Month: April 2013

Spring 2013 capsules

It’s Tuesday, and for some reason this means we get a deluge of shorts. (Okay, the first one actually airs on Sundays, but it took a bit to get fansubbed).

Bloodtype-kun (Kitsuekigata-kun) is built around the stereotyped personalities that are associated with the various bloodtypes. I might get more out of it if I actually was familiar with them, but it’s actually somewhat fun even for the uninitiated, in part thanks to a very strong cast who could make the phonebook entertaining. (Jun Fukuyama, Akira Ishida AND Yuuichi Nakamura ? For THIS ?)

AIURA illustrates the perils of doing a very relaxed, well-animated slice-of-life show taking a lot of time to enjoy the little things of life… because in three minutes, it doesn’t even get close to any kind of point. The characters are reasonably fun to follow, but this is completely the wrong format for this. It’s just intensely frustrating.

Sparrow Hotel is the complete opposite, packing tons of jokes in its short running time… except barely any of them are actually funny. And this looks like complete crap, with a horrible character design for its lead character, and barely deserved to be called “animated” at all.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2013 – Page 11.

I’m not going to bother doing a full review for Yuyushiki, a 4-panel gag manga adaptation following three high-school girls whose name start with “Yu…” (yes, that’s the entire premise). It’s very vaguely funny if you squint, the animation budget is more than spartan, and it’s so generic and unremarkable on every level that I just can’t muster the will to write any more about it.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2013 – Page 12.

The Pervert Prince and the Stony Cat (Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko.)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

High school romantic comedy.

Characters

Yokoudera, our perverted protagonist. The kind of guy who joins the track & field club just so that he can have an excuse to squat up and down in front of the swimming pool’s window. The club president mistakes it as dedication to the club, and names him her successor ; he’d like to refuse, but couldn’t find the nerve to. That night, he makes an offering to the Stony Cat, which unexpectedly ends up working : he doesn’t have any inhibitions anymore. Considering his filthy mind, that’s not a good thing ; he’s quickly dubbed the “Pervert Prince” across all campus.

Azusa, a high-class student at his school who inherited his inhibitions : she’s now unable to publicly speak her mind regarding his antics for fear of losing face. Hopefully he can convince her to give them back ? (I’m not sure him grovelling like a dog is going to do the job, though.)

Tsukiko, a girl who made a wish to show less emotions on her face at the same time ; she’s now utterly unable to express anything. Her main purpose, beyond probable love interest, is to provide tons and tons of exposition.

Production Values

Utterly unremarkable.

Overall Impression

It’s not a real anime season without a tiresome embarrassment “comedy” is it ? While there are some decent jokes here and there, this is just painful to watch, with every plot twist making the characters more unlikeable and the show less entertaining.

Avoid.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2013 – Page 15.

Valvrave the Liberator (Kakumeiki Valvrave)

(12 episodes + 12 episodes this Fall)

What’s it about ?

Our third sci-fi mecha show of the season.

Characters

Haruto, our generic high school protagonist. Except this is the FUTURE! so his high school is on a gigantic space station near Earth. It’s supposed to be neutral grounds, so of course it gets attacked by an agressive Earth faction right as the series starts.

Shouko, his not-quite-girlfriend. She’s vastly more fun and charismatic than him, so of course she gets killed off halfway through the episode so as to provide him impetus to act. /facepalm

The villains have sent out a squad of five teenage soldiers to infiltrate the space station by posing as high school students. (“Wait, weren’t there supposed to be only two transfer students ?” “SLICE!”) Those guys are ruthlessly efficient, but still human enough to get temporarily sidetracked into arguments with the students they cross paths with. The full-blown mecha attack from the outside is actually a diversion so that they can locate and get theirs hands on…

The Valvrave, a secret high-tech mecha which is for some reason housed in the basement under the school (neutral, my ass !). It’s the kind of mecha which includes “Do you want to resign as a human being ?” in the boot-up sequence. Of course it’s Haruto who ends up in the cockpit instead of the infiltrators.

There’s a dozen other students who get enough glimpses of screentime to indicate they’ll be part of the regular supporting cast.

Production Values

Sunrise can produce decent mecha action in their sleep by now, so it’s nice to see them not half-assing it. This is a very nice-looking show, with the colourfulness sharply contrasting with the bloody action.

What did I think of it ?

