Persona 4 – The Animation

(25 episodes)

What’s it about ?

The anime adaptation of a cult videogame… which I’ve never played (I don’t own a PS2).

The plot, as much as I can discern so far : a few high-schoolers living in a little town in the middle of nowhere discover they can enter TVs into a parallel world where they fight monsters (the game’s a RPG with heavy visual-novel/dating-sim overtones, from what I’ve understood).

Characters

Narukami, the player character. As such, he has no personality whatsoever and speaks as little as possible. He’s going to live in Littletown for a year with his uncle (conveniently a senior detective, thank you conservation of cast !) because his parents are busy abroad. He gets weird dreams and voices talking to him, eventually leading him to walk into a giant-screen TV in the local mall. There, a passing friendly monster helpfully gives him glasses that allow him to summon a giant avatar to fight nasty beasties. It has to be said that the glasses make him look 200% more badass.

Hanamura, the token perverted best friend. Son of the mall’s owner, and only here for six months. Part of the initial party, although all he’s done so far is freak out and piss himself.

Chie, the tomboy. You can tell she’s important because she wears a bright green sweater instead of the dull grey school uniforms of nearly everyone else in the class. Also part of the initial party.

Konishi, a quiet girl who seems as the center of things : she discovered the corpse of a gory murder, and the “girl in the haunted TV channel” urban legend looks a lot like her.

Production Values

This series has one of the best opening sequences of the year… despite having spent no budget on it whatsoever (it’s just geometrical shapes intercut with snippets of the prologue -our protagonist coming to Littletown in train). But the tune is very catchy indeed. (Same deal with the ED.)

I’d love to say that the same sense of style permeates the episode… but alas, no. The soundtrack alternates between the quite good and the ill-timed ; and there’s something slightly off with the rhythm of most scenes. It feels… very visual-novelly, for lack of better term ; characters exchange dialogue in a slightly disjointed fashion that makes it look like a direct adaptation of the original game’s VN scenes (although I have no clue whether the game was actually like that).

I love a lot of the stylistic quirks here (such as the calendar shots to mark the passage of time), but it doesn’t quite click.

What did I think of it ?

Well, it’s more than a bit rough, but I can’t quite fault a show for trying to be a bit stylish and falling slightly short of the mark. It’s certainly got atmosphere, and I’m interested in where the dating-sim-meets-dungeon-crawl story is going.

We’ll see how it goes from here.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011 – Page 4.

Pure White Symphony ~ the color of lovers ~ (Mashiro-iro Symphony)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Yet another date-sim adaptation. The hook here, if you can call it that, is that a previously all-girls high school is starting to let boys enroll.

Characters

Shingo, our generic male lead. As blandly nice as you’d expect.

Sakuno, his sister. She’s more than a bit mentally-challenged, and easily gets lost. Or distracted. I hope she doesn’t have a route, but considering how she’s unaware that they may be a bit too old to bathe together…

Airi, daughter of the principal, and vehemently against boys enrolling. We also get to see her nice side when she helps Sakuno get unlost.

We don’t get to see much of the rest of the cast. The obligatory pervert best friend isn’t actually that perverted, there’s a girl that spends her whole screentime sitting in the grass cuddling a bizarre cat-thing, and somehow the high-school’s got a maid.

Production Values

Perfectly okay, but the character designs are typical date-sim fare : colorful and immediately forgettable.

What did I think of it ?

A pretentious opening prologue about the color of love. Half the episode spent on Sakuno being lost. A dramatic cliffhanger where Airi announces she’s against dudes in the school. This is a joke, right ? A parody of how bland and devoid of stakes the genre has become ? But alas, no, this is played entirely straight throughout, and the show really expects us to care about its hackneyed premise.

I don’t care, and neither should you.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011 – Page 4.

Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere (Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Er… Let’s be honest, the show itself relegates the exposition about the setting to a super-speed summary over the ending credits, so I feel confident in thinking it’s a lot of clutter that doesn’t matter too much. (Some stuff about god-kingdoms re-enacting history with terrible accuracy, with the current period being an techno-fantasy version of the Warring Kingdoms ? Whatever…)

What matters for the purposes of this first episode : this is a floating city (the surface isn’t habitable anymore) with fantasy inhabitants (from normal humans to incubus & blobs). We’re following a class of elite fighter and/or mage students, most of whom are heirs to bigwigs in their respective countries/ethnic groups.

Characters

The titular Horizon is a girl who died 10 years ago in an unfathomable pre-opening-credits sequence. The local ruler built her a tombstone in the middle of the floating city, so she must have been important.

