebec, because these guys can really make great stuff when given the chance.

Storytelling: 7/10 – Goes too much into a formula.
Characters: 8/10 – There are some interesting characters, nobody really is obnoxious, but it’s nothing special.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Again solid, but nothing special like the OVA.
Setting: 7/10 – Yeah, it’s a kaleidoscope of disgusting stuff. That novelty wears off quickly, but not as quick as the pseudo-academic air that it wants to give off.

Suggestions:
Hen Zemi OVA
– Mitsudomoe
– Dororon Enma-Kun Meera Meera

Gosick Review – 82,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Gosick




During the past half year Mari Okada set some sort of record: writing five series in just half a year, two of which original stories. This totaled 70 episodes in just six months. Surprisingly, with the exception of Fractale, all of them were really, really good.

Gosick does have a catch though: a weak start. The first half of this series is pretty much a mystery series that fails at mystery: the stories themselves are good, but the cast that has to solve them is surrounded by idiots who miss vital clues, need everything explained on a silver platter for them and just can’t think for themselves. The mysteries meanwhile get solved so conveniently that the detective in question must have had access to the script in order to be able to figure them out. These stories all don’t really serve any purpose to the plot or characters and are generally pointless and a bit of a chore to watch.

Intead, this series shines when it turns to its main storyline and adventure roots. This amounts to about three arcs and the first half, and just about everything after episode fourteen. It’s here where this show against all expectations reveals itself as wondrous journey throughout imaginative stories and murder mysteries that are deeply rooted within its setting of a small fictional country in Northern Italy in the 1920s. It successfully combines occult, legends and folklore with each other and succeeds in what a great adventure series should be.

Beyond that, it’s also here where the characters really get better. The stupid characters either get better or get shafted in favor of the vast array of interesting ones with great back-stories. There is a ton of character development in this series for both the main and side-cast and this gets woven wonderfully together with the story.

With Gosick you have to be patient. It’s not just that it takes its time to get going: some episodes and stories are downright bad, rushed and make no sense. This gets completely abandoned as the series goes on, though. ‘Engaging” is the best way to describe this series. It may not be amongst Bones’ best work, but once it left its flaws behind, it really drew me in.

Storytelling: 8/10 – It doesn’t get the mystery-genre at times, but as an adventure it hits a lot or right notes, though it remains a bit rushed at times.
Characters: 8/10 – Aah, this is a difficult one to grade because of the sheer difference between the first and second half. The big plus is the huge amount of character development, the big minus is the number of unlikable idiots that walk around in the first half.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Solid throughout the entire series, but not the most remarkable for Bones’ standards.
Setting: 9/10 – Tons of great ideas, settings and backstories that will really draw you in. Even when the characters are having a day off, the setting remains rock-solid throughout.

Suggestions:
– Armed Librarians – The Book of Bantorra
– Pandora Hearts
– Nijuu Mensou no Musume

Gosick – 24

by psgels, posted in Gosick



Okay, so in the end it does feel like a bunch of novels were crammed into just these two final episodes. The mood swing is a bit too abrupt, and they definitely were rushed. On the other hand though, I did not expect the direction it took because of that: I really expected a formulaic mystery to close off the series. Instead, the mysteries are completely gone at this point, and instead it’s a finale that focuses on character development. Fair enough: that part worked really well.

Two episodes isn’t a lot, so the big separation between Kujou and Victorique doesn’t feel as big as it could have been, but I still admire what Mari Okada managed to do within 2 episodes: she got the essence of this finale. the distance was there, and using a big war as a backdrop, it really made for an engaging ending with two major characters (Marquis de Blois and Victorique’s mother) gone from the stage. Grevil got some great development, Victorique was absolutely wonderful, Kujou also was great, the king got some redemption, the things that were put in this episode really tried to reach as many characters, while to my surprise they actually ignored all of the stupid characters (with perhaps one small scene as an exception).

Brian Roscoe was a bit of a disappointment, though. To me, it seems like he was just killed off for the sake of being killed off: he didn’t need to die and would have actually made things a lot more interesting if he lived. Both of his versions, I mean. Also, Victorique’s hair thing was a bit… weird. How did it change color?

Overall, the show was at its best around episodes 14 to 18. This ending though: it also was really good. It’s a shame that Gosick has such a weak start, because it’s definitely a great adventure series.
Rating: ** (Excellent)