R-15

What’s it about ?

The Academy of Inspiration, where teenage geniuses from every possible field are gathered to cultivate their talent. Also, smut.

Characters

Taketo, our protagonist. He’s the best at what he does, and what he does is… writing porn novels. Since middle school. No, really, that’s the plot. Obviously, all his female classmates tend to view him with disgust… which isn’t unwarranted, considering how whenever he looks at one of them, he starts imagining them in porn scenarios and writing it in his notebook (when he’s not dreaming aloud). From what we can see of it, his output is cliché-ridden purple prose that sounds more laughable than arousing.

Ritsu, genius mathematician, his best friend, aka the Gay Option. He’s very defensive of Taketo, despite the guy not deserving it at all.

Raika, genius photographer, seems to be the only girl who genuinely likes Taketo and his perversion. They’re both in the Newspaper Club, and as such are tasked with interviewing…

Fukune, genius clarinette player. You’d think she’d be perfect fodder Taketo’s writing, but he’s actually somehow unable to write anything smutty about her (although he can still write cliché-ridden magical girl stories about her). Of course, his attempts at getting close to her are a complete disaster, given his (well-deserved) reputation.

The campus is filled with geniuses in every possible field. We’ve got a genius inventor (whose rockets coincidentally always seem to target Taketo…), a genius idol singer… and even a genius narrator who delivers a complete summary of Taketo’s life story. Which is admittedly the one genuinely funny joke in the whole episode.

Production Values

Average, and of course with tons of fanservice. We get to see a good number of Taketo’s fantasies, and it’s no wonder some of them are heavily censored.

Overall Impression

Dear gods, that was painful. Setting aside the repulsive premise and the bland characters, it commits the worst sin possible for a comedy : it’s not funny in the slightest.

I’d say this was easily the worst show in the season (yes, worse than pedo-bait Ro-Kyu-Bu), but there’s still three to go and at least one of them looks like a strong contender. But it’s certainly down there with the worst things I’ve ever watched.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2011 – Page 7.

A Dark Rabbit has Seven Lives (Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Teenage vampires. Or something.

Characters

Taito, our average high school male protagonist. Nine years ago he got bitten and enslaved by his childhood sweetheart, but somehow he’s all forgot about that now, aside from random dreams about it. But that changes when a getting ran over by a truck makes it clear he’s immortal (decapitation’s involved) and jumps up his memories. He then sets out to find her back.

Himea, said sweetheart. She’s been imprisoned in limbo for 9 years, and is thus a bit disappointed he’s taken this long to save her. His “awekening” allows her to escape, though. She then magically ages her body up from 6 to 15, because her reunion scene with Taito would have been creepy otherwise. (Not that this isn’t creepy, but…) They barely manage to get together when she’s stabbed by…

Gekkou, presumably our antagonist. The idol student at Taito’s high school, he’s quite the jerk beneath the “perfect” façade. His superpowers include opening portals and the like, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the one to trap Himea. He’s followed around by a devoted groupie who mainly helps provide exposition.

There’s also Haruka, Taito’s current not-girlfriend (although she’d obviously like it to be more), who hovers around him to help with exposition delivery and then suddenly disappears from the story once Taito goes around looking for Himea.

Production Values

This looks like a horrible style clash. The basic linework is the kind of bright and shiny stuff, with everyone having wild and technicolor hair, that you’d expect from a much brighter show ; but it seems to have been processed through a brown filter, jerked around to produce unending Dutch angles, and peppered with random post-production embellishments (way-too-elaborate CG runes ! weird CG stylings on the screen borders that look completely out of place !) in a desperate effort to make it look darker and edgier. It’s a complete failure, and just looks hideous.

It doesn’t help that this show is marred by absolutely inane censorship. Whatever you may think about a gratuitous upskirt shot of dozens of Gekkou’s groupies, it’s just stupid to add a big white ray of light in the middle that completely fails to hide most of the panties. And that’s far from an isolated occurrence (either for the censorship or the tons of gratuitous panty shots).

Overall Impression

Oh, dear. This sure went to hell fast.