Damn it. Fridging your most prominent female character right from the onset ? Not cool, show. I rarely get angry at anime series, but this really isn’t a good way to start off. (Yeah, I know it’s ambiguous enough that Shouko may just have been blown clear of the explosion. But I fear that’s just wishful thinking.)

Which is a shame, because this is otherwise a good opening episode, packing lots of plot inside 22 minutes. The infiltrator squad are a really fun bunch to follow, and the post-credits coda is very well-executed indeed.

It’s a very promising show ; shame about the bad taste it left in my mouth…

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2013 – Page 14.

Arata Kangatari

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Fantasy show with a protagonist displaced from our world.

Characters

Arata is the last heir of his clan, which is a bit of a problem since they were supposed to produce a female heir to replace the current Queen, who’s been reigning for 60 years (the clan already missed the original deadline 30 years ago). Their zany plan is to send him in drag to buy time for a few days while they find a suitable replacement. The problem is that the Queen’s 12 super-bodyguards murder her right in front of him as they stage a coup. He barely escapes alive, but he’s now a wanted “murderer”, as the bodyguards use him as a fall guy.

Arata is a random high-schooler who suffers from a particularly bad case of bullying. His middle school nemesis is carrying on as always, the one friend he thought he’d made is quick to deny any actual friendship, and he just wants to be gone from this world.

He gets his wish, as the two Aratas get switched up somehow. (It seems this kind of thing routinely happens in the cursed forest fantasy!Arata had taken refuge in.) Despite modern!Arata still being depicted in his school uniform, everyone seems to see him as fantasy!Arata, and just think he’s gone mad and/or lost his memory. While he’s not particularly thrilled about this development, he clearly sees the bodyguards attacking the clan for the bullies they are, and stands up against them. Fortunately for what would otherwise be a very short story, he can use the ancestral clan weapon that’s lying around…

Production Values

Sharp contrast between the colourful fantasy world (even the Queen’s blood looks shiny !) and the brown-ish modern world. Which works very well. It helps that the animation’s quite nice and does some good work on the details and facial expressions.

Overall Impression

This is actually quite fun. There are some gaping holes in the plot (what were the clan hoping to accomplish in three days that they couldn’t do in the last 30 years ?), and the transitions between the two worlds are far from smooth ; but once the switch happens it all makes sense : the potentially annoying bullied Arata is actually quite more interesting when his issues get imported into the (much more fun) fantasy setting.

I’m actually interested in watching a second episode of this to see where it’s going, which is more than what I thought at the start of the episode. Mission accomplished ?

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2013 – Page 10.

Insect Magistrate (Mushibugyou)

(25ish episodes)

What’s it about ?

Shounen heroic-fantasy show, set in a vaguely Edo-ish Japan.

Characters

Jinbee, our protagonist. His father, a renowned samurai, was summoned to work for the Insect Magistrate’s office ; but since he got disgraced and maimed in an infamous incident, the son has come in his place. He’s eager to prove himself, although he’s not exactly too competent.

A pair of boobs, who may be attached to an inn waitress called Oharu who helps Jinbee out before becoming a damsel in distress.

The Insect Magistrate’s office is made of a stern-looking guy who’s in charge, and a variety of elite fighters with various specialties (the bomb expert, the berserker…). Their job : fight the giant monstrous bugs that are randomly attacking and eating people all over the place. The implication is that a good chunk of the population died before the authorities set this squad up. (Apparently at the people’s suggestion, because there was no obvious need for it… /facepalm)

Production Values

Bright and shiny, which stands in sharp contrast to the grittiness of the scenes involving the bugs. I’m not really sure the juxtaposition works, though. It just looks like a bit of a mess.

Overall Impression

A textbook example of how you can make elite samurai warriors fighting bugs utterly boring. The complete lack of depth of the characters makes this a very shallow watch indeed, and it’s really hard to care when they get caught up in danger. It’s a parade of annoying clichés, and it just doesn’t work.

Don’t bother with this one.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2013 – Page 10.

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet (Suisei no Gargantia)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Gen Urobuchi does mecha.

Characters

Red, our protagonist. As one of the most promising young soldiers of the Galactic Human Alliance, he’s soon due for some limited citizenship (which includes real sleep and reproduction rights) and a few weeks of leave at the paradise space colony of Avalon. (Thank gods Urobuchi claims he’s not doing grimdark, otherwise I might have mistaken the GHA for a hellish dystopia). Of course the next battle against the aliens goes to hell in no time, and his escape hyperspace jump goes utterly wrong.

