Month: January 2015

#13 : Platinumhugen Ordian (Ginsoukikou Ordian)

(24 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Mecha.

Characters

Yuu, our protagonist, is a highschool dropout who’s involved in… gangs ? low-grade terrorist groups ? Between the obtuse exposition and the crap subtitles on my version, it’s hard to tell. (It’s mostly offscreen.) Anyway, he’s aimless and wondering what those strange flashbacks about piloting mecha mean.

Ryo, his “best friend”, has noticed this and invited him into INO, the big military organization around (and the only one to have those top-grade mecha). He’s a squad leader there, but a complete maverick who regularly gets disciplined. To say nothing of hanging around with terrorists on his paid leave, or putting his civilian pal into his mecha’s cockpit for a training exercise. I mean, sure, Yuu does have the skills (somehow), but…

Nanna, a random bridge bunny in INO who happens to be a childhood friend of Yuu’s, and on whom he stumbles as Ryo gives him the tour.

A white-haired dude who ticks all the “rival” checkboxes, including the opening flashforward where he’s in an intense mecha battle against Yuu.

Production Values

Decent enough, but the art director really likes his darkness and chiaroscuro. Good for mood, bad for storytelling clarity.

There are occasional bursts of fanservice, including booth babes for a mecha expo (briefly mentioned on the news) and the all-naked ED sequence.

Overall Impression

I have no clue what is going on here.

I’m serious. This is an atrocious failure at world-building. INO seems to exist into a bubble detached from the world surrounding it… which itself isn’t even sketched out. What are the other powers at play ? Who is INO fighting against, to have so much weaponry on hand ? How’s “normal” society outside it going ? What’s that group Yuu & Ryo were involved in ? Does anyone have any family ? Fuck if I know. And that’s before going into the show’s official mysteries, such as Yuu’s mecha proficiency and white-hair’s agenda.

Show, you have to give me something to get invested in you. Your characters are too busy talking in riddles to get a good handle on, and the stakes remain thoroughly obscure. Even if there’s a big surprise shake-up down the line, you needed to establish some ground rules much faster than this to carry the show in the meantime. It really feels like you learned all the wrong lessons out of Eva.

This is way too frustrating for me to keep watching, even without accounting for my desire to punch the fansubbers for getting every third sentence wrong.

Source: [In Which I Review] Anime series from 2000 – Page 3

The Testament of New Sister Devil (Shinmai Maou no Testament)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a light novel series.

Characters

Basara is an ordinary teenager whose father suddenly announces he’s remarried, and brings two stepsisters in to live with them. And who then proceeds to leave the country for work or whatever, leaving Basara very confused over how to handle those two girls.

Mio, the older one, of course gets the worse possible impression of him after he stumbles on her in the bathroom. (Sigh) It doesn’t help that Maria, the younger one, is a bit of a troll who enjoys making him look like he’s got a sister complex.

The twist is that Dad never remarried ; Mio is actually the heir to the previous Demon Lord (and Maria her succubus servant), who manipulated him to get a base on Earth. So yeah, get lost, Basara.

The other twist is that Basara is a young warrior on the side of Light, and can handle his own against the two of them enough to drive them out. Okay, didn’t see that coming.

The other other twist is that Dad was fully aware of what was going on ; it turns out that the previous Demon Lord was much more peaceful and easy to deal with than the guy who’s taken over since, and so it would be a good idea to harbour Mio until she’s strong enough to reclaim the throne. You know, it would probably have been a better idea to clue Basara in on all this at some point before it’s almost two late and the “sisters” get ambushed by agents of the new regime…

Production Values

Awfully cheap-looking throughout, and the constant fanservice doesn’t help make it look better.

Overall Impression

This is an episode that starts off awful and then gradually improves until it reaches the dizzying heights of “almost clever enough to be watcheable”. That’s quite the dramatic turnaround indeed, and it’s certainly never boring.

