Kaze no Stigma
Short Synopsis: Kazuma has been kicked out of the fire-clan because he sucked at throwing fireballs at people. Now, three years later, he’s back with wind-powers to prove the meanies from the fire-clan wrong.
Good: Interesting, this anime already starts off by killing its major characters
Bad: Someone please teach the writer the basics of human nature.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 4/10
Ever since I saw the plain and ordinary character-art, I sortof feared that this anime would never become good, and this episode indeed proved my fears. The bad points also don’t limit themselves to the bad character-designs, either. Most notably is the hugely unbelievable behavior of the characters. The girl’s comrades have just been killed by the main male lead, and what does the girl do? She acts as if he just insulted her. She never even looks back at her former friends who just died, and instead she shows the behaviour of a standard tsundere. Sorry, but with a start like that, I don’t feel like checking out more of this series… Oh, and grown-up guys throwing fireballs at each other definitely isn’t cool. Heck, the entire episode made it look like there was not thought whatsoever put behind the concept.
Ookiku Furikabutte
Short Synopsis: A not-so-typical loser gets assigned as the pitcher of a local baseball team.
Good: Surprisingly down-to-earth.
Bad: The main character does remain a looser, and I’m fearing for the girl we kept seeing flashes of.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10
Like Kaze no Stigma, I never had big expectations of this, especially after the horribly boring Overdrive. But what do you know, this sports anime actually turned out interesting. First of all, we finally have a loser who doesn’t suddenly get introduced to Baseball, so that he can become the best baseball player ever. This episode also hinted at tactics, rather than raw power like most sports anime tend to dabble into (or so I’ve heard). We’ve also got quite an interesting cast, like the orange-squishing trainer, the very shy main character (probably one of the shyest characters I’ve seen thus far), and the other new guy. Even the girl who watched from the side-lines was quite funny, though I fear her becoming a main character.
Kaibutsu Oujo
Short Synopsis: A typical loser gets to live together with a bunch of supernatural beings, who quite conveniently all end up being cute girls.
Good: Thankfully, the ALI project didn’t turn this into a complete failure after all.
Bad: So…many….stereotypes…
Overall Enjoyment Value: 3/10
I couldn’t help but compare this series to Murder Princess, both feature a blonde princess who likes to kill others. I do have to say, though, that Murder Princess is infinitely better than the rubbish that this series tried to present. First of all, ignoring the clichés for a moment, the main character’s sister has invited her brother to come live with her. Why the heck doesn’t se get worried when he doesn’t show up? Why doesn’t she call the guy’s cell-phone to ask what happened to him. Sure, okay, she’s just a completely stupid and irresponsible girl, okay. I can forgive that. What I can’t forgive, though, is the hospital-people who don’t even notify the guy’s family-members after he died, for goodness’ sake! Now, if you add the clichés to that (big-breasted sister in maid-clothes, cold princess, small uberpowerful girl who keeps beating up the main character, a typical loser male who has been pasted right from another random harem-anime, the metal bar who chose just the right timing to fall down on the princess, and of course the fact that this princess just can’t let the guy die and I can ramble on forever like this) the result becomes nothing other than garbage.]]>
Some quick first impressions: Kaze no Stigma, Ookiku Furikabutte and Kaibutsu Oujo
Good more shows to knock off the list. I’ll try the baseball one though. Doesn’t look half bad.
The short summary for KnS didn’t sound too bad .. so I’ll see if that as bad as you say
Well, yes. The story did sound good on paper, the problem is the execution, though. It’s just one big cast of stereotypes.
Even Shakugan no Shana, despite its horrible second half, did better job at presenting the initial episodes than Kaze no Stigma.
Jeez. I was looking forward to Kaze no Stigma when I saw it on one of those 2007 anime lists…mostly because the guy made my fangirl side pop out a bit… Sadly, I was let down so hard… I believe I was making this face throughout the whole show: =_=||| That was a complete failure of a show.
re: Kaibutsu Oujo
Wow, you really didn’t like this, huh? I admit it’s no masterpiece, and not as good as I hoped, as I like anime with supernatural elements, but it’s not total trash.
Regarding your points:
1) The sister’s not worried because she didn’t set a time; she just mailed him a letter telling him to move in soon.
2) good point, the hospital staff should’ve tried to notify his family… the only thing is, his parents are both dead and his sister is his only family… does the mansion have a phone? Do the hospital staff know who his family is? Remember, he just moved here.
3) Yeah the iron beam falling was too much of a coincidence for me. However, the Princess doesn’t just revive him randomly; she feels grateful that he gave his life to save her… plus, he looked good
4) the little girl, Frandol or Fran-chan, does not go around beating up Hiro (the boy). And I don’t know if this qualifies as a harem anime… at least, not yet. It’s more focused on supernatural creatures that come to kill the Princess.
