2011 Q3 – Summer – Blog@Jhiday.net

Summer 2011 capsules

Two quick reviews, because those 3/4-minute shorts don’t warrant a full writeup :

Morita-san wa Mukuchi (“Morita is taciturn”)

This revolves around Morita, a high school girl who barely ever talks (although she’s got some interior monologue, which kills the effect a bit). And that’s it, that’s the entire joke. It was already outstaying its welcome at 3 minutes long, I can’t imagine watching anymore of this.

Nyanpire

Speaking of one-shot jokes that can’t be sustainable, even in 4-minute shorts : this stars a cat that’s been bitten by a vampire (as a way to save its life). This is even less entertaining than the previous series : it tries way too hard to hit the “cute cat doing cute things cutely” button, and fails spectacularly at being even a single bit endearing. It’s way too artificial to work, and the high concept wasn’t even promising to begin with.

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

I usually don’t say much about OVA or sequels, but I figured I’d say a few words about Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kira, the first episode of which was recently released.

Now, the thing with Higurashi is that, while it’s a very good story, the plot got conclusively resolved at the end of the second season, in a way that leaves no room whatsoever for straight sequels. The first OVA series, Rei, got around it by featuring an interesting story hook that brings a new light over the wider picture, trying to tie it a bit more to the overall When they Cry franchise (probably as an tie-in to the then-debuting Umineko anime)… but in a way that’s self-canceling, and again leaves no room for further elaboration. Also, Rei was padded up with a couple of random comedy episodes that were kinda cute but didn’t bring anything new to table.

Well, the first episode of Kira makes it look like it’s going for the “random comedy” episodes route, except with even more fanservice. The first half of the episode is literally the male cast (Keiichi, Ooishi, Tomitake & Irie) fantasizing about “punishments” they could inflict to the whole female cast as part of the “penalty games”. Not only doesn’t it do much for me, but it gets quite uncomfortable when it reaches the younger members of the cast (Rika rubbing the windows with her ass ? Really ?). The second half is slightly more fun, not really because the female cast gets to retaliate (that’s nearly as tedious as the opposite), but because it actually makes an effort to tie the whole thing into the wider plot (however ridiculous that may sound). It doesn’t quite succeed in canceling out the bad taste left by the first half, but at least I don’t feel like I completely wasted my time.

Is this worth watching ? Well, no. It doesn’t look like Kira is going to add anything to the plot ; it feels like a cash-grab exercise, or at best an opportunity for the creators to have fun with the most lighthearted aspects of the premise. (The preview for the second episode certainly looks like it’s going to be entertainingly bonkers.) You can’t really put a clearer sign for “out-of-continuity zaniness” than featuring the Soul Brothers in a major role. I’m a die-hard fanatic of the franchise, so I’ll probably keep watching this, however pointless it is, just out of affection for the characters ; but you probably shouldn’t bother.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2011 – Page 11.

Appleseed XIII

(13 episodes, distributed on streaming and as OVAs)

What’s it about ?

The adventures of a SWAT squad in the future, fighting terrorists and conspiracies.

Characters

Deunan, our protagonist. Trained to survived in the wilderness by her father since her early childhood, she’s the gung-ho rookie of the squad. I’ll give this to Maaya Sakamoto : she’s got enough charisma to pull off her character whining non-stop for the full duration of the episode and still not have her be too annoying. Although she comes very close here.

Briareos, her BFF since forever (or maybe more ?). After a bad accident, he had to be turned into a cyborg to survive. He’s still following her devotedly to protect her (especially from her own reckless behavior).

Dia, an innocent bystander who turns out to be a special cyborg or something, and will presumably be important to the plot later on.

The plot of the week involves a bunch of terrorists (“the Argonauts”) storming the ~~Russian~~ Poseidon embassy to retrieve one of their agents. (Did I mention there’s a heavy Greek Mythology theme permeating everything ?)

Production Values

This is a full CGI series, with some degree of cell-shading when people are involved. To be frank, it looks terrible. The character designs for people don’t quite work, and most importantly the body language looks awfully off. It’s not a problem when everyone on screen is in power suits, but the humans move like creepy ragdolls, pushing them deep into the uncanny valley. It looks like cheap videogame cutscenes (you know, the ones that aren’t pre-rendered), which is all kinds of disappointing.

