Moyashimon Returns
Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a college student.
When the second season of Moyashimon was first introduced, I was glad (obviously, after Guilty Crown), but I couldn’t for the love of me remember why I liked the original series so much. Yeah sure it had a very creative premise and all, but was it really that good? The only thing I could recall was that a cross-dresser appeared halfway through. After watching this episode however, I remember again: this show is fun. This probably sounds really vague, but that’s really the thing: this how is just a bunch of oddballs at college doing various experiments, nothing more. But here is the thing: these creators captured college students. This was hectic, fun and surprisingly educative, and all of the characters are just a whole lot of fun to watch. Noitamina definitely is on a nature streak this half year: first there were fish, now there are germs and flowers, but the series that I see as the biggest parallel is Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita. Overall, Moyashimon has by far better characters, they’re about equal in terms of creativity, but Jinrui gives it the extra edge with its storyline and sense of adventure, and it’ll probably be much more versatile than this series.
OP: Not as memorable when there are humans put in.
ED: This is more like it: if you’ve got a unique gimmick, then make use of it. Good song as well.
Potential: 85%
Binbou-Gami ga!
Short Synopsis: Our lead character is very popular and has big boobs.
So this is the big comedy of the season, made by the Sunrise Comedy team, and I must say: I’m very impressed by this episode. This episode had a very good combination between jokes and sad drama, and the jokes themselves were also pretty varied, ranging from slapstick to parodies to references to tsukkomi-boke (someone jokes and someone else yells at him) jokes to hyperactive jokes. This may just have been the first episode, but this was actually really well balanced together. It also helps that the jokes were quite funny, and that the drama focused immediately on the lead female character, so we actually really got to know her in just one episode. My question right now is: how on earth are the creators going to top this? The OP is hinting that it’s going to introduce a large cast of wacky characters, with probably eve3ry episode focusing on one of them. The trick will be to remain fresh on all of them, while still making this about the two lead characters, who both pretty much already played their big trumps into just this first episode. How will the creators solve this?
OP: Generic J-Rock that didn’t impress me.
ED: Lots of random character art.
Potential: 80%
Chouyaku Hyakunin Isshu – Uta Koi
Short Synopsis: Our lead character compiled a bunch of poems together for a children’s card game. And no, he’s not Pegasus.
Okay. This wasn’t what I expected this series to be. I mean, the concept is about the poems of the Karuta game all-right; but before now, all of the historical series based on mature themes all lacked one thing: forced and out of place comedy. And here this episode came with a narrator who talks to the audience as if they are stupid children, and the episode itself threw in these incredibly out of place facial distortions that completely destroyed the mood. On one hand this series tries to be beautiful and artsy, but the facial distortions are completely ugly and badly drawn. So yeah, despite being a romance, this series is not going to end up relying on its characters. Nevertheless, it still has the single best premise of the entire season, and the background behind this series still stands rock-solid: covering the small stories behind the poems of Karuta. This episode covered a whopping two of them, so the success of this series is definitely going to depend on its total picture. And in the meantime, the atmosphere was good. The soundtrack also is the bet of the season so far, so that helps too.
OP: This singer needs a bit more experience; try not singing through your nose. She has potential though.
ED: Why??! OH DEAR GOD WHY!?!?!
Potential: 75%
I take it you are the world authority on good singing?
Don’t need to have much experience to notice when someone’s singing too nasely.
You also don’t need much experience to realize how utterly bad the ED was…
C’mon, c’mon, it’s just an opinion.
Come on. Don’t gang up on zamzool. 🙂 Everyone is entitled for their own opinion though. 🙂
I like ecosystem, they did Gintama’s 10th op Dilemma. They’re indie origin, she’s build up a certain uniqueness in her vocal qualities from singing without formal training, Though my impression of her was more throaty in most of their songs. I think the nasal voice is trivial, some people just sing that way, not to mention there’s an entire genre of Japanese music that emphasize nasal voice like shimauta.
Well, setting the OP and ED aside for now, Uta Koi was certainly something different from our typical anime fare. To be honest, I’m having some difficulty guessing what the target audience is for this show, or what the show’s purpose is in general.
The setting and tone certainly intrigues me though. I’ll be watching some more of this to see how it holds up.
Is there any sub for this ?
Yikes why the hate for SOUL’d OUT? Diggy mo’s has been around for a while now, though I will admit the endings for Yakitate Japan, Bleach and Soul Eater were better.
bladeblur: it’s all about the context. Here we have a classical series about the meanings behind an ancient japanese card game, and then these guys pop up from out of nowhere with their really cheesy Engrish that makes no bloody sense. It’s totally out of place.
Well since I have been following the band for 8 years now I know their style and respect their greatly, that doesn’t mean I think it fits in that setting, it doesn’t. Heck I still wish to this day they’d give them an upbeat opening for a more “urban” setting.
