2011 Q3 – Summer – Page 2

Mayo Chiki!

What’s it about ?

Ordinary high school dude discovers that the butler of his very rich classmate is actually a girl in drag. Hilarity ensues.

Characters

Jirou, our protagonist. His mother has left the country in search of something that’d challenge her in a fight, and his little sister’s routine to wake him up involves beating him to a pulp, so he has no problem taking a punch ; an ability that is sure to come handy. He’s afflicted with a bizarre allergy that makes him nosebleed when touched by a girl (and pass out on prolonged contact), so of course his repeated avoidance of anything female makes everyone think he’s gay.

Kanade, the super-rich girl whose Daddy owns the school. She looks like the perfect girl, but her demure exterior hides a grade-A sadist with no shame whatsoever.

Subaru, Kanade’s butler. Who’s secretly a girl, as part of those weird contrived family traditions that come up all the time in anime. Jirou stumbles on her in the male bathroom and accidentally learns his secret, which is only the beginning of his troubles. She wants to “get rid of the evidence”, of course, but Kanade eventually makes a deal between the three of them to keep all this a secret.

We catch a glimpse of various other side-characters, such as the mandatory lecherous best friend or the random cat-eared girl, but they don’t matter much yet.

Production Values

Average, and with a hefty dose of fanservice through convenient clothing damage. Nothing to write home about, although I quite like the soundtrack.

Overall Impression

I was all set to hate this, as the premise is unoriginal crap replete with clichés. But it surprised me by being actually quite funny : the jokes are well-timed, Kanade gets all the best lines (“The nurse left after I slapped her repeatedly with a bundle of cash”), and Jirou gets some decent sarcastic one-liners. Even Subaru’s not as irritating as her archetype (“supposedly strong girl who melts when the protagonist touches her”) would suggest.

Don’t mistake me, this is still crap. But it’s entertaining crap, and I’m perfectly willing to give it at least one other episode (although the next-episode-preview seems designed to make me reconsider by foreshadowing even more contrived stupidity).

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2011 – Page 5.

Mawaru Penguindrum

(24 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Two brothers are forced into a bizarre magical contract to save their deathly-ill sister. Also, penguins.

Characters

Shouma, the blue-haired younger brother, is our point of view character for most of the first episode. He’s the more subdued and introverted of the pair, although he does get quite emotional when his sister seems to die halfway through. If I’ve understood the plot well, the brothers take turns going to school and doing the chores (and taking care of Sis). It’s all but stated that their parents are dead.

(We get to see a couple of his classmates, such as the obligatory lecherous best friend and a girl that screams “potential love interest”, but they’re not important yet.)

Kanba, the red-haired elder brother, seems to be much more of a Casanova (much to Shouma’s dismay)… but then we see him kissing his sister while she’s asleep at the very end of the episode. Hum…

Himari, their sister, is afflicted with one of those undefined fatal anime diseases. The doctors have no clue why she’s even still alive, and give her a few months at best. Which was optimistic, considering she drops dead in the middle of a trip to the zoo (the brothers were obviously trying to make her last few days as pleasant as possible). But never fear ! The (very ugly) penguin-shaped hat they bought her at the gift-shop takes control of her, and gives her some life back, provided the brothers enter a mysterious magical contract.

Shouma was starting to think it was all a dream, but then he starts getting stalked by a very helpful penguin… which turns out to be part of a trio which was sent to the siblings by parties unknown. Oh, and Himari gets controlled by the penguin hat again, providing some more exposition. Which barely explains anything, of course.

Production Values

It’s animated by Brains Base, one of the best studios currently around (even their C-show Kamisama Dolls looks better than average), so of course it looks good. But what is really striking are the multiple directorial touches that provide exposition in a fun way (the subway signs for location changes, or the ticker text for the hospital flashbacks) or just contribute to the playful atmosphere (the faceless masses reduced to bathroom symbols).

Which is only to be expected, considering this is the new project of capital-D Director Kunihiko Ikuhara (Revolutionary Girl Utena), who hasn’t done any substantial work for more than a decade. It’s actually surprisingly devoid of what I’d identified as his signature stylistic tics (there’s barely a rose in sight, and no pastel freeze-frames), but then I can only assume he’s moved on and is trying to make the best of modern animation techniques.

The ED heavily suggests that the brothers are going to take girl forms as part of their contract. Oh, Ikuhara, never change.

