Sora no Oto
Short Synopsis: Our lead character wants to learn to play the trumpet.
Haha! Finally a good show this season! I like how this series created its own city with its own culture and customs, which will prove to be very interesting if explored correctly by the rest of this series. The lead character is obviously moe, but likable, and definitely not among the stereotypes that give moe a bad name: she has a potentially interesting background, she’s got a goal that’s she’s willing to work hard for. If the creators write the rest of the series right then we could have a potential gem here. I also love the soundtrack (French lyrics! With an actual French guy singing them!). It’s not without its problems, though. It’s a bit cheesy at times, and that legend that tells about the five girls… it’s a shame that shows are still relying on such an overused plot device. Still, this should be relatively minor if the rest of the series gets developed properly, and doesn’t get stuck inside pool, beach and hot spring episodes.
OP: Great! Gentle and upbeat, a contender for the best OP of the season.
ED: This one’s obnoxious J-rock, though.
Potential: 70%
Cobra the Animation
Short Synopsis: Our lead character kicks ass and gets lots of women.
So after two OVAs, Cobra finally got his own remake TV-show. I didn’t really like the OVAs, but thankfully the story in this episode was much better built up than that of the OVAs. Here you can really see that it made use of its extra time now. I also admit that the soundtrack is very nice and great for building up tensions. This episode was far from perfect, though. It’s pretty silly, but for a show that seems to be geared at entertainment, the animation is pretty bad, and the villains are just nonsensical (Haha! I have a hostage! Now let me release her and flee like a coward!). The action-scenes don’t make any sense and are poorly built up, and if the rest of the series is like this then I feel like it’s not going to work.
Edit: I just noticed that Osamu Dezaki is doing the screenplay and storyboard. What happened to him,? He could have made the visuals far more interesting to watch with this limited budget.
OP: Terrible lyrics, but pretty good sound.
ED: Decent enough ballad.
Potential: 30%
Reform Withuot Wasted Draws – The Legend of Koizumi
Short Synopsis: Our lead character is the former president of Japan.
Ah, yeah. The only thing I had read about The Legend of Koizumi was that it was supposed to be a political Mahjong series. I had no idea how the creators would plan to do that, but it sounded interesting at least. Well, so it turns out to b ea parody: the show grabs various world leaders and makes them play Mahjong in an over the top fashion (with Koizumi obviously playing the Schwarzenegger-inspired lead character). It was funny, and I laughed, but the direction is outright terrible. It establishes nothing, it pulls all sorts of random plot twists out of its ass, the Japanese are portrayed as regular anime action heroes, while the rest of the Asians are a bunch of stereotypical fascist pigs. It overplays the incredibly overreacting facial expressions. I can’t see this one remaining funny for long.
Potential: 20%
Heh, sounds a bit like Hetalia…
I read some of the manga for it. It is…unusual. George W. Bush, playing mahjong with fighter jets as the wager. And apparently Hitler and the Pope make their apperances. I love absurdity.
I hope you rethink that.
This is going to be a great show.
It’s a shame that the new Cobra series is such a low budget production. The old series actually looks better and it was made in the early 80’s. It’s a dame shame, because the franchise deserves better treatment than this.
omm…. shouldn’t that be Prime Minister of Japan, not President?
Aha, great to here my first pick of the season, Soranowoto, is actually pretty good. We’ve gotten the majority of the crap out the way now, bring on the quality!
Also, I’m not quite sure why, but I found it funny how excited you are at the fact it’s a real French guy!
The first episode of So Ra No Wo To was lovely. I just hope goes down the road of something like Haibane Renmei rather than K-ON!
Just a quick question: Did you like the original Cobra series (or movie for that matter)?
Scamp: just tell me of any other song in anime that’s sung in fluent french. 😉
swordsman: no, I haven’t. I’ve only seen the first episode of the Psychogun, which was mediocre at best, so I don’t really know what the charms of the original Cobra were.
Psgels, original cobra series is made by Osamu Dezaki . And, it’s one if his best tv serie ( with ashita no joe 2 of course ) .I tought that you are a true fan of Dezaki . But, you just put 80 % for Black Jack movie . ( one of his best movie )
Speaking of Cobra, I must say that Osamu Dezaki no longer part of the project. He would make cobra rokunin yushi for the month of July 2009 but it was postponed. This series of Cobra has nothing to do with the original plan beacause this adaptation will adjust 6 different stories .
Reform Without Wasted Draws looks like straight-up propaganda more than it does comedy, but that may be due to it leveling-up the usual lack of subtlety in Japanese entertainment.
I was motivated to watch Sora no Oto by the screen grabs. The show really seems to scrimp on animation, but the backgrounds are appealing–in no small part due to the color direction. The content of the episode was uninspiring, and I don’t have any expectations here. Well, maybe rivaling Allison & Lilia for most undisciplined military in an anime.
yeah I just saw soro no oto. . .and I agree with this part: It’s a bit cheesy at times, and that legend that tells about the five girls… it’s a shame that shows are still relying on such an overused plot device
The over exaggerated *WOOOWS* that that girl makes is so boring, and the little myth thing is like …yeah whatever, I mean you KNOW the demon is gonna come back at some part of the story, and somehow the five *maiden…military main characters will save the day or something. . .*
The show looks beautiful, but the premise (oh I wanna be a trumpet player) and the cheesiness you mentioned, and lets not for get the Tsundere blue haired girl, pretty much annoyed the crap out of me, I also found it boring at times seeing the same old cheesiness in other shows. . .I found myself fast forwarding at times. . .defnately not my cup of tea. . .
You make Sora No Wo To sound interesting. I was going to give it a pass initially, but I’ll be sure to check it out. Cheers.
Definitely do check Sora no woto, I was cautious because of all the K-ON comparisons, but its totally worth watching… Totally exceeded my expectations
The main girl’s hairstyle of Sora no woto looks suspiciously like Lain from Serial Experiments LAIN. Seems like an interesting anime. yay for trumpets~
Yeah, I’ve watched all the first eps I can get a hold of, and Koizumi was lame while Cobra was just terrible. Sora was only saved by having a decent setting and music (though the characters were just awful).
I hope Durarara, Hidden God, or Kanagatari turn out to be worth watching, or it’s just Sora and Nodame for me this season (I guess Bund might get better, but I’m not holding out much hope after that pointless first episode).
Sora no woto’s plot seems to happen in a french speaking nation (Helvetia republic)
I think that the anime’s inspiration is the French part of Switzerland.
For starters, the word “Helvetii” is a synonym of”Swiss”
The characters of so*ra*no*wo*to looks like K-On clones! Thumbs down.