On the other hand, it’s never actually good either. The occasional fanservice outbursts (and the incest teases) aren’t exactly endearing, and I’m pretty sure this story has already been better executed elsewhere. So I kinda doubt I’ll be giving it the benefit of the doubt and another episode.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2015.

#12 : Hero Hero-kun

(104 episodes)

What’s it about ?

This is a show for very young kids about a weird boy, his family and friends.

The episodes are five-minutes long, and must have been broadcast several times a week, given that 104 of them were pumped out in under 10 months.

Characters

Hero Hero, our hero, is an elementary school kid who’s a bit absent-minded, and has talking nosehairs. Often he jumps and flies around for a bit.

His dad is pretty much of the same mold. Mom is obsessed with her appearance, and puts on tons of makeup for her job at the supermarket. They also have a “dog” (or whatever Pup Pup is).

Bari Bari is a “delinquent” friend of Hero Hero’s who’s even tamer than you can imagine. But he looks so cutely rebellious on his tiny bike !

Kira Kira is another friend of his ; she’s mostly there to be baffled by his antics.

Production Values

This is very rough and crudely animated, but it does have some charm in its energy.

Overall Impression

I’m way too old for this ; it’s clearly targeted at a much younger audience, who’ll appreciate the manic dialogue and the slow outlining of the concepts much more than me.

It’s mildly interesting as a footnote to see what kind of shows were produced in 2000 for 5-year-olds, but 5 minutes of it were well enough for me. (And anyway, it’s not like anyone bothered to fansub more than one episode.)

Source: [In Which I Review] Anime series from 2000 – Page 3

Kantai Collection

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of an online card game where you battle through girls who are moe anthropomorphizations of naval ships. It’s a franchise with an impressively big, Touhou-like fandom, which has also spawned light novels, manga, and now this anime series.

Characters

Fubiki is our naive newcomer protagonist who’s just joined the fleet (whose headquarters are basically a boarding school with luxury leisure facilities). A bit clumsy and slow, she has trouble conveying that she’s never seen combat before. Still, she’s admirative enough of her seniors that she vows to improve and reach their level.

We’re introduced to various other members of her squad, including her two roommates (the nice one and the slightly snarky one), and the three oddball sisters in the adjoining dorm room.

Akagi is one of the MVP of the fleet, whom Fubiki becomes admirative of and imprints on as a rolemodel. As an aircraft carrier, she’s a member of the archery club (and her arrows morph into fighter planes once they near their target).

When they’re deployed, the girls/ships are basically sliding over water, with bulky equipment depending on their class. It’s a weird visual indeed. They fight against a dark fleet who are basically their evil counterpart.

Production Values

Quite good indeed, although it never really manages to turn its odd character designs into really engaging visuals. It looks okay, but it doesn’t have the creativity to do anything really cool or interesting with it.

Overall Impression

Zzzz… The characters are one-note and quite dull so far, the battles aren’t anything special, and overall it feels like a wacky high concept in search of a story to be developed around it, and dramatically failing. What works for an online cardgame just falls flat in this format.

Nothing to see here, pass your way.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2015.

#11 : Gate Keepers

(24 episodes)

What’s it about ?

This adapts a Playstation RPG videogame. The overall plotline is classic “vaguely governmental agency recruits superpowered teens to fend off alien invasion” fare, with the oddity that it’s set in 1969, with Japan still busy rebuilding itself after WWII.

Characters

Shun, our protagonist, is your typical teenage hothead, angry at his dad for getting himself killed and leaving Mom with a serious case of depression and two brats to feed. Aside from that, he’s quite a decent dude, getting on well with the supportive neighbours. He’s the kind of guy who refuses a place on the kendo team (and the potential scholarship attached) because he’s rather start working part-time right now and put some food on the family table. On the other hand, he instantly loses points for constantly comparing his life to a sports manga. (Which is too cute to be funny the first time around, and gets more aggravating as it goes on).

