Black Rock Shooter
Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a regular schoolgirl
This really was an improvement over the OVA, especially in the directional department. One of the big problems with the OVA was how lackluster it was: it was just there, it did nothing to really gain attention, and it really lacked energy. This episode really had energy, and I don’t just mean that in the fight scenes, but the dialogue also was much better delivered. The animators actually started to toy with emotions, which was very good to see. Whether this series will work in the character and story department though is hard to say at this point. I mean, the fact remains that we’re looking at a bunch of schoolgirls, the dullest of which being the lead character who doesn’t seem to have anything that sets her apart aside from liking some coloured bird. The Black Rock Shooter parts are also just as disconnected as in the OVA. The only link pretty much in this episode was that the characters here have their counterpart there. Overall, what hurt this show the most is the target audience it chose. This show would have been perfect as an experimental arthouse project, but the premise still feels too simple and not daring enough. This episode improved in execution, but the basic premise is still exactly the bloody same.
ED: Singing through your nose taking to even further extremes. Yuck.
Potential: 70%
Gokujou
Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a loudmouthed high school girl.
Okay… so here we have the series where the producers actually screwed up so badly that they missed the deadline for the first episode. My guess is that the company producing this is really new, and therefore made a number of really bad mistakes during the design process. Surprisingly enough, the actual result wasn’t terribly animated like I feared. There is actually some good movement in this five minute second episode. Where this show completely drops the bomb is the really, really bad acting. The voice actors are trying way too hard; the lead character in particular is yelling through the entire episode. and most of this is either just yelling for the heck of it, or being so obnoxiously loudmouthed that her voice just breaks down. That voice breaking down is especially apparent on one of the side characters here. As for what actually happened in this episode… don’t get your hopes up. The entire episode was about someone getting hiccups and trying to get rid of it. Yes, these guys put some thought into this storyline! There were some weird ideas along the way, but they were more disturbing than funny.
ED: I already forgot what this sounded like.
Potential: 10%
Inu X Boku SS
Short Synopsis: Our lead character has her own servant.
For all series this season I could more or less see what direction they are going into. Not so much with this one, though. This episode ended with “this was the beginning of a long, long time”, and yet it does not look like this will continue for more than one season. Why not? Because only six volumes of the manga have been released so far. Good luck with that ending, guys! It’s very much unlike David Production to release an unfinished series. The reason I’m being so negative here is because out of all the non-sequels that premiered this season, this show had the best characters of them all. It also had the best direction of them all. The lead character? She is well acted and actually managed to carry this whole episode. She’s based on a cliche, but already very early on moved away from it, and actually became quite funny. The rest of the cast has this as well: usually they’d be bad cliches, but there is something about this direction that brings life to these people. The animation was also very good, and surprisingly this was in quite a different way from David Production’s usual animation: this show actually looks crisp and fluid, rather than their usual messy animation. There is fanservice in this show, but for once it feels natural, and not forced down your throat. Or at least not so much compared to the standard of the entire rest of the season…
ED: Dull J-Rock, but that animation is very good.
Potential: 80% (Would have been even higher if this wasn’t such an obvious “I am not going to finish well!”-series)
I thought that Ben-To also still ongoing novel series, so it’s not like this is the first project that david prod. takes on unfinished series. Well, speaking of this anime, i’m just glad that it’s being done by david prod. instead any other mediocre studios, plus they did a good job in it^_^ I enjoy the manga & i can’t ask for a better adaptation other than this.
Ben-To had the kind of plot that could be wrapped up in a few arcs, regardless of whether or not it would continue. I don’t think that that will be the case with Inu X Boku.
Well yeah, inu x boku didn’t have the kind of advantage like Ben-To was in term of plot, but still i find the last ep of Ben-To also lack that kind of “Ooomph” climax/final thing it should’ve been had, still enjoyable tho. I think this series will likely end in your typical “back to everyday/beginning” kind of ending like you mostly see in animes based on ongoing material, after finishing one big arc/case for one cour series or it can end in a big cliffhanger depend on what the studio’s going to choose anyway
I have really mixed feelings about this show. There were some interesting ideas, but the show just didn’t feel like it knew what it really wanted to do…
Kind of a bizarre mix of ten genres at once, and not really doing particularly well with any of them. I’ll probably give it another episode at least, though, to see if it finds some stable ground.
Even though the fanservice feels natural, I can’t help but focus of her legs and breast and so on… it’s quite annoying…
but yeah, this is a series which I think it would be anime-original- ending. But I like the animation and seiyuu!
I’m surprised by how monotonous this one felt. Though I can’t say I was terribly interested, it did look nice. The fanservice was quite excessive for my tastes, but then it’s not like they had anything else to focus their virtual camera on. It sure seemed a bit odd for David to be that excessive, though. I guess the lead’s characterization was the selling point for me as well (though it hasn’t really sold me yet).
