Month: October 2015

Fall 2015 capsules

Also deserving a mention is Lupin III: L’avventura Italiana, the first new proper Lupin III TV series in ages. As it turns out, the franchise has been very popular in the Italian market, so why not make a new series that’s actually set there for maximum pandering ? (It’s already been airing over there for the last couple of months.)

This is actually better than it sounds, since Lupin III’s shtick involves globe-trotting as a matter of course anyway. I thus have no issue whatsoever for his gang to show up in Italy for a random caper, and then stick around there for a while. The token new Italian semi-regular character does bring some added spice into the well-worn character dynamics, too.

This is the point where I have to admit I haven’t watched much Lupin III at all ; it got big well before my time and I’ve always found the franchise’s sheer size a bit intimidating. I do plan on checking out the highlights such as Castle of Cagliostro in due time, but so far my exposure is mostly limited to The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, which was very atypical indeed.

This series is a much more conventional entry point, with pleasant kid-friendly adventures that have enough of an edge to entertain adults too. And heck, I’m a sucker for heist shows anyway, so I have every reason to watch this. (Miyuki Sawashiro voicing a very delicious Fujiko is the cherry on the cake.)

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2015

 

Hacka Doll the Animation is a series of shorts adapting… a news phone app ? Seriously ? It’s certainly not a ringing endorsement, as it stars a trio of bumbling AIs who completely fail to be of any use to their hapless owner. Which is actually mildly funny, all told, as they’ve got good comedic timing together. Very dumb, but entertaining enough for me to give it another episode. (After all, it’s only 8 minutes a week.)

 

Oh, and Noragami is back ! It’s still as stylish as ever (that god-tier Taku Iwasaki score !), although this episode spends a lot of time recapping the premise, the main characters, and the basics of the Hato/Bishamon feud which is apparently going to take center stage. But so far, so good.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2015

 

Lovely Muco (Itoshi no Muco) are 12-minute shorts about the daily life of the titular dog, Muco. There were actually two previous anime series adapting this manga, but only as 2-minute shorts padding the schedule ; this is a back-to-basics reboot that requires no previous knowledge. And in any case, the OP sequence displays just about everything you’d want to know about the character dynamics (including from the cast who have yet to show up).

It’s a very simplistic, family-friendly show about Muco being a cute dog, and the communication failures with her laid-back master. It’s mildly entertaining, but I keep having the nagging feeling I’m at least two decades older than the target audience. The animation is very limited, but sells the jokes well enough for a gag show. And it certainly knows how to make a dog look expressive.

 

Kagewani are 8-minute horror shorts about a crypto-zoologist investigating monster sightings instead of, you know, actually teaching his college classes. But most of the episode is devoted to one of those “celebrity” monster hunters who’s busy faking one such sighting until things go very badly when his team encounter the real thing.

What makes this show stand out is the rotoscoped animation ; together with the overbearing colour filters and the nervous shakycam often at awkward angles, it gives off a strong “found footage” flavour. Unfortunately, it also looks like crap. (Which, I guess, completes the “found footage” look.) And frankly, it’s not particularly compelling, funny or scary ; it just doesn’t work for me at all.

 

K – Return of Kings if off to a rather mixed bag for its second season. It’s even more visually impressive than ever (how much budget do they spend on those super-kinetic fight scenes ?), although I’m getting tired of the camera switching to pervert mode whenever Awashima’s on screen. But the script seems intent on being as confusing as possible, starting off with an overly-long gratuitous fight scene that’s set before the first series, for some reason (as evidenced by the presence of the dude who got killed in the first episode), and then it switches without warning to the post-movie status quo. (Which, admittedly, isn’t very complicated ; “the gothloli is the new Red King, and the Greens are now attacking everyone and being jerks for some reason”.) Hopefully it’ll find its footing back soon enough.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2015 – Page 2

 

Young Kindaichi’s Casefile Returns Again has been off to a good start. Actually, I’m slightly weirded out that we start immediately on the trail of the recurring villain introduced at the end of last season (Kindaichi’s usually more about one-off mysteries than ongoing storylines), but it’s a good way to keep the stakes high, especially as the supporting cast are all there and have something to do. And, well, I have a sweet tooth for mysteries, so I’m all for this.