Ruriko is the first superpowered teenage agent of A.E.G.I.S. (the good guys), but they hope to recruit more down the line. Her core powers involve healing, but as that’s not enough she can also channel them to fire white arrows of death at the enemy. Her mission here is to escort a bus transporting some big macguffin, and of course it goes sideways just as Shun happens to be passing by. Obviously he had dormant powers, and after she kickstarts them he’s able to destroy the immediate threat. (Also, he then realizes they were neighbours ten years ago, because what’s one more gratuitous plot contrivance at this point ?)

I’m not really sure how the logistics of the alien invasion work out. Apparently they’ve infiltrated every layer of society and are ALL THE ASSHOLES ? (The punk harassing honest business-owners, the boss firing his secretary after having his fun, and so on…) But then they all go out in bright daylight, transform, and combine into a massive black ball of weaponry that attacks the goodies ? The heck ?

The OP & ED sequences showcase a few more members of this nascent teenage brigade, but they’ve yet to show up. This first episode is busy enough already, after all.

Production Values

Unfortunately, this is a production which lacks the budget (and maybe the visual creativity) to support its ambition. Everything looks slightly too cheaply animated, and way too often the director substitutes a dutch angle or a random close-up on eyes for actual movement. (And not in the aesthetically pleasing way Akiyuki Shinbo has become famous for.)

And of course, a good chunk of the character designs (especially Ruriko’s “modern” student uniform) look completely out of place for what starts as a period piece.

Overall Impression

I think I can see what this is going for. Rather than taking itself seriously, it’s a madcap romp that keeps upping the batshit insanity. Of course none of this makes any sense ; who needs coherence when the good guys have a tourist bus (with their elite field agent as the guide) that can convert into a super-armoured tank, chased by a big ball of combined aliens ? This is stream-of-consciousness delirium.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t click for me. Part of it is the clash between the madness and the relatively grounded world surrounding Shun at the start ; the show can’t quite pull off the contrast. Indeed, the set pieces often feel like they’re missing the design sense needed to really bring them to life. And then, there’s the protagonist who actively drags my enjoyment down whenever he shows up.

As a concept, nice try ; too bad the execution is so lacking, and discouraging me from pursuing it any further.

Source: [In Which I Review] Anime series from 2000 – Page 2

Cute High Earth Defense Club Love! (Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu Love!)

(12ish episodes ?)

What’s it about ?

This is an original project (with tie-ins in other media – light novel, manga, videogame…) which asks : wouldn’t it be funny to do a magical girl series starring a bunch of dudes ?

Characters

This stars five high school students, four of whom have unfortunately very similar voices. They also like to discuss some very boring topics, such as what vegetable they like best in a hotpot. The one who’s a bit distinctive is the perky freshman who likes ugly animals.

He’s in luck, because a pink wombat shows up and gives all of them super-powers, making them magical boys. Cue “hilarity” as they now have frilly outfits and find themselves compelled to pose while making silly introductions.

Our mook of the week is a depressive classmate of them who somehow got transformed into a rampaging asparagus. They beat him by showering him with the power of love… and finish him off with the power of fists.

There’s also a cameo by the aloof trio of the student council, who will probably be rivals or antagonists later on.

Production Values

The visuals at least make a good try at selling the joke : the magical boy outfits walk a very fine line between being bright and frilly while still looking like male clothing.

The episode gratuitously starts in a public bath, although there’s not that much flesh in display.

Overall Impression

And the answer to the above question is… not if that’s your only joke. And that’s unfortunately the case here : it’s mildly funny, but can’t carry a full episode on its own, let alone a series. It doesn’t help that the main characters don’t have much personality, and find themselves having some awfully boring conversations when left on their own devices. (Yes, I get that’s a joke. But it’s still tedious to watch.)

I was open to this series in concept, but the execution is far from strong enough to pull it off. Too bad, but at least it tried something a bit different.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2015.

Absolute Duo

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a light novel series where teenagers attend a school to improve their magical battle proficiency. Like every other light novel that gets adapted into anime, then.