I actually found the entire thing pretty moving and comical at turns. The ED was an interesting contrast to the series…I actually liked the contrast myself.
Wish my ancient Japanese was better…or that I had *any* ancient Japanese. I literally have no way of interpreting the poems without having somebody explain their interpretation to me -____-
I think you are taking this whole “a classical series about the meanings behind an ancient japanese card game” too serious, Uta Koi reminds me of Hyouge Mono in a way…. oh and that face on the right is awesome!
Ah I dont know why I did not realized this right away the entire thing is done in vector art, because the original author did it in similar simplistic style, the kind of faux ukiyo-e style. Also this was meant to be educational and comedic, which is why expression was exaggerated.
yeah this is actually an amateur turned pro’s manga
Also this was meant to be educational and comedic, which is why expression was exaggerated.
Yep, that’s pretty much it. Personally Ii liked the way the exaggerations worked and i wouldn’t call them ugly at all, the fit perfectly the context. I really enjoyed the lightness of the comedy. Of all the comedic parts i especially liked that little part with the hand and the feet, that was very clever.
Also, after watching Chihayafuru it was very nice to hear and recognize the poem in this episode.
To be fair, part of the facial distortion was because the heroine thought for sure she was going to be raped. Which did happen to court ladies and even to court boys, if you believe The Tale of Genji.
And it seems logical. Many of the Heian court ladies weren’t expected to ever get married to anyone, but the brides of high lords and emperors had to be virgin on their wedding nights. There were big consequences for any of the women’s families if they spoke up, and the men would just claim they were invited. The men might or might not be punished, but would it be worth what you and your family would lose?
My impression was that they weren’t just going for the most romantic and idealized interpretations of the poems. Like the end bit where she realized that he was making a lewd comment about being “in the tatsuya river”. It’s the sexual context for the poem that gets overshadowed by the star-crossed lovers bit.
Yeah Diggy Mo definitely did not fit.
I love Ecosystem I don’t think their vocalists singing is nasal at all. If anything it’s deep and throaty.
I like Diggy Mo 🙁
I like both ecosystem (“Dilemma”) and Diggy-MO (“Stay Beautiful”) but wholeheartedly agree that the song just did not fit.
I like the OP, she sounds like a less extreme Shiina Ringo. I was expecting them to use Enka, but since the intention was education and bringing the poems into a more modern (that is, more accessible) context, I felt that it fit well. The series isn’t trying to do a serious romance, just educate – explain the poems.
…that ED song really was an odd choice though…
It’s a brilliant move of them, airing this between two Chihayafuru seasons. We got some interest for the poems, and for the second season we’ll have the background to the culture behind the game that Chihayafuru desperately lacked.
I still feel like I didn’t get the most out of the episode, but I guess that’s impossible for us gaijin.
What was so great about Chihayafuru was that you didnt have to understand the game’s rules much to enjoy it. I mean I’ve watched the entire season, and I could not tell you anymore about the game other than get to the card when it’s read.
It’s not really the culture behind the game though, you’ll know about the poems themselves. It just so happens that so many of it was about love, not all of them will be super serious
Yeah, but it bothered me that I couldn’t take the game seriously at all. Imagine adults crying over Yu-Gi-Oh competitions, that was the impression I got. An in-depth explanation of what the poems represent would have helped, but there was really no place to put such a thing, so this came pretty much perfectly.
It’s treated like a sport. People cry at basketball game and baseball games all the time, and what are those if not child’s games as well. not to mention poker games and chess games, I know nothing of the history, but the human drama sure is compelling
Binbou-Gami ga! is just mostly fun, in some ways it’s like Gintama with blends of drama action and comedy, though the ratio of the 3 are decidedly different. It actually has a lot of source material, much more than Ao no Exorcist which was also a Jump Square series, I’m rather interested in how they will adapt it
I thought the song fit BECAUSE it was very quiet and soothing and I like the mellow tone of it. The rapping, while it can be fast, fit the melody. AGAIN, I love Diggy-Mo and I do think it isn’t the most fitting song in the world but it is far from a bad song. Heck it’s not Chatmonchy.
Is it me or is almost all the series for this season are not so interesting? Don’t hate me, just askin’. X_______X
it’s certainly no last season, that’s for sure
Maybe I’m expecting too much. :<
Haha… that was funny. Looks like u have a grudge against pegasus 🙂
With Binbougami-ga, we went in with tempered expectations, but it turned out to be far better and more dimensional than we thought it would be, and you make a fair point: its main challenge at this point is to maintain the quality it has shown it’s capable of out of the gate. We’ll cross our fingers and hope the quality won’t slide.
But the Binbougami OP isn’t jrock o_O It’s some cheerful pop.
And it turned out to be just Gintama with boobs and without Gintoki, hah. No comedy this season for me apparently. Well, Kuroko’s Basket is funny I guess…