 

Speaking of which, Owarimonogatari opens with a double-length episode that’s basically a lovely done-in-one closed-room mystery. It’s awesome. And despite how much Ararararagi has become the weak link in this show over time, he’s actually quite fun here, as Ougi leaves him absolutely no room to fall back on his usual excesses. This was a very good opener indeed, and setting a high bar for the season.

 

Attack on Titan – Junior High is very, very stupid. It probably doesn’t make much sense unless you’ve watched the main series. (Or, heck, read the manga, if the Ymir/Krista material is any indication.) What it does right, though, is being at least mildly funny most of the time ; and it’s having a lot of funny playing with Sawano’s bombastic score and the original anime’s direction for maximum comedic effect. At least for one episode, the joke works.

 

Onsen Yousei Hakone-chan is a gag manga adaptation about a childlike hotsprings fairy meddling with teenagers’ love life. In three minutes it makes its point, namely that it’s the same romantic comedy beats I’ve already seen hundreds of time, without any particular spark. Pass.

 

Miss Komori Can’t Decline! (Komori-san wa Kotowarenai!), on the other hand, does manage to spin a few decent laughs out of its premise. Unfortunately, it looks like crap and barely lasts 2 minutes. Oh, well.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2015 – Page 2

Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Wait, you thought you could have an anime season without the gratuitous fanservice-ladden boobfest ?

There are a couple of upcoming videogames tying in with this, but with different narrative focus ; this is basically its own thing.

Characters

Tokonome was an ordinary girl with merely an unfortunate surname (it can also be read as “Virgin”) until she got snatched by MIBs and stranded on a mysterious island where people keep attacking her. Or assaulting her.

It quickly becomes clear that the place is a gathering place/academy for super-powered girls. Half of them are “Exsters”, who turn into weapons when aroused ; and the others are Liberators, who do the arousing and can wield them. And they gang up on the newbie as a way to test her strength.

This is actually way more organized than it sounds ; the women supervising the whole island set up the whole thing, and there’s even betting between the numerous bystanders over who will win.

A Mysterious Girl shows up just after our heroine (wait, were they all sent by missiles ?), and they quickly partner up. Unlike Tokonome, she actually has a clue about their abilities and what’s going on ; she forces Tokonome to transform so that they can handle the S-M duo sent against them. Also, she’s so stoic and silent that her finally actually speaking in the last scene of the episode is quite the shock.

Production Values

Of course it’s studio Arms at the wheel ; and this is even more softcore-porny than their average, with exposed boobies, clothing damage that barely covers the crotch, and onscreen lesbian sex. Also, nobody seems to be wearing a bra.

Overall Impression

On the one hand, props to the writers for putting a bit of thought to their excuse plot, which is way more elaborate than necessary. On the other hand, this is still crap, with annoying main characters, even more annoying antagonists, and a deep sense of unease throughout that makes this feel very unarousing indeed.

One episode was well enough, thank you.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2015 – Page 4

AntiMagic Academy 35th Test Platoon (Taimadou Gakuen 35 Shiken Shoutai)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Oh goody : this is the third light novel adaptation about teenagers in magical high school this season. Third time’s the charm ?

Characters

Uh, the AntiMagic Academy is a more interesting setting than most of its ilk : it’s an explicit military training facility, preparing the next generation of witch-hunting inquisitors. Students are divided into Platoons, who go onto proper field missions all the time.

Takeru, our male lead, heads the titular 35th Test Platoon. They’re known as complete screw-ups who keep idling around instead of performing their missions. His laid-back leadership may be part of the issue… or maybe it’s the only way to handle such a rag-tag of misfits.

Usagi, the sniper, always gets distracted and can’t aim for crap. Suginami, the mission control, spends more time teasing them than actually giving them intelligence. (And her hacking always gives them more trouble than it’s worth.) Also, they’re kinda lacking a proper heavy hitter.

Enter Ouka. Who used to be a proper graduated inquisitor, but got sent back to training after she turned out to be way too intense and lethal on her missions. The academy make a point of assigning her to the 35th Test Platoon ; she doesn’t get it, and keeps soloing everything anyway. While she is very good at witch-hunting, she’s way too vicious about it, and it leads to an immediate clash with her “teammates”.