There’s a wonderful pre-OP sequence where Himea bites Taito (in a dream/flashback) that is deliciously creepy and contains some genuinely good dialogue. But after that it’s a disjointed mess that barely makes any sense or has any logical flow. We also get some abysmal dialogue, such as when Taito stops dead in his tracks to deliver a mightily awkward six-line “As You Know” description of Gekkou to Haruka. There are a couple of good scenes here and there (such as Taito’s body wandering headless for a full minute, or most of Gekkou’s groupie’s banter), but even those are marred by the terrible artstyle.

Damn, there’s a decent nugget of a story somewhere in there. But the execution is far too bad for me to even consider watching another episode.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2011 – Page 7.

Mayo Chiki!

What’s it about ?

Ordinary high school dude discovers that the butler of his very rich classmate is actually a girl in drag. Hilarity ensues.

Characters

Jirou, our protagonist. His mother has left the country in search of something that’d challenge her in a fight, and his little sister’s routine to wake him up involves beating him to a pulp, so he has no problem taking a punch ; an ability that is sure to come handy. He’s afflicted with a bizarre allergy that makes him nosebleed when touched by a girl (and pass out on prolonged contact), so of course his repeated avoidance of anything female makes everyone think he’s gay.

Kanade, the super-rich girl whose Daddy owns the school. She looks like the perfect girl, but her demure exterior hides a grade-A sadist with no shame whatsoever.

Subaru, Kanade’s butler. Who’s secretly a girl, as part of those weird contrived family traditions that come up all the time in anime. Jirou stumbles on her in the male bathroom and accidentally learns his secret, which is only the beginning of his troubles. She wants to “get rid of the evidence”, of course, but Kanade eventually makes a deal between the three of them to keep all this a secret.

We catch a glimpse of various other side-characters, such as the mandatory lecherous best friend or the random cat-eared girl, but they don’t matter much yet.

Production Values

Average, and with a hefty dose of fanservice through convenient clothing damage. Nothing to write home about, although I quite like the soundtrack.

Overall Impression

I was all set to hate this, as the premise is unoriginal crap replete with clichés. But it surprised me by being actually quite funny : the jokes are well-timed, Kanade gets all the best lines (“The nurse left after I slapped her repeatedly with a bundle of cash”), and Jirou gets some decent sarcastic one-liners. Even Subaru’s not as irritating as her archetype (“supposedly strong girl who melts when the protagonist touches her”) would suggest.

Don’t mistake me, this is still crap. But it’s entertaining crap, and I’m perfectly willing to give it at least one other episode (although the next-episode-preview seems designed to make me reconsider by foreshadowing even more contrived stupidity).

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2011 – Page 5.

God’s Memo Pad (Kamisama no Memochou)

What’s it about ?

NEET detectives (and a couple of high-schoolers) fight crime.

Characters

Narumi, our point-of-view character. A high-schooler whose family moved around a lot, he stumbles on the NEET detectives by chance and never really manages to get away. He’s something of a loner, joining the Computer club because there’s nobody else there. Also, he’s got very little presence (people forget he’s even there at least twice in the episode). I quite like him : his sarcastic narration is quite fun, and his straightforward approach to problem-solving is a nice contrast to the bozos surrounding him.

“Alice” (not her real name, MAL tells me) is the brains of the NEET detectives ; she’s the “always stays in her room and can barely function socially” kind of NEET. An elite hacker, she alternates between “very smart monotone” and “sickeningly cute” in a way that doesn’t really convince me (Yui Ogara can’t pull it off as well as Aoi Yuuki did in GOSICK).

The NEET field agents mostly act as a group : there’s the big guy with an attitude, the survival-gamer who plants cameras everywhere, and the smooth dude who’s totally not an escort. Oh, and they’re in friendly terms with a group who are totally not local yakuza.

Ayaka, a potential love interest for Narumi, is one of his classmates who approaches him because she’s the only member of her club too (the Gardening Club), and they can help each other’s club survive. Or something. Anyway, she’s the one who brings Narumi and the NEET detectives together (they’re regulars at the restaurant she works part-time at), although he’d already stumbled on them in one of their cases before.

