Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2199
Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a giant battleship sunk in WWII.
For the record: the actual Yamato TV-series only airs in 2013, this was just a preview episode. The first movie however, premiered a few days ago, which means that we probably also have to wait around 9 months for more of this, so this really was just a very early appetizer. Based on just this episode though, things are looking very promising. This episode covered about the same as the first episode of the 1974 Yamato series, but the creators added a lot of things to it as well, and they really succeeded in turning this into a modern version of the story. You can especially see the influence of Xebec’s science fiction department department. The creators managed to put a lot of their own influences in, yet they also captured the epic spirit of Matsumoto Leiji’s stories. I also love the soundtrack, which is new, yet is sprinkled with the influences from the original Yamato’s soundtrack. I do wonder though if the rest of the series will be as accurate as here, and I’m especially curious how this series plans to handle the infamous plotholes that pop up at the end of the series.
OP: No OP, unfortunately. I’m dying for the rendition of Yamato’s classic OP for this series.
ED: Quite sentimental. A bit too restrained, but I can see this growing on me.
Potential: 80%
Saki Episode of Side A
Short Synopsis: Our lead character isn’t even in this series…
If I had to name one theme that keeps recurring through this season, it is annoying characters. There are much, much more of them than usual, making checking out every show get a bit more on my nerves than usual. Saki though… fortunately doesn’t have that. Okay, so it’s cheating a bit by being a sequel and all, but it feels good finally watching another moe show without getting the urge to strangle the characters. In fact, I’d say that this was one of the best episodes of Saki overall. It was a nice look into Nodoka’s past, the characters were overall much less obnoxious than the main cast of Saki, and it was even slightly heart-warming. That’s all I ask of just a first episode: convince me that I can enjoy watching this. The development and the good stuff can come later. This episode did have a number of flaws, though. For example this episode tried to make cliched boob jokes whenever Nodoka was around, and one of the reasons why this episode also was pretty nice was because there was no mahjong in it. That’s not very reassuring for a series where that is its selling point, but what series reduces these games to a mahou shoujo context in which the winner is the one who manages to manipulate luck the most?
ED: Dull J-Pop.
Potential: 50%
Tasogare Otome x Amnesia
Short Synopsis: Our lead character has a peudo-harem containing a ghost.
I’ve got quite a few problems with Silver Link, but by far the biggest of them is the reason why I never finished more than one episode of any of their series: their unwatchable characters. Tasogare Otome x Amnesia… unfortunately has this too, which is a shame, because if you strip away that and all of the cliches, then you’d have an interesting series. This episode played around with its narrative by making the titular character invisible to one of the cast members, and it did a number of interesting things with its visual direction throughout this episode. But yeah, I already know that I’m not going to continue this much longer because for most of the episode I was too busy wanting to punch the characters in the face. The girl who can’t see ghosts was particularly obnoxious, and she just wouldn’t shut up. The male lead was also incredibly dull due and nothing more than your average harem lead. The titular maiden Amnesia could have had potential as this playful ghost, but unfortunately she too just got reduced to a member of the lead guy’s harem. There is not much fanservice in this episode, but the fanservice that was there was dumb, forced and shameless. Seriously though, it’s getting very annoying that Silver Link’s series still are plagued by bad acting. Where Shaft has actually moved on and changed, they still seem the same as they ever were, save perhaps for prettier visuals.
ED: A good vocalist, wasted on a cliched and cheesy song.
Potential: 20%
The manga is really good and in the right hands this could be an incredible show. But…. WTF was that? WOW, I could not watch a full episode either.
another example of manga adaption that failed…man, why they always ruin this manga? or else we would have a great comedy horror this season…. still, gonna try give it another chance.
^ They’re trying a different approach at the beginning and you say that the adaptation failed? I mean, it’s just the FIRST episode, not the whole anime… <.<
It's really annoying when people think the only option is the 1:1 adaptation from pandel to panel and page to page.
I actually liked what they tried to do there. If only the characters were more bearable…
“It’s really annoying when people think the only option is the 1:1 adaptation from pandel to panel and page to page.”
To be fair that’s often the best solution to stick to the source material as close as possible. I am not saying it has to be panel to panel but in my experience if the writers start adding things that are unnecessary or diminish the stories value then they are not doing their job right. Take Another anime for example. The director/writers/whoever changed the deaths to make them more dramatic but this only made them comical. He added in a beach episode for reasons which only served to punch holes in the plot. He made up an episode which contained a massacre that required massive suspension of belief. Also many other changes which lead to the creation of plot holes and logic inconsistencies. (For example, Izumi Akazawa didn’t greet Kouichi in the hospital. She left it up to others to explain the situation about Mei. But they didn’t and she wasn’t told. But in the anime she did greet Kouichi in the hospital but despite the fact that she didn’t tell him there she still blames the others for not telling him. Making her look like an idiotic hypocrite.)
