Month: January 2011

Fractale

What’s it about ?

Several centuries in the future, most humans have linked themselves into the Matrix Fractale system, which seems like a cross between Second Life and Big Brother. Except we can see the weird avatars in the real world. This seems mostly an excuse for everyone to spend their idle lives isolated.

Characters

Clain, our teenage protagonist. He’s a vintage enthusiast (hey, look, a 64GB SD card !), and lives by himself in the middle of nowhere (although his parents regularly chime in through their avatars).

Phryne, a mysterious girl who suddenly shows up on a flying bike pursued by goons on a blimp. Crain rescues and hides her. It’s strongly implied she’s some sort of time-traveller.

The goons are a couple of MIBs led a small girl. Frankly, they act more like Team Rocket than competent government agents, and I really doubt they’ve actually got any actual official authority.

Another girl shows up at then end, but it’s too early to get a handle on her.

Production Values

My, this is gorgeous. They’ve obviously got some budget, and it shows. On the other hand, I don’t like the soundtrack : it often feels very poorly integrated with the action (a fanfare-ish number during quiet dialogue scenes ? WTF ?).

The OP takes the Fractale theme at heart and produces some wonderfully psychedelic visuals. The ED’s a nice melancholic piece.

Overall Impression

Well, this is certainly different from anything else in this season. It’s bursting at the seems with intriguing world-building, and it’s obvious a lot of thought was put into the setting. I’ve yet to fully understand it, to be honest. But it’s pulsing with earnestness, and I can admire that.

On the other hand, I’m not so sure about the characters. I’m not fond of Yuu Kobayashi voicing protagonists (they always feel flat, as opposed to when she does supporting characters), and the goons feel slightly out of place, like coming from a different show. But that’s probably the point, and they were by far the funniest thing in the episode anyway.

I’m really intrigued by this one.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2010-2011 – Page 16.

Wandering Son (Hourou Musuko)

Disclaimer : I’ve read the manga.

What’s it about ?

A boy who’d rather be a girl. A girl who’d rather be a boy. But the onset of puberty might ruin it all…

Characters

Suichi Nitori, our main character. He’s been experimenting with dressing as a girl for years, and by now he’s wandering in the streets alone in full drag. He describes himself as “wishy-washy”, and that’s pretty accurate.

Yoshino Takatsuki, his accomplice in crossdressing. They used to go on “dates” in the city (with her as a boy and him as a girl), but things have been awkward ever since he confessed to her and she refused.

Chizuru Sarashina, a bold girl who shows up in a male uniform for the first day of middle school just for the heck of it. She immediately becomes a role model for Yoshino.

Saori Chiba, a very jealous girl who has a thing for Suichi. Also an avid church-goer.

Maho Nitori, Suichi’s sister. Has started a modelling career, and is thus a bit annoyed that he’s using her best clothes when she’s not looking. But she’s not that hostile to his hobby. (Heck, they both started modelling together, although he has since dropped out.)

And TONS of other characters, like Suichi’s bespectacled sidekick, his and Yoshino’s adult transsexual friend, Maho’s model friend who has a thing for Suichi… But they barely get to do anything in this episode.

Production Values

It looks very pretty, with a gorgeous-looking watercolor look that extends to the characters. The classical score completes the “artsy” tone.

The OP is very bizarre : a fancy CG type for the credits over shots of the school… but it’s completely empty, devoid of any human beings. Are they planning to fill it with characters as the series goes ? The song’s nothing special. Meanwhile, the ED has a nice moody song that contrasts with minimalistic animation.

Overall Impression

Oh, dear. What were they thinking ?

If you’re feeling completely lost, like you’re joining this series halfway through… Well, you’re not entirely wrong, considering this adapts the start of Volume FIVE of the manga. As a result, there’s heaps of backstory alluded to, and major story beats are told rather than shown. Also, tons of supporting characters are barely introduced. I can’t help but wonder what somebody completely new to the series would understand of it.

But on the other hand, this episode does try to fit in lots of awkward exposition, to the detriment of its actual story. This is supposed to be Chizuru’s big entrance, and it feels like a complete afterthought. Urgh. It’s only in the second half that it starts finding its footing, when Suichi’s moody wandering through the city finally gets the space it needs to breathe (and I loved the wonderfully awkward end to the episode).

I’m sure that once this series gets a bit more underway, it will become much better. The source material is remarkable, after all. But the sudden jump midway into the story is sure to alienate most non-fans, which ain’t good for a series with such a difficult subject matter. I really can’t understand it : why not relate Suichi & Yoshino’s relationship from the start ? This is just baffling.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2010-2011 – Page 16.