Characters

Thor (*snigger*), our generic male protagonist who doesn’t even get to feature on the series’ main poster artwork. Unlike most everyone else here, his “soul weapon” is a shield, not a blade. Also, he’s very, very bland.

Imari, a girl he meets just before the entrance ceremony and with whom he’s got some actual chemistry. (Which might be partly due to reconstituting the main couple of VAs from SAO. Or maybe it’s just that Haruka Tomatsu can improve anything by her presence.) So of course the sadistic and impossibly young school headmistress announce that all the applicants must duel in pair, with only the winner getting to enter ; and Thor is thus forced to beat her and make her drop out. (Maybe she’s not entirely written out, but I’m not holding my breath.)

Julie, the nearly-mute moeblob he’s then paired with and has to room with. No real personality on display yet.

Some more supporting cast get a bit of screentime, but none of them are striking enough to deserve mentioning.

Production Values

Those are some very uninspired character designs, with the girls often wearing some fetishized clothing that doesn’t look like fabric, and high heels that seem wholly unsuited to the somersaulting around they do in the OP sequence. But at least there’s not too much fanservice.

Points off for the impenetrable pre-credits sequence, which seems to think that drowning the screen in bloody darkness looks good and dramatic.

Overall Impression

Is this a prank ? An attempt to ram every single light novel cliché into the one show ? And it takes itself dreadfully seriously, of course. This goes beyond mediocre and into laughably bad… Except I’m falling asleep instead of laughing. It’s just that boring.

Don’t bother with this one.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2015.

#09 : UFO Baby (Daa! Daa! Daa!)

(78 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a comedy shojo manga series.

Characters

Miyu is an ordinary high-school student… except her parents just went and left for the US to work at NASA (Mom’s an astronaut, Dad an engineer). She’s left in the care of a long-time friend of a family. Who’s a monk living in a shrine, because no commute is complete without a ridiculous flight of stairs. Said monk almost immediately lands a ticket for a trip in India he’s longed for all his life, and absconds as well.

This hasn’t been a good day for Miyu.

Kanata, the monk’s son, isn’t especially thrilled to be left alone with this random girl all of a sudden. It’s mild irritation at first sight, and we all know where this leads in a shojo manga.

Ruu is a baby who shows up in a flying saucer that night, just as Miyu was about to leave. It’s obviously going to be the plot device bringing the lead couple together as they must care for it.

Wannya is Ruu’s “sitter pet”, who conveniently explains how the baby got there (random space wedgie), how long it’ll stay (at least a year to fix the navigation system), and presumably will care for it while the teenagers are off to school.

Production Values

The artstyle looks very 90s shojo indeed, and in some ways not dissimilar to the early days of the Sailor Moon anime. The lush pastel backgrounds are certainly pleasant to look at.

Overall Impression

I can easily see how this was successful enough to last for a year and a half : it’s got a fun premise, decent characters, and a good grasp of comedic timing. On the other hand, it’s a bit on the slow side, and not that funny. Also, I’m probably a bit too high above the target age range to really be invested in it.

This is perfectly okay at what it does. But 78 episodes is a bit too much for me to stick with it.

Source: [In Which I Review] Anime series from 2000 – Page 2

Love Bullet : Yuri Bear Storm (Yuri Kuma Arashi)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Kunihiko Ikuhara’s new project, after Utena & Penguindrum. As the title implies, it involves lesbians and cute bears all trying to eat each other, and defies description.

Characters

Lulu & Ginko are two bears who managed to pass through the Extinction Wall humankind has erected to protect itself from their kind after they gained sentience ; they’re posing as transfer students at the Arashigaoka Institute, which offers plenty of delicious teenage (and female) prey. Lulu is the one who waxes rhapsodic, while Lulu is merely voicing her constant hunger.