The backgrounds and the scenes without humans look much more impressive, but that’s only a fraction of the overall screentime.

Overall Impression

Ouch. I don’t know anything about the Appleseed franchise, but this is a decidedly underwhelming offering. The artstyle is a complete failure, and Deunan is obnoxious beyond belief. I think there may a decent story beyond those roadblocks… and then I realize I’ve seen this kind of story done much better with Ghost in the Shell – Stand Alone Complex. Which had the advantage of not making my eyes bleed.

I’ll give it another episode to check whether the heroine gets less annoying and I can enjoy it for the plot, but I’m not optimistic.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2011 – Page 11.

The Mystic Archives of Dantalian (Dantalian no Shoka)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Post-WWI England : a young lord inherits the care of a mystical library containing some very dangerous Phantom Books. The wider plot isn’t clear yet, but presumably he’s going to go on and investigate whichever of those are at large and must be contained.

Characters

Huey, our bishounen, Daisuke-Ono-voiced protagonist. His grandfather just got murdered by a burglar, so he inherits (1) a huge countryside mansion, (2) the valuable book collection therein, (3) the care of “Dalian” (whom he at first assumed to be a pet), and (4) the opportunity to become the caretaker of the Mystic Library of Dantalian. I quite like him ; his phlegm and and complete lack of freaking out when surrounded by weirdness are quite endearing.

Dalian, the gothic lolita living inside the mansion. (Fans of Miyuki Sawashiro hoping for her usual sexy, sarcasm-laden voice will be disappointed ; she uses a much higher register, somewhat akin to her performances in SHAFT gag series.) She holds the Dantalian books inside herself somehow, and contracts Huey to take care of it (cue blatant key/lock imagery).

The plot this week involves looking into Grampa’s murder and the theft of a Phantom Book… Except Huey’s already figured it out offscreen (the culprit was Grampa’s long-time rival mascarading as a burglar to get the book). We also get a demonstration of why Phantom Books are so dangerous (it kills the thief offscreen and summons nasty beasties), as well as Huey drawing on the Dantalian’s power to defeat the monsters.

Production Values

Average. The visuals are pedestrian, and there are some annoying storytelling hiccups.

The only thing of note is the ED sequence, a charming little B&W live-action piece (and the song ain’t bad either).

Overall Impression

Did Gainax really produce this ? It’s a baffingly mediocre show with no spark whatsoever : it feels rote and by-the-numbers. I had to catch myself from falling asleep several times.

Still, the premise is decent enough, and Daisuke Ono was enough to carry me through Psychic Detective Yakumo (yes, I’m that shallow), so I’ll probably give it a second episode to see where the actual plot goes. Not sure beyond that, though.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2011 – Page 9.

Cat God (Nekogami Yaoyorozu)

What’s it about ?

Slice of life comedy about mini-gods hanging around on Earth.

Characters

Mayu, our protagonist, a mini-god sent down to Earth 4 years ago because she kept skipping curfew and going out gambling. Dad was mellow enough to let it go, but Mom put her foot down. Anyway, she spends a lot of her time playing videogames.

Yuzu, the poor human woman Mayu is rooming with. (I don’t think it’s ever explained how that happened.) She’s mostly there to suffer and be nice to everybody.

We see quite a few other mini-gods hanging around, but they’re all already blurring together in my mind. The plot of the week involves a poverty god wreaking havoc in the city, but the twist is so dumb I’m trying my best to forget about it.

Production Values

Bright and shiny artwork with everyone in super-deformed character designs that make them look like toddlers. Okay for what it is, and thankfully devoid of fanservice.

Overall Impression

Deathly dull and instantly forgettable, if you hadn’t guessed from my pitiful attempts at remembering anything about it mere hours after watching it. It’s another of those comedies that aren’t funny in the least, but it has the good grace of being completely inoffensive, which is better than several shows I’ve reviewed in this thread. But there’s nothing worth watching here.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2011 – Page 8.

Manyuu Hikenchou

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Ninjas with light-emitting bodies… wait, no, that’s just the censorship.

Ninjas who steal breasts from each other (and from the common people). No, seriously, that’s the plot. Despite being feudal Japan, they’ve somehow got access to advanced enough surgery to do that.

