To Aru Majutsu no Index
Short Synopsis: Our lead character finds a cute girl on his balcony.
Highlights: Generic, but solid.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10
Okay, I have to admit: for a series that’s about cute female teenaged mages, it’s above average. The characters were still pretty annoying, but the script is solid and it can actually make this series work. The series also has a great soundtrack, and the graphics are decent enough. For this series tow ork, the lead female does need to get much more down-to-earth, though, and she’s going to have to stop trying to be overly cute. The same goes with that ten-year-old teacher, she also felt really out of place.
Kemeko Deluxe!
Short Synopsis: Our lead character gets to marry a cute girl.
Highlights: This season’s comedies are… weird!
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10
Joining Sunred in the category “so bad it’s good” is Kemeko Deluxe. It’s another parody, this time of the Harem-genre, and yet again it had a hilarious though disastrous first episode. It’s a bit disturbing, but these two shows have been funnier than anything else this season has offered so far. It may just be me and my very strange sense of humour, but some of the parodies in this episode really worked. Still, the premise where the lead character gets married to a cute girl who has to live inside a hideously ugly robot and the huge fanservice only can remain funny for a limited period of time, and I wonder whether it’s going to be Kemeko or Sunred that’s going to run out of jokes first.
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Second Season
Short Synopsis: Our lead character turns out to be alive.
Highlights: Action-packed and character-centric start of the new season.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,25/10
How Awesome! Finally a series that centres around adults. Sure, they’re relatively young adults, but it’s definitely better than nothing with this season. Seriously, too many series are about bloody teenagers this season. This is only the second or third season that doesn’t. Have some variation! In any case, the worst thing about this episode is that every single main character that supposedly died at the end of the first season turns out to be still alive. It’s a bit of a disappointment, but nonetheless this does allow for some great character-development later on. This episode already started very nicely by finally trying to get Saji out of his angst by letting him meet Setsuna right off the bat. The action-scenes were also very nice, and the new soundtrack is also as good as the previous one. Overall, one of the best first episodes of the season. What this series now needs to do is keep track of its own characters, and make every single one of them count. Really, Sunrise has some good potential to redeem themselves this season after their countless train-wrecks, with the solid series of Tales of the Abyss, Gundam 00’s second season and of course Gintama, so let’s hope that they grab this chance.
By countless “train-wrecks” I assume you mean one.
It’s amazing that the shows only gotten one episode out and already people are starting up with that meme again, but I can’t say I’m surprised. Old memes die hard and this one is no exception, it being almost 4 years since the end of Gundam Seed Destiny and all. To me they’ve already long since redeemed themselves from that one true total disaster of a show, but for others they probably never will as long as the memes are always brought to the table and they never get a fair chance as a result.
Oh, Gundam Seed Destiny wasn’t even the one I was thinking of, actually. I was more referring to series as Code Geass, Mai Otome and Idol Master Xenoglossia, but indeed Gundam Seed Destiny also seems to fit that bill, based on the stories I’ve heard of it.
“Trainwreck” is not a meme, it’s an actual description of something.
Code Geass wasn’t perfect, but I’d hardly call it a “train wreck” (hate that word by the way). I know it became popular over time to say so, but I strongly disagree with the idea and felt more than anything that the label came out of a tendency to immediately call any of their shows as failures the second they start to remind people in any small way of Gundam Seed Destiny, which is the show that started the meme. Xenoglossia wasn’t really a “train wreck” I’d say, just incredibly mediocore and unmemorable. As for Mai Otome, never seen it and don’t want to see it.
Also perhaps I just don’t see it as such because of the whole “boy who cried train wreck” phenomenon I’ve noted with regard to the usual internet discussion for their shows. In short I’ve heard it so many times, used in so many different ways, and applied to pretty much everyone of their recent series at some point (often in ridiculous and over the top ways) that it just seems more like a memetic routine to me then an honest to goodness thought out reaction. I also tend to disagree with the idea of busting a reaction to a show down to one single buzz word, which is primarily why I’ve come to loathe the term “train wreck”.
Overall though, I think people tend to overexaggerate the faults in the show which really can be found in almost any anime as a sort of a nitpicking game. Code Geass kind of become overly popular and like all popular shows people like to tear them down, so that’s also a contributing factor.
I’m not saying Code Geass was without it’s flaws, just that I found them somewhat over-discussed (I used to play a game for fun where I would try and pick out which scene or plot point in an episode would become the “nitpick of the week”. That is, what minor troublesome aspect of an episode would dominate the blogging and forum discussion for that cycle) and brought to the forefront more then for what is seen with discussion on most shows and feel they were allowed to dominate the viewpoint of the show.
In the meantime it seemed like a lot of it’s more positive aspects were pushed to the background or made taboo for discussion (Most posts that tried to analyze the show on any level usually ended in flaming and an admonition for the analyzer, which when one thinks about it is kind of silly) even in the talking points of people who felt the show was the best thing since sliced bread.
In short I think the “train wreck” term would be better suited as a description for the mentality of a specific type of viewer. The rubber necker type who seeks out chaos and destruction (and CG had a lot of it) as a form of personal entertainment and tend to ignore whatever else is going on amidst it.
