Month: January 2011

GOSICK

What’s it about ?

1924, in the fictional European country of “Saubure” (sic, couldn’t they call it Savoie ?), there’s a prestigious academy gathering elites from the whole world. In a botanical garden above the library lives a mysterious girl who helps the police solve crimes with her intellect.

Characters

Kazuya Kujo, nicknamed “the black reaper” for reasons I can’t fathom. Our point of view character, a student fresh coming from Japan. Our Watson.

Victorique, our heroine. It’s heavily implied she’s never seen the world outside her green prison before the events of this series. There’s probably a convoluted reason why, but she’s not talking, despite Kazuya’s active prodding. It’s obvious she’s bored out of her mind there, and the mysteries she’s asked to solve are a welcome distraction.

Inspector Grevil de Blois, “the owner of the oddest hair in all of Saubure”. In the second half of the episode, Kazuya calls him on exploiting Victorique’s intellect for his own fame, and he’s got a point. Although he does not seem that bad of a guy, really, just not very bright and full of himself.

Production Values

There’s nice backgrounds and it looks quite slick (it’s heavy on costume porn), but there’s nothing particularly impressive (it’s not a premise lending itself to action scenes, after all). It’s mostly bright colours, which is appropriate for a show which stays mostly upbeat so far.

The OP is gorgeous, with a nice “animated picture book” look. The ED’s okay, I guess.

Overall Impression

Well, this one takes a lot of time to get started. Let’s be honest, I was prepared to write it off as empty fluff…

And then, halfway through, we get an impressive sequence in which Victorique solves a closed room murder in less than five minutes, without even going on the scene, purely from Grevil’s description of the case (and those five minutes include his exposition). This scene is just delightful, with a solution that’s both clever and simple enough to feel natural, and it does help that the banter between the three leads fires on all cylinders during it. If there’s one such sequence in each episode, it’d justify by itself watching the boring bits.

The end of the episode suggests that we’re getting a very tight wider mystery plotline instead of just a “case of the week” structure, which is probably for the better.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2010-2011 – Page 8.

Dream Eater Merry (Yumekui Merry)

What’s it about ?

Our protagonist has been plagued by bizarre nightmares where he’s assaulted by cats for years… until today, when a bizarre girl fall on his lap and he finds himself transported in a dream world where the cats’ leader tries to take his body over. The girl rescues him.

Characters

Yumeji, our protagonist, has the weird ability of guessing what the person he looks at will dream about the next night. It’s neither very precise or accurate, though. It does work on himself if he looks in the mirror, though (“Sigh, I’m going to have this nightmare again…”).

John Doe, the bad guy. He hails from the dream world and wants to move into the real world, but that can only happen if he takes someone’s body over. Yumeji will do, thanks.

Merry Nightmare, the not-really-human girl, is in the opposite position : she’s amnesiac and wants to go back to the dream world (John Doe implies she must have taken someone over…). Will Yumeji help her, please ?

The supporting cast is rounded up by a few friends of Yumeji’s, including a childhood friend he lives with… for some yet-to-be-disclosed reason…

Production Values

I quite like some of the background work in the dreamworld, and they’re obviously trying for atmosphere. The problem is that it pales in comparison with Madoka, and never manages to reach the same level of creepy. (I blame the colours, too flat and naturalistic.) It’s truly unfortunate that both shows compete in the same season.

The OP is okay stuff, and certainly sets the tone of the show. ED is decent too.

Overall Impression

This, on the other hand, is much better than it sounded at first (a girl falling into a guy’s arm ? seriously ?). Again, it’s all the atmosphere, and it works out pretty well. It’s also nice to have a bad guy whose goals are crystal clear and make complete sense. And it succeeds in suggesting there’s a lot more going on than on face value.

Sure, it’s not as good as Madoka, but I’m sure this can be said about most of this season’s shows. It’s quite enjoyable so far, and I’m interested in seeing where it goes from here.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2010-2011 – Page 6.

IS – Infinite Stratos

What’s it about ?

In the future, the top technological advance is the IS, mecha that can only be piloted by women (although, since they’ve been banned from war use by international treaties, they seem to be mostly used for sports). Well, except for this one dude, who now finds himself enrolled in an IS-centered academy. Cue the standard harem hijinks.