Characters

Chifusa Manyuu, second daughter of the breast-stealing Manyuu clan, and Daddy’s favourite, is our protagonist. For reasons that aren’t quite clear to me, she starts the episode by running away from the village. So OF COURSE she runs into…

Ouka, the poor woman whose breasts were stolen by Daddy Manyuu to give to Chifusa. Before she recognizes our “hero”, she nurses her back to health… and in the end she easily forgives Chifusa for no good reason.

Kagefusa Manyuu, Chifusa’s older sister, leads the hunt against her (she’s a bit bitter about the “Daddy’s favourite” part). For added villainy points, she was the one who captured Ouka for the breast-stealing. Not that she needs that, as she spends the whole episode being gratuitously evil while fondling and/or raping anything female in sight. Somehow nearly every shot of her is censored, which suggests she’s a walking wardrobe malfunction.

Kaede, Chifusa’s sidekick which she abandoned “for her own safety”… Well, if you count “having your breasts stolen by Kagefusa as punishment” as “safety”, I guess. Again, despite having every reason to be bitter against our “hero”, she eventually rejoins her without resentment.

There’s a couple of other characters who get a scene of foreshadowing that leaves me none the wiser about what their deal is. Oh, and Daddy only ever appears in flashback, so I doubt he’s still among the living.

Production Values

It’s a bit hard to judge, considering that there’s heavy censorship in nearly every shot. And we’re talking about “big rays of light obscuring half the screen” censorship at best (there are some shots where we only see one person’s head against a white background).

Then again, it’s very obvious that this is softcore porn, with bondage and on-screen rape every other scene (Kagefusa’s usually the one who inflicts it, of course). Even with the censorship, the fanservice level is already through the roof.

Overall Impression

I’ve had trouble summing up above the full stupidity of the premise. Did I mention that one’s social status depends entirely on the size of their breasts ? That Chifusa’s inherited a secret scroll with a special sword technique allowing to magically steal someone else’s breasts ? (I swear I’m not making this up.) That Chifusa’s big objective is to “transmit the Manyuu techniques to the public”, whatever that means ? (So it’ll be a free-for-all between everyone to steal each other’s breasts ? How would that improve the situation ?) It’s just astounding how bizarrely inane the plot is.

You might consider watching this for the lulz. This would be a mistake : the plot is an incoherent mess that took me a while to decypher, Kagefusa’s RAPE RAPE RAPE behaviour is tremendously unpleasant, and most of the action is rendered impenetrable by the censorship. There’s just nothing to enjoy here.

Well done, show, you’ve managed to be worse than R-15. I knew you had the potential, but that was far worse than my (already low) expectations.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2011 – Page 8.

R-15

What’s it about ?

The Academy of Inspiration, where teenage geniuses from every possible field are gathered to cultivate their talent. Also, smut.

Characters

Taketo, our protagonist. He’s the best at what he does, and what he does is… writing porn novels. Since middle school. No, really, that’s the plot. Obviously, all his female classmates tend to view him with disgust… which isn’t unwarranted, considering how whenever he looks at one of them, he starts imagining them in porn scenarios and writing it in his notebook (when he’s not dreaming aloud). From what we can see of it, his output is cliché-ridden purple prose that sounds more laughable than arousing.

Ritsu, genius mathematician, his best friend, aka the Gay Option. He’s very defensive of Taketo, despite the guy not deserving it at all.

Raika, genius photographer, seems to be the only girl who genuinely likes Taketo and his perversion. They’re both in the Newspaper Club, and as such are tasked with interviewing…

Fukune, genius clarinette player. You’d think she’d be perfect fodder Taketo’s writing, but he’s actually somehow unable to write anything smutty about her (although he can still write cliché-ridden magical girl stories about her). Of course, his attempts at getting close to her are a complete disaster, given his (well-deserved) reputation.

The campus is filled with geniuses in every possible field. We’ve got a genius inventor (whose rockets coincidentally always seem to target Taketo…), a genius idol singer… and even a genius narrator who delivers a complete summary of Taketo’s life story. Which is admittedly the one genuinely funny joke in the whole episode.

