Some Quick First Impressions: AKIBA’ S TRIP: THE ANIMATION, Fuuka and Masamune-kun no Revenge

AKIBA’ S TRIP: THE ANIMATION

Short Synopsis: A boy and girl fight off possessed humans by stripping them of their clothes.

Honestly I expected this to be a lot worse but it could turn out decently watchable if the rest of the episodes match this then this could turn out to be a good series. I am quite skeptical on that however as it would require them to keep up this level of animation. The art and character designs are somewhat crude but I think this could be like the new Pokemon series where the artstyle was changed to allow for much more fluid animation. For the fight scenes here are actually pretty well animated and it does warm my heart that even lower budget studios can have some pretty good fight animation. The designs and general mannerisms of the characters do feel somewhat studio trigger like but with far more Otaku and Akiba pandering. Which has me worrying that instead of having more fight scenes they instead just run around buying figurines and worshiping Otaku culture. So far for a show about stripping people this looks alright but I would say there are likely better shows to watch this season.

Potential: 30%

 

Mario: And with this the new season has begun. Akiba’s trip’s not only the first series aired this Winter season, it’s also representing the very first new anime material of 2017. I think it’s very fitting that the Akiba’s Trip is a very typical anime product, set in the epicentre of otaku and anime madness: Akihabara. The show itself is terrible, full of fan-service (the very premise of stripping the enemies) and completely campy; the characters fall comfortably under your usual cliche types but Akiba’s Strip knows how to push those elements up with its shameless execution so yeah basically if you had a good time with this first episode chances are you gonna enjoy the rest of the show. Special kudos for the good use of many amusing scores here and there (I spotted Girls Just Wanna to Have Fun-inspired score in one instance). There will be more girls tripping; there will be more otaku-babbling and the show will get dull fast later on but hey, what’s wrong with dumb fun?

Potential: 20%

 

Fuuka

Short Synopsis: a boy, while twitting, crashes into a girl so she breaks his phone. Later, they meet up at school and go for a date.

You know as I get older I find that romantic comedy cliches become less endearing and more insidious. Take this for example, a girl crashes into the protagonist, in the crash she accidently shows him her panties and because he accidentally see her panties she breaks his phone and slaps him across  his face. In no way was that the protagonists fault and this girl is clearly out of line. If a girl did that to me I would punch her in the gut and tell her to pay for my phone. Doesn’t matter if she’s cute or a girl, that shits not on. Anyway this is a normal romantic comedy so far and it does gain a music element later. Though honestly that music part is mainly like Nana where it’s only there to heighten the drama rather than actually be about music. Protagonist is a bland plank who’s got girls after him left right and center. If you happen to know the author Seo Kouji and his works Suzuka and Kimi no Iru Machi then you might know what you are in for here. Fun fact the movie Half and Half that these characters go to see in this episode is a manga by him also. So the general rundown is this, this show is fanservice, stupid drama and apparently rage inducing plot twists.(Personally I wasn’t invested enough to be affected. Unlike Mario down there.) I won’t be watching the show but I might be keeping up with the reddit episode discussions because man, those things are gonna be entertaining.

Potential: 10%

 

Mario: I’m normally not a writer who give impression based on their previous works, but let me tell you my personal experience with this mangaka Kouji Seo. I had fallen victim for his works Suzuka and A Town Where You Live and I was raged over the latter especially (because it hadn’t finished by the time I read it yet). The guy made me stay invested to the characters and then breaking my emotions apart by his characters’ kneejerk, stupid, dumb decisions to make the romance more doomed and unbearable. Now I know his trick so I won’t fall very easily this time. That said, his introduction always be an ordinary rom-com set up before break everything up with melodrama and Fuuka takes up that trend. There’s a chemistry between Fuuka and the male lead but apart from that everything falls flat. All their encounters are your textbook rom-com, Yuu is a boring male lead and the sisters don’t do much except making everything feel even more awkward. If you’re into heartbreaking romance or if you enjoy the couple’s chemistry then Fuuka is for you, for me though I will jump off this train fast because I don’t think I can handle what awaiting me ahead.

Potential: 10%

 

Masamune-kun no Revenge

Short Synopsis: A boy seeks revenge on the girl who broke his heart.

Well for starters I should mention that the manga of this anime will be ending soon and from my information the anime intends to adapt the full manga. Which is good as there are not many harems which have conclusive endings. Admittedly calling this show a harem is somewhat questionable though it does qualify as there are at least four girls into the protagonist. Anyway I forgot how brutal Aki was in the beginning as here she did essentially ruin the rest of a boys high school life, by revealing personal information after an unjustified investigation and all because he asked her out. Sort of loses it’s comedy when you look at the context. Anyway this remains as relatively mediocre as I remember. If you don’t mind something being generic it does make for some watchable entertainment. There are tropes what with the male friend who looks like a girl and the loli mom. Threw me through a loop seeing the maid had blond hair, I always seen her as a redhead in the manga. For those watching this show more for the revenge aspect I say it doesn’t really pay off. This is a romantic comedy so you will be watching it for one of those two and not Aki getting some much needed just desserts. A decent watch while waiting for other shows but not something you should go out of your way to watch.

Potential: 40%

 

Mario: Admittedly, revenge story always intrigued me because it’s so damn entertaining to follow every step of the plan till the final showdown, and in that vein the show actually piques my interest throughout. The main casts are decidedly unlikable: jerk and bitch respectively but these traits are just their fronts for now so they will be more approachable soon (or so I hope), but the rest of the cast is unfortunately so uninteresting and full of cliché: loli mom (Why?), plain little sister, plain female friends, one-note school servant. The art is actually nice to look at for a high school comedy and I didn’t expect her secret to be that “out of the box” so I enjoy the ride so far. I will give if another episode to see how his revenge plan going to turn out. Revenge after all is the dish best served when it’s cold.

Potential: 35%