Tag: manga adaptation

Bungo Stray Dogs

(12 episodes, with a second half already scheduled for this Fall)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a manga series about quirky super-powered private detectives.

Characters

Atsushi, our point-of-view character, doesn’t actually belong to the special detective agency. He’s a starving orphan who’s been kicked out of his orphanage and has been desperately looking for food for the last few days. Eventually he runs into…

Dazai, one of the members of the agency, whose gimmick is that he keeps trying to commit suicide. Er, yeah. (His actual super-power : suppressing other people’s powers.) The case of the week involves him tracking down an escaped tiger who’s been wreaking havoc for a couple of weeks. By a nice coincidence, Atsushi is pretty sure the tiger is stalking him, so Dazai’s all too happy to feed him to get him on board.

Kunikuda is basically Dazai’s minder : the straight man who keeps him on track while complaining a lot about it.

Three other members of the agency show up as backup at the end, although they’re mostly glorified cameos so far. The gimmick is that they’re all named for famous mystery authors, which I only noticed once Edogawa Rampo was name-checked.

Production Values

Now this is effective colour design, quietly reinforcing the important elements without drawing attention to itself. I’m less enthusiastic about the comedy bits having the characters looking way sketchier ; it kinda breaks the mood.

On the other hand, Taku Iwasaki’s score seems on form.

What did I think of it ?

Uh. I expected to like this more, but it’s not quite gelling yet. The case of the week is beyond obvious, and there seems to be a competition between characters as to who’s going to be the most obnoxious. (Dazai easily wins, with Mamoru Miyano chewing many acres of scenery.)

Still, there are enough promising bits on display here that I’m willing to give it time to find its feet for a few episodes.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2016 – Page 3

Twin Star Exorcists (Sousei no Onmyouji)

(12ish episodes ?)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of an action manga series about teenage exorcists.

Characters

Rokuro, our male lead, used to be very enthusiastic about being an action exorcist when he was younger, but he’s now more disillusioned about it, and has basically been retired for two years. He spends most of the episode brooding about it, including in the middle of his meet cute with…

Benio, our female lead. Who’s also an action exorcist, of course. While she may not have that much more illusions about the endless and thankless nature of her task, but this is her mission damnit, and she’ll keep doing it until she drops dead.

And, er, that’s pretty much it. Most of the episode is devoted to an extended fight scene against some nasty monsters they randomly run into (and have to save a couple kids from). And when an annoying dude vaguely looking antagonist-like shows up for three seconds at the end, the next-episode preview quickly reassures us that he’s actually the asshole mentor who’s going to have our two heroes fight against each other for no good reason.

Production Values

Oh dear gods this is an ugly show. The actual animation is pretty good, especially for the action sequences (Benio in action is particularly impressive), but the character designs are beyond fugly. Moreover, the colour palette switches to some blood-red for the otherworldly fight against the demons, and it just looks awful, like the platonic opposite of JoJo‘s vibrant colour design.

What did I think of it ?

I couldn’t connect with this on any level. The two main leads didn’t impress, and they have no chemistry together whatsoever. Moreover, the show completely fails at even hinting at an interesting wider picture ; heck, the next-episode preview seems designed to kill any enthusiasm over anything remotely interesting happening for a while.

The action itself is okay, I guess (if you can ignore the awful colouring and the lack of personality of the demons), but that’s way too shallow to carry the show by its lonesome. There’s no way I’m watching a second episode.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2016 – Page 3

Bakuon!! (“Bike Club”)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a manga series of Cute Girls Doing Cute Things… er, with motorbikes.

(There’s also a recently-released OVA where they visit hot springs, but 95% of the screentime is devoted to the road trip, because of course it is.)

Characters

Hane, the naive newcomer who had no interest in motorbikes before entering high school, and thus can be explained everything. It doesn’t take much to convince her : it sure would be more convenient than her bicycle to climb the huge slope to school, and the show is all about motorbikes being cool as heck. Also, she’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer. (With their parents abroad, it’s her little sister who handles the finances.)

Onsa, on the other hand, is an old hand at this ; she even chose the school deliberately because its rules allowed coming to school by motorbike. The show gives her a running gag of going off in long, rambling and passionate speeches about her passion, only for her to get quickly ignored by her friends. I’m not sure it really works, although the payoff at the end of the episode is cute.

Both of them (at Onsa’s impetus), join the school’s ill-defined Bike Club, with only the one member left before they come in. The joke is that she keeps her helmet on at all times and never talks (onscreen).

Rin is another classmate whom Hane meets at driving school ; she’s a Suzuki fangirl, and seems affluant enough to wear a bike suit.