Ms. Oriotorai, the class’s teacher, decided that the best way to spice PE up was to have all 30-ish of her students try and tag her while they cross the city. (The inhabitants on the way wisely decide to barricade themselves to avoid most of the crossfire.) Oh, and she’s also using it as a way to beat up some thugs that recently annoyed her. I like her style.

Tora, the student council president and son of the local bigwig, arrives fashionably late after the whole thing’s over (he was standing in line to buy an ero-game). He’s, of course, the only one who even manages to touch their teacher (groping her by surprise, sigh). It takes all of Jun Fukuyama’s charisma not to make me want to throttle him (he has enough charm for a punch in the face to be sufficient).

Most of the other students don’t get enough screentime to get more than one-note characterizations, although they do manage to pull some stunts that look impressive even with the teacher no-selling them. There’s a wide range of talents in the class, from fighters to mages and including some outlandish fantasy races (there’s a blob, an incubus, etc.). They also do show some team spirit, with effective combinations and several of them taking the time to collect the wounded and apologize to the neighbours.

There’s a girl in a bakery who does nothing whatsoever, but is presumably some sort of reincarnation of Horizon to get this much screentime in so busy an episode.

Production Values

Impressive action sequences that flow quite well despite the general chaos. There’s also a good sense of worldbuilding, with nice panoramas and a world that feels completely alien.

What did I think of it ?

This is another episode-long fight scene that leaves me clueless about the general direction the series is going to take, but unlike Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! this feels way more coherent. It’s a thoroughly dense setting, but the writers have the good sense of barely bothering to explain it and to focus on how fun it is to adventure there. It’s an enthralling watch, with enough charm to get over the more cliché aspects or the overwhelming expospeak.

I could live without the more ecchi aspects of Tora’s personality, but so far it works.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011 – Page 4.

Chihayafuru

(25 episodes)

What’s it about ?

High-school romance, with a side helping of card games.

Characters

Chihaya, our tomboy-ish protagonist. Used to be on the track team, and her former teammates would love to keep her around. But now that she’s in high school, she wants to indulge in her passion, and set a club up for the “karuta” card game (which, from what I understand, involves a referee reciting poems in a random order, and the players rushing to pick the matching cards up). Nobody seems to be interested so far. Her older sister is a model.

Taichi, her childhood friend. He obviously still holds a candle for her (why else would he join the same high school despite having access to better ?), but the poor guy gets pitifully friendzoned when they finally meet again.

Arata, an outcast transfer student they both met in elementary school, who obviously impressed Chihaya enough to communicate her his love for karuta. Chihaya’s the only child in the class who befriends him ; all the others (including Taichi) bully him because he’s poor, speaks in a dialect, and keeps to himself.

To be clear, none of them went to the same middle schools ; and neither Taichi nor Chihaya have had any contact with Arata for at least a year (but it’s obvious Chihaya still cares for him).

Production Values

Quite good. I loved how Chihaya preempted any fanservice potential when she pins a poster to the board, by wearing her tracksuit pants under her skirt.

Some of the dramatic effects for the flashback karuta game are a bit overblown (Arata throwing the cards into the wall forcefully enough for them to stick ? I know the walls are crap because his family is poor, but still…), although we’re nowhere near Saki territory.

What did I think of it ?

I quite liked this. Chihaya is a fun protagonist, with way more personality than most romance female leads (you can tell this is josei and not shoujo). The card game itself seems to have very little potential (unless there are other rules I missed), but it’s mostly just an excuse to have the characters meet and interact. If this balance of focus is kept, this could be perfectly entertaining.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011 – Page 3.

Tamayura ~hitotose~

What’s it about ?

Slice of life adventures about a group of high school girls in a backwater little country town. One of them’s really into photography.

We already got a short series of OVAs about this last December ; this is a full-scale series that starts way back at the beginning.

Characters

Yuu, our protagonist. She spent her childhood in the little town until her parents moved to the big city ; now they’re coming back just as Yuu enters high school. Mom has just quit her former job to go and assister Grandma at her bakery ; Dad is dead, but manages to convey his love for photography to Yuu. There’s also a younger brother who doesn’t do much yet.

Chihiro, Yuu’s BFF in the big city, who has a thing for plush toys.

Yuu barely gets to the little town by the episode’s end, so the only other member of the main cast we really see yet is the hyper, twin-tailed one.

(If you’re wondering, “tamayura” is the name for some sort of snow-like artifacts that show up on photographs in that place. At, least, that’s what I gathered from the OAVs, the word is used without explanation here.)

Production Values

Of course the premise is an excuse for scenery porn… except we don’t get to see much of the little town and the country around it yet. Oops.