Regarding the fourth point, we do see the little girl throwing Hiro in the air over and over at the end of the episode. The first point indeed was a mistake of mine, I misunderstood that part. About the second point, true, but it would be quite strange if the guy didn’t carry any contact-information, especially when he’s moving to another house. The third point is a problem I have with most shows like these, it’s a little pet peeves of me. I’ve become a bit sick of those stories that feature a guy who does something nice for a girl only once, which will cause that girl to fall in love with him, or something along those lines. (Shuffle is another good example of that)
Fran-chan only throws Hiro once onto the roof (after he fell off on his own accord) so that he can finish fixing it. She doesn’t abuse him at all… it was her “fuga” that made Hime restore him again after the fight with Wildman. And if the anime follows the manga, then in episode two, she’ll save him from being chainsawed to pieces from Hime.
I don’t carry around contact information… even when I moved to Japan. But I did have to register the information at my ward office… about a week after I arrived. So actually, I didn’t find that strange. I think there are many cases when they find dead bodies and they can’t even identify who they are.
I don’t think the princess is in love with Hiro… I bought the mangas, but I didn’t really see her being in love with Hiro… at least in the first volume or so. I think she was just being honorable or feeling guilty about the death. I didn’t like the steel beam falling incident either; in the manga, he dies because a car hits him after it tries to avoid hitting the cart that Fran-chan was pulling. Because Hime thought it was their fault, she restored his life; it’s also kind of her whimsical nature.
I agree this show is not a masterpiece, but I’ll continue to give it a chance.
Are you stupid or what?? dont’ review anime ep if you dont’ know what you are talking about… Hiro’s parents are dead… how the hospital going to notify his sister when she live at this weird as mansion…
Second, why are you comparing this to MURDER PRINCESS? They are aimed at different audiences… this show is MADE TO BE sterotype… it appeals to S&M fans, Beast girl fans, Vampire girl fans, loli fans, and onee-chan fans… -_-‘
Regarding your first point, that’s indeed my mistake. I watched this in raws, and at times, I don’t pick up everything.
Still, that doesn’t change my opinion of this show. Also, the reason I compared this to Murder Princess is because they share nearly the same main character: a blonde, sadistic princess.
oh man, i had kept some hope for kaze no stigma because it sort of reminded of stuff i’d seen before(flame of recca and tokyo underground) but the second episode was pretty horrible too
wow tianyu, overreact much?
I actually found Kaze no Stigma interesting (despite the annoying Ayano, who I hope will still change in the later eps).
I admit the character designs aren’t that good, but the mystery and intrigue somehow got me hooked. But well, to each his own 🙂
I don’t really see a bad point in Kaze no Stigma at all. Besides, you can’t fucking judge an anime when only a few episode are out, jesus christ damnit. Overall i like the anime.
I agree that some anime can’t be judged on their first episode, but on the other side, it’s impossible to give every single anime in the season a fair chance, so I select the anime I continue watching based on the concept and the potential of the first episode. Often, the first episode shows a bit of what’s in store for the rest of the anime. In Kaze no Stigma, this would be the annoying tsundere, the cool male lead, and the fact that people are actually serious when they throw fireballs at each other. Okay, it may turn out good, but I don’t have the motivation to keep watching to find out.
I love Kaze no Stigma. It owns. Bhahaha.
KnSE over KnS? Your opinions are automatically invalid. Moron.
Dan: you know, because of that comment, I feel that I didn’t miss anything when I dropped this series.
Kaze no Stigma is awesome it at least deserves a 8/10. ur 2 critical.
Okay, because so many people recommended it (even though one idiot was among them), I decided to give the second episode a chance. And I have to admit, it’s not really as bad as I thought. It’s just got a lot of annoying scenes and a rather cheesy soundtrack.
I would give this a another chance, I just finished watching the first four episodes and want to continue watching. It’s pretty cliched, with the disinherited-but-returning even more powerful, sarcastic and kinda pissed at the world main character, the tsundere, and of course the fireballs. I still found it enjoyable to watch, and am interested in finding out what happens, if not really expecting any major twists. Though, if an overall kind of arc doesn’t develop (first 4 were kind of an introduction) I might give up on it.
Are you kidding? Kaze no stigma saiko!! It’s soooooooooo good. The characters, the plot, everything and usually i’m quite picky with anime. I admit you’re right that the girl behaved very strangely in reaction to the death of her comrades but i don’t even think they were that close. They said they’d never seen her fight before so i gather that they’re just aquaintences of her’s so i think her reaction (anger) was appropriate enough.