Production Values

Okay enough. It’s clear that most of the care went to depicting the bikes as lushly as possible.

What did I think of it ?

While the central idea is cute, such a show lives and dies on the execution of its jokes. Unfortunately, there’s quite some misses here (Onsa’s whole shtick, in particular). Other could get old quickly, like having Hane’s bike being voiced by Kikuko Inoue with a very dirty mouth. (What is it with slife-of-life gag series this season being unexpectedly raunchy ?)

Still, there are enough decent jokes here to make me give it a second episode to find its feet. We’ll see how it goes from there.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2016 – Page 3

Girl Meets Bear (Kuma Miko)

(12ish episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a slice-of-life manga series about the young priestess of a remote Japanese village where bears coexist with people.

Characters

Machi, our 14-year-old heroine, is a bit fed up of living in this small village in the middle of nowhere, without cell reception, barely any stores, and so on. She’s also not too fond of her position as the priestess of the local shrine to the bear god. Especially as it means interacting daily with…

Natsu, the shrine’s bear. Who can talk. (And not just to Machi ; more on that later.) He’s a bit of a father figure to her, and she’s at the age where she starts rebelling.

Yoshio, Machi’s older cousin, is a town employee. His prerogatives involves taking the kids that have turned 9 to the shrine so that they can learn the village’s secret (the tribe of friendly talking bears living there) and the folklore legends about them. Which, like all good fairytales, involve bestiality.

… Yup, the show cheerfully goes there. Machi is very embarrassed about this and quick to note that her priestess position has NOTHING to do with the “maidens offered to the bears” of the legends, so PLEASE stop picturing it. Pretty please.

Production Values

Well, it’s got the bear body language down pat, and those are some lovely pastel backgrounds for the countryside. You can’t really ask for more, eh ?

Also, that’s a lovely visual gimmick for the ED sequence.

What did I think of it ?

That’s totally the wrong (sub)title for the show ! Machi has known Natsu all her life, and the first half of the episode involves her trying (and failing) to leave him. … Or so I thought until we got to the second half introducing the legends. That’s, er, way more raunchy than I expected this cute show to be, but overall that’s a pleasant surprise. I’m all for coming-of-age stories acknowledging that sex exists, after all.

Still, this is a bit uneven, and some of the jokes in the first half relied on cultural knowledge I don’t possess. (I get the “Suica” gag, but what the heck was the “Marui” thing all about ?) Let’s hope it goes on with the more accessible (and funnier) trend of the second half from now on. I’m willing to give it a go for a while, at least.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2016 – Page 2

My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

The latest adaptation of a Weekly Shonen Jump manga series, this time around centered about a superhero high-school.

Characters

The big idea of the setting is that from a given point, most people started being born with superpowers ; we’re now (at least) in the fifth generation, and 80% of the general population has powers. Only a minority become actual superheroes (or villains), of course, but it’s obviously the preferred career choice for kids growing up, to the point that the elite UA school, which apparently has this as its main focus, has become a dream for many.

Enter Midoriya, our pointy-haired protagonist. He’s a rare kid who seemingly doesn’t have any powers, and is thus the bullied laughingstock of his middle school. That doesn’t stop him from dreaming and applying to UA anyway, though. And he’s a complete fanboy about superheroes, and keeps comprehensive notes about all those he’s encountered. His true idol, though, is…

All Might, one of the top and most famous superheroes around. Midoriya has been obsessing about the Youtube vids of his exploits for at least a decade. When he finally does get to meet him in person, there’s something not quite right, though. (Not that our kid notices.) At the very least, he’s hiding some health issues (how long has he been operating, anyway ?).

Bakugou is a kid who’s been bullying Midoriya for years, although I don’t think we quite get to see what his powers are yet. He’s the only other person in his class who’s set his sights as high as UA, and takes the powerless dweeb aiming at it too as a personal insult. In short, he’s a complete asshole ; but at least he’s a moderately entertaining one.

The opening credits features tons of clips of various superpowered people, who will presumably be introduced properly when the story actually gets to our hero and his rival entering UA.

Production Values

Quite good ; the superheroing action looks fine, and the character designs are striking enough to get the “bigger-than-life” feel the story requires. On the other hand, I’m less fond of some scenes getting a dark filter that muddies up what’s happening for no good effect.

What did I think of it ?

Eh. This has the misfortune of coming hot on the heels of One Punch Man, which built itself off similar concepts but in more striking ways. Here, it looks like we’re going into a well-trodden school setting instead, and the generic earnest Jump protagonist is already getting on my nerves.

