Some quick first impressions: Armored Trooper Votoms – Pailsen Files, Rosario to Vampire and H2O ~ Footprints in the Sand

Armoured Trooper Votoms – Pailsen Files

I knew that with Ryousuke Takahashi behind the director’s seat, it would be a bit wiser to just wait for the subs to come out instead of going with the raws. And indeed, it’s only been the first episode, but it was chockfull of dialogue and politics. The “Pailsen”-part of the title turns out to be the name of a military general who killed 1700 of his men, though the first episode so far didn’t explain everything, so it was quite a bit confusing. Still, with eleven episodes left, there’s enough time for the setting to get a bit clearer, though I suspect that they’ll keep the same level of complexity. In any case, if you’re into realistic warfare and politics, then you should give this one a chance.

Rosario to Vampire

Okay, I admit this series has a sense of humour. Still, that is in now way an excuse for the useless fan-service, bad animation, obnoxious leads and lazy scriptwriters. Honestly, I found myself able to predict the entire episode. It was so cheesy and melodramatic at times that it didn’t surprise me in any way. The characters so far have been incredibly shallow and don’t even bother to go beyond their stereotypes so far (a vampire girl who falls in love with a guy because he’s the first one to not bully her? Please). I’m not sure how many of these generic plots still have to pop up. It’s a shame, because I liked what I saw before the lead-girl showed up (that bus-driver was quite funny). Thankfully, it’s not as stupid as what I’ve seen of Goshushou-sama Ninomiya-kun, but boy, it sure does come close.

H2O ~ Footprints in the Sand

Okay, I take back the statement that the animation for Rosario to Vampire sucks. Its animation is gorgeous when compared to that of H2O. I’m not asking for much, but the characters look downright abysmal at times. In terms of storyline, the episode wasn’t off much better either. Sure, the concept of a blind main character has lots of potential, but when the first thing the creators use his blindness for is to grope the bosom of the nearest girl that meets his path, you have to wonder about their intentions. And indeed, the rest of the episode shows him getting involved in various unrealistic fanservice-accidents that makes you wonder whether the creators did any research on blindness at all. Then, as the end of the episode goes nearer, this series too already gives a small taste of the drama that will await in the rest of the series… and it doesn’t end up making any sense. I mean, getting angry just because some food was lost and using two henchmen to physically beat down the suspected girl, in front of the entire class? What?! Suddenly, Rosario to Vampire looks a lot better now.

10 thoughts on “Some quick first impressions: Armored Trooper Votoms – Pailsen Files, Rosario to Vampire and H2O ~ Footprints in the Sand

  1. Noooooooooooooooooooooooo kanami I wanted to say that and you beat me to it lol
    I don’t care how much H20 will suck,the preview was pure comic genious so i’m watching,I guess it’ll be like a guilty pleasure lol

  2. As for H2O, I don’t think it was so much bad animation as ugly character designs. The budget seems fine, the story line…not so much.

  3. Just how much H2O characters use hairspray to make their hair to define gravity to such extend??

    Rosario to Vampire- i expected fan-service but they did went little overboard with panty shots and Mokka’s transformation. I disagree with bad animation, it not the best but not bad. it won’t win any awards but it worth watching.

  4. i forgot

    “makes you wonder whether the creators did any research on blindness at all. ”

    it doesn’t make me wonder at all,i’m 100% sure they didn’t,the thought that they would didn’t even cross my mind lol

  5. aww that’s disappointing that you didn’t like H2O! It was one of the shows that I was most excited for… Well I’ll probably still see it. Perhaps it will get better? ^_^

  6. I can see why you hated Rosario to Vampire so much! Me too! The manga was a million times better! They made the anime so bad it is a disgrace!

  7. i have a brand new anime or manga concept featuring a normal 17 year old boy named Adam Lee he lives on blue sky island which is east of japan’s mainland it has 1100 residents the island’s residents are Japanese but the island has a few differences like stricter laws and a different mindset than mainland Japanese people later the islands laws are changed to be a bit more loose for just one individual person named Evangelina she is considered the reincarnation of one of this islands native deities a goddess of love and goodness but she wants to be a normal girl.

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