Some Quick First Impressions: WWW.Working!!, Bloodivores and Dream Festival!

WWW.Working!!

Short Synopsis: A guy is forced to get a part time job at a family restaurant after his dad loses his job, and runs into all sorts of antics.

K-Off: It’s well known by this point that Takatsu Karino is great at writing comedies, Wagnaria!! was a gem all the way through and Servant x Service was a memorable, dark horse of a comedy. But with that said, I’m almost slightly let down with WWW. Working. The first episode introduces us to a good blend of characters, and they seemed to have imported the Wagnaria formula, where most of the jokes would revolve around a character having opposite traits for comedic effect. Problem is, Wagnaria is now iconic enough to the point where it’s a problem when that same formula is stuck on a spin-off. It essentially feels more or less the same, and comparisons inevitably happen in the back of my head. But hey, the formula worked brilliantly in Wagnaria for three seasons, and yes the comedy was good in this episode. Nostalgia aside, the character introductions to this spin off was actually superior, the first episode of season 1 of Wagnaria really just focused on the short waitress and only introduced Inami at the end of the episode – here, all the staff have amusing intros. All in all, while it wasn’t the breath of fresh air I was looking for, it’s looking great, I wonder how it’ll eventually set itself apart. Aside from swapped character types.

ED: Catchy soundtrack, as expected of Working.

Potential: 80%

 

Mario: Well, I haven’t watched Wagnaria!! before but for my taste, I always prefer gag comedy. Maybe because it’s short and to the point, maybe because the pun is more focus and stronger, or just maybe because I like the messy and random nature of gags. www.Working works really well on me. The cast is a bunch of interesting weirdos. Sometimes they appear a bit one-note, but that precisely why the comedy works for me. It’s a tremendous job to introduce that huge cast in one episode, and by the end I actually remember most of them. This show is a perfect light watch in-between show, I know a lot of people will be put off by its slice-of-life and light hearted nature but this is my kind of show.

Potential: 50%

 

Bloodivores

Short Synopsis: Some vampires decide to rob a bank.

I always find it funny how a story can awkwardly avoid using an established term and instead resort to calling it by some other name despite it being completely identical. I recently played a game which has a magic system with four types. Pyro, Aqua, Terra, and Aero. Which are all basically alternative terms for Fire, water, earth and air. But I guess they didn’t want to use something so overused and gave it a different name despite the fact that changes absolutely nothing. Here we have bloodivores, otherwise known as vampires and I think that goes to show the level of writing we are dealing with. The writing is certainly flimsy and I can think of a few plot holes right off the bat. For one these vampires have some collars with a GPS function. But it only seems to activate in certain conditions instead of being constantly monitored. It’s conditions also seem to be really weird as a child’s crying counts as an attack, yet a vampire beating someone to death with a gun is apparently not? If you are going to the lengths of putting collars on them then why not have it inject a tranquilizer or blow up instead of having to send in a swat team? Honestly I could poke holes in this thing all day as the writing is fairly contrived and just dumb. The biggest failing is this episode ending with the cast getting shot to death by soldiers. Only to show a preview right after confirming they are all fine. The characters are nothing worth noting and the main is especially bland. Things could improve now that the setting has moved to prison but I doubt it’s going to leave any good impressions.

Potential: 0%

 

Mario: Like a heist within the episode itself, there’s a lot going on underneath of Bloodivores, I mean it in both good and bad ways. The bank robbery and the car chasing right at the beginning of the episode are easily its weakest points. Those moments are cliché and could only excite the most hardcore thriller fans, other than that it adds nothing to the table. The very nature of Bloodivores, people who drink blood to survive (aka vampires) is hinted quite effectively throughout this episode; both on the origin of those Bloodivores, and on how normal society look at them. The whole plot about who really behind all the murders, on the other hand, was undercooked. There’s just not enough cards on the table for us to know right now about the culprits, and the show doesn’t hook us enough for us to care. The main cast is bland and generic to say the least. I say compare to Hitori no Shita the Outcast last season (Chinese-web manhua adapted), Bloodivores is a step up, but still not good enough to catch our attention.

Potential: 30%

 

Dream Festival!

Short Synopsis: A boy is scouted by a male idol and..I guess…stuff…snore…

This is going to be the new bane of my existence, isn’t it? Boy Idol shows. I am not exactly sure what sparked this particular surge of boy idol anime but I can certainly say it makes my job a little harder. At least with light novel harems I am within the demographic and therefore I can judge it with a degree of confidence. However I am fairly certain that even if I was to spot a notable boy idol show that I wouldn’t be the kind of person who can assess it’s quality. But one thing that really kills me with these kinds of shows is the level of blind optimism that permeates though it’s being. For a cynical such as myself I find it poisonous to watch as I am certain if a boy smiled and tried to hand me a balloon I would tell him to bugger off. I certainly do think that being an idol is hardly easy but it being worthwhile is something I don’t quite agree with. Sure, work your ass off and maybe you can make terrible music while being the masturbation fantasy of preteen girls worldwide! Then there is this whole magic element were idols collect cheers from fans which change them magical girl style into fancy outfits. I question why this technology is being used for something so redundant and also why they aren’t standing on stage in the skimpiest outfits possible if they are dressing according to fan wishes. I am far too cynical for this stuff but I think even if I wasn’t this wouldn’t be noteworthy.

Potential: 0%

 

Mario: Wow, the story within this first episode is not unlike a patchwork of many under-written pieces put together. With this kind of story, you pretty much need to shut down all your logical sense and go with the flow; because plot holes just keep popping up like an overcooked popcorn. Let see, we follow a hot guy to hand out balloon for 5,6 hours. While he’s attentive and gives smile to everyone, he happens to overlook the one person who was sitting there the whole time? That guy was offered to audition for the company, but he’s declined. But soon after someone else mocking him that he can’t do it; he’s getting fired up and later want to join the company? How about the concert in which he has no knowledge of before, but when he’s on stage he performs flawlessly? And then we have the Dorika cards which supposedly… a fan cheers? And what’s up with those exclamations (!!!!!!). The only point I could give in all honesty is its absolute positive attitude regarding idols industry (you know, hard but rewarding), but that point also has its fair share of problems, isn’t it?

Potential: 0%