I’m giving it a second episode, but it really needs to pick up the pace and sell me on the actual Hero Academy before I lose my patience.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2016 – Page 2

Winter 2016 Capsules

Sushi Police has exactly one joke : an elite police task force regulating the quality and authenticity of sushi. Unfortunately, the execution is rather dismal : few of the gags land, and the animation style is an acquired taste at best. You probably shouldn’t bother seeking it out.

 

Old Man & Marshmallow is an office romantic-comedy about a middle manager who loves marshmallow. One of his underlings keeps teasing him about him in a way that makes it clear she’s flirting with him ; he’s oblivious. Nothing great here, but it’s paced decently, mildly funny, and rather okay overall. I may stick with it.

 

Oh, and I’m giving up on Assassination Classroom. The first season had huge pacing and consistency issues ; mostly, it wasn’t that funny. So this new season really had to hit it out of the park to keep my interest… It didn’t. It’s a below average episode with nothing particularly interesting happening ; it might have worked partway through the season as a breather, but something much more punchy was needed at this stage.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2016 – Page 2

 

I’ve given up on writing a full review for Divine Gate. This is an adaptation of a smartphone game where characters aligned with six different elements fight against each other. The show makes it darnedest to try and build up my interest into the token plot and make it look visually interesting, but I just don’t care. I just can’t summon the energy to take interest into whatever is going on here, and the characters certainly aren’t appealing enough to carry the show.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2016 – Page 3

Sequel watch !

Durarara!!x2 had a very good start for its last third. Most of it is taking stock of the story so far, as Celty desperately tries to get an explanation of what the heck is going on and WHAT ARE ALL THOSE PEOPLE DOING IN HER HOME, but superbly executed. Izaya & Shizuo also get good scenes, so I’m perfectly content with this.

Koyomimonogatari are the latest instalment of the -monogatari franchise, this time around as shorts only available on a mobile-app. (So ready your eyepatch if you want to watch it.) It adapts a bunch of short side stories, so it’s not that great a loss if you miss it. “Koyomi Stone”, the first one, is set before Bakemonogatari and fun enough, as an insight into Ararararagi’s early character development.

By the way, Snow White with the Red Hair is still as fun and engaging as before the break, it’s the one bright spot on Mondays.

I’ve Had Enough of Being a Magical Girl is basically a similar premise to Nurse Witch Komugi R, i.e. a magical girl parody, except as 3-minute shorts and actually half-way engaging. Nothing to write much home about, though.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2016 – Page 4

Rainbow Days (Nijiiro Days)

(25ish 13-minute episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a shojo romance manga series. Interestingly, it seems to follow the point of view of the boys.

Characters

Natsuki, our protagonist, is your standard highschool student, of the nice guy (bordering on Nice Guy) mold. He has three friends (Tomoya, Keiichi & Tsuyoshi) who mostly spend time being a jerk to him, each in slightly different fashion. (The credits suggest that they’ll each get their own arc and love interest in further episodes.)

Kobayakawa is a girl who he keeps running into and he’s fallen in love with. There’s no sign whatsoever she’s into him ; indeed, there are hints she’s having a tryst with the math teacher (also Keiichi’s older brother), although that could all be a misunderstanding.

Production Values

Perfectly okay ; especially the attention to body language and facial expressions to build the mystery about Kobayakawa.

Overall Impression

This turned out to be a lot of fun. The half-episodes help keep proceedings tight and and to the point, the cast have good chemistry, and the gags flow well enough.

It’s not like there’s a flurry of non-harem romantic comedies this season, so there’s a good chance I’m going to stick with this one. It’s fun.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2016 – Page 4

Dimension W

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a sci-fi manga series.

Characters

Kyoma, our protagonist. In the future, everyone has switched to the clean and unlimited “coil” power. (Cue technobable about how they’re powered through Dimension W.) But not him ! He’s one of those rare relics who keeps a gas-powered car, despite the prohibitive price of its fuel. Not because he thinks the coil monopoly of “New Tesla Energy” is shady (although it definitely is), but because he hates the technology itself, for whatever reasons. He makes a living as a bounty-hunter subcontractor, helping out NTE’s crackdown on contraband coils in the margins.

Dr Yurizaki was the scientist who invented coil technology in the first place, but had a very bad falling out with NTE. “Whole family dead” bad, so you’ll understand he has a bit of a grudge. He hides out in a decrepit building, working on his mysterious final project, by now being at the article of death (especially with his fancy pacemaker in dire need of a fresh coil).