What did I think of it ?

I watched the OAVs last December (it’s only 1 hour), and was bored silly by them. So imagine my trepidation when I realized that this would be exactly the same… except much, much slower. And don’t think any depth was added : the characters remain as depressingly flat as ever, and there’s nary a joke in sight.

To be honest, I started doing other stuff 5 minutes before the end. It’s that boring. Avoid, unless you really need something to put you to sleep.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011 – Page 3.

You & Me (Kimi to Boku)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Four (soon five) high school boys’ slice of life adventures.

Characters

Kaname, the straight man of the group. Serious, and a bit annoyed by the others’ laid-back attitude.

Shun, the emotive, slightly childish dude.

Yuki, the younger of the two twins. Sullen and utterly apathetic. Feels the need to distinguish himself by not wearing the school blazer.

Yuta, the older of the two twins. mostly non-descript.

Production Values

Pastels. Also, lots of budget-mandated shortcuts, such as the characters often annoyingly facing away from the camera when they’re talking.

What did I think of it ?

This episode’s whole plot : Kaname tries to get Yuki to join a club, any club (+ a few flashbacks to elementary school). This complete absence of anything happening could work if the characters were fun to watch or had interesting chemistry, but they spend the whole episode bitching at each other or sulking. There’s no charm whatsoever, and the character don’t show any depth that’d make me care about them.

I just don’t care about these guys. Next show, please.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011 – Page 3.

Phi Brain – Puzzle of God

(25 episodes)

What’s it about ?

X-TREME puzzles !

Characters

Kaito “Einstein” Daimon, our spiky-haired protagonist. He’s a genius puzzle solver (to the point of seeing his high-school’s puzzle club as beneath him). He stumbles on a hidden giant puzzle/death trap combo just behind the school (how the heck did nobody notice this thing before ? Yeah, it’s underground, but still…), and he’s quite offended by the death traps sullying the purity of the puzzles.

Nonoha, his childhood friend/sidekick/whatever. She’s not very good at puzzle-solving, but her observation/memory skills do come handy. She’s mostly there so that Kaito has someone to show off how brilliant he is to.

“Genius Okudera”, a famous adult puzzle-solver who’s this series’ “Mr. Satan” figure. You know, the gloryhound who’s way less competent than he claims.

Souji Jikukawa, president of the puzzle club and member of the student council. He thoroughly tries to recruit Kaito, ultimately giving him (in flashback) a mini-computer with advanced puzzle games.

Minotaur, a dude in a ridiculous disguise who starts soliciting Kaito through the mini-computer and is eventually revealed to be in charge of the puzzle-deathtrap-thingie behind the school. He really should invest in a better voice scrambler, because it’s blindingly obvious he’s Jikukawa (Akira Ishida’s voice is clearly recognizable).

Production Values

Pretty good ; the directing has enough energy to make the puzzles look cool. I also quite like the soundtrack, which helps sell the high-octane puzzle action. And the OP & ED take full advantage of the visual possibilities of the “sliding puzzles” motif.

What did I think of it ?

Well, that was fun. It’s obviously a very stupid show, but it accomplishes what it needed to : making puzzles look cool. That’s half the battle, and as decent a hook as any. It also has enough bits of cleverness (such as the solution to the maze, which is ridiculously outside-the-box but somehow works) not be boring.

I think I’ve found my Sunday night popcorn action show. Unpretentious, but quite enjoyable.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011 – Page 2.

Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!

What’s it about ?

Darned if I know. The story focuses on a school where quarrels between classes are solved through massive martial art battles – this episode’s campaign between classes S and F involves more than 500 combatants on each side. But somehow, despite this episode being an extended fight scene, it looks like we’re heading for a harem setup. Sigh.

Characters

The cast is absolutely massive : discounting the red shirts, there’s at least 10 apparently important characters on each side. Very few of them get any depth, obviously.

Yamato, our de-facto protagonist, is the tactical coordinator for class F. He’s quite good at it (with assistance from the geek squad), but completely crap in an actual fight. He’s been harbouring for years a love for…

Momoyo, whom supplementary material assure me is NOT his sister, despite him addressing her as such throughout. But they’ve been childhood friends for so long that she simply cannot see him that way. She’s a superb martial artist, one of the “Great Four” (whatever that means), and decided to side with class S just because. Frankly, they do need her.

Hideo is the leader of class S, and as such the main target. He’s an arrogant moron, and you won’t be surprised when he’s defeated because of terrible tactical choices made through overconfidence. (There’s a limit to how much his underlings can cover for).

Class F’s top fighters include a set of four elite female champions who all seem to pine for Yamato ; as well as Hideo’s sister, for some reason. Their “leader” is a completely inept girl who needs permanent care.

