Schwarzesmarken
Short Synopsis: A dystopian society Germany fights a desperate struggle against an alien threat.
To get the obvious question out of the way first. No, you do not need to watch Muv Luv Total eclipse to get this anime and you don’t need to play the original Visual novel trilogy. This is basically a stand alone spin off story separate from both mentioned. The only connection being that they take place in the same universe. As a start I say this was good though nothing truly impressive. My previous worries that this might leave people who are not familiar with the Muv Luv universe seem to so far be unfounded as we are given a quick intro into the state of things and immediately thrown into the action. Of course people may still have complaints such as “Why did they send out a soldier suffering from PTSD?” but we can’t really address things like that without giving too much exposition. The setting does indeed have barrells of potential though the CGI is particularly lacking. On the mecha it’s fine but on the organic monstrosities such as BETA it really sticks out like a sore thumb. A big thing in how this adaption turns out will really depend on how they handle the darker elements. This episode tip toed on overplaying them but I like how they cut down the main character’s backstory and it really is beneficial to not view his internal monologue. They need to be careful and downplay the drama on these grim dark elements as if they overdramatise them it could end up too overblown to take seriously. If you felt the main character was particularly annoying for being irritable all the time then be thankful that you didn’t have to read his thoughts too. Because they certainly don’t make him any more likable. If anything this adaption has made me aware of just how unbearably positive Katia is. Admittedly her role is mainly to highlight just how harsh this country is but it can be rather painful to see her being utterly naive. For lack of a better way to put it, she seems like an overly moe anime character in a setting clearly not suited for it. So with that said, the action is good, the characters look to have potential for growth and the setting is brimming with grim consequences.
Potential: 65%
Koukaku no Pandora
Short Synopsis: A cyborg girl helps fight out of control robots with the power of yuri
From the Mangaka behind Ghost in the Shell we have an anime about lesbian robot girls. Now your eyes might have lit up with excitement upon hearing this is from the maker of Ghost in the shell but let me put things into perspective. This the Mangaka who brought us the Ghost in the shell manga, not the famous anime movie or Stand alone complex series. For you see the manga of Ghost in the shell and the anime of Ghost in the shell are as different as night and day. The anime had a focus on the political and psychological aspects of the story were as the manga was more an action manga with some comedy and fanservice thrown in. For this show it looks like we got less action and far more comedy and fanservice. I have long said that I am not a fan of comedy but I think even those that go for anime comedies will find the slapstick of this episode humorless. Seeing as comedy is at the forefront that means this episode didn’t quite do anything for me and I find the fanservice to be a bit extreme. Basically in order to activate her powers for battle she must stick her fingers in the crotch area of another female robot. Classy. Action seemed decent for what little of it there is. I will give it a tiny bit of potential as the robotics side of things is interesting and chances are this would be enjoyable to a certain audience.
Potential: 5%
Luck & Logic
Short Synopsis: A boy once again decides to fight off world invaders with a mysterious girl
There must be a better way of giving the viewer information without resorting to exposition. In other cases it’s the source material that’s at fault for this but by being an original anime you should have no reason to resort to the laziest method of conveying information. We have a visual medium to work with here, make use of it. On that note if you call this system Logic then how would you separate the term from linguistic logic? Wouldn’t the similar terms get confused? Also do we really have to refer to the attacking monster as a “Foreigner”? Enemy, invader, Kaiju, threat…there are plenty of words for this already. There’s no need to invent a dictionary of terms when there are words suitable already. Not much to say on this one. I feel there’s effort behind this and while it is cheesy, it is watchably average.There’s CGI in the battle scenes which is of varying degrees of quality, from passable to terrible. Protagonist is fairly bland but seems to be the most experienced fighter of the cast which is a change. Though his sister is a rather irritating creature with her insistence for him to remain “Villager A” If you want some mindless entertainment this could do the trick.
Potential: 20%
For once, it seems like I’m the only person who seems to really like an anime (Luck and Logic). It’s almost like everyone wants to hate it. If you apply the same criticism to, say, Schwarzesmarken, it comes across just as lamely. Maybe it just needed the same director as Blood Blockade or to be based in the Nasuverse for everyone to give it pass for being silly…
I did put down up there that luck and logic was average. That’s not quite the same as hate. Well people hate it and people like it, that’s opinions for you.
Plus are you crazy? Setting this in the nasuverse would make people utterly despise it. The nasuverse fans are ridiculously hard to please.
Sure, hate may be too strong of a word. People certainly seem to be doing their best to not enjoy Luck and Logic much, though.
But I don’t buy that the nasuverse fans are ridiculously hard to please. Sure, you always have a hardcore segment of every fandom, but have you seen the ratings for Unlimited Blade Works? Even the relative success of the Kaleid spinoff (compared to other such spinoffs) shows that it’s not really that hard to please the overall fandom for Nasu stuff.
Oh boy, you have no idea. The high ratings for unlimited bladeworks are generally from those not too familiar with the source materiel. To us Nasufans I believe the first season went down well but the second season pissed everyone off. The Studio Deen adaptions of Fate and unlimited Bladeworks still receive pure seething resentment.
And let us not forget that there is no Tsukihime anime.
Schwarzesmarken was an anime I felt I should like, but it was like a guy showing off his muscles to me. Yeah, I’m impressed, dude, but I’m not turned on.
I wondered why I was attracted to the tech of Pandora (AKA stupidly long title they give it on Hulu). I don’t read background on anime so I can go in totally surprised. This is a “do not want” show In the first half, I was on the fence, and I was even going to excuse the low-level animation. Then I learn that I have to watch some girl “activate” a cyborg loli’s “pandora” at least once every episode. I get it, dudes. I got it when Chobits did it. You could’ve left that out. I also didn’t get the “villains” It was all nonsense, and not the type of nonsense I’m looking for. You could’ve have a cute cyborg yuri show, but they went the extra mile too far.
Pandora is actually from the mangaka behind Excel Saga.
Afraid not. Rikudo Koshi(Excel saga) is the artist behind Pandora but the author is Shirow Masamune(Ghost in the shell) Basically Rikudo does the art, Shirow does the story.
Actually no, according to Wikipedia, Shirow is doing the concept [which I assume is the general idea], Rikudo did the story.
So… I don’t know, it give me Megaman NT Warrior vibes. I liked the energy of the first episode [Disregarding juvenile plot points], though at the same time it also felt it could corner in repetitive battles.
So who to trust, Wikipedia or Myanimelist? Now that I am looking for it specifically it not really certain whether he did write it or not.
Seems the story is that Shirow made up the first draft for an anime to be made in 2008 but it never happened. So the story landed in Rikudos hands and he decided to do his own thing with it.
I need to look into these things more, its all too easy to get things mixed up.
But we’ll its not as if its all that great so C’est la vie.
Ok, I think if the official localized manga says it’s Shirow’s story and Rikudo’s art. That may be the source to go by. I mean in the end I don’t think it’s much of a difference if we assume both collaborated in some way. Since I could see both coming with some juvenile elements.
Anyway, just wanted to restate my reply.
I just watched the first four episodes of Koukaku no Pandora.
It’s pretty funny. Plus, Nene and Clarion are really cute. I love how crazy about Clarion Nene is.