Our case for the week revolves around the mysterious disappearance of a high-school girl practicing “compensated dating”. It’s noticeably darker than the zany hijinks of the NEET detectives, although the writers manage not to make it too jarring.

Production Values

This reminds me somewhat of Durarara!! : it’s not particularly outstanding quality, but there’s a real attention to detail and body language, and the backgrounds give a real sense of place to the proceedings.

The soundtrack is particularly good, and… wait. Random rapping ? Big sweeping violins on moving scenes ? Hello, Taku Iwasaki ! It’s always a pleasure. (OP & ED are nothing to write home about, though.)

For some reason, the first episode that aired as a preview is double-length (45 minutes). I have no clue whether this is just for the pilot or it is supposed to be the regular format for the show.

Overall Impression

Well, now we’re talking. This is the first show this season that impressed me. It’s got a fun premise and a good handling of characterization for most of the characters (which is important, considering the heart of the case resides in subtly conveying the self-destructive feeling of the main three characters involved). My only concern so far is Alice herself, who feels a bit too artificial a character to really work.

Still, this is a promising show. Let’s see how future episodes shake up.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2011 – Page 3.

Ro-Kyu-Bu

What’s it about ?

Standard sports series about an elementary school’s female basketball club. Also, lolicon.

Characters

Subaru, our protagonist. He’s a high school student roped by his elder sister (who’s an elementary teacher) into coaching the club for three days. He was part of the high-school basketball club until it got dissolved a month or so ago due to a “lolicon incident” (I’m not sure about the details, and I can’t bring myself to rewatch this), and his middle school club got quite high in tournaments, so at least he’s competent, but he’s not particularly enthusiastic (his sister being a complete troll doesn’t help).

The five members of the club are the usual stereotypes : the talented and competent one, the loud idiot, the brainy one, the tall and way-too-well-endowed-for-an-elementary-student moeblob, and the kid.

We also get a glimpse of Subaru’s potential love interest, as well as the male elementary basketball club walking angrily towards Subaru as a weak cliffhanger.

Production Values

There’s absolutely no way to mistake what kind of audience this is pandering to : way too many ass shots, an emphasis on the glistening hotpants the girls wear, a gratuitous shower scene where they actually start fondling each other…

Well, at least they spent part of the animation budget into making the basketball look somewhat good. But that’s what, 4 minutes of screentime in total ?

Overall Impression

I knew what kind of show I was in for when I saw that the first post-OP action of the girls was to dress as maids in an effort to “make a good impression” on their new coach (and their dialogue gets more explicit after that). I braced myself for quite a painful watch.

It’s… actually not that bad : the lolicon stuff gets more subdued as the episode goes, and it’s hard to mess with the standard sports show formula. Still, that doesn’t actually make the show any good : the not-brain-bleach-inducing parts are merely mediocre instead of plain awful. There’s nothing at all to recommend to this show.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2011.

Aria the Scarlet Ammo (Hidan no Aria)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

In the near future, random terrorism has become such a problem that there’s now an academy devoted to training mercenaries from elementary school onwards.

Characters

Kinji, our high school boy protagonist. While he spends most of the episode whining about wanting to quit the mercenary school, he suffers from a bizarre medical condition that alters his behaviour to one of a cliché action hero when he gets to excited. Anyway, on his way to school he discovers someone planted a bomb on his bicycle, and he’s stalked by killer Segways. He’s saved at the last minute by…

Aria, aka the standard Rie Kugimiya-voiced tsundere loli. The variation here is that, like nearly every character in this setting, she’s armed to the teeth. (How does she hide those katanas behind her back ? They’re taller than her torso !) She makes her entrance by parachuting off a skyscraper in a scene that was probably meant to look cool but just ends up making no sense whatsoever.

Shirayuki, Kinji’s “friend” who does all his domestic chores for him, in the hopes he’ll take the hint. (He doesn’t.)

We get to see a few more characters at school, but none of them rise above the usual stereotypes for now. There’s even a teacher who spends all his screentime delivering a lecture describing the setting to students who presumably already know all this stuff.