Chamber, his mecha’s AI (the always impeccable Tomokazu Sugita can make even dry exposition and straight-faced statements of facts sound slightly sarcastic). It wakes Red up from six weeks of deep hibernation when the inhabitants of the place he’s wound up on try to do stuff on the mecha.

Amy, the young perky girl (with the mandatory cute critter perched on her shoulder) who seems to be the one who found the mecha. She is trying to have it dismantled so that she can sell the parts, but none of the mechanics are having much luck even scratching the thing. Red takes her hostage after he’s found lurking around, on the basis that those primitives will have less incentive to shoot him while he tries to figure where the heck he is. (Er…)

We’ve got hints of a supporting cast, including Amy’s prospective buyer or the lady who runs the place.

The big twist he finds out about at the end of the episode is that this isn’t some random independent backwater colony : this is Earth, where humanity is fabled to have started from !

Production Values

Very impressive indeed. This features some very good and expressive character animation, and oozes money from every shot. In contrast, the space mecha battles appear oddly stilted, with the very static camera far from handing a candle to the hyper-kinetic action of Majestic Prince, for example. But that’s nitpicking.

Overall Impression

Well, it’s going to be hard to top this as best show of the season. It’s a smooth, perfectly executed on every level production, with dialogue that’s not without a sense of humour. (“They appear to be talking about reproduction with one’s mother.” “Barbarians !”) The culture shock is bound to be fun, and I’m curious about what the plan is with the GHA’s obvious problems as a civilization.

Definitely a keeper.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2013 – Page 8.

Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyoujin)

(25ish episodes)

What’s it about ?

Dark heroic-fantasy.

Characters

Eren, our kid protagonist. He really wants to join the Recon Corps and explore the world beyond the gigantic walls humanity is confined in, but most people think this is a very stupid dream. (Well, Daddy, who’s somebody Important, acknowledges that’s it’s pointless to try and dissuade him.)

Coincidentally, the Recon Corps have just come back from their latest expedition, and they’re far fewer than when they left, those who did come back are in a sorry state, and their commander openly recognizes that they’ve accomplished nothing of value, ever. No wonder most people think they’re a stupid idea.

Mikasa, Eren’s childhood friend. She too thinks that joining the Recon corps is a stupid idea, and I get the impression she’s sabotaging his efforts for his own sake. She’s always looking out for him when he gets in trouble ; bullies run away when they see her, and considering she can lift and carry Eren without breaking a sweat, I can see their point.

Armin, their friend. He holds the not-very-popular opinion that humanity pretty much has to go outside the walls anyway, and that people are just kidding themselves when they think they’ll be protected forever.

He’s instantly proved right when the wall is breached by what everyone’s so afraid of : the Titans, gigantic humanoid monsters that prey on humanity. For a hundred years the 50-meter-high walls have been enough to keep them out so that everyone can live in “peace”, but now there’s one that’s taller than the outer wall. Crap. The city near the wall immediately falls.

Hanneth, a city guard, who was liking it better when he was a glorified wall repairer and drunk “parasite on society” ; but fuck it, this is his job, so he’s going to attack the nearest Titan. Then he realizes that he’s facing alone a 5-meter-tall monstruosity, reconsiders, and starts enacting Eren’s mother’s dying wish : get him and Mikasa the hell away from the slaughter.

Production Values

Holy shit, budget ! The soldiers in this setting use grappling hooks to scour the cities and the forests like they’re Spider-Men, and boy do the few snippets we get of this kind of action look impressive. This is a show with gorgeous animation and attention to detail… except in those few jarring scenes where they’ve ran out of money and it’s just still images.

Overall Impression

Was someone asking for non-generic, non-terrible heroic-fantasy ? Well, the jury’s still out on whether this is actually good, but at least it builds a distinctive atmosphere and avoids most of the old tired clichés. And it does pull off the visuals needed to back its ambitions, as the Titans are depicted with a sense of scale and weight that sells them as a monstrous, unstoppable threat, despite just being tall dudes who advance slowly.

Now, if there’s one thing I’m a bit wary about, it’s that this is a dead-serious show whose high-strung melodrama sometimes devolves into bathos ; most of the time the atmosphere works, but there are times when it gets a bit too overdone and silly. Hopefully it’s going to find the right balance soon ; probably once humanity start striking back.

This is clearly one of the few shows with ambition this season, and I’m looking forward to see where it goes from this kick-in-the-gut start.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2013 – Page 8.

Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-san

(13 12-minute episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a 4-panel gag manga featuring mermaids.

Characters

Muromi, the titular mermaid. She comes to the surface after falling for a fisherman’s bait. Annoying, prideful, more than a bit perverted… and not really charmingly so.

“Takkun”, said fisherman, probably a high-schooler. The straight man of the show.

The credits promise more mermaids in the supporting cast, but for now the only other characters with lines are random starfishes and jellyfishes.

Production Values

This looks terrible. But it’s a gag series, so who cares ?

Also, lots of fanservice, although it’s often played for laughs.

Overall Impression

Oh, dear. A comedy show that’s nearly funny. Some of the jokes do work, but there are a lot of them that fall flat or are crassingly exploitative. It doesn’t have quite the charm and innocence of the inevitable comparison point (Squid Girl), alas.

It actually does improve a bit over the course of the episode, so I’m probably going to give it a second one. But this really isn’t the best gag show of the season.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2013 – Page 7.

Zettai Bouei Leviathan

(13-ish episodes ?)

What’s it about ?

Heroic-fantasy with cute girls.

Characters

Leviathan, who’s probably supposed to be the protagonist given that her name is in the title, but doesn’t really do much. Water magic caster. Slightly awkward and bumbling. She has one objective : finding out what happened to her brother. Which means that she’s “investigating” places like the local tavern and that she’s not leaving her hometown.

Syrup, a small fairy who is trying to gather a force to tackle the demonic invasion that supposedly hitched a ride on a recently-crashed meteor, but is completely failing to convince anyone to join. (Nobody seems to believe or care about this invasion, although the local sheriff is quietly sending a small taskforce to investigate.) It doesn’t help that she runs off her mouth a bit too much.

Bahamut, fire magic user with a temper. Has the uncanny ability to stir trouble up wherever she goes.

Jormungandr, who seems to use actual weapons instead of magic. Usually quiet, but do not provoke her.

All of them didn’t know each other and meet in the aforementioned tavern ; predictably, it doesn’t survive the episode… Oh, wait, they actually all met in an earlier scene where they fought a level 1 alien mook and then all walked off without a word for each other.

Production Values

I was bracing myself for a fanservice-fest, but this is actually quite mild. Skimpy outfits, sure, gratuitous transformation sequences, of course, but the camera is surprisingly restrained.

Not that it looks very good : it’s very generic character designs, with elvish ears added to everyone.

Overall Impression

Welcome to the void, where shallow characters in a paint-by-number heroic-fantasy setting steadfastly refuse to engage into anything resembling a plot. This is just incredibly boring on every level.

Don’t bother wasting your time on this one.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2013 – Page 7.

The Flowers of Evil (Aku no Hana)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

I’m not quite sure yet, but it’s certainly very creepy.

Characters

Kasuga, our protagonist. He’s an average high school student who’s completely unremarkable in every way aside from his hobby of writing bad poetry and totally digging Baudelaire.

Saeki, the beautiful top student of the class whom Kasuga (and most of the other boys) has a crush on. She gets maybe two lines in the whole episode ; her chief role is clearly to be an object of desire.

Nakamura, the weird creepy girl who makes a point of handing out blank papers and insulting the teacher to his face. She only has about two minutes of screentime, but she’s clearly the most memorable part of the episode.

Production Values

This has got a very distinctive artstyle, nearly photorealistic ; it looks quite weird animated, deep into the uncanny valley. Which may well be the point. The soundtrack goes out of its way to build an atmosphere of creeping unease. Too bad about the peppy OP song, which doesn’t fit at all the mood that’d been set up pre-credits ; the weird robotic-sounding ED song is much more fitting.

Overall Impression

Well, this certainly commits to its aesthetic, devoting the whole episode to creating this sense of mundane creepiness. The problem is that most of it is very boring indeed, as litterally nothing happens aside from the Nakamura incident. It doesn’t help that I’m not really into Beaudelaire’s poetry, and thus don’t have a clue whether to take Kasuga’s interest in it seriously.

Still, the progressively rising tension is intriguing, especially after the Nakamura incident exacerbates it ; I’m also quite curious whether the awesomely creepy visual of a flower’s shadow with an eye bulging out of it has any relevance beyond symbolism.

Also, the mangaka insultingly told me to watch the next episode. I guess I’ll do it, then.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2013 – Page 5.