Anyway, I’m pretty much expecting the “train wreck” label to pop up more then once over the course of this second Gundam 00 season. The second they try to do anything out of the realm of predictable plot development it will be most likely be there if not sooner. I’m curious to see the exact point when “train wreck” rears it’s ugly head this season. :p
@Reginald: As far as I’m concerned it’s become so overused as to make the transition into meme territory. It’s apparent definition (which nobody seems able to agree on by the way) on the internet is also not going to be found in anything other then the urbandictionary most likely. Unless I wake up tomorrow and suddenly it’s entered common parlance that is.
Sorry, I meant that last comment for denizen, not myself of course. Late night *yawns*….sorry for the triple post.
I actually don’t use the term “trainwreck” that often. So far, I’ve only used for some of Sunrise’s shows (granted, Xenoglossia wasn’t the best example) and .Hack//Roots. I see it as a figure of speech, and I use it for shows with very big ambitions, which fail horribly along the way and yet keep going despite this, only increasing the wreckage. Count on the internet to blow every single thing out of proportions.
Indeed, every series has small flaws here and there, but most of the time they’re just few enough to ignore. With Code Geass, however, these small flaws kept coming and coming, to a level where it becomes harder and harder to ignore them. It’s even worse when these flaws pop up at the time when the series needs to deliver, because then you can’t take the climaxes seriously.
7 paragraph argument over the use of the word trainwreck to describe CG and/or other Sunrise shows? Wow.
Anyway, Kemeko Deluxe is certainly my pick of the season in the ridiculous comedy category. Can’t wait to start it when subs arrive.
I’ve read a few chapters of To Aru Majutsu no Index before I gave up. Maybe the anime’ll actually be better, but I doubt it as the manga was pretty much filled with plot holes (the protagonist blows a hole in someone’s room with power spiraling outwards and NOBODY notices. WTF), overly powerful villians that just show up for no reason, romance that pops out of no where, and well… it’s got nothing else. No decent characters, plot, humor or anything. The only thing I can say it has going for it is decent art.
“very single main character that supposedly died”
Lockon died, I think it’s his brother.
I’m glad you remember out of all the current “good” Sunrise shows, there’s still Gintama. Sunrise actually made Gintama a lot funnier than the manga. I gave up on Code Geass, but I still have hope for Gundam 00.
I also think Lockon really died. The one who shows up should be his twin brother (I think everyone thinks like that too since we can see his twin from season 1 already).
I guess I will skip Kemeko since I hardly laugh at the comedy show (aside from Gintama which I found laughable) and from what you say , it should not be too far till you drop it.
Don’t judge To Aru Majutsu no Index by the manga – everyone seems to agree it is god awful.
The novels are a blast (if definitely B grade material) and the anime appears to be doing a really good job with it; I particularly appreciated the nicely understated approach to the humor.
Actually, not everyone in S1 of Gundam 00 made it out alive.
(SPOILERS if you haven’t seen season 1!)
The first season Lockon is dead; the director confirmed it many times. The “Lockon” we see in this episode is Lyle, who is dead!Lockon’s brother. So while the code name Lockon Stratos is alive, the man who was Lockon Stratos, Neil Dylandy, is dead.
Gundam 00 is off to a great start, admittedly, so I’m definitely going to watch that one weekly.
I don’t think Sunrise really needs to “redeem” themselves over anything though, not anymore than anyone else, but there’s no need to go back to the subject that’s been beating to death with a hammer and a pair of scissors. I’m in basic agreement with Reginald, period,
Ahh yes, a nice batch of “Good” anime i’ll be watching. About sunrise needing to redeem themselve’s…i would have to disagree, they have been going strong so far currently having three very popular on-going anime series under their belt at the moment(Gintama, Keroro Gunso, Gundam 00…all of which i’m a fan of myself lol). So i don’t think they have anything to worry about.
the 1st episode of gundam 00 was indeed very good,nice pacing,a lot of action and the animation quality is very good,they did not waster any time with reintroductions and any other information and i liked that,i guess the new things that happened during the 4 years will be explained later so i hope the rest of gundam will be just as great 🙂
At least an episode with some characters, the end of the first season was mostly concentrated on mobile gundam machines, characters were often put behind the curtains. there we have some interesting entries, I just hope they will follow that way, I mean when Saji remembered all the tragedies that were cast upon his beloved ones ( his sister and Louise) , that was a good element to show how he suffered from the Gundams and their pilots, well I don’t remember Satsuki’s direct involvement in Saji’s sister’s death nor in the accident that had occured at the wedding, but he must be willing to take revenge against all the masters “being”, don’t know if i got it right. Anyway, a pretty well – build episode to begin this new season, i just hope they won’t forget characters somewhere on the way.
Hmm..I’d love to watch Gundam 00 II soon. :’/
But unfortunately..I still haven’t finish the 1st season.
Yes, I know..I suck that way. D:
Nice..:’3
I’m really hoping this season is gonna be good, since your review of the first epi make it feel as though it’s really something to look out for. x’3