Schumann is the new chief of NTE’s local forces (+ some history with Kyoma), and is ready to acknowledge that his highers-up screwed up in the past. But surely we can all get past that and enter a more agreeable working relationship. So no hard feelings, eh, Doctor ? Er, can you step off the ledge and not push the big red button you’re waving around madly ? Oh, crap. (Cue an EM pulse that fries everything coil-powered in half the city.)

Mira was the Doctor’s helper android, although clearly he had bigger plans for her than merely looking around for black-market coils for his pacemaker. She’s surprisingly human-like in her behaviour, to the point that it’s obvious to anyone with a bit of knowledge that only one person could have built something this expensive and complex. Kyoma captured her after they squared off for a bit and he took advantage of the pulse disabling her. After rebooting her, she desperately asks to help out on the black-market-coil crackdown… and I don’t think that’s for her maker’s health. (It’s obvious he got some new orders to her during his suicide.)

Production Values

Quite nice indeed ; there’s a lot of attention to detail so that nearly every gadget is clearly coil-powered. Also, I’m not enthused by the camera taking a disproportionate interest in Mira’s ass (especially in the ED sequence), but it could be way worse.

Overall Impression

It’s okay ? There’s nothing wrong with the execution, but it doesn’t really grab me. Mostly because Kyoma is more than a bit of a jerk, and I don’t find Mira particularly compelling as a character either. Since they’ll be carrying the show, that’s a bit on a issue.

I’m giving it another episode to change my mind, but I think my time is better spent elsewhere.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2016 – Page 4

DAGASHIKASHI

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a romantic comedy (with a strong emphasis on “comedy”) manga series about the heir to a sweets shop.

The title is a pun, by the way ; “Dagashi” are traditional (cheap) Japanese sweets, but it can also be read as “but still…”.

Characters

Kokonotsu, our male lead, is the heir to a rural sweets shop, but to his father’s despair, he’d rather draw manga instead. Until one day, comes a girl who looks just like one of his drawings…

Hotaru is from that one famous sweets-making dynasty. She’s here to headhunt Kokonotsu’s father, as the company would really enjoy his expertise. While he appreciates the offer, he does need his son to agree to take over the shop when he’s gone. So she takes for her new mission to convince Kokonotsu. A good chunk of the humour comes from the contrast between her headstrong personality and her sheltered upbringing, as this is her first trip to the countryside.

Saya is the barrista at the local coffee shop, and obviously crushing for Kokonotsu. But she’s too tsundere to say it outright, and he hasn’t picked up the hint. Of course, she takes very badly to Hotaru hovering around him.

Production Values

Decent enough. What makes the show visually distinctive are its character designs, and they mostly work in context.

Overall Impression

This is a perfectly okay romantic comedy. There are some good gags, some bits of awkward pacing at the story skips from a scene to another, and the characters have good chemistry together.

In any other season I’d be gladly enjoying the show. With such a busy schedule and heavy competition ? It may fall into the cracks.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2016 – Page 3

Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn (Koukaku no Pandora)

(12ish episodes ?)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a manga from Masamune Shirow, of Ghost in the Shell fame. Except at the stage of his career where he can indulge into drawing what he’s always wanted to : lesbian quasi-porn. This time around, where the ladies have very petite bodies indeed.

Characters

Nene, our protagonist, is a rather naive cyborg who had so much of her body replaced that she’s often mistaken for an android. She was on a cruise to wherever, playing videogames, when she caught the attention of…

Uzal, a mad scientist who claims to be fighting whatever is causing those random highly pyrotechnic attacks all around, and “helps” our heroine get to the safety of her lab. It’s very obvious well before we get onscreen confirmation that she’s gaslighting Nene so that she can become a powerful tool and weapon against her enemies.

Clarion, an android, is Uzal’s main underling ; one of the chief reasons Nene goes along is that she finds her cute. Also, a way for Nene to power up (installing new apps that are totally not malware) is for her to put her hand in a cavity in Clarion’s crotch and… DAMN YOU SHIROW.

Uzal also has a squad of incompetent underlings in fetishistic outfits (bunny girl, maid, etc.), because of course she does.

Production Values

It’s colourful, the action sequences are well-executed without overstaying their welcome, and beyond the obvious there’s way less fanservice than you’d expect.

Overall Impression

There are bits here I quite like. Uzal as a Totally Not Evil mad scientist has heaps of charisma. The running gag with the reporter who always gets hit by collateral damage is mildly funny. And it’s certainly not boring.

But then you get to the actual premise, and NOPE NOPE NOPE. It doesn’t help that every character is so one-dimensional I really don’t care what happens to them, or where this is going. The season is way too busy for me to bother hate-watching this.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2016 – Page 3