The point is that if it ain’t broke then don’t fix it. If the change does contribute to the story or make something clearer then it is alright.
You can’t blame Silver Link for the characters being annoying Psgels. They were annoying in the manga as well. Not unless they made them more annoying. Anyway I pretty much agree with you on this one.
Yes, in most cases it’s good to follow the manga closely, but changes that doesn’t alter the story or the characters are acceptable, at least for me.
And your example about Another, it’s originally a novel, both the manga and the anime are different from the source material and there are big differences betweeb the two, because of the different interpretations. And I agree with you, Another has some pretty stupid changes, which I didn’t liked, but but I still found it enjoyable.
The main point of my comment was, that after one episode, you can’t be sure that the anime will be a failed adaptation. There weren’t any big story altering changes and there will be only 12 episodes, so instead of a too fast pacing, they decided to make a different begininning to the anime.
the manga sucks đ the author sucks at delivering answers and if u thought that this fan service was much w8 till u reach later episodes XD
Your comment sucks, you suck, too. See how that sounds? If you say something that stupid, at least tell us WHY. In my opinion the Manga does not suck at all, it is a good mystery Manga you don’t get to read that often these days where every Manga is either stupid fan service or full of clichĂ©s.
dude i don’t think u have read good manga’s at all if you think this is good ^ ^ i kept reading it cause the art was good and kept hoping and hoping and hoping and hoping that something would happen but nope even the answer arcs so full of bs that i was surprised and of course the obligatory fan service, yes we must show the ghost naked otherwise what is a manga right? another is a epic light novel series and this is what just ….
People like it because? omg look at the art its so pretty, tbh i don’t care i like plot which this one lacks in profusely and iam pretty sure psgels will see that in coming episodes when that stupid past twist come’s out đ
Believe me, I have bought, not only read, tons of manga. And this manga is one of the best of it’s genre. It’s just really hard to find classical mystery mangas these days. The market is full of shonen crap, moe stuff or other mangas, which have to show the reader at least 2 panties per page. Yes, this manga has some fanservice, too, but it’s not the typical “oh shit, the wind blew my skirt up” crap.
Think about it this way, Yuuko is a ghost, who has been alone for years. Maybe she has always been a bit of a handful horny little girl, who knows. That’s her character and I don’t see a problem with that. It’s better than the typical tsundere character, which has been used way too much, and wouldn’t suit this story at all.
The only thing that really irritates me is that Tasogare Otome x Amnesia is categorized as “horror” by many sites. It is NOT horror, but mystery. This is a huge difference and many readers will be lead by the nose by this tag. If you expect horror, don’t read/watch Tasogare Otome x Amnesia.
Psgels, I’m going to have to ask you to give Tasogare Otome x Amnesia a bit more time…because IT IS NOT a harem series (even if it appears to be on the outset), and on top of that the series touches upon the macabre quite often despite the limitations of its setting. The male lead is a bit better than you’re giving him credit for, so give him a bit more time to develop. đ
Based upon a lot of comments I’ve seen all over the Web, I think that people really should get into a few shows this season after looking into the backgrounds of the source material, even if its just a quick scan of an overall plot summary or something. Both Tasogare Otome x Amnesia and Medaka Box are excellent mangas that stray quite a bit from convention and still develop wonderfully. Thus, perhaps people would go into both of these anime with a more open mind if they were more aware of what is coming in future episodes?
I think Tasogare Otome x Amnesia just had a slow start. The whole recanting of what was going on when we were in the un-gifted one’s POV, while interesting, was still a bit of a drag due to reoccurring scenes.
Yet, there were times that I felt the show was hinting at something. yuuko’s eyes glowing a kind of unworldly color in the elevator, the fact that the second female support character (with the dark short hair) thinks she is a demon, the many rumors consisting of yuuko’s troublesome actions, also the very ending where the male lead did the whole “little did I know” innuendo- and that very creepy, sketched, evil smile that came into play before it cut to the ending song.
Could be nothing, if the company is dumb, but considering it’s tagged as a horror show, I imagine things are gonna get crazy once we get comfortable with our harem. :d
Take a look at my comment above, it’s NOT a horror show. Don’t expect gore or blood, you will not see any.
if they will keep in this pace in saki achiga hen the original lead character will apear in episode 3 or 4 at least
I can’t help but noticed Yuuko looks almost exactly the same as Arashi (from Natsu no Arashi).
Red eyes, long black hair, sailor uniform, long skirt, ghost, etc. Coincidence?