Overall Impression

I obviously has high expectations about this show, considering the director and studio behind it ; the complete lack of any promotional info regarding the actual premise only exacerbated my curiosity. I’m glad to say that this is well worth the hype, mystifying in all the right ways, possessing a superb sense of slapstick (the penguins are hilarious) and jokes that are genuinely funny, and grounded by the intriguing relationship between the three leads (and this, despite how irritating I usually find Himari’s character type).

This is head and shoulders above anything else this season : imaginative, funny, great looking, and gifted with a gripping emotional core. Sure, there’s still about 9 new shows I’ve yet to sample, but I really doubt any of them is going to be as good as this one. If you’re only going to watch one anime series this summer, make it this one.

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

Uta no☆Prince-sama♪ Maji Love 1000%

What’s it about ?

Male harem romance in an academy grooming pop idols and composers.

Characters

Haruka, our generic female lead. The kind that arrives late because she was busy helping a random little girl. She joined the Academy because she dreams of composing music for her favourite idol. Voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro, whom I didn’t know could sound so boring and unsexy.

As per the rules of the genre, there are half a dozen prettyboy stereotypes just tripping over Haruka. There’s the boy-next-door, the rich-but-charismatic guy, the brooding dark dude, the childish one… and the mysterious guy who’s a dead ringer for Haruka’s favourite idol, but displays a completely different personality (angry loner instead of clown).

Rounding up the cast are Tomo, Haruka’s roommate (the female equivalent of the “perverted best friend who handily provides exposition about everyone” cliché), their homeroom teacher (an androgynous senior idol voiced by Yuuichi Nakamura)… and the FABULOUS principal, a retired idol who funded the creation of the academy with his royalties, and voiced gleefully by Norio Wakamoto – his entrance ceremony speech just has to be seen to be believed.

Production Values

This looks pretty good, if you don’t mind technicolor day-glo. The character designs for the dudes look beyond generic, though, and Haruka’s dead eyes are just plain creepy.

I quite like the opening sequence with all the guys doing a boys’ band routine : sure, it looks stupid and awkward, but there’s a certain charm to it, and the tune is annoyingly catchy (“Let’s song !”).

Overall Impression

Well, that’s certainly better than I anticipated. Not that it’s actually any good, mind you ; the harem romance is as cliché as possible, and neither the female lead nor any of the dudes look like they’ve got any potential to rise above their genericness. But there’s some decent entertainment to be had out of the setting, as both the homeroom teacher and the principal are FABULOUSLY camp and nearly make the episode worth watching from their few minutes of screentime alone.

I expect myself to get bored of it very quickly (especially if the harem plot gets too much screentime), but I’m surprising myself by giving it a tentative second episode.

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

Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel: Kyun Kyun Tokimeki Paradise!!

What’s it about ?

Magical girls fighting colorful villains.

Characters

Haruka, aka Red Angel. The redhaired tomboy of the pair. Brash, terrible in class, more interested in sports and dudes, you know the type. Voiced by Yukari Tamura, of course.

Aoi, aka Blue Angel. The bluehaired girly girl of the pair. Soft-spoken, honor student, less good in a fight (but still kicking ass with her bow and arrows), you know the type. Voiced by Mamiko Noto, of course.

Their boss is actually their school’s principal, who’s helped by a ninja butler who likes to randomly show up from trapdoors whenever he needs to contact the pair.

The villain this episode tries to steal a necklace that is of course one of the seven McGuffins of the setting ; she’s the kind of bwahahah-evil villains that thinks that transforming the pair into catgirls is an effective tactic. And it’d have worked, too, if it hadn’t been for…

Misty Night, the mysterious masked man that’s very close to getting a lawsuit from Sailor Moon‘s Tuxedo Mask (he even throws roses the same way !), and is totally not the hot student council president Haruka has a crush on.

The OP teases that a third Angel is upcoming, but we don’t see her yet.

Production Values

Decent action sequences, I guess. The OP is –ing annoying in its squeakiness.

Overall Impression

…zzzzzzz…

Excuse me, I nearly fell asleep from the blandness of this show. I don’t think it’s possible to create more generic a magical girl show than this. Presumably it’s a pastiche of the genre, but there’s nothing interesting or funny in the way it’s done. I though at first it was a retro revival of some beloved old franchise, but aside from a pilot OVA a few years ago it seems to be completely new. As such, it’s quite baffling : it’s not a kids’ show (it airs at otaku’o’clock), and it’s not interesting enough to appeal to anyone else. Unless they keep on piling the fetishes during the fight scenes (the catgirl thing was still quite tame), which isn’t my thing but there’s a sizeable audience for that.