Lyger (or whatever his name is) from EveTaku has said that there’s a very good stopping point for the anime somewhere down the line in the manga, so if you’re worried about anime-original endings, this might settle your worries… unless of course they DO come up with an anime-original ending.
Why does it matter anyway? I assume from what you’ve written that you don’t even read the manga.
I don’t like Inu x Boku SS at all.Why you give this 80% seriously.It don’t have any potential of plot and the first appearance of everyone’s youkai form didn’t have any impact at all.
More than that it has too much sparkles-sweety.I can’t handle this.Watch ep1 till the end was enough for me.
lol guys its 6 volumes but its a monthly manga so 1 chapter = 50 pages almost thats enough for almost 2 episodes
Honestly, I think Inu Boku deserves a lower rating. The whole episode was just in a rush to tell us all the background information, rather than trying to show us through it’s story. On the subject of the story however, it does seem to be overambitious, half-way through they revealed this whole supernatural apsect and I do have to question whether it’s at all necessary?
As to not sound too picky, I will say I rather liked what I’ve heard of the soundtrack so far, and the humour was rather light. And as much as I despise fan service, they managed to subtly incorporate it so it wasn’t right in my face.
Mixed opinions at the stage, but I do think it should have a lower potential rating.
I have mixed opinions here too.
I do like the characters, mostly, like psgels says, they are clichéd but do somehow seem to work?
nothing much happened really, it was a lot of exposition, the addition of the supernatural piqued my interest during the episode, but if I was to think about it.. I don’t really see what it’s actually trying to do, and I guess the secret service element is just a troll, maybe it’s meant to be supernatural servant? idk
yeah the fan service, it really makes you look, I think if I was a guy, I’d feel like a perv when watching this.
interested me more than symphogear an ano natsu
I was not impressed with this. I likened this a lot to Otome Youkai Zakuro, and both Zakuro and the lieutenant assigned to her were immediately more interesting than the girl and servant in this. They had decent chemistry that lifted an other wise average series.
Also there’s the issue of what this girl is; I automatically assumed she’d be the umpteenth rich loli detective, but her ultimate role remains unclear to me. Next week I’ll need to see a little more originality (and less pointless fanservice). We’ve met the players; now I want to be told what exactly it is that they do.
According to the MAL forum thread the first episode was canceled because of a censorship reason. That doesn’t forebode well for a series either.
The ED of Black Rock Shooter isn’t singing through someone’s nose, it’s sung by Vocaloid software…
Pardon me, but Voicaloid programme sounds worse than singing through your nose.
Gods, can’t understand why people could even listen to them….Different taste maybe.
You get used to them. They’re sounding more and more realistic nowadays anyway.
It’s the prosumer concept behind it.
Well you cant base it on a few Vocaloid songs. Some are extremely good even though it sounds electronic.
P.S. Love many of the songs lyrics.
ahaha, psgels got trolled by a vocaloid 🙂
Aw I was hoping for the BRS series to improve on being more then just being nice to watch, but generic at its core. It could get better though.
Normally I don’t agree upon your taste in music, but Vocoloid music is indeed gross.
haha i think maybe i’m the only person here who loves vocoloid music?
its starting to become the only music i listen to, other than niconico singers.
i think people should give vocaloids a chance. i mean, of course they aren’t the same as real people singing, its not a fair comparison. but they have really good things about them too.
lol maybe i’m just ranting though? anyway, its a very appropriate song, since it is the song that gave birth to the ova and anime. ^^
I’m with you dude. I’m a huge Miku fan =D
You’re not alone, I love Vocaloid music too.
Ahh, I got my hopes up way too high for BRS.
Of course, there’s always room for improvement, but that might be hard to do with a premise such as that one.
ED, meh ~~
We sadly all had our hopes up, my friend…
The reason why we have BRS anyway is because of the ED. Buy lol psgels got trolled by a Vocaloid.
Well, I was worried about the BRS TV series, the characters design in the OVA being much superior…
But the new design isnt that bad… and the episode was fantastic.
I loved it.
Aha, yeah that’s a Vocaloid singing the ED. I guess it’s a complement to the software that you thought it was an actual singer.
I also thought this first episode was an improvement over the OVA, both in terms of energy and direction. The transitions between worlds are still a concern (there ARE no transitions), but then again I like how the series didn’t come out and explain anything with narrators or infodumps.
The counselor Saya wryly tells Mato that however hurt she may feel, the physical pain will be borne by “someone else” is the most explanation we get – the Black Rock Shooter is Mato’s whipping girl, but why her punishment takes the form of killer robots in creepy, tripped-out dreamworlds – that’s all left unclear, which is nice. I don’t need all the answers.
As a one-part OVA, this was an improvement. I’m looking forward to seeing how (and if) they expand on the premise and give us more reason to like and care about Mato. Is the only reason she wants to be friends with Yomi -because- their counterparts are enemies?