Akikan
Short Synopsis: Our lead character turns a can in a cute girl (no, really).
Chance of me Blogging: 0% (No way in Hell)
So, this is an early start to the upcoming Winter-season, and I hope that this isn’t some sort of premonition, because oh my god. The creators of harem anime are getting desperate here. To what kinds of depths do you have to sink to create an anime about cans that turn into girls, for goodness’ sake?! Out of all the uninspired premises I have seen this year, this has got to be one of the worst ones. On top of that, the dialogues are very poorly pasted together. Still, I admit that it made me chuckle one or twice. Still, the comedy is one thing, but the drama in this episode was downright abysmal. It was forced, non-sensical and way too cheesy for its own good. I can really see that lesbian in love with the lead character by the end of the series…
Maria Holic
Short Synopsis: Our lead character enters a prestigious high school.
Chance of me Blogging: 10% (Very slim)
If you’re wondering about the “Chance of Blogging”-bits, it was requested, and I personally think it as appropriate as well, rather than those ambiguous episode ratings that were quite inaccurate the last time I used them. In any case, Maria Holic started out incredibly dull: the character-designs are bland and uninspired, the maid feels out of place, and the concept of a girl entering a prestigious high school has been done many times before. Then, however a nice twist in the second half made the show a bit more interesting, and at least the second half enjoyable. My fear is just that I’m not sure whether the premise is large enough to fill 12 episodes. The cast still feels most like stereotypes. Also, even though this seems to be a Shinbo-series, it feels like the blandest thing that he’s managed to produce since Tsukuyomi Moon Phase. What this series needs to do is develop the characters beyond their stereotypes, but we already know that Shinbo is simply not good at that.
Kurokami The Animation
Short Synopsis: Our lead character lives in a city where trucks like to hit people.
Chance of me Blogging: 20% (Only if the rest of the season is baaad)
With a title as “Kurokami”, I pretty much guessed that it would involve somehow around a female character with black hair, and indeed: that was spot-on. What we have here is again a seemingly random guy who meets a mysterious girl and gets involved with a huge plot. What’s interesting about it is the concepts of doppelgangers. I’m not sure about everyone with a doppelganger being hit by a truck, but there’s nevertheless a lot of potential with such a concept. The show also featured a number of pretty and varied background arts, so that’s all good. What wasn’t so interesting was that female lead… The male lead is actually pretty decent: he has a lot on his mind with the death of his mother, but he doesn’t seem like an idiot and instead is curious. The female lead was very annoying, however. The main villain also seemed too much like a “Muahaha, look at me: I’m evil because I’m evil!”-villain, which also could cause lots of problems for this series in the future.
I very much prefer the manga version of KuroKami’s lead. College arrogant ass who’s pissed about his mothers death > moping high school boy who’s sad about his mothers death.
Ouch… if that’s the way that the creators changed him then there’s not much hope for this series…
what!!! keita is just a dick in manga he worst than kouichi from linebarriels, and kuro is just plain stupid for cooping with such a hole in the manga of curse, oh well, akikan is just ……. meh and will see if maria+holic gets out of the mold, but winter season is not looking so promising that for real, well see, will see V_V………..>_>.
lol @ Keita being worse than Kouichi, just lol. He’s more like a modern day version of Luke from TOA except he doesn’t have to do something stupid himself to wake up. I enjoyed his “assholish” antics in the manga as well as his growth, too bad here we have another woe is me lead.
Boy I can’t wait for them to adapt Unbalance X Unbalance (same author as KuroKami) and turn the best harem lead I’ve seen into a total wuss.
The “asshole” main lead is not “in” right now. Sunrise most likelt saw how Koichi was recived, and decided not to take a chance.
Heh… just based on the premise alone, I actually think I might have to check out an episode or two of Akikan. (: I like ridiculous premises for romantic comedy anime… like Midori Days with “girl becomes guy’s right hand”, or Onegai Teacher with “space alien falls in love with a boy who’s 18, but looks 15, and is prone to narcoleptic fits, and she becomes his teacher for some reason”… or I My Me Strawberry Eggs, with “guy dresses like a woman to become a teacher at an all-girls school, and one of his students falls in love with him despite the fact that he’s posing as a she and they’re both totally straight”. (:
I don’t mind cheezy dialogue or stupid situations, as long as they have just the right amount of campiness and kitschiness to them. I think this show stands a chance with me. (:
-Tom
If you don’t mind me asking but how many new series are you planing to blog ? three of them are retuning sequels of series you’ve blogged and you’re probably blogging Konnichiwa Anne so how many more ?
why does the harem genre still exist?
Because people like me enjoy it! Harem shows are often very entertaining… just turn off your brain, sit back, and enjoy!
Sometimes, you need a show like that.
-Tom
Miracle Girl: I’d love to blog Konnichiwa Anne, but unfortunately it only starts airing in april. Of the new season, I’m able to blog six new series. Three of them are sequels, so that leaves three slots left for the new anime that air this season.
“The “asshole” main lead is not “in” right now. Sunrise most likelt saw how Koichi was recived, and decided not to take a chance.”
Than I guess independent girls isn’t “in” either atm since they turned Akane into a stupid cow as well.
Well independent girls has never been a big thing in japan anyways i am used to it now, but keita is not only an ass his aptitude get old pretty fast and on top a wuss until what!!! vol 7 and his change do not sink in until vol 8, and akane she may be independent but she is clingy as hell, her evil self is more interesting, but that is a matter of opinion.
Wait, cans? I… wow. There’s not much I can say to that.
Unfortunately, for anime bloggers everywhere that complain about character archetypes, the “better” the director, the more they adhere to these rules.
Because if they once try to break the mold and be cool, if they do THAT incorrectly, then it’s pond for them. You know. Fish food. Killed. Simply walking into Mordor.
So I’m a bit late on this one, but I’d still like to give my 2 cents: God, is Kurokami overrated or what? It’s getting these high ratings on both ANN and ANiDB and it’s just… crap.
It really has it all: crappy storylines, predictable “plot twists”, mediocre character design, bad voice acting and no originality whatsoever! What more could you possibly want.
Hi I was checking your site, is super cool!
I just wanted to show you a drum cover I did for the Maria Holic intro, hope you like it =)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvRgzrYITxI
-DA
ps: I have more manga, anime and videogames music covers on my channel 😉