I have to say… You are absolutely wrong about Kaze no Stigma. First off.. the main characters werent killed off. They were minor people. And about the Girl acting pissed, thats just her personality. This anime has potential to be good. I like it. Just my opinion though…
I for one really like Kaze no Stigma and I have seen the first five episodes. The first episode isn’t quite brilliant but the next were quite fine! It’s one of the best anime I’ve seen lately with a good plot and nice characters. And when it comes to the fantasy type… Thank God, it was about time they made a new one in this style! I’m tired of the ones with Mr. or Ms. Popularity who can achieve anything.
Whoa… it really seems that I’m one of the few who doesn’t like this one. After seeing the first three episodes, I do admit that it could’ve gone worse, but the characters still get on my nerves a bit.
Kaze no Stigma is better as it gets along, but I agree that the girl is a bit insensitive in the first episode. I think you should keep watching it for just a bit longer and then you’ll see that it is in fact a very good anime. I, for one, think that Kaze no Stigma is very worthwhile.
I have to say that I liked kaze no stigma…really!
I loved kaze no stigma. It’s one of the best anime’s I’ve seen in a while. It may be a bit cliche-ish but thats the style it’s in. The character design is pretty good, i’ve watched all 5 ep’s that are out and translated so far and im gonna watch the 6th one today when it comes out.
If your against the whole super power thing then you probably wont think that it gets any better. Also if you complain about the unreality of how ayano acts when the building falls on those two then how can you wonder about them throwing fire balls seriously? … if you grew up with the power to summon and control fire and everyone around you does too then i bet you would be pretty use to it by the time your in your 20’s to 30’s
I must say that I’ve seen up till episode five now as well, and to be honest, I still don’t like it that much. The issues mentioned above are indeed details to the storyline, which can indeed easily be overlooked (just like the collapsed building in episode 3… I never knew how buildings are built so strong…).
My main issue with the anime right now is the fact that all three main characters are way too annoying. I honestly can’t watch these characters interact without having some feeling of utter boredom against them.
Episode five also came with a small flaw that didn’t fall well with me, by the way. In the previous episode, we saw the wind-users get defeated, while the characters already seem to have forgotten this by the time the next episode arrives. We also never get to know what happened to these people. Obviously, being beaten doesn’t usualy remove a person’s grudge.
i think that the wind people were either all killed or that they’ll come back in a later episode for revenge. Mosts series have that sort of thing where an enemy will disappear for a while then come back for a bit. Not like they could really do much to Kazuma though.
The fifth episode is mainly a bit of a break followed by an introduction into the person who will probably become the next big enemy, the new contractor. The sixth one is out already but there isn’t a subbed version yet.
Whatever u guys. Kaze no Stigma is good. The animation is good and I could say its one of the best anime so far this summer/spring. Of course, when the building collapsed and I could say there were dozen of people just died…and it seems like “the girl” doesnt even care about it rofl…lets just say shes just still a kid. anyway who cares. The action are fine, story also, characters are entertaining (in my opinion), the animation is good and the ost are fine.
8.5/10 until now.
I like Kaze no Stigma so far. Maybe because of its genre, I dunno know, but in my opinion its worth a watch. Alot of people were critisizing due to the fact this anime doesn’t bring anything ‘new’– which is alot of people’s hopes were shattered. Sure, it maybe the same old themes created into another anime again… but you’d have to admit, that this is one of the very few anime that has a little bit of EVERYTHING. Just my two cents.
I give this blog a 1/10.
It is an epic failure.
this blog fucking sucks!! kaze no stigma is a great anime
Kaibutsu Oujo is one of thos shows you either like it or you don’t,so I can understand the low rating, Kaze no Stigma has turned out to be one of the better ones than most anime of its class meaning its better than claymore and El Cazador de la Bruja.
Kaibutsu Oujo
plot point you seem to miss…the hospital is run by a vampire.
The point of reviving him is to have a human shield,there are aspects to the chatterer’s that are deeper than you care to see, try watching a whole 6 eps before becoming like Sawara(Hiros sister) 😛
AS much as I love fire wielding tomboys I watched the first arc and wasn’t impressed. KnS is mediocre. It is not terrible but I’ve seen better.
I feel like I should point out one thing…this is an ANIME, not manga, and much of it will be limited by the budget. As for the complaints ppl have been submitting about how a lot of the characters act non-chalant.. you should know the original intent was to have all the killing and dying very gruesome…they cant really show that on tv now can they?
anyhow, i like it, and i’m already on eps 18. Like many ppl said, its not the best, but its certainly entertaining
I agree. The first few episodes does not make it much interesting especially when it comes to logic. But, KNS gets better after a few eps. Check episode 19! It’s the best. Episode 19 has not come out yet. But really, look at it when it comes out. It will blow you away.