Production Values

Some decent action sequences, but the most striking thing here is the rampant fanservice, with every single girl being heavily sexualized and our protagonist landing into more chests than reasonable.

Also, gun porn. Lots of gun porn.

Overall Impression

What the heck is this shit ?

The writers probably find it clever to have the protagonist complain at length about the premise. It’s not ; it’s just bloody irritating and makes me loathe him. His plot-convenient MPD and the harem hijinks don’t help one bit.

Some people might get some entertainment from crazy shit such as the killer Segways, but this kind of manufactured zaniness just rubs me the wrong way. Avoid.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2011 – Page 12.

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko (“Electromagnetic Wave Woman and Adolescent Man”)

(12 episodes ?)

What’s it about ?

A standard harem protagonist who did not get the memo that he was in a SHAFT production.

Characters

Makoto Niwa, our protagonist. In a reversal from the usual cliché set-up, he moves from the countryside to the city, which he hopes’ll allow him access to more than the few girls at his former school. Fortunately he keeps being sidetracked by the weirdness around him, so he’s not too annoying.

Meme Touwa, his aunt, with whom he moves in at the start of the episode. She seems to purposefully cultivate her looks and childish personnality to look younger ; and it works, as I wouldn’t have pegged her as 39. Her more bizarre trait, though, is how she deliberately ignores…

Erio Touwa, apparently Meme’s daughter. Or an alien, if one believes the nonsense she keeps babbling. She spends most of the episode wrapped inside a mattress, looking like a sushi roll. Which somehow doesn’t prevent her from ordering and eating pizza.

Production Values

This is actually remarkably free of SHAFT-isms, aside from Makoto often tilting his head backwards. As a result, it’s quite bland-looking.

Overall Impression

Meh. It’s far less weird than I’d been given to think, which is quite disappointing. While there’s some good comedic timing here and there, a lot of jokes are just lost in translation, and it’s just not very funny. The romance angle’s not very interesting either.

I’ll probably persevere with it for a couple more episodes because I’ve discovered myself to be a huge SHAFT-whore (see also : me sticking with Maria Holic Alive despite loathing it), but this isn’t a very promising first episode.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2011 – Page 11.

Sister Princess

(26 episodes)

What’s it about ?

A very bizarre harem (?) series where the protagonist is sent to a high school on a remote island… and meets a series of girls who all claim to be his long-lost little sisters.

Characters

Wataru, our hapless main character. The poor boy seems to be the universe’s chew toy – despite being a top student, he fails to enter his dream high school because of a computer error. Tons of other humiliating stuff happens to him in this first episode alone. His background is somewhat intriguing : there are no parents in sight, he seems to be living alone with an elderly butler (who quits five minutes in)… and there’s immediately a backup plan from nowhere for him to get enrolled into another high school after his initial failure (this involves him getting manhandled by two Men In Black).

So far we only see four of the “sisters” (although the OP promises more). They all adhere to the usual harem clichés : there’s the mistress of the mixed message, the trendy one, the shy one and the kid one.

Taro is your usual annoying “perverted sidekick”, whose main purpose seems to be eating up precious screentime with his antics.

Mami is a bizarre girl who comes to the island at the same time as Wataru and Taro. She monologues that she’s there to observe Wataru… and indeed, she can often be seen in the background stalking him.

There’s a running joke that all the island’s adult staff (so far, the boat driver and the realtor) look like Jeeves, Wataru’s old butler. Whether it’s always the same guy in disguise, a group of relatives, or just a coincidence is up in the air at this stage.

Production Values

Quite low, to be honest. On the other hand, there are lots of little directing tricks and sight gags to keep the whole thing visually interesting and very surreal ; not quite SHAFT-ish, but more in the vein of Utena. Me likey.

Overall Impression

What the… ?

This is a very surreal series indeed. At first glance, it’s your typical collection of harem clichés (see above). But there’s a very nasty undercurrent that the whole thing may well be a joke at the protagonist’s expense, as absolutely nothing here makes any kind of sense. The plot is full of holes, which is fully acknowledged by the series (and the protagonist is appropriately bemused by it all).