Characters

Ichika Orimura, our protagonist. I lost any respect I had for the guy when he complained about not understanding the technobabble and then admitted he had thrown away the mandatory introductory doorstopper everyone is supposed to read before entering the academy. Seriously, could he be doing any less effort ?

Chifuyu Orimura, his abrasive older sister, a former IS pioneer who retired a while ago. So of course she’s his homeroom teacher and hall monitor ! She’s got a cheerful moeblob assistant whose main role is to delay the reveal and provide tons of clumsy “As You Know” exposition.

Houko Sinonono, the tsundere childhood friend he hasn’t seen in 6 years, and a kendo champion. So of course she’s his roommate ! The mind boggles : I can understand authorities not bothering with devoting a whole dorm aisle for him, but who thought giving him a roommate was a good idea ?

Cecilia Alcott, the stuck-up foreigner who takes issue with this slob doing as well as her (defeating a teacher in the pre-entry tests) without even putting any effort.

Production Values

There’s a somewhat impressive mid-air mecha fight scene before the opening credits… But its impact is kinda negated by the complete lack of stakes in it (it’s 4-against-one, for gods’ sake !). Apart from that, the general impression I get is “generic and uninspired”. Even the fanservice is tame and not worth bothering for (there’s even a “I just got out of the shower” scene !).

The OP is horrible, and the ED barely any better.

Overall Impression

Wow, that was quite dreadful. The premise didn’t sound very promising, but this is actually worse than I expected. We are in full-blown cliché harem territory, the world-building looks horribly half-assed (they don’t even bother with explaining why only women can pilot IS, let alone why Ichika can), all the characters are unlikeable and trite, and there’s nothing vaguely original here that’d make me give a shit about it.

Avoid like this show the plague.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2010-2011 – Page 6.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

What’s it about ?

Technically a magical girl series, but it’s all about the atmosphere. Madoka is an ordinary middle school student, up until she starts having weird dreams of magical battles. Then the girl she saw fighting in her dream suddenly transfers in, she finds a wounded critter offering her powers, and she soon finds herself sliding into bizarre side planes where it’s not exactly clear who’s fighting whom.

Characters

Madoka, our protagonist. Tends to be pushed around a bit by her friends and family. I find it notable that her mother wears the pants and is the bread-winner of the family, while Daddy stays at home. This pretty much sets the tone of how much guys are going to matter in this series.

Homura, the mysterious transfer student, of course establishing she’s awesome at everything from maths to sports in a montage just after she’s introduced. Also : very –ing creepy. Her first interaction with Madoka is to lead her to an isolated place and warn her off from doing anything. After that, she acts threateningly towards a wounded critter, and it’s ambiguous whether she’s the one who provokes the slide into a dangerous side plane.

Sayaka, one of Madoka’s two best friends. The cheerful one. (There’s also a Yamato-Nadeshiko-in-training one.) Earns my love by distracting a powered up Homura with a fire extinguisher. (Also, wondering what this girl is thinking of being in full cosplay gear at school.)

Mami, an experienced magical girl who rescues Madoka and Sayaka, and obviously has a much better clue than us viewers about what’s happening. While always smiling and cheerful, she barely conceals her hostility towards Homura, making it clear that there’s much going on under the surface here.

Kyubey, the mascot rescued by Madoka. Enthusiastically offers Madoka and Sayaka to become magical girls at the end of the episode, which given everything else in the episode ends up sounding far more sinister than he probably intends.

Production Values

Wow. This looks gorgeous ; Studio SHAFT obviously pulled all the stops here. In particular, the backgrounds are very pretty, and the dream/side world sequences are a weird combination of CG and collage that work perfectly. I’m a bit less enthusiastic about the character designs, although they do work as a nice contrast to the grim settings. Also, props to Yuki Kajiura’s soundtrack, which is as atmospheric as ever.

No ED ; the OP’s song is average stuff, although there’s a lot going on in the animation.