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.

Dragon Crisis!

What’s it about ?

Our protagonist is talked by his crazy cousin into stealing a powerful artefact from the mob. Except it turns out to be a pyrokinetic young girl ; in other words, a dragon. And she’s taken a liking into him.

Characters

Ryuuji, our spineless protagonist. Ordinary high school student. No personality whatsoever.

Eriko, his cousin. Fancies herself as an artefact hunter, although she’s not got the official license to do it (apparently there’s a governmental organisation in charge of such things). So enthusiastic about it that she comes off as more than a bit crazy (and quite greedy).

Rose, the dragon-girl. Starts with a one-word vocabulary (“Ryuuji !”), although she learns a few more words by the episode’s end. Very possessive of him. She reminded me of Index, to tell the truth.

Misaki, his painfully shy classmate who is completely unable to find the nerve to make a move. Mostly there for a bit of exposition.

Production Values

This is actually in the upper range of Studio DEEN productions, with enough budget to make the action sequences work and a good handle of atmosphere. I’m also inordinately fond of the background music, despite its complete lack of subtlety.

The OP feels appropriately epic, while the ED is a fun little joke.

Overall Impression

I was pleasantly surprised by this. The first half is a lot of fun thanks to Eriko driving the action, as she’s gloriously insane. Unfortunately, it slows down a bit in the second half, as she progressively loses control of the plot. I’m really hoping for more insanity and not too much rom-com in the next few episodes, but I fear I’m going to be disappointed…

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

Level E

What’s it about ?

An average high school student’s routine is suddenly disturbed when a self-proclaimed alien crashes into his pad.

Characters

Yukitaka Tutsui, our protagonist. Fresh coming to this country town because he’s been scouted by the baseball team of the local high school, and it’s as good an excuse as any to start living on his own. Very annoyed by this freeloader who just. won’t. go. away.

The alien doesn’t actually get a name in this episode, but I’m told he’s called “Prince”. Which is appropriate, considering he looks like a blonde long-haired bishonen. He’s partly amnesiac and a bit in a bind since the local scientists are investigating his crashed spaceship. Seems like a master of offscreen teleportation (you know, the kind where you lock him outside and the next moment he’s just behind you). Despite his deadpan annoyingness, he’s showed to have a heart near the end of the episode – he gets injured rescueing a kitten from car traffic !

Miho Edogawa, the pretty girl next door, who just happens to be the daughter of the chief scientist investigating the alien spacecraft, of course.

Production Values

This looks really good, with some slick animation and pretty scenery porn backgrounds. The OP is awesome, with a fun little rock number, a very nice use of colors, and some good comedic timing. On the other hand, the ED’s crap.

Overall Impression

Hum.

On the one hand, there’s a lot to like – some good jokes with impeccable comedic timing, nice production values. But it feels like it should be more, if you see what I mean ? Some of the jokes feel repetitive, and it feels a bit slow as a result. It needs more meat.

I feel like I should like it more, somehow.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2010-2011 – Page 12.

Wolverine

What’s it about ?

A year ago, Logan met a Japanese woman called Mariko who disappeared soon after. Now, he learns that she comes from a crime family and is to get into an arranged marriage for their sakes. Logan of course rushes in to prevent it…

Characters

Logan, the Wolverine. You may remember those awful previews from a year or so ago ; thankfully his character design looks much better now (although it’s more Hugh Jackman than the comic version). Anyway, the same character as usual : metal claws, healing factor and prone to berserker rage. In plain clothes for the whole episode, and I doubt that’ll change.

Mariko Yoshida, his (former) sweetheart. Archetypical Damsel In Distress ™. To be crude, she’s just a macguffin here.

Shingen Yoshida, Mariko’s father. Crime lord, with impressive fencing skills. You know the time.

Hideki Kurohagi, Mariko’s new fiancé. The current ruler of the lawless city of Madripoor. Interrupts Logan’s duel with Shingen by shooting the former in the back with some anti-healing-factor gun. No class whatsoever, then.

Asano, a Tokyo police detective who became friends with Logan 10 years ago. Just now rescued from AIM goons by the same in New York, he’s our chief provider of exposition. He and his unit have set up a full-scale surveillance operation around the Yoshida mansion, but they lack the legal authority to just bust in.

Production Values

This actually looks pretty good, although this may just be my getting used to this artstyle from Iron Man. On the other hand, the women still look weird – especially Mariko. Also, I’m quite liking the soundtrack, it reminds me of Death Note‘s in a good way.