Production Values

Average, and of course with tons of fanservice. We get to see a good number of Taketo’s fantasies, and it’s no wonder some of them are heavily censored.

Overall Impression

Dear gods, that was painful. Setting aside the repulsive premise and the bland characters, it commits the worst sin possible for a comedy : it’s not funny in the slightest.

I’d say this was easily the worst show in the season (yes, worse than pedo-bait Ro-Kyu-Bu), but there’s still three to go and at least one of them looks like a strong contender. But it’s certainly down there with the worst things I’ve ever watched.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2011 – Page 7.

A Dark Rabbit has Seven Lives (Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Teenage vampires. Or something.

Characters

Taito, our average high school male protagonist. Nine years ago he got bitten and enslaved by his childhood sweetheart, but somehow he’s all forgot about that now, aside from random dreams about it. But that changes when a getting ran over by a truck makes it clear he’s immortal (decapitation’s involved) and jumps up his memories. He then sets out to find her back.

Himea, said sweetheart. She’s been imprisoned in limbo for 9 years, and is thus a bit disappointed he’s taken this long to save her. His “awekening” allows her to escape, though. She then magically ages her body up from 6 to 15, because her reunion scene with Taito would have been creepy otherwise. (Not that this isn’t creepy, but…) They barely manage to get together when she’s stabbed by…

Gekkou, presumably our antagonist. The idol student at Taito’s high school, he’s quite the jerk beneath the “perfect” façade. His superpowers include opening portals and the like, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the one to trap Himea. He’s followed around by a devoted groupie who mainly helps provide exposition.

There’s also Haruka, Taito’s current not-girlfriend (although she’d obviously like it to be more), who hovers around him to help with exposition delivery and then suddenly disappears from the story once Taito goes around looking for Himea.

Production Values

This looks like a horrible style clash. The basic linework is the kind of bright and shiny stuff, with everyone having wild and technicolor hair, that you’d expect from a much brighter show ; but it seems to have been processed through a brown filter, jerked around to produce unending Dutch angles, and peppered with random post-production embellishments (way-too-elaborate CG runes ! weird CG stylings on the screen borders that look completely out of place !) in a desperate effort to make it look darker and edgier. It’s a complete failure, and just looks hideous.

It doesn’t help that this show is marred by absolutely inane censorship. Whatever you may think about a gratuitous upskirt shot of dozens of Gekkou’s groupies, it’s just stupid to add a big white ray of light in the middle that completely fails to hide most of the panties. And that’s far from an isolated occurrence (either for the censorship or the tons of gratuitous panty shots).

Overall Impression

Oh, dear. This sure went to hell fast.

There’s a wonderful pre-OP sequence where Himea bites Taito (in a dream/flashback) that is deliciously creepy and contains some genuinely good dialogue. But after that it’s a disjointed mess that barely makes any sense or has any logical flow. We also get some abysmal dialogue, such as when Taito stops dead in his tracks to deliver a mightily awkward six-line “As You Know” description of Gekkou to Haruka. There are a couple of good scenes here and there (such as Taito’s body wandering headless for a full minute, or most of Gekkou’s groupie’s banter), but even those are marred by the terrible artstyle.

Damn, there’s a decent nugget of a story somewhere in there. But the execution is far too bad for me to even consider watching another episode.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2011 – Page 7.

The iDOLM@STER

What’s it about ?

Twelve young idol wannabes learning the job at their production company. (It’s an adaptation of a series of simulation games where you’re the producer and have to build them into proper stars.)

Characters

I’m not going to go into much detail about each idol : there’s the girl-next-door, the super-timid one, the annoying twins, the hick who loves animals, the trust-fund-kid who’s in it to get adored, the troll, the serious one who just wants to sing, the sleepy one…

We also see a bit of the production staff… and of course one of them’s an ex-idol.

In this episode, a new producer is put in charge of grooming them up to stardom… but he spends most of the episode pretending to be a cameraman filming a documentary on them (he’s actually trying to get to know them better, without them sucking up to him too much).

Production Values

Very average. Most of the episode uses the framing device of being some sort of documentary/realTV show… with a lot of “candid” moments that actually feel horribly manufactured, like all realTV to me. Also, for some bizarre reason the “cameraman” ‘s questions are shown only in subtitles (as if this were a game)… despite producer guy getting proper dialogue at the end. It’s quite baffling.