But I’m really not sure I want to commit to 26 episodes of it ; there’s a very distinct risk of it turning into a just quirky cliché harem series, something I have no interest in. Maybe it’s better if I stick with the memory of this intriguing first episode ? I doubt the actual series can match my expectations…

 This school makes offers you can't refuse.
This school makes offers you can’t refuse.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2001 – Page 4.

Rune Soldier Louie (Mahou Senshi Louie)

(24 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Comedic heroic-fantasy. Three female adventurers are looking for a magician to complete their party. A female one if possible, but the only one they find is a classic male lech who ain’t even much good at it.

Characters

The party is currenly comprised of Merril, the quick-tempered short Thief ; Genie, the amazon Warrior ; and Melissa, the not-that-pure Cleric (Kikuko Inoue in yet another of those self-parody roles – at this point I’m not even sure I remember her ever playing the perfect-woman type straight).

Presumably shortly joining them is Louie, our title character. He ain’t much good at magic (he apparently got into the Magic Academy through nepotism, and doesn’t pay attention to the lectures), and spends his time drinking in towns and leering at any girl he sees. His “accidental pervert” tendencies don’t help : he spends most of the episode either on the run or in jail.

There’s also Ila, his fellow student who’d like to be a bit more, wink wink nudge nudge (he’s totally oblivious). She’s prominently featured in the ED, so presumably the writers’ll find a way to keep her around despite her explicitly stating she has no interest in adventuring (much to the distress of the trio, who’d rather have her than Louie).

Production Values

It does the job, but just that. I’ll also note the rather high fanservice level (it’s mostly the “all in good fun” kind rather than anything skeevy, though).

Overall Impression

Hello, Slayers clone !

Okay, that’s a bit harsh. Especially as I find it quite funnier than its predecessor (mostly because I like the main characters more). Still, this looks like a bog-standard heroic-fantasy comedy… including the vague hints that it’ll get more serious once the real plot shows up.

I’m actually a bit curious on how it goes on : it looks like decent popcorn watching.

 There's a perfectly rational explanation why Louie has barged into Melissa's "religious ceremony" and looks like he's about to rape her. Really.
There’s a perfectly rational explanation why Louie has barged into Melissa’s “religious ceremony” and looks like he’s about to rape her. Really.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2001 – Page 3.

Is this a Zombie ? (Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka ?)

What’s it about ?

Our ordinary high school student protagonist stopped being ordinary a month ago, when he was murdered by a serial killer. Fortunately, he’s been resurrected as some sort of zombie and can continue investigating. Not that his search goes anywhere, considering all the weirdness he encounters.

Characters

Aikawa, our protagonist. Surprisingly laid back about the whole zombie thing, although since it gives him super-strength and the ability to recover from any injury, it’s somewhat understandable (he does have problems with sunlight, though). Mistakes any girl he meets for a tsundere, which means that he misinterprets abuse (tsun) for affection (dere).

Eucliwood Hellscythe, the Necromancer who revived him. Has been staying at his home doing nothing ever since. Communicates only through her notebook.

Haruna-chan, a chainsaw-wielding magical girl he crashes into midway through the episode. Comes from a magical world to exterminate various creatures (that gives her “points”), and thus a bit confused by modern technology (i.e., cell phones). Dear gods she’s annoying, especially since she spends half the episode either flashing her panties or downright naked. (Seriously, she first appears crotch-first.)

Production Values

Very average, as you’d expect from Studio DEEN. The OP’s a thing of beauty, but marred by a terrible song. The ED’s a nice joke.

Overall Impression

More than a bit mixed. Aikawa’s an awesome protagonist whose condition is fodder for tons of fun jokes, the comedic timing is pretty good, I like the very weird setting… But Haruna-chan is a black hole of terribleness that saps my enjoyment of the show whenever she’s onscreen. (On the other hand, it’s true the final scene wouldn’t work as well without the constant fanservice around her.)

I’ll probably continue watching though, hoping Haruna-chan becomes less obnoxious after awhile.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2010-2011 – Page 13.