Nyanpire
Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a vampire and a cat.
Gonzo is back! Unfortunately, I do have to say that this is Bad Gonzo. This was just… very poorly produced and it looks more like the commercial for a crappy j-pop band. Here is the thing with this series: its episodes are only 4 and a half minutes long. Only 3 minutes are actual content. The rest consists of a 90-minute live action music video that’s supposed to be the ED. That’s 33 percent of this series! I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a big percentage completely devoted to OPs and EDs, but the worst part is that the ED is pretty much the worst ED of the season. The dancing and choreography are all terrible, in the “we try to be funny but totally aren’t”-way. As for the actual content… it was pretty dull. It’s understandable that the animation is very simple, but the acting was really bad as well. The entire episode was the main cat looking for food, but any attempt of it to be cute didn’t work thanks to bad voice acting and timing.
ED: Live action mixed with traditional animation doesn’t necessarily have to be bad. But here it’s utterly terrible.
Potential: 0%
Kamisama Dolls
Short Synopsis: Our lead character has a sister who can summon a god.
Here’s a show that realizes that it’s only got 12 episodes to work with! Dear god, it put a ton of stuff into just this one episode without feeling rushed (it does have very large mood-swings, though). It established the main cast, it gave them depth, it showed their background, it fleshed them out, it introduced the main villain and made him one heck of a force to be reckoned with, it did romance, comedy, action, mystery and adventure all together. This entire episode felt like a strong standalone thriller. The writing was rock-solid and the animation courtesy of Brains Base was excellent, the action scenes were awesome too and the few cliches that were there were made up by great characterization. It’s a bit of a shame that the promotional material only showed the main characters’ little sister: she’s like, the only teenager in the entire series so far, with the rest being adults.
OP: Holy crap, what a song! Ishikawa Chiaki’s vocals are amazing, the track itself is very inspired with this latin-ish theme and the visuals are based on a great visual idea.
ED: More traditional for Ishikawa Chiaki, but still a great song. Spoiling the next episode is a bit less of a good idea, though.
Potential: 90%
Morita-san wa Mukuchi
Short Synopsis: Our lead character is shy.
Ah, that figures. Morita-san’s episodes are only 3 minutes long. I was really wondering how the heck the creators were going to deal with this TV-series when the OVA already was ridiculously poorly produced. Having short episodes makes this slightly more bearable, but this remains a gimmick series: it’s entirely about the lead character being shy, and this episode just consisted out of a few typical scenes where shy people have problems with. Being shy myself, I can understand where the creators are coming from, but it all just feels way too shallow. It just lists these scenes with predictable outcomes, its comedic timing misses the mark completely and the characters are just one-dimensional stereotypes who are entirely dominated by their quirk. It had its charms and at least this was much more bearable than the OVA, but I still fail to see the point in watching this.
OP: Really feels like it was thrown together at the last minute.
ED:
Potential: 10%
I might watch Kamisama Dolls if only for the fact that it’s Ishikawa Chiaki~ ♥
I agreed about the promotional stuff for Kamisama Dolls. I was a bit meh about this show after seeing the promotional material but it really was amazing. My only complaint would be the ILB’s on the love interest (improbably large breasts). Donno why they have to do that :S
I second the thing about the breasts. In a show that’s ostensibly taking itself seriously, having a female character going around with giant torpedo-shaped boobs is incredibly jarring.
Sometimes I get the feeling that a lot of anime character designs are being done by twelve year old boys.
Kamisama Dolls’ first episode has left me intrigued. I’m going to keep watching and hope for the best, though it’s really just the two robot-users that have interested me.
I agree the OP and ED were very good for this one. Clever visuals.
Nyanpire’s ending is horrible. The actual show itself is averagely cute (if that makes sense) and I see nothing wrong with it. I can see it becoming a pretty popular gimmicky show that will lead to purses, wallets, and backpacks found at your local Hot Topic.
“Here’s a show that realizes that it’s only got 12 episodes to work with!”
Nope, they pretty much are staying true to the manga which is at about 8 volumes now. Expect things to slow down a bit.
I watched the Morita-san wa Mukuchi OVA and thought it was quite charming. True, there’s nothing much in the way of depth, comic timing, or production values, but I wasn’t expecting much. Also, I’m not sure she’s shy – she has an established circle of friends – it’s more that she was raised to choose her words carefully, and can never do so in time.
About kamisama dolls:
I like breasts, im a guy, i cant just admit i like them. BUT, in some anime, they can be misplaced and distracting.
And this is a VERY obvious case. I mean, why the f*ck does she have SO GIGANTIC BREASTS!? Why japan? It made me facepalm so hard, everything looked and felt so great, and they made that monster that just totally ruined it for me.
This isnt the first time, and normally it doesnt annoy me if everything else is “cartoony” etc. then big breasts doesnt feel out of place. But in a series like this, it makes no sense at all, just detracts from the viewing.
Your take on Kamisama Dolls was pretty similar to mine, exempting the quality of animation. Now that I think back on it though, the animation was pretty good for the action parts, where the Seki and Kamisamas go at it against each other. The start of the episode, at the goukon, looked pretty terrible.
I love that you also thought the OP sounded “latin”; I believe I called it “salsa-like” music. It really urges you to get up and dance!
I really appreciate the comments on Nyanpire and Morita-san, since I was thinking of trying them for the sake of…open-mindedness. Now I’ll probably avoid them.
Just saw Nyanpire and Morita-san. Nyanpire was about as ridiculous as I expected, but Morita-san was actually rather funny (IMO). The animation was fun and kind of quirky too. I just wish it was longer. Hopefully it lasts a long time so there will be a lot of episodes?
http://myanimelist.net/profile/Thelostcup/reviews
Im sure ive seen a couple of episodes of Bleach and Naruto where the Op+Ed+recap+Omake where fully 50% of the shows length.
I don’t know…
I’d have to disagree with you on the Nyanpire one.
I found the ending really cool and catchy, and this is coming from a very picky person when it comes to OPs and EDs.
It’s true that it’s quite short… but Hetalia is as well (which is completely irrelevant except for the fact that it’s short).
I don’t know…
I’d have to disagree with you on the Nyanpire one.
I found the ending really cool and catchy, and this is coming from a very picky person when it comes to OPs and EDs.
It’s true that it’s quite short… but Hetalia is as well (which is completely irrelevant except for the fact that it’s short).
I don’t know…
I’d have to disagree with you on the Nyanpire one.
I found the ending really cool and catchy, and this is coming from a very picky person when it comes to OPs and EDs.
It’s true that it’s quite short… but Hetalia is as well (which is completely irrelevant except for the fact that it’s short).