Overall Impression

Wow, this is terrible. The approach of developing all the characters at once is very unwieldy and the realTV framing device feels horribly artificial. None of the girls rise above their archetypes, and all told it’s a very boring watch.

If anything, this has made me slightly interested in the actual games (I like simulation games, and this sounds as good a concept as any other). But watching a full TV series of this, without any player interaction ? Get out !

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2011 – Page 6.

No. 6

(11 episodes)

What’s it about ?

In the future, after a near-apocalypse, most humanity has settled in a few super-awesome cities where they live carefree existences in a hi-tech environment… Well, at least that’s the official story ; considering there’s a Ministry of Peace around, I really doubt it’s as utopian as it claims.

Characters

Shion, our point-of-view character. A very mellow and easy-going high school kid who feels a bit constrained by society’s straightjacket. The utopian setting means he’s on the fast track to elite university and possesses very good first aid skills. He lives with his mother in the kind of house that clearly establishes him as very high in the food chain. (Or maybe everyone’s got one of these in the utopia, but I really doubt it.)

Safu, Shion’s classmate, who’s clearly interested in him, but gets politely relegated to the friend zone, to her despair. We also get to see her grandmother, who’s clearly bored out of her mind considering the dozens of hand-knit sweatshirts in her closet. (Utopia, my ass !)

Nezumi, an escaped convict who takes refuge in Shion’s house (who had left the window open). To his surprise, Shion doesn’t report him to the authorities, and actually hides him and nurses him back to health. Now, Nezumi clearly ain’t has bad as the newsflashes make him out to be, but Shion’s reaction is hard to explain unless you just accept it as part of his personality… And, well, I’m told the original novels played up the gay subtext a lot more, which I have no trouble believing.

Production Values

It’s Studio Bones : of course it looks good. The direction’s not particularly subtle, though (witness the numerous close-ups on the kids’ RFID tags !).

Overall Impression

This is obviously an ambitious project, earnestly trying to be meaningful and deep… but I’m not convinced it works. It’s way too unsubtle in its depiction of the udystopia, and I get the nagging feeling we’re heading for “Shion and Nezumi grow close together while running away from the authorities”, which isn’t a story I have the least bit of interest in.

I’ll give it another episode to try and convince me there’s more to it, but I’m not hopeful.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2011 – Page 6.

Bunny Drop (Usagi Drop)

(11 episodes)

What’s it about ?

At a family reunion after his grandfather’s death, a man has parenthood suddenly thrust upon him.

Characters

Daikichi, our protagonist. 30 year-old. He seems to be a bit the black sheep of his family, seen a bit as a slacker (especially as he’s still single).

Rin, a 6-year-old girl, and technically Daikichi’s aunt (apparently Grampa was pretty spry even in his seventies). Her mother having disappeared gods know where and Grampa having just died, nobody in the family’s really keen on taking care of her… except for Daikichi, who’s somewhat hit it off with her and steps up to take her under his wing. Does he know how to take care of a child, especially one as taciturn as Rin ? Of course not, but he’ll learn it on the fly. Hopefully.

We see a dozen other family members at the family reunion/funeral, but none of them leaves much of an impression… aside from Reina, Daikichi’s niece, who’s every bit annoying as any child that age can be at such a solemn gathering (cue embarrassed looks from her mother).

Production Values

Pastels everywhere ! (Although it’s not as deliberately artsy as Wandering Son.) The animation team seems mostly interested in carefully transcribing every character’s expressions (especially Daikichi’s perpetual frown), which is of course the most important with such a story.

Overall Impression

Well, that’s certainly different from the sound and fury of nearly everything else this season : a calm, laid-back inter-generational drama piece. It’s every bit as good as you’d expect from NoitaminA’s reputation and the buzz from the original manga (which I’ve heard is quite acclaimed).

The nascent chemistry between Daikichi and Rin (and their alienation from anybody else) is carefully established through body language and very sparse dialogue (I think he barely says ten lines to her before offering her to go with him, and she’s been entirely silent up to that point), without anything as clumsy as narration or internal monologue. I like this minimalistic approach.

Obviously it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s very good at what it does.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2011 – Page 6.