Anyway, avoid this.

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

Kamisama Dolls

What’s it about ?

A young man tried walking away from his village full of conspiracies and deadly man-controlled robots… but it all comes back to bite him in the ass.

Characters

Kyouhei, our protagonist. He used to be a controller for one of those big mind-controlled robots they call “Gods”… but after a traumatic event, he decided to quit it all and become an ordinary salaryman in the big city. Yeah, like that ever works. The elders let him go, but it’s made very clear they’re still in charge of his life, whatever he thinks.

Hibino, the woman’s Kyouhei’s had a crush for a long time. I’m sure that he going to the same high school and joining the same company is totally coincidental. Not like he ever works up the nerve to ask her out, though (despite numerous opportunities in this first episode). She’s from his village too, although she wasn’t aware of the whole conspiracy/robots thing. He goes to live with her and her father after his flat gets destroyed halfway through the episode (at their invitation), which is totally not awkward at all.

Utao, Kyouhei’s little sister, has taken over his former role as robot controller. She comes in out of the blue, presumably to protect Kyouhei from…

Aki, another member of the village with a God robot in tow, and a complete psychopath (if that flashback with a dozen corpses is anything to go by). He was kept under heavy lock until someone made the mistake of mentioning Kyouhei had skipped town, at which point he escaped and started stalking him (with the “randomly and gruesomely kill someone in an elevator minutes before Kyouhei steps in it” kind of stalking). He’s not actually belligerent against Kyouhei, ranting about how the village elders are the real monsters, and Utao probably overreacted when she bombed Kyouhei’s flat (and Aki inside) to kingdom come. (Not that I believed for a second that Aki’s bodybag handled the village’s MIB was any proof of his death…)

Oh, and there’s a cryptic prologue with a couple of kids fighting off… something… that I can’t make head or tails of. Presumably they’ll explain it properly at some point.

Production Values

Pretty good animation, and the abrupt mood change from “drunken office party” to “oh my god is that a corpse in the elevator” is well handled. I also like the way how the hovering robots sing whenever they move ; it’s a nice way of making them otherworldly.

Is this the first show this season with a decent OP in graphics as well as song ?

Overall Impression

Well, this first episode does a good job of raising my interest in a premise I didn’t quite care for initially. Mission accomplished, I guess. The plot has potential, but it doesn’t grab me as viscerally as, say, Deadman Wonderland did last season. We’ll see how it goes.

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

Yuruyuri

What’s it about ?

Slice-of-life comedy about middle-school girls in the “Amusement Club”, who loiter around doing nothing in the Tea Club’s room (which they’ve hijacked after it got dissolved). Surprisingly light on yuri-related content, despite the title and the theme of the magazine publishing the original manga.

Characters

Akari, the butt of most of the jokes. It at first looks like she’d be the main character (including the “late-for-school, slice of bread in mouth” cliché scene), but she quickly fades into the background… to the point that the last half of the episode devoting itself to the girls trying to make her a more striking character.

Kyouko, the hyperactive idiot. She’s also the only of the main girls who’s actively a lesbian (although all her come-ons get brushed off quickly).

Yui, the straight man (er, girl) of the group. Not much to say about her.

Chinatsu, the newcomer who joined the Club by mistake (she wanted to join the Tea Club) and that Kyouko never let go (Chinatsu looks exactly like the Magical Girl character she’s a rabid fan of).

We get a glimpse of the (of course obstructive-looking) Student Council, as well as a disturbing glance inside Akari’s elder sister’s room (which includes a body pillow of Akari as well as a stalker-level number of pictures of her).

Production Values

The bare minimum of quality acceptable these days. It doesn’t help that we sometimes get random bumps of animation quality (and weird camera effects) in a way that feels inappropriate and distracting.

Overall Impression

Welcome to False Advertising Central ! The yuri content here is minimal, this is really a slice-of-life comedy with heavy meta overtones. And I’ve quite lost patience with the genre : this type of “we’re joking about how cliché we are” humour, especially brought awkwardly in halfway through the first episode, feels like creative bankruptcy. Hanging a lampshade over your flaws doesn’t excuse them, show.