The OP is average. The ED, on the other hand, annoyed me by switching musical styles twice. Urgh.

Overall Impression

This is actually better than I expected. While we’re deep into the usual clichés of the “Wolverine in Japan” subgenre (believe me, it’s well-trodden territory in the comics), it tackles them with gusto and energy. It also looks fully plot-driven, instead of the “Zodiac mecha of the week” structure of Iron Man ; I’m not sure there’s enough plot in there for 12 episodes, but I’m interested in seeing how it’ll play out. This episode certainly crams quite a lot in (the plotline is nominally adapted from an 80s miniseries, but we’re way more than 1/12th through it).

Anyway, a fun popcorn action show.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2010-2011 – Page 12.

Beelzebub

What’s it about ?

The Demon Lord is too busy playing videogames and attending random parties to eradicate mankind, so he sends his infant son to do it in his place. The baby attaches himself to a brash high school delinquent. Hijinks ensue.

Characters

Oga, our protagonist. A top dog in his high school filled with delinquents, despite being only a freshman. The classic Jerk With A Heart Of Gold (c). Prone to semi-delusional epic narration. Having the same voice actor as TTGL‘s Kamina does wonders for his personality.

Beelzebub, the baby demon. You don’t want to make him cry, considering he zaps whoever’s around when that happens.

Furuichi, Oga’s sidekick. The poor dude’s chief role is to complain about the ludicrousness of the plot and get screwed over repeatedly by Oga.

Hildegarde, Beelzebub’s demon caretaker. After some over-the-top fighting to try and take Beelzebub back, she acknowledges that he’s attached himself to Oga and sticks around to supervise his upbringing as the scourge of mankind. Will not take “no” for an answer. Wonderfully deadpan. (… most of the time…)

Production Values

This looks perfectly alright for a gag series. Oga’s constant stream of scary faces has great comedic timing, and I like the occasional thicker lines around the characters. On the other hand, the soundtrack is terrible canned cheese.

The OP’s a joke that could get on my nerves after a while, and the ED’s just forgettable.

Overall Impression

This… is actually pretty funny. I was worried a bit at the beginning, as Beelzebub zapping punks was getting old after ten minutes, but it starts clicking after Hildegarde shows up. The banter between the three leads is delightful.

Now, with that said, do I see myself following this for 50+ episodes ? I fear the joke might stale after a while, and there’s a risk it’d devolve into generic fighting shonen crap. I’ll give it some more episodes, though.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2010-2011 – Page 11.

Oniichan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne!!

(Approximative translation : “I’m totally not in love with my brother, okay ?!“)

What’s it about ?

Incest bait. Lots of it.

Characters

Nao, our protagonist. She’s head over heels her brother, but she plays hard to get : she teases him a lot with “innocent” innuendo, then pulls out at the last moment while calling him a pervert for even thinking about it. Two thirds of the way through the episode, she learns she was adopted ; while this kills her fantasies of “forbidden love”, it does open some possibilities…

Shuusuke, the brother. Let’s just say that his hormones are in perfect working order, and leave it as that. He’s got an impressive porn collection, by the way.

The parents are very generic : Mom is concerned, while Dad is trying to snatch Shuusuke’s BDSM magazines for future perusal.

Nao has a couple of bland friends that are mostly rolling their eyes at her transparent behaviour.

The OP/ED and next episode preview suggest that two more girls are going to compete for Shuusuke’s attention. First off is his long-lost twin-tailed childhood friend…

Production Values

Wow, this looks horrible. I’m usually fairly tolerant of non-standard artstyles, but those elongated limbs are deep into uncanny valley and make everyone look like they’re anorexic. The animation is quite limited, too.

OP & ED are chirpy crap. Urgh.

Overall Impression

Well, I think we reached the nadir of the season. I reached my “please gods, let it stop already !” threshold before the opening credits, but I endured until the end of the episode for your sake. This is terrible on every level, and it sickens me that there’s an audience for this crap.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2010-2011 – Page 10.

Freezing

What’s it about ?

The future. The world is at war with alien creatures called “Novas”, whose powerful “Freezing” fields prevent conventional warfare. The only thing that can get close enough to them is a “Pandora”, a magically empowered girl sensorily paired with a “Limiter” younger guy. The series starts in the middle of a “Carnivale”, a battle-royale training exercise/exam at the Pandora/Limiter academy.

Also, boobies and panty shots. Lots of them.

Characters

Bridgette L. Satellizer, the current top Pandora at the academy. Very, very badass (she dispatches #3, #4 & #5 while barely breaking a sweat, and before that wins a 1-against-11 fight). Not exuding much personality, and voiced by Mamiko Noto, of all people.