Overall Impression

Given its pedigree, this was always going to either be a mess or a fantastic mesh of styles ; thankfully, it’s the latter. The contrast between the “childish” (the magical girl premise, the middle school setting, the character designs) and “grittier” elements (the dream and side world sequences, the music) works well to generate a “not all is as it seems” atmosphere, and the plot is obviously going somewhere. I also liked the restraint of not rushing Madoka into becoming a magical girl in the first episode, too, as everything else they included here has some purpose (I particularly like the characterization of Madoka’s mother and of her homeroom teacher, who both exude tons of personality despite their minimal screen time).

This is a strong contender towards the best show of the season.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2010-2011 – Page 5.

Rio – Rainbow Gate !

What’s it about ?

Follows the adventures of the star dealer of a high-class Casino, which seems to involve high stakes duels against nasty customers. “Adapted” from a series of pachinko gambling machines.

Characters

Rio, the *BOOBIES* title character. From what little personality *PANTIES* she displays, she’s a bit dim, and easygoing enough to let *BOUNCE* her pervy manager trick her into dodgy *KNOCKERS* costumes and situations. She has the superpower of *UPSKIRT SHOT* magically calming down a crowd around her, as well as *RANDOM WEDDING DRESS* making the odds favour whichever casino customers *CLOTHING DAMAGE* she wishes (to the point that clients crowd around her to benefit from her mojo).

Mint, the young granddaughter of a VIP client visiting the casino ; as the naive newcomer viewpoint character, she wanders around the setting while everyone else delivers exposition. After a while Rio is specially assigned to escort her around. Slightly brattish, but at tolerable levels.

Orlin Dunhill, our asshole villain of the week. After various unsuccessful assault attempts with his goons, he eventually challenges Rio to a poker duel… for reasons that, in a storytelling masterstroke, aren’t properly explained until its end (he’s after Mint’s teddy bear). He’s your usual charisma-deficient lech, and a moron to boot.

Rosa Canyon, a Hollywood actress and regular patron of the casino. Cue the “obaa-san” jokes. For some reason, she’s the one dealing the duel, instead of the dozens of random dealers running around.

There are various other side characters, such as a couple of bunny waitresses that have so little personality they even complete each other’s lines. Their main purpose is exposition and duel commentary.

Production values

This actually looks quite decent, with some nice animation for action scenes, and above all a wonderfully psychedelic sequence during the duel. But don’t even try watching it if you’re allergic to fanservice.

There’s no OP. The ED is an annoyingly peppy JPop number that has even more fanservice than the actual show.

Overall Impression

This… is actually a bit better than I imagined (but then I had very low expectations). The fanservice is less obnoxious than I expected, and mainly concentrated on Rio herself (it steers mercifully free of Mint). The plot is obviously just an excuse, but it’s all in good fun. There’s even a couple of good jokes.

Is it any good ? Well, no. But if you turn your brain off, it’s a semi-decent fanservice series that steers clear of harem clichés (at least so far). I could see myself trying out another episode or two.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2010-2011 – Page 4.

Tamayura OVA

(4 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Basically, this is a slice-of-life series about a girl obsessed with photography and her friends, in a rural village.

Characters

Fu, our main character, is a quiet clumsy airhead. She got her love for photography from her father, who died 5 years ago.

Kaoru, her best friend. Like nearly every character voiced by Kana Asumi, she’s cheerful and slightly snarky.

Norie, our setting’s Tomo. Energetic, annoying, and unhealthy fond of Fu’s younger brother.

Maon, who spends more time whistling than talking.

Plus various other supporting characters (Fu’s family, Kaoru’s embarrassing older sister, etc.)

Production Values

It’s an OVA that revolves around scenery porn. Of course it looks good.

Overall Impression

Dull. While I was half-joking about falling asleep while watching Starry Sky, here it was a real struggle to stay awake. Which really shouldn’t happen for 4 15-minute episodes.

Understand, I actually enjoy the slice of life genre. I liked K-On!, Lucky Star, Azumanga Daioh… I’m currently watching and enjoying Potemayo, for –‘s sake ! But there seems to be a subset of the genre that immediately puts me to sleep, and this is such an instance. (Other example : Hidamari Sketch.)

It’s not even that nothing happens : there’s a neat throughline around Fu’s obsession and how it allows her to connect with her late father. But… the pacing is glacial, the characters are barely developed at all, and the jokes aren’t that funny. When the series goes for emotion, it does feel genuine, but those moments are few and far between.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2010-2011 – Page 3.