Personally I like KnS but if you don’t like the whole extreme fantasy scene then i wont force my opinion on you.
I’m not a picky person. I don’t look at an anime’s flaws; I try to focus on its good sides, and it makes them even more enjoyable. When I don’t like an anime, it’ll always be because of something really obvious that gets on my nerves.
I like Kaze no Stigma. SOME things do get on my nerve, but nothing major enough to make me want to drop it completely. But I won’t go crazy if I skip a week or two.
As for Monster Princess, I’m simply hooked. Your reasons for not liking the show don’t really sound like reasons for me. They’re the way the anime is. If you don’t like that kind of anime, I don’t see why you even take the time to rate them. It just makes people hate you.
That was my piece of opinion.
If you watched Raw then you problably missed alot.
I watch Subs.
Remember there are no best anime, only anime. 😛
Kaibutsu Oujo is the most enjoyable anime the previous season and the current season. Reason: the attractive ladies. I agree Hiro is somewhat annoying, but he is barely noticable because all your attention is focused on the attractive ladies.
Just want to let you know there are anime fans like me. You can have your rating that KO is crap, and there are anime fans like me who enjoyed it a lot.
The only anime that beat KO is Claymore, but I didn’t watch the anime because I have read the Claymore manga.
ahh how many episodes are there in Kaze no stigma and y cant i find kaze no stigma 23!!!!or 22!!!!!
-.-”’ reply back whoever wrote this!!
To those who dislike Kaze no Stigma: don’t watch it. Simple as that.
Ayano (the girl) acts like she does (quick to anger etc) because she has the spirit of fire. Also to the person who wrote the “first impression,” the characters who died were a branch family, not the main family/main characters. When the people who died due to being crushed by the falling building, those weren’t her friends, just family from the branch, as someone said before.
In my opinion, watching anime is fun because we get to see the way the characters achieve their goals. Naruto, for example, is more than likely going to become hokage in the end, but we continue watching to see how Naruto becomes hokage. Or he will die because his demon is pulled out. Or both. But we watch to see how and what happens to the characters so they can achieve their goal. Again, just my opinion.
Kaze no stigma: The reason for Ayano’s strange reaction is because her family is entirely hierarchical, and the ‘branch families’ are considered worthless, everyone in the family is brought up with that kind of attitude. That same attitude allowed Kazuma to be disowned.
For those who did not respect psgels opinions, I think that YOU guys are the morons. -.- The ones who respectfully showed what they thought, congrats. xD Muahaha. I kind of agree with psgel on the annoying Ayano part. @_@ Boy… does that get on my nerves. But I was assured from another review that she gets better. :] Although it takes a “long” time… I guess I’m going to have to put up with it for a while. :O
I have to admit that your impressions are rather harsh. When I watched KnS for the first time, I wasn’t shocked by the first episode, I was more focused on the main male character : I mean it’s not often that the main character is super strong from the first episode, usually they start weak and become strong as it goes on. The bad side I thought of was Ayano looking like Shana from SnS, and it gets boring sometimes. And yeah, the ending was rather disappointed..
As for Kaibutsu Oujo, I guess it’s been said before, some people like, others do not. But the way the Princess looks like a demon does not mean she’s sadistic and enjoys killing. Actually she’s not that way but rather compassionate, and she’s not in love with the boy either. I enjoyed it until the end, except for all the scenes concerning the sister eating her parfait : it was surprisingly annoying…
And for the others reading this blog, a review is just someone’s opinion, it obviously can’t be objective. You might agree with it or not, it’s up to you to make your own opinion.
Umm, I rather liked Kaibutsu Oujo. I feel in love with it 15 minutes into episode one. The reason the hospital probably couldn’t notify Hiro’s family is he had no identification. He came to the town with basically nothing it seems. And as for his sister, Fuwawa, not being to concerned is because she might think he held up with getting to the town or something. Who knows, since they never really discuss it. And, while the cliche big breasted maid things were a bit irritating, once you start watching the series with an open mind, it becames sorta… ignorable since the series was well done to be angsty, funny and romantic all the same. Hiro and Hime don’t end up together, so there’s one avoided cliche of the series.
Furude Rika
*SPOILERS* Marked well enough? In regards to Kaibutsu Oujo
Well pointed out there, although I made the mistake of finishing the series cuz I kept hoping. The good news: It doesn’t really become much of a harem series. The bad news: It’s really set up like it’s supposed to, and it’s really annoying to watch 24 episodes of no inter-character development. But yeah, that’s just my schpeel.