Casshern Sins
Short Synopsis: Our lead character has upset a lot of (or robots in this case) by killing someone.
Highlights: That Casshern-guy is rather dull.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 6,5/10
As much as I’d like to fanboy over the unusual art style and setting, I just can’t. There were too many parts of this episode that just didn’t sit right with me. The tune that the creators picked for the OP doesn’t seem to fit the dark mood of the rest of the series, and most importantly Casshern striked me as a very dull main character. All he does in this episode is fight and angst. Come on, flesh the guy out a bit! Right now he just is another one of those angsty teens with an unknown past, even though he’s a robot. What I also don’t like about this series is its “good guys pretty bad guys ugly”-mentality. Even though they seem to have reasons for their anger at this Casshern, every bad guy ultimately becomes just target practice for this Casshern, none of them have any depth so far. The only thing I did like was that little robot girl and her caretaker. They were nice.
Rosario to Vampire Capu 2
Short Synopsis: Our lead character enters his second year at the “youkai school”.
Highlights: WHY?! WHY did this thing get a second season!?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 2/10
Christ. Here I thought that this series couldn’t possibly get any worse, and here this episode proved me wrong. This episode was downright terrible, with non-sensical characters, stereotypes all over the place and a downright ridiculous plot, not to mention the horrible setting that it inherited from the first season. It’s one thing to bore me, but a series has to be really bad if I end up face-palming through the majority of the episodes, just to get distracted from the pain that is going on on the screen. The only thing that was even remotely interesting was the “Moka-Tsukune-Moka-Tsukune”, but even that felt forced. I mean, I really want to give these bishoujo-series a chance and all, but it’s series like this one that really make it difficult for me to take them seriously.
Shikabane Hime Aka
Short Synopsis: Our lead character has yet to get involved with a group of “Shikabane”-hunters.
Highlights: A few flaws here and there, but nonetheless very solid.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Ooh, I’m impressed. There’s a lot to like about this series: excellent soundtrack, very nice fights, a great air of mystery. I also really like the voices of the male and female leads: their voice-actors aren’t trying to be overly cute, but instead believable, which really works. The rest of the cast is a bit less, but that can be forgiven. I also like how this episode closed off with the two of them NOT staying together, and they’re still relative strangers to each other; it’s always good not to rush these things. There were a few coincidences here and there, like when the lead female fell right where the lead male happened to be, but it can be forgiven if they merely served to set up the story and characters. The two classmates were probably the most annoying about this series, but even they got a bit of development at the end of the episode. Overall, good series so far; nice potential, just don’t let this turn into a cheesy love triangle.
Oh Casshern. Jeez is it giving me Hi no Tori vibes, but otherwise agreed. Apparently it’s a sequel to a much older series, which could explain the lack of actual development, but even the wonderful fight scenes started to drag after a while without much explanation. At least there’s the fact that it’s pretty. And pretty. And really, REALLY fucking pretty.
Like Soul Eater but more so, won’t need a phenomenal plot to enjoy this. Hell, the plot doesn’t even have to be decent if there are a bunch of good characters, like Ringo and the pink-haired girl. Though somewhat more colorful dialogue with the eye candy would do a lot.
I am glad u liked shikabane hime. Is it just me or does the plot sound similar to blade of immortal. Instead of a samurai dude, ur getting a girl, instead of killing bad guys, ur killing zombies/undead to go to heaven, instead of swords, we get guns. Anyways, I am waiting for the sub. T.T btw, I dropped blade of immortals after watching the first episode. too painful…they completely obliterated all potential the show had. and no, I never read the manga. oh and if they managed to turn this show into “a cheesy love triangle” or a stupid turtle speed romance or…basically if they manage to screw even this up…then well…end of all hope? xD
That’s too bad you didn’t like Casshern, I was really looking forward to it, but I guess it’s still possible that I myself might like it. I wasn’t planning on watching Shikabane Hime Aka, but if you enjoyed it than I guess I’ll give it a chance 😀
I think I’ll enjoy Casshern pretty much… The original anime is from 73, and it’s “Super Robots”, I think it’s clear enough that we WON’T get some development or actual plot ; the kind of shows I watch just to put off my brain and gaze at how beautiful the animation is.
Rosario to Vampire, huh ? Well, at least, this time, they warned us in the title : CAPU (= ça pue, “it stinks” in french :P).
Shikabane Hime looks promising. Gainax + Gurren Lagann-y animation – plot = epic win.
Go casshern! Definitely at the top of my list for Wednesday’s, will be watching rosario to vampire capu 2 also (what can i say..the first season grew on me, plus i like the characters. Basically the whole main female group lol, just some mindless and harmless fun). =D
Casshern Sins is not something I’ll watch but most series needs time to explain the plot and characters
More like GONZO ruined Rosario to Vampire
I heard it’s manga version is better
I am glad Shikabane Hime Aka turned great it’s one of the series I am looking foward to watch ^_^
Yeah, Rosario to vampire …why did it get a season 2?? I still wonder how much boobs can affect the anime industry to produce something like this on and on ,well whatever.
I didn’t expect you would like Shikabane Hime , guess I have to check it out.
Weeh, 2/10, you’ve done it, lowest score so far I’ve seen ;). Stay very far away from this one :p. Nah, wasn’t intrested in Rosario + Vampire anyhow. Now I definitly want to check out shikabane hime Aka tough
OMG where’s my Luna? I cannot watch Casshern without her!! Well, beside that, the first episode showed no actual plot. It was all for the mood. And the mood has always been this dark with Casshern…
It seemed now Casshern has the role of the anti-hero, when it was a saviour in the old serie…
PS: the pink robot girl was horrible. Her face resembled those rugrats. iper bleh…
As for Rosario+Vampire, I found the first serie was quite enjoyable. I hope They’l bring some better stuff out of the manga in this second season. The situation will become hard for Tsukune-kun.
Said that, both series cannot sure compare with the manga. Little animation can actually compare with their manga siblings. This is a real pity indeed :/
Dunno why people are bitching about Casshern after only one episode. Considering the source material, I feel my expectations were met; it looked good, it set the proper mood, and the story is light-years better (relatively anyway) than the original series from 1973 (and that stupid movie). Hence, I’ll give it a few more episodes to develop before letting the pessimism sink in….
Otherwise, I agreed with the rest of psgels first looks, though Shikabane Hime seem..iffy to say the least.
Lyuze’s cute. She’s what made me continue watching the rest of the first episode, and now, the rest of the series.
As for Rosario+Vampire Capu2… well, I’ve seen a bit of it and it isn’t that bad. You’re probably just asking for too much (or looking for something else) from this type of series. If nothing else, the opening is fun to watch.