Kureha, a student here, seems to be our protagonist. Apparently she smells even more delicious than her classmates, but walks too rarely alone for the two bears to attack her. And then she starts carrying a hunting rifle around, as despite the teachers’ many warnings the next victim was…

Sumika, Kureha’s lover. Cute as a button, and thus the perfect sacrificial lamb. (If she is indeed dead, as it all happens offscreen.)

Yurizono, the charismatic class representative. (Yes, we have several students whose name starts with “Yuri”. Including the bears’ cover identities.) She was already a friend to both Kureha & Sumika, and is determined to investigate the latter’s murder. As the episode ends, she stumbles on the bears eating more victims and immediately identifies them as the new transfers student, so I guess that cat’s out of the bag already.

There’s a long weird sequence where an otherworldly court passes judgment on the two bears (for crossing the Wall and eating Sumika), with the final verdict that it’s normal for bears to eat humans, and so they can proceed with eating Kureha (who they had captured just before). And then Kureha wakes up, completely dumbfounded.

(Said court are the only presence of the Y chromosome in the whole show.)

Production Values

Gorgeous. It’s even more colourful than Penguindrum, with rounder character designs that contrast with the gruesome subject matter. The mad architect is also back, with immense symmetrical buildings and endless staircases everywhere.

There’s a bit of fanservice with some female flesh shown, and an improbable absence of nipples.

Overall Impression

This is just lovely. Sugary as heck with really dark undercurrents, not a single wasted scene as the show marches on through tons of exposition and character introductions without feeling rushed, and a pregnant atmosphere of weirdness and unease that makes it feel like anything can happen. (And it does, as I didn’t anticipate Sumika biting it so quickly.)

For me, this lives up to the hype : the master is at work again, and I’m in for the ride.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2015.

#07 : Shinzo (Mushrambo)

(32 episodes)

What’s it about ?

As far as I can tell, this is series is very loosely adapted from Journey to the West, but shifted to a post-apocalyptic futuristic setting, with maximum toyetic flavour.

Characters

Yakumo, our female protagonist, is one of the few humans left alive. She woke up in a deserted lab one day, with the advice to go west (of course) to the mythical land of Shinzo (where there may or may not be other humans). Her main characterization point is that she’s absurdly respectful of live, despite most of the anthropomorphic animals around trying to kill her. But Killing Is BAD, and she’s sticking to that rule.

Mushra, a beastboy that totally didn’t try to swindle the locals and got hung to dry for it, honest ! He was totally framed ! She rescues him because that’s what she does, and he sticks around as a bodyguard in gratitude (while a bit baffled by her no-killing stance). His “Hyper-Mode”, which can transform him into a red-armoured humanoid, should be quite useful for that.

Kutal, a catman who offers to guide them through a shortcut that’s totally not a trap so that he can eat the tasty human. It backfires horribly, but somehow Yakumo still trusts him to accompany them after that.

There’s a blue-armoured guy hanging around the fringes of the plot and occasionally lending a helping hand.

Our Mook of the Week is a mantis-like bounty hunter who can (sigh) shift into Hyper Mode by eating a card. As you do.

Production Values

Okay-ish as far as saturday-morning cartoons go, but the characters designs are really dull and uninspired. And then there’s… well, read below.

Overall Impression

Oh, dear. This is one of the few shows in this project where I could only locate a copy of the American dub. Unfortunately, it seems to be a case where the localization was a complete hatchet job : both literally (as it looks like the first two original episodes got fused into one), and on every other level. The plot gets put through the wringer : Yakumo’s origin story, presumably the meat of the pilot, gets reduced to a 30-second opening narration. We can’t just have a girl getting the lion’s share of screentime through half an episode, after all ! Ah ah, no, we must instead open with Mushra’s predicament, whatever havoc that wreaks on the world-building.

I’m not saying the original show was a masterpiece either ; it was clearly already quite uninspired and toyetic as heck. I would have gotten bored either way. Still, this kind of massacre is infuriating whatever it happens to.

Obviously, there’s no point in watching any more of this.

Source: [In Which I Review] Anime series from 2000 – Page 2