Kazuya Aoi, a new male freshman at the academy. Spends much of his screentime angsting about his dead sister, an elite Pandora who died heroically 4 years ago. Or did she ? When he stumbles onto Bridgette, he’s convinced she’s his sister. And thus dives head first into her chest, because that’s what brothers do. While the Carnivale’s still going, which obviously distracts her and causes her defeat at the hands of #2. (Well, it’s slightly ambiguous in the cliffhanger, but the next-episode-preview suggests that’s the result.)

Lana Linchen, a ditzy female freshman, whose chief role is to get exposition delivered to by her teacher (who fought alongside Kazuya’s sister way back when).

Production Values

For some reason the version I watched is at a 4:3 ratio, which is presumably a mistake (there are various shots that are clearly truncated).

Overall, it looks okay, although the action scenes don’t flow that well. And the character designs are very generic.

While the OP has a decent moody song, it looks very cheap, with tons of static shots and scenes recycled from the actual series (including Bridgette’s transformation sequence, which we saw in detail two minutes ago in the pre-credits sequence). The ED song is pretty bad, and playing to candid shots of the various girls. Urgh.

And wait, this is a daytime show ? (Seriously, the information I can find says it airs at 9:30am on Saturdays.) But… we actually see naked tits at one point ! WTF ?

Overall Impression

Well, the good news is that it’s better than Infinite Stratos. It managed to make me give a toss about the plot and the world-building, there’s an urgency and stakes to the fights (there’s some technobabble about how Pandoras can regenerate from near-fatal injuries and amputated limbs, but the hospital manager “would really like to have this Carnivale with zero casualties”, so it ain’t a sure thing), and if you like some fanservice and gore there’s plenty of it. And it obviously does have some ambition.

On the other hand… Well, it’s still a fanservice-fuelled “panty fighter” series, and you can really hear the plot gears grinding as the premise is forced into a harem setup towards the end. Also, the non-linear storytelling is sometimes a bit disorientating, between the Carnivale, the lesson scene, Kazuya’s subplot and the flashback to his sister’s last stand.

I’m really not sure about this one. There’s a somewhat decent story that compels me to watch another episode to check whether it’s going anywhere, but I fear it’s going to be smothered by the fanservice and the harem hijinks. I’m fearing a new Daimao, here.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2010-2011 – Page 9.

Cardfight!! Vanguard

What’s it about ?

An informercial about a new cardgame.

No, seriously. There’s barely any plot to it, and it takes pains to explain in detail of this cardgame works and why it’s awesome.

Characters

Aichi, our wimpy protagonist. He never played the game before, but he’s still walking around with a full deck, including a super-rare Vanguard DoublePlusSuper card.

Morikawa, a stereotypical bully who steals the aforementioned card. Comes with two lackeys in tow (although one of them disappears halfway through the episode – continuity isn’t this series’ strong point). He immediately proceeds to lose it to…

Kai, the ace player from the local cardshop. He too comes with a lackey in tow, a blond dude whose main role is to talk smack. Anyway, he’s straight enough to allow Aichi a rematch to try and get his precious card back, even nicely explains the rules in minute detail for the newbie. It eventually comes out that they both know each other for some reason, although we don’t learn the details yet.

Production Values

Well, there’s only so many ways to make two dudes playing an effing card game exciting, so this series goes for the route of having Kai tell Aichi every other minute to “IMAGINE !” they’re having an epic fantasy battle and not just sitting around a table. But even those fantasy fights are cliché and boring, matching the triteness of everything else.

Overall Impression

During the whole “climactic” card fight sequence, there are regular side shots of the shop clerk barely looking up from her book to watch over those excited idiots. They stop short of having her actually roll her eyes, but just barely. This is the only character in this show I have any empathy for. (The ED suggests she’s joining the core cast travelling around the country or something, which makes my mind boggle.)

So yeah, this is despicable garbage trying to sell this crap collectible game to kids. It has no redeeming features whatsoever, it’s boring, it’s a transparent commercial, and everything there has been done better before. Oh, and it doesn’t even have a proper ending – it stops when Aichi draws his Blue-eyed White Dragon SuperDuperAwesome card (which Kai had helpfully lended to him as a handicap) ; that’s not a cliffhanger, it’s just running out of screentime…

Avoid at all costs. If you have any interest in this, go watch Yu-Gi-Oh instead, which at least has the novelty of cardgames on motorcycles (or something).

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2010-2011 – Page 9.