Lance N’ Masques
Short Synopsis: A boy has a huge lance and a tendency for acting like tuxedo mask.
I will admit that this episode wasn’t as terrible as I was expecting but it has all the ingredients to become terrible by episode 2. The biggest problem however is not in the story but in the art. Whoever is doing the character art for this show, either step up or step down because the character art is downright ugly. Proportions are off, shading is blocky with no regard to light source and it’s just not pleasant to look at. What makes this most evident is the heavily detailed backgrounds which cause a huge disconnect with the far too simplistic character designs. The soundtrack has some interesting pieces of music Celtic vibes that I rather like. The main problem I have with the story is the very young age of the heroine. Its very creepy to see the show push for a romantic mood between the two. The setup has mildly intriguing aspects like the order of knights but there’s a harem, there’s most certainly a school coming and a large number of common cliches. The animation is quite limited and from the looks of things they blew most of their budget on the first fight scene. There’s not any hope for this one.
Potential: 0%
Heavy Object
Short Synopsis. The world now conducts wars by pitting Metal Gears against one another.
When watching the first few minutes of this episode I found myself wondering, why was it that I wasn’t all that impressed with this story when I read the Light novel? I mean the setting is great with huge potential and while the science is spotty, the Metal Gears are pretty awesome. So why was it I wasn’t sold on this? Then the main characters are introduced with two male leads talking exposition and the third female lead taking a shower because…because. On seeing that I suddenly thought “Ah yes. Now I remember.” This is Kazuma Kamachi after all. The man prone to creating settings with unlimited potential and squandering it by using it for the lowest common denominator of storytelling. The man potentially responsible for every overused Light novel trope under the sun. The parts regarding objects in this episode were decently engaging but was inter cut with some bad comedy and even more awful cringe inducing fanservice. The scene with the girls belts acting as bondage ropes and the main agonizing over undoing the belts while she was getting choked to death by them because to do so he would touch her breasts was quite painful to say the least. If these parts of the show don’t bother you as much as they did me then chances are you will enjoy this show. Me however, I will just lament the death of an idea that could have been great in someone elses hands.
Potential: 30%
Young Blackjack
Short Synopsis: An intern doctor performs a risky operation on a young boy.
So far very promising though it’s old school sensibilities are a bit intrusive. It’s very on the nose about its story with not much subtlety and highly dramatized but the story itself is quite good. The main mature cast has potential with a drug addict doctor who can’t stand the sight of blood and the enigmatic blackjack. Though it wasn’t quite as dark as I was expecting and reminded me a lot of the Trauma center video game series. Very nice touch at the end of the episode which goes to prove that even if you do someone a huge favor, their are types who will weasel their way out of a deal. The next episode preview looks to be putting forth more moral dilemmas which is a massive plus in my book. I think this will be a show to keep an eye on.
Potential: 85%
Yup, definitely watching Young Blackjack.