Sora Yori mo Tooi Basho
Short Synopsis: Two girls decide to travel to the south pole
Mario’s review
As the very first offering for the new year 2018, I’m happy to report that we start with a very decent title (a rarity if you ask me). Aside from big, pearl-side tears and somewhat questionable characters’ facial expressions (that creepy smile in the end), this is a very solid premise for what would be an enjoyable and intimate journey of experiencing life. The lead character, Kimari, isn’t that original and I can’t say I’m fond of her character traits, but it helps that she has a relatable issue that most of young adult had struggled before in their lives. The fear of leaving your comfort zone and try something different is something I can connect all too well. The show sells that insecurity well and ties it together neatly with the premise of the show: the trip to Antarctica. The whole idea of going there sounds implausible in concept, but that’s exactly the point. What I’m looking forward to is that the show doesn’t sell its concept short: don’t make it easy for our girls to reach their goal (note that One million yen is already a self-fulfilling plot device). The chemistry between our girls is solid all around, coupled with detailed, albeit a bit conservative, art and background designs and an excellent voice cast. Sora Yori is endearing and while I don’t necessary consider it as a breakout hit of this season, for fans of slice-of-life this is a perfect title for you.
Potential: 70%
Lenlo’s Review:
A decent, if fantastical, slice of life to start the season off. I like the design and general art style, with the bright color palette in particular standing out to me. The lighting however makes all of the characters look shiny, which throws me off. For characters, I find myself agreeing with Mario. Kimari isn’t anything new and I often found her annoying, but her interactions with Shirase, Antarctica, were solid. I don’t want to make any calls about chemistry just yet, since we have really only “met” two-three of our central girls though. The bit that has me most concerned though is the story. The concept of being afraid to do anything, to change anything, is so familiar and personal I immediately connected with it. But one million yen, chartering a boat and going on an expedition to Antarctica? This just seems ludicrous and really takes me out of the story, reminding myself I am watching a made-up anime and not someone’s childhood story. I understand anime needs to be more than a mundane slice-of-life, but this is taking it a bit far. However, Sora Yori can make this work if they just make the trip itself interesting. They have chosen this boat trip, so they need to truly commit to it. Explore life at sea, have stories not about boyfriends and clubs but storms, navigation and food. If Sora Yori dives headfirst into its premise, I can see it becoming an interesting standout in the Slice of Life genre. Also, I demand boat and snow-scape eye candy, or I riot.
Potential: 60%
Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san
Short Synopsis: A girl that loves ramen, goes out to eat ramen
Aidan’s review
The appeal of this show is lost to me. It’s not funny nor is it all that cute and there is pretty much no story. Just seems like one big advertisement to go out and eat ramen. Only thing I can comprehend as a story is that some girl desperately wants to make friends with our ramen loving protagonist. Well at least I believe that’s the intention but this girls obsession with her seems to go far into sexual territory. Though of course like any cute girls show, any gay subtext will remain just that and never provide any evidence confirming it. Either way this is a cute girls show in a season with plenty of alternatives. I say you are better off watching something with more substance.
Potential: 0%
Mario’s review
It’s exactly what it says in the title, a tsundere girl who loves ramen. End of story. Maybe it’s the subgenre “slice-of-life food porn” never appeal to me that much (like last year’s title Restaurant from Another Dimension did very little to me), but even within that sub-genre, Ramen ends up unremarkable. The girls share zero chemistry and what we have instead is one girl actively stalking the other girl, and the said girl wouldn’t care less. The only appeal of Ramen is cute girl’s “in heaven” reaction towards eating her ramen, and it feels more creepy than inviting. The production isn’t much to offer, all the girls are thin paper cardboard with no dynamic. This show is an easy skip.
Potential: 10%
Yuru Camp △
Short Synopsis: Cute girls go camping
Aidan’s review
It’s hard for me to get behind a show like this. A show that wants to take things slow and let you just relax in the atmosphere. Not a whole lot happens here and these cute girls shows tend to blend into one another for me. Still on my scale of good to bad with these kinds of shows, I can say this is one of the better ones. Camping is a concept which can create some better situations and the show does have some nice background art.It’s a passable show for what it is. However there is the question of just where this show is going from here as it already foreshadowed that the camping group would get much bigger. But once the girls are gathered for camping, then all that will really remain is just more camping. So it will be a challenge to keep that interesting.
Potential: 20%
Mario’s review
Camping has never been that fun and comforting huh? Truth be told I’m not that fond of camping (would prefer to play sports rather than camp). What we have here is another cute girls doing outside activities show and so far they set up the appeal of camping quite nicely. The weakest part of this show, however, is the lesson about camping tips that make this show feel more educational than it needed be. In addition, why do the show make our characters high school students again? Sora Yoni has its merits for doing so, not so much with this settings. Apart from those issues, however, we have quite a good time here. The setting of a remote forest in its off-season, plus the view of Fuji Mt and full moon in bloom, is as gorgeous and quietly beautiful as it can get. The two girls have a rock solid chemistry and I do want to spend more time with them. Individually, each of them still falls within an established archetype, but this kind of show is never about character development but more about dynamic, and so far it succeeds on that. Another show in the same vein of Sora Yoni (albeit lesser), this first episode builds a solid foundation about the appeal of camping and its cast. Next episodes are going to be about gathering the cast together and although I can see the plot fairly predictable, I’m sure as hell that it’s going to be a fun walk in the park.
Potential: 40%
The only reason I’m watching Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san is because of the ramen, lol.
Um, Antarctica is at the South Pole, not the North Pole. That’s why the girl in the convenience store was looking at the bottom of her globe, not the top.
I thought the moe factor of Sora Yori mo might grate on me, since other moe series like Yuru Camp do, but so far it’s pretty good! The moe factor still might get to me later on, but right now the Antarctica aspect of the story is intriguing and I hope they spend more time on the survival strategies people need to survive in Antarctica instead of, say, that weird-looking glasses flipping in the opening I could have done without. ^-^;
What’s implausible about a million yen and going to Antarctica?
A million yen is about $8000. A dedicated teenager could raise that much
(about $2000 a year) over 3-4 years of part-time jobs, as was implied.
You can get book a trip to Antarctica to visit the coast and various research stations for about $4000 to $5000 dollars, and tour groups will accept anyone over 12.
And there’s no indication so far they’re _chartering_ a boat (which would cost FAR more than a million yen). Most likely they’re planning on paying their way on a vessel that is already going there.
The “implausible” I mentioned isn’t about the actual money, but more about how it serves as a convenient plot device: the girls already have a head start so there’s one less worry, huh?
Let’s just see how the show develops from there.