Production Values

You can always count on studio Silver Link to make a show look better than average ; not so much with the animation than with the colour design.

Overall Impression

This is a complete shock : I actually quite liked this. WHY ? Let’s take a review :
– Making the setting explicitly military-based shifts the plot beats to something more palatable. There’s virtually none of the standard high school tropes at play here. Even the “competition” between platoons (with explicit points) is framed around real-world missions that give a clear indication of what the academy is grooming its trainees for. (Instead of generic tournaments with no obvious purpose but having super-powered teenagers let off steam.)
– We come to a nearly fully-formed cast. Instead of “Here’s our male lead encountering a bunch of potential haremettes in quick succession”, it’s “here’s our fight unit, which happens to have one dude and three girls”. The one dude feels a lot less special and singled out by the narrative. Focusing the episode on only those four and the bare minimum of supporting cast also helps out.
– It’s quite fast-paced. In one episode, we get the whole cast introduced, two missions, already some character development, and foreshadowing for the antagonists. As it turns out, cutting down on the cliché fluff and being mercifully light on techno-babble leaves out a lot of room for actual stuff to happen.
– There’s a lot of good casting. Yoshimasa Hosoya is a very interesting choice for the male lead, as his baseline is “angry dude”. Takeru is way more nice than his average, but there’s still a heavy subtext of barely-contained anger to his interpretation. Which gives him an edge over most of his type. Also, having Ryoko Shiraishi and Rumi Ookubo for the comedy sidekicks is always a boon, as they know their stuff.
– Nobody’s a princess.

None of this is rocket science ; and it’s not like this is a great show by any regards. (For one, it still has a “dude falls onto the tsundere’s breasts” gag.) But it’s all little touches that make it a show that I’m actually mildly interested in following, instead of just wanting to strangle the writers for their laziness.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2015 – Page 4

I Was Abducted by an Elite All-Girls School as a Sample Commoner (Ore ga Ojousama Gakkou ni “Shomin Sample” Toshite Gets♥Sareta Ken)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a light novel series about… well, that’s the nice thing about the premise being laid out in an awfully long title.

Characters

Kimito, our protagonist, is a completely ordinary high school student. One day, he’s suddenly abducted by a bunch of MIBs, who turn out to be the agents of a secret and elite academy for super-rich girls. The principal lays out their conundrums : the academy’s alumni are so sheltered that they don’t resist contact with the real world, and become agoraphobic shut-ins. So the idea is now to gently break the students in by having them interact with the one guy carefully selected by the staff. And just to be on the safe side, they got a gay dude.

… Which is news to Kimito ; it seems his childhood friend trolled the MIBs while they were researching him. But given the alternatives (with the distinct threat of castration), he’s not going to protest his heterosexuality too much.

Reiko, as class representative of the first-year class Kimito is now attending, helps out a bit to prevent him getting mobbed in. She’s just as sheltered and naive as the lot of them, though.

Aika is another girl he runs into (cue accidental groping, because of course). She’s even more proactive about learning “commoner” stuff from him, as she sees it as the panacea to her socialization troubles. And hey, the two of them already have decent chemistry as friends within a few minutes.

Production Values

Okay enough, I guess. And just about as much fanservice as you’d expect from the premise.

Overall Impression

Urgh. Some of the individual bits are okay enough, and it goes out of its way to avoid the common ojou-sama stereotypes, but there’s not getting around the fact that the latent homophobia inherent to the premise and much of the gags really, really bugs me. And that’s a complete deal-breaker for me.

I’m out.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2015 – Page 4

Everything Becomes F : The Perfect Insider (Subete ga F ni Naru)

(11 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a 1996 mystery novel. It has already been adapted in manga, visual novel and live-action drama formats ; so next is the prestige noitaminA anime series.

Characters

Moe, our protagonist, looks at first like an ordinary college student ; somewhat brattish and superficial. But over the course of the episode, it becomes clear that she’s got more depth than that ; she’s quite clever, inquisitive, and is quick to catch on. Also, her family is connected enough to help the plot along.