Frankly, there’s nothing to recommend to this cross between A-Channel and Seitokai no Ichizon that manages to be worse than either. Avoid.

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

God’s Memo Pad (Kamisama no Memochou)

What’s it about ?

NEET detectives (and a couple of high-schoolers) fight crime.

Characters

Narumi, our point-of-view character. A high-schooler whose family moved around a lot, he stumbles on the NEET detectives by chance and never really manages to get away. He’s something of a loner, joining the Computer club because there’s nobody else there. Also, he’s got very little presence (people forget he’s even there at least twice in the episode). I quite like him : his sarcastic narration is quite fun, and his straightforward approach to problem-solving is a nice contrast to the bozos surrounding him.

“Alice” (not her real name, MAL tells me) is the brains of the NEET detectives ; she’s the “always stays in her room and can barely function socially” kind of NEET. An elite hacker, she alternates between “very smart monotone” and “sickeningly cute” in a way that doesn’t really convince me (Yui Ogara can’t pull it off as well as Aoi Yuuki did in GOSICK).

The NEET field agents mostly act as a group : there’s the big guy with an attitude, the survival-gamer who plants cameras everywhere, and the smooth dude who’s totally not an escort. Oh, and they’re in friendly terms with a group who are totally not local yakuza.

Ayaka, a potential love interest for Narumi, is one of his classmates who approaches him because she’s the only member of her club too (the Gardening Club), and they can help each other’s club survive. Or something. Anyway, she’s the one who brings Narumi and the NEET detectives together (they’re regulars at the restaurant she works part-time at), although he’d already stumbled on them in one of their cases before.

Our case for the week revolves around the mysterious disappearance of a high-school girl practicing “compensated dating”. It’s noticeably darker than the zany hijinks of the NEET detectives, although the writers manage not to make it too jarring.

Production Values

This reminds me somewhat of Durarara!! : it’s not particularly outstanding quality, but there’s a real attention to detail and body language, and the backgrounds give a real sense of place to the proceedings.

The soundtrack is particularly good, and… wait. Random rapping ? Big sweeping violins on moving scenes ? Hello, Taku Iwasaki ! It’s always a pleasure. (OP & ED are nothing to write home about, though.)

For some reason, the first episode that aired as a preview is double-length (45 minutes). I have no clue whether this is just for the pilot or it is supposed to be the regular format for the show.

Overall Impression

Well, now we’re talking. This is the first show this season that impressed me. It’s got a fun premise and a good handling of characterization for most of the characters (which is important, considering the heart of the case resides in subtly conveying the self-destructive feeling of the main three characters involved). My only concern so far is Alice herself, who feels a bit too artificial a character to really work.

Still, this is a promising show. Let’s see how future episodes shake up.

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

Blood-C

What’s it about ?

High school girl fights monsters in bloody sword-battles. And there end any similarities with the rest of the Blood franchise.

Characters

Saya, our protagonist. Randomly clumsy (she trips over her feet twice in a few minutes, but that doesn’t prevent her from having an impressive fight scene), can’t cook, loving her father, late in class… the clichés pile on.

Speaking of clichés, we get a quick glimpse of her classmates : the serious girl, the insufferable whimsical twins, the nice-guy class representative, the brooding loner dude in the corner, the wacky teacher… You couldn’t make them any more generic (and when their “witty” banter is already making boke-tsukkomi references, it just becomes pathetic).

Saya’s father, a stoic who trained her to fight supernatural beasties, would have been dead by the end of the episode in any other series (hello, Blade !), but it looks like he may survive for a while.

Our Monster Of The Week is a bizarre walking statue that still manages to bleed profusely.

Production Values

I got the eye-cancer-inducing “preview airing” (the series is supposed to start airing for real on Thursday), so it’s a bit hard to judge. The fight scene in the second half of the episode is pretty good, at least.

Overall Impression

Oh, dear. When I watched the short Blood – The Last Vampire movie a couple of weeks ago, I got the impression that the franchise was about a stoic vampire-hunter fighting an endless battle who scared the heck out of any hapless bystander. This show couldn’t be any less like that, though, as this Saya has the completely opposite personality and the swordfight has the good grace of happening in a remote field, far from any witnesses. Now, this could just be lulling us into a false sense of security, as Saya’s two worlds are bound to eventually collide with each other… but that doesn’t make the high school scenes any less irritating, unfortunately.