Class S also has a set of sub-commanders who do all the work… and an entire squad of girls dressed as maids, for some reason.

There are two weird women (one of them covered in bandages) hovering on the sides of the fight and apparently looking for Momoyo. They’re our only clue of a wider plot being around.

Production Values

Mostly okay. I’ve never been been fond of the “still shot after a martial art move” cost-cutting device, but it’s not used too much as to be grating.

This is surprisingly low on fanservice, despite most females wearing bloomers and some clothing damage being implied half-way through. Indeed, the only character who spends most of the episode half-naked is Hideo.

What did I think of it ?

What. The. Heck ?

I’m really not sure what to make of this. The school battles are decently executed, but don’t feel like they can sustain a whole series (cf. also BakaTest). The sheer number of named characters makes it hard to care about most of them. The romance stuff makes me roll my eyes. And I have no clue what the deal with the two women is.

I’m tentatively giving it one more episode to see whether a coherent direction emerges, but this seems like a mess.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011.

C³ (Cube x Cursed x Curious)

What’s it about ?

Generic harem show where the male lead receives a big box with a weird girl in it.

Characters

Haruaki, said male lead. As generic as you could expect. His (offscreen) father is a collector of weird stuff and apparently built the house so that it’d be flooded with positive vibes. I’m not quite seeing it.

Fear, the girl in the box. Completely unfamiliar with modern civilization, she claims to be the personification of negative emotions or whatever. In practice, think the destructive potential of Squid-Girl, but without any of the charm. She’s really, really annoying, and the corny ending to the episode where Haruaki learns she’s not that bad rings horribly false to me.

Konoha, Haruaki’s childhood friend who happens to live in another part of the house (it’s more than hinted that she used to be somewhat like Fear way back when they first met). She fits the archetype perfectly.

The ED (or the OP played at the end, who knows) suggests that there’s a third girl involved (of course !), but she’s yet to show up.

Production Values

This is a Silver Link production, aka the people who did BakaTest. It certainly shows, with tons of little showy effects to liven things up visually in a SHAFT-lite style. It doesn’t help, especially given how much they focus on Fear’s panties (to say nothing of her way too long nude scene).

What did I think of it ?

This is rubbish. I’m not entirely averse to harem shows, but they live and die on their charm (see Asobi ni Iku yo! for a good example). This has no charm whatsoever, and is just painful to watch (especially any scene with Fear… which is about 90% of the episode).

Avoid like the plague.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011.

Hunter x Hunter

(at least 45 episodes… welcome to endless shounen hell !)

What’s it about ?

In a world with various big monsters roaming around and hidden treasures, the big thing to be is a Hunter, whose job is to deal with those. But there are lots of hopefuls and not many who actually manage to pass the tests…

This manga already got an anime adaptation 10 years ago, but from what I gather it never got to the end (the manga is still ongoing). This is a full-blown remake ; hopefully they’ll manage to make a proper ending this time around.

Characters

Gon, our spiky-haired protagonist. His father abandoned him at birth because of his Hunter’s job, so he’s convinced being a Hunter must be AWESOME! for Daddy to do that (/facepalm).

Mito, his aunt (although that’s never actually stated anywhere in the episode), was quite opposed to him leaving the nest, but he’s talented and wilful enough to overcome her objection before the mid-episode mark. Presumably we’ll barely ever see her again.

On the boat to the test center, Gon meets two other characters of note who are obviously going to tag along : Kurapika, the sullen last member of the Kurta tribe, who wants to become a Hunter to track down the culprits (I lay at least 50/50 odds that’s actually a girl) ; and Leorio, a tall lecherous dude who’s in it for the money.

A fourth team member is shown in the credits, but hasn’t appeared yet.

Production Values

Perfectly okay for an action shounen show. For comparison purposes, I checked out the first episode of the original series ; the new version is much brighter and slightly more stylised, at the cost of some atmosphere ; also, it seems to move quite a bit quicker than the original (which barely had Gon leaving the nest by the end of the first episode, but made it much clearer what the family situation was).

What did I think of it ?

Hello, generic shounen action show ! There’s nothing particularly original here, so it falls down to the worldbuilding (nothing much of interest yet) and the character dynamic to make it watcheable. And, well, while I’m all for Miyuki Sawashiro and Keiji Fujiwara deliciously snarking at each other, I’m not sure I want to sign up for 45+ episodes of it.

I’m not dropping it yet, but it’s definitely a candidate for the chopping block if too many other shows I want to keep watching are released on Sundays (which is a very probable scenario).

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011.