Saikawa, the teacher overseeing her circle and thesis, tries to remain as stonefaced as possible while shutting down her attempts to be too friendly. (The question whether she means any of it remains open at this point.) Most of the episode happens in his office. Anyway, he’s investigating for research purposes a bizarre murder case…

Shiki, a teenage genius, was accused of having killed her parents a few years ago. Because of her claims a doll did it, she was declared non compos mentis, after which she vanished. It seems that all this time she’s been holed up in a lab on a remote island ; Moe managed to snag an interview with her (on Saikawa’s behalf) that we see in flashback.

Hey, let’s hold the circle’s vacation on that island ! It’ll be fun, they may learn more, and nothing wrong can happen !

Production Values

Hum. This is the kind of serious show that is intent on spending many minutes with Moe doing very mundane stuff before anything of significance happens, as proof that it’s adapting Serious Literature. Which feels like a mistake, as the attention to detail regarding Moe’s body language shines much more when she gets to interact with other people.

Also, awesome visuals for the OP sequence.

Overall Impression

A mystery show on noitaminA ? It’d have to be a complete trainwreck for me to skip it.

And, well, it starts off very pretentious indeed ; but it all comes into focus when the flashback interview with Shiki comes into play. She’s an eerie presence, and Moe’s uncanny cheerfulness in contrast raises many questions (especially as we learn more about the backstory).

I’m quite interested in seeing where this is going.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2015 – Page 4

A Corpse is Buried Under Sakurako’s Feet. (Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a mystery light novel series.

Characters

Sakurako is a woman obsessed with bones. It comes from family, but she’s taken it to a whole new level, taking a hobby of digging them out wherever it takes her fancy. She’s certainly affluent enough to do it just about all the time. She has no people skill ; but what she lacks in common sense she makes up for with a very keen detective mind (especially if the mysteries involve skeletons). But while she’s delightful to see barge in and annoy people, she’s saddled with…

Shoutarou, a generic high school dude. Who’s not so much boring as an complete buzzkill. His only purpose is to be annoyed or creeped out when Sakurako does interesting stuff. Well, that and presumably as an audience-standin figure, but he’s such an ass about disabling the heroine that I end up rensenting him being there. There’s no explanation whatsoever for why the two of them hang out together (it’s a story left for later), and there’s a relative lack of chemistry between them. Heck, they don’t seem to be romantically involved at all… Which, given the age difference, I’m thankful for at least.

Production Values

Very, very pretty, with tons of scenery porn. TROYCA are a very new studio (their only other series of note is the co-production of Aldnoah.Zero), but they certainly aren’t lacking budget here.

Overall Impression

Oh, dear. I love mystery shows, and Sakurako’s excentricities are a lot of fun to watch. So why partner her with the worst Watson figure ever ? I get that some degree of contrast between them is required, but he’s so persistently annoying that he nearly entirely kills the show for me by his lonesome.

I’m giving this a second episode against my better judgement because of the genre, but it’d better shape up soon.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2015 – Page 4

Dance with Devils

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Ah, the standard romance show with a heroine surrounded by creepy and devilish-looking handsome boys. Except this isn’t a shoujo manga or visual novel adaptation but an original project. And a musical.

Characters

Ritsuka, our protagonist, is your ordinary, slightly naive high school girl. She lives alone with her writer/translator mother, as her older brother is busy being ordained in England. If that last bit wasn’t already eyebrow-raising, then there’s the whole deal with her Mom being very insistant she wear a fresh new talisman every week. Considering it saves her bacon twice this episode, that sounds like a reasonable precaution.

One day she’s suddenly summoned by the Student Council, a quartet of creepy boys of various strikes. There were rumours she had broken some school rule, but they refuse to be more precise. Since her talisman prevents them from doing anything too nefarious, she’s just dumbfounded at this group of jerks and their unfounded accusations.

As she comes back home that evening, she sees a bunch of hooded thugs ransacking the place, and her mother motioning her to stay away. Of course, by the time she comes back with the police, everything is back to normal (aside from her mother being mysteriously absent), and they don’t believe her. As a perfectly sensible precaution, she decides to stay the night at one of her friends. However, than plan is hijacked by…

Rem, jerk student council president, who “rescues” her from the thugs attacking her again and… wait, did he just incinerate two of them while she wasn’t looking ? Anyway, he escorts her back to his mansion, supposedly for her own safety. He claims the student council are investigating a circle of devil worshippers at school, and initially mistook her for one of them… but I have a hard time taking anything he says at face value.