Damn, I really wanted to like this. I’ll give it another episode or two to see whether it improves, but it looks like a miss.

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

La croisée dans un labyrinthe étranger (Ikoku Meiro no Croisée)

What’s it about ?

A young Japanese girl is brought to late-19th-century Paris to serve as a housemaid. Cue culture clash.

Characters

Yune, the Japanese girl, whose kimono are a complete style clash with the rest of the setting (not to mention somewhat unwieldy to walk around, as the show quickly proves). Apparently going abroad for months as a house servant is a traditional thing in her family (she’s moved to Paris entirely willingly). She’s initially presented as barely understanding any French, but we eventually learn she’s somewhat fluent in the language (which makes her presence somewhat less ludicrous).

Claude, a young blacksmith/sign-maker. He’s not hot on having Yune around, although his objections are perfectly reasonable and he’s shown to be a decent sort of guy. Very good at his job.

Oscar, Claude’s grandfather, retired founder of the sign shop (we learn in passing that Daddy is dead). He’s somehow affluent enough to go on trips to Japan and bring back Yune on a whim.

Production Values

Gorgeous backgrounds, which is actually a problem (see below). The animators also have a decent grasp of body language, which is essential in a series like this.

Overall Impression

Oh, dear. This is everything I feared it would be.

When I think “late-19th-century France”, my mind immediately jumps to the works of Émile Zola, which may be somewhat accurately described as “grim and gritty”. In contrast, this series showcases an immaculate Paris, where even the (barely shown) street urchins look way too clean to be real. As a result, this version of Paris looks fake, like the theme park version of the real thing. It doesn’t help that my mind is in constant nitpicking mode while watching it (shops named after the King ? There’d have been three regime changes since France had a king ; although it’s slightly less outlandish when we later learn that the shop was founded two generations ago – when there just barely was still a King – and that its business is struggling somewhat – but then, how can Grampa afford a trip to Japan ?).

Anyway, this show looks far too artificial to my liking, much akin to the way Paris is depicted in most foreign media. More damningly, there is very little depth to it : the characters are blandly nice and no real conflict looks in the offing. I’ll give it one more episode to change my mind, but I’m not optimistic.

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

Sacred Seven

What’s it about ?

Fuck if I know. Super-powered teens and mechas fighting against Greek mythology figures in a contemporary high school setting ?

Characters

Alma, our high school student protagonist. He goes berserk with his uncontrollable superpowers when under too much stress, which gives him a terrible reputation (the time one of his outburst put 18 classmates in the hospital a few years ago doesn’t help).

Ruri, a very rich girl who seems to know what the frack is going on and his deploying all her resources (including an army of maids and a mechatank-riding butler) into fighting off the baddies. She somehow helps Alma with getting his powers under control, although it does take some time for him to even agree to hear her out. She does flamboyant stuff like buy the whole high-school and instituting herself chairman just to keep an eye on him.

Wakana, Alma’s too-dumb-to-live classmate who can’t quite understand why all her friends are avoiding the glowering brooding guy. Presumably she’s being set up as his love interest.

Our macguffins here are GEMS, which coincidentally enough is exactly what Wakana’s club is studying (and of course Ruri and her butler join it as soon as Alma makes a move towards it). Our Monster Of The Week is a big walking statue with Medusa powers, and it seems to be after those gems. Given that this looks nothing like a team story, I presume the “Sacred Seven” are the rainbow-coloured gems (Alma has Red somehow embedded into him, Ruri possesses Purple, and Yellow is in the museum targeted this episode).

Oh, and Ruri carries around a sentient mask-statue-thing who spends his time making sarcastic comments. It’s that kind of show.

Production Values

Decent, I guess ? You can’t really go wrong with Sunrise animating mechas, but I’m not too fond of the character designs, which feel generic as heck.

The OP has got some pretty good visuals marred by a terrible song. No ED yet.

Overall Impression

Well, this is certainly a thing. You can’t fault this show for lacking enthusiasm, as it tries throwing everything and the kitchen sink at the viewer in an effort to catch attention. There’s something of a tone clash between Alma’s angst and, er, nearly everything else (from Ruri’s maid army to the slapstick between Wakana and her friends), but I think that’s part of the point.

I’m intrigued. It looks very stupid indeed, but it’s got enough energy and charm to look like it could pull it off. I’m cautiously optimistic about this one.

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