Houseki no Kuni
Short Synopsis: Girls made of jewels fight off invaders from the moon who wish to capture them.
AidanAK47’s review
The fact that this anime is fully 3D CGI animation is likely going to put people off but luckily the story does help make it less uncanny. The girls are made of Jewels so them looking glassy and shiny actually works. The animation is still hit and miss but overall I don’t find it quite as distracting as I would in works like Knights of Sidonia. What’s really the highlight here is the story which is definitely out there as far as premises go. I do still have a bit of trouble getting into it but not quite as much as when I sampled the manga. So far I would say that while the setting and plot interest me, the characters I find are coming up rather weak. That said, it’s only the first episode and I am interested in seeing just what is coming from this. It’s a unique idea, so let’s hope it pays off.
Potential: 60%
Mario’s review
Hear me out on this, I’m giving the show this high score knowing full well its stumbling block: the CGI. While the character designs are one of the most brilliant use of CG in recent years (they are gems after all), the CG animation still remains distracting, especially whenever Houseki pans around the characters. For me the weakest part comes from the introduction of Phos where you can see the off-putting of the CGI: fake field of glass, wrong score, clunky animation. Having said all that, I’m overwhelmed by Houseki. A good kind of overwhelming, the feeling I only have for handful of my favorite anime like Flip Flappers or Made in Abyss. Houseki is wildly imaginative and wholly fresh and so far the presentation manages to keep up with its wild ideas. I could go on to say that for what it worth, this is the most visually distinctive anime of the season. It will weird viewers out, I’m sure, but that makes it even more stand out. I like the characters presented so far (Phos for me is improved a lot from the first chapter of the manga) and I am hooked on the relationship between Phos and Cinnabar. And I certainly didn’t expect this emotional resonance this show manages to pull off (they done right with the score there: when Cinnabar said that he wanted to be taken by the enemy, it’s just the sound of the waves presented here). This is a love-it or hate-it show but count me in as the big fan of it.
Potential: 90%
Two Car
Short Synopsis: Two girls participate in Motorcycle sidecar races around an island.
AidanAK47’s review
I’m so bored. May I ask why there’s highschool involvement? I mean why do the commenters have to be high school age? Why does it have to be the annual Motorcycle sidecar race between Highschool clubs? Doesn’t even make sense, why would high schools fork out so much cash for a motorcycle race? Isn’t there serious health and safety concerns? Well anyway this show makes the cardinal sin of trying to introduce the entirely of it’s cast within the first five minutes. By the time they finished I couldn’t even remember who was who and when they put on helmets I really couldn’t tell them apart. The first episode jumps jarringly between the past and present. The present being a motorcycle race and the past showing that these two had a big crush on their literally faceless manager. The racing doesn’t really have any stakes as our protagonists go from last to first within a single lap by the magical power of going faster. It’s remarked that the two main protagonists are alike to which I argee. The are so alike in that they have no real distinct characteristics and are instead a bunch of rather generic traits that could be applied to anybody. In fact all the drivers in this race can be summed up with a single quirk. This isn’t a terrible show but I certainly found my attention span wandering as I watched.
Potential: 0%
Mario’s review
From the land of anime, we have cute girls who into bike… for probably a fourth time this past two years. This time, however, it’s a motorcycle sidecar racing, and it’s an original project created by Silver Link for their 10th year anniversary, so there’s a brim light of optimistic here. This first episode divides into 2 parts: an actual racing exhibition with all the players introduced (14 of them), and a little back story between the two leads (who both have a liking for their sensei who apparently is too high horse that the show doesn’t allow us to see his face). The first part made up some exciting race, although I do have a feeling these races gonna be repetitive. The latter part fare much worse as they explore the chemistry between the girls (look, they have the same personality) and how they train hard to improve themselves through the learning from out-of-nowhere said sensei. The production is on par but I give credits for the sound department who does a very good job of making the race sound exciting. I have a solid time and I’m mildly interested in how the show will go from there so I will give it a 3-episode watch.
Potential: 40%
Blend S
Short Synopsis: A girl gets a job at a cafe where the servers put on different personalities.
Wooper’s Review
Did you like Working!! so much that you’d be willing to watch anything with a similar premise, no matter how dull? Well then, have I got just the thing for you! It’s called Blend S, and it’s got everything you could ever want in a cute girls show: workplace harassment, anime tropes by the truckload, and a chesty blonde gal who wants to add her friend code to your Nintendo 3DS! To be fair, Working!! wasn’t exactly the pinnacle of character writing, but at least its gags weren’t tired after just one episode. I can’t say the same about Blend S, nor can I recommend it for its character or background art, both of which felt too familiar to leave any impact on me. It might be interesting to see the girls switch personality traits every episode, but given the fact that Maika and her “scary eyes” are tailor-made for the sadist role, I doubt that’s the kind of twist the show has in store. If you really like CGDCT, give this one a watch – if not, skip it.
Potential: 10%
Mario’s review
Blend S is mild moe show that lacks bite. First, I actually can get behind the concept that those waitresses have to act contrary to their personality, ala their efforts not to break their own character and/or behave like their assigned character. Some of its jokes, however, wears out its welcome after only one episode, most notably the main character’s creepy eyes or the manager’s obnoxious behaviors that manages to creep me out. I don’t mind the settings in a café either, but it feels drag and aimless when those girls decide to play outside in an arcade. The production is nothing to write home about and the whole cast is easy to spend time with, but also doesn’t leave much impact. A decent but forgettable watch, which frankly isn’t good enough.
Potential: 10%