Production Values

As mentioned above, this is a musical. It opens with a glorious villain song featuring an evil Greek chorus being ominous as crap, goes on with Ritsuka going to school like she’s a Disney princess under the cherry trees, and also has the student council being introduced as super-creepy in their library den. It’s thus slightly disappointing that there’s so much plot setup that we don’t see anymore of those musical numbers in the second half of the episode. Hopeful the next episodes will balance them better, as they’re gorgeous-looking and the clear highlight of the show, both musically and visually. (Though the rest of the show looks quite good too.)

Overall Impression

From previous reviews, you may have notice I have very little time for this genre, especially if the numerous prettyboys aren’t particularly distinctive. But this pulls of the stops to get me onboard with a series of glorious musical numbers that are so over-the-top they’re incredibly charming. Which is a feat, for a series about rapey boys.

I’m less sold about the actual plot and characters (although I have seen much worse heroines than Ritsuka), but if the show can keep the musical numbers as impressive as this opener, then, to my complete surprise, I’m in.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2015 – Page 4

STAR-MYU – High School Star Musical

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Oh, dear. This is a show about a colour-coded boys’ band attending high-school. There’s just no way I can take this seriously, given how the previous show lampooned the genre to hell and back.

Characters

Hoshitani is our central protagonist. He’s enrolled into this school because he’s looking for some handsome singer he once saw wearing this uniform, and for some reason hasn’t bothered at all to look into how things work here.

Fortunately, this shy guy called Nayuki is perfectly willing to provide him with tons of helpful exposition. They end up being roommates, of course.

So the idea is that there are “Star” singer groups which are created from a very selective process organized by the most senior and elite Star group. You enter individually, and there’s certainly no guarantee you’ll end up with people you enjoy the company of. Hoshitani certainly has already managed to piss off a couple of them.

Since the Super-Star group are all humourless and stern dudes, I’m pretty sure the bizarre and mismatched group our heroes end up with is the work of one Ootori, who’s been roped in to help the Super-Stars out through a combination of nepotism and plain awesomeness. I like this dude, he’s a fun troll.

Since there’s not a single female character of any significance in sight, I’m guessing this is a boys-only school.

Production Values

Good enough for this kind of thing, and the musical numbers aren’t too bad.

Overall Impression

Yeah, no, sorry, I just can’t judge this fairly. It’s actually quite decent, with enough of a sense of humour about itself to be perfectly watchable despite piling on the clichés. I’ve seen much worse in the same genre. (Shonen Hollywood, I’m looking at you.)

But, well, I’m just not the audience for this kind of thing, and it was unlucky enough that context destroyed any interest I may have had in it. I’ll pass.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2015 – Page 3

Osomatsu-san

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Osomatsu-kun was a 60s family-friendly gag manga which got an anime adaptation at the time, then another one in the 80s. This year would have marked the 80th anniversary of its creator, so here’s another go at it. But freshening it up for a modern audience is by all measures an uphill challenge, for reason I’ll get into just below.

You can just hear the producers behind this revival loudly shouting : CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

Characters

So, the gimmick here is that Osomatsu is the eldest of sextuplet teenagers. And the gag was that they’re indeed all identical, with only their voices and personalities barely helping the audience to call them apart. Well, that and their really dated 60s-pop-culture-derivative catchphrases. Let’s even politely not talk about the supporting cast, a bunch of ridiculous-looking stereotypes. There’s no way modern audiences will want to watch this, right ?

But then, what are you going to do ? Stunt-cast A-rank voice-actors, the likes of Takahiro Sakurai, Hiroshi Kamiya, Jun Fukuyama & Daisuke Ono, to play the sextuplets ? Turn them into a colour-coded boys’ band attending (*snicker*) “BL Academy” ? Have them act out awful cliché personas that are wildly out of character for them ? Have the supporting cast turned into more “cool” clichés, such as the delinquents or the Awesome Rival who’s totally not the French caricature from the original show ?

