Some Quick First Impressions: Gokyoudai Monogatari, Thriller Restaurant and Himitsu Kessha Taka Tsume Countdown

Gokyoudai Monogatari

Short Synopsis: Our lead characters live together while their parents are away in America.
Well, I guess that not all kids’ shows can be surprisingly good this season. Gokyoudai Monogatari could indeed have been a cute story about two very young siblings (my guess would be that they’re both six or seven or something), if it wasn’t for the completely nonsensical scenario. Let alone that two kids that age are fully taking care of themselves, but the entire episode was full of the most ridiculous situations that didn’t make any sense at all: in the first half of this episode the lead duo gets chased by some sort of evil camera crew for no possible reason, while in the second half the boy gets chased by some sort of angry dog. Everyone really behaves in a completely implausible fashion that I guess is trying to be funny, but fails completely in the process. It gives off the impression of being rushed, and that the creators didn’t really think through the script. Catchy soundtrack, though.
OP: Nice enough. Surprisingly well and fluidly animated.
ED: This is the type of song that the kids who watch this today are going to hate once they grow up.
Potential: 0%

Thriller Restaurant

Short Synopsis: Our lead character visits a supposedly haunted restaurant building.
I must say, the kiddie shows this season are surprisingly good. This obviously is compared to most other kids’ series out there and I don’t mean in the way of the WMT, but in the same way I’d much rather watch an episode of Thriller Restaurant or Kiruminzoo than Fairy Tail, for example. If I had kids and this somehow got translated I wouldn’t mind showing this to them, because it’s a pretty nice horror-series for kids: it has a surprisingly good soundtrack, it knows how to build-up. It’s got a small touch of Japanese culture, and you can see that some actual creativity went into it. It’s not perfect. At a certain time one of the lead characters got possessed in too much of a Gakkou no Kaidan way. In essence, it’s just another grade school adventure, but if you compare it to some of the other shows that kids have to sit through these days, and it definitely stands among the better ones.
ED: Ghost disco… yeah. My biggest surprise is that it’s actually surprisingly good, especially considering the crap music that gets marketed towards kids these days…
Potential: 30%

Himitsu Kessha Taka Tsume Countdown

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is trying to take over the world.
Well, I guess that we’ve found the worst show of the season with this show. Here they take a series that would have been best as another one of those 3-minute series, and stretch it over 20 minutes of them. The show basically talks about two story-lines: one consisting out of strange shapes with stereotypical personalities who fight crime for no possible reason, and the second is about some sort of evil organization that’s trying to take over the world for no possible reason. The end result is an endless string of pointless and unfunny dialogue combined with the worst possible animation that I have ever seen. It’s trying too hard to be funny, it’s full of randomness just for the sake of randomness, and feels like a really half-assed attempt at creating an anime.
OP: Really dull J-pop, but at least there’s a nice visual direction.
ED: One of the only things about this series that doesn’t suck. At least there’s creativity here.
Potential: -70%