This naked commercial grab is a complete disaster, as the characters end up being completely exhausted and direly long for the commercial break to come. Even the most gratuitous Attack on Titan parody ever, or downright blatantly copying famous shonen shows, can’t stop this from falling apart. It’s just… not what them, you see ?

And so the show ends with the sextuplets still grasping for an answer to their conundrum. And they’ve been at it for so long that they’re now all in their mid-20s ; which is a new status quo that should give the writers enough rope to tell new stories.

At least, they really hope so.

Production Values

Studio Pierrot have outdone themselves here. The fake-retro opener, in a B&W 4/3 format with tons of artefacts, feels true to the original show. The parody section that constitutes much of this first episode both feels true enough to work, while still having enough weirdness in the background to sell that this is all a sham. And the final designs it settles on are decent modern upgrades that feel true to the source.

Overall Impression

For the record, I don’t believe this episode is really indicative of what’ll come next ; it’s here to make a point about how anime has changed over the decades (and not always for the better), while acknowledging that just slavishly copying either what was done in the 60s or what’s popular now just wouldn’t work. It’s the writers clearly stating that nostalgia alone can’t carry the show.

It’s also absolutely hilarious from start to finish, with impeccable comedic timing, even when they have to deliver bad jokes on purpose. This is metafiction on steroids, but done really well. And since it’s a gag show, they can totally get away with it.

Now, there are worrying signs. The joke may have gotten a bit overextended to fill the whole episode ; not all of the gags land. I still can’t tell too many of the sextuplets apart. (There’s Osomatsu, the “leader” ; Choromatsu, the straight man to most of their ramblings ; and maybe Todomatsu, who’s the “youngest” one ? The others are still a bit of a blur.) And most importantly, there’s no evidence yet that the writers have solved their central quandary, i.e. how to tell modern stories with these characters without losing their soul in the process. Can this premise actually support a full season ?

But hey, this first episode was fun enough that I’m willing to give them a bit of rope to see them try.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2015 – Page 3

Concrete Revolutio ~A Superhuman Fantasy~ (Choujin Gensou)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

It’s like half a dozen superhero shows mixed together into a single one.

Characters

Kikko, our heroine, is a teenage waitress who’s suddenly told a spy drama is about to unfold in her restaurant, and is thus asked to stop this scientist for leaking state secrets to this very shady-looking guy in a suit that does scream “spy”. Actually, he’s an alien spy, and the exchange is about something else entirely. But nevermind ! We also learn that Kikko is a magical girl, complete with cute talking mascot hidden in her cleavage. Her powers are a massive help in the ensuing chase scene.

Jiro, the guy with the bizarre haircut who asked for her help to bust the spy, is from a secret agency to monitor and protect superheroes. Cue sudden flashforwards to five years later where he’s on the run and she’s the one leading an agency taskforce to chase him down. Er, sure, whatever.

The actual point of the whole spy-busting thing, besides preventing whatever the aliens’ nefarious plan is, was to draw out Grosse Augen, a super-famous sentai-style superhero who’s been helping humanity out for a while. However, the agency deems him to dangerous to exist, so he has to go. (Much to Kikko’s dismay, as she’s a fan.)

Presumably a side benefit was to bring Kikko into the fold, as her wildly versatile magical girl powers should be a tremendous help.

Production Values

Gorgeous ! This looks really neat, with wildly unnaturalistic colour work that makes everything pop. There’s also tons of creativity around Kikko’s powers, such as the time she manifested a giant arrow to point out where the giant-size Gross Augen & alien spy were fighting, as normal human Jiro couldn’t see them while they were out of phase. And then he transformed his car into a giant mecha and threw the arrow at the spy.

Overall Impression

If the above summaries sounded wildly disjointed and completely insane, well, I’m trying to convey what watching the show is like. It’s a crazy mashup of at least four different superhero shows (the alien spy ring, Kikko’s magical girl thing, Grosse Augen’s sentai trappings, and the paranoid dystopia flashforwards), all gleefully colliding together into utter chaos.

It’s more than a bit disorientating, and I can understand being irritated by this scattershot approach. But it’s so gloriously bonkers that I can’t help getting caught into its kitchen-sink universe, trying to find a method to the madness.

I’m hooked.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2015 – Page 2