2012 Q4 – Fall – Page 2 – Blog@Jhiday.net

CØDE:BREAKER

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Magic-wielding teenage vigilantes.

Characters

Sakura, out point-of-view character. She’s the perfect idol of her high school (good-looking, great at studying, beats dudes twice her size in the Aikado dojo, etc.), cares for the homeless, and has enough charisma to pull off not being annoying.

Rei, the new transfer student. The bad news is that Sakura is pretty sure she saw him burning five people to death the night before in a park. She’s initially very distrustful of him, although he behaves so nicely throughout the episode that she’s starting to doubt whether she had hallucinations. This is despite the multiple warning signs, such as him never actually denying he killed those guys, and stating that he has a part-time job as a sanitation worker (is the phrase “taking out the trash” ever used straight ?).

Our baddies are the Falcon Gang, a big gang who are in cahoots with the police and doing random evil such as killing the homeless. Rei’s first set of victims were members, and he sets even more of them on blue fire at the end of the episode.

… just before doing the same thing to Sakura, because who needs loose ends ?

The OP/ED feature prominently four other magic-wielding teenagers who obviously share some connection with Rei, and have a cameo at the end to comment on how “it’s begun” after Rei’s outburst is visible from several blocks away.

Production Values

Not very good.

Overall Impression

I’m usually not one for hardcore vigilante shows, but this one isn’t without its charms. There’s some nice comedy in Sakura & Rei’s interactions, especially when their initial confrontation is mistaken by everyone else as a rejected love confession. It’s exactly the right kind of levity to avoid the series being too grim and gritty to be watchable.

Also, I don’t believe for a second that Sakura really dies at the end, but that’s one heck of a cliffhanger and I’m watching at least the next episode just to see how she gets out of this pickle. (If she does die… well, way to lose my interest, show. But I hope it’s better than that.)

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2012 – Page 5.

Little Busters!

(26 episodes)

What’s it about ?

A group of close-knit childhood friends try having one last fun adventure together before graduating from high school. By playing baseball.

Surprisingly for a Key visual novel adaptation, there isn’t any real romance or gut-punching melodrama. (Yet.)

Characters

Riki, the normal, nice guy. A bit of a pushover, he was the last addition to the group ; that’s why he’s so keen on keeping the magic going and having the Little Busters still do stuff together. (As he’d never have had so much fun on his own.)

Kyousuke, the group’s leader. He’s the one with the big, crazy ideas, and despite none of the others being able to follow his reasoning for why baseball, they’re still game because it sounds like fun.

Rin, his sister. Perfectly able to handle her own in their frequent fights. Sent to a mission in the girls’ dorm to get more players, although it’s not working out quite well.

The last two members are Masato, the moron, and Kengo, the kendo guy, who are regularly feuding on ridiculous pretexts for the heck of it.

Also in this episode : the bitch squad (whose leader is in the actual softball team), and a clumsy girl who looks like the perfect love interest for Riki.

Production Values

Not very good. It sells the jokes and that’s it.

Overall Impression

There’s a weird, manic energy to the Little Busters’ antics. The characters themselves are pretty one-note and the plot has no stakes whatsoever, but the crap they do is so random and creative that their energy is overpowering. It helps that Rin’s recruitment run has perfect comedic timing and is hilarious throughout.

Is it lightweight fluff ? Oh, sure. But it’s fun enough to be watchable.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2012 – Page 5.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken)

(26 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Ridiculously hot-blooded family feuds in late 19th-century Britain.

Characters

Jonathan Joestar, aka the titular “JoJo”. The teenage heir to a rich family, he’s mostly a nice guy, but a bit of an entitled brat (and has his fair share of “what the hell, hero ?” moments).

Dio Brando, son of a man who “saved” (i.e. “was about to steal the gold teeth of”) Mr Joestar Sr’s life more than a decade ago, and thus is welcomed like a second son after Daddy dies. He’s much more liked than JoJo, in part because he does outwardly behave better than the true son, but mostly because he’s an EEEE-VIL conniving bastard who does everything he can to undermine JoJo’s reputation. This includes alienating his friends, stealing his kinda-girlfriend, and burning his dog down. Just in case you had missed that he’s supposed to be EVIL.

Production Values

Wow, old school ! The original manga got published in 1987, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was already looking retro by then. The quality is kinda crap, but since it’s a parody anyway it doesn’t matter.

Overall Impression

It’s hard to explain exactly why this show is so mesmerizing. It’s not subtle, and very stupid indeed, but the joke works. Can it support 26 episodes ? Maybe if it lives up to the “bizarre” of the title, and gets to be weirder than the very pedestrian plot we get this episode ; which is fine for a setup episode, but I was kinda expecting more, you know ?

Still, I’m giving it a couple more episodes to find its feet.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2012 – Page 4.

Just because you’re my brother doesn’t mean there can’t be love ! (Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

The title says it all, doesn’t it ?

Characters

Akiko, our protagonist, has just moved to her brother Akito’s high school dorm after six years living apart. (The reason why they’ve been separated for so long, or indeed whether they have any parents at all, is left unstated.) For some reason she’s madly in love with him, and tries to sex him up at every opportunity.

To Akito’s credit, he’s completely baffled by this, and tries as tactfully as possibly to push her advances away. Well, until ten minutes into the show, where he stops being subtle.

Because this premise gets annoyingly repetitive already by the halfway point, the show spices things up by adding three other female roommates : the brash tomboy with an inexplicable eyepatch, the emotionless deadpan snarker, and the nice one. Because lazy storytelling, all five of them are somehow make up the student council.

Production Values

It’s a shame Silver Link get wasted on animating this crap, because at least they’re making it look decent. Well, aside from the numerous close-up on female thighs. (Boobs aren’t forgotten either.)

Overall Impression

Oh dear gods please shoot me. Akiko is thoroughly annoying within mniutes of showing up on screen, and stays that way throughout. I suppose this show is slightly better than its ilk for making its central point that everyone thinks that Akiko’s obsession is ludicrous and unhealthy. The problem is that the joke is barely funny to start with, and certainly isn’t anymore by the hundredth time it’s hammered home.

A comedy show that’s dreadfully unfunny. Avoid.
(But then, as someone who actually has a younger sister, I get the feeling I’m not in the audience for those siscon/brocon shows and just shouldn’t bother with any of them.)

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2012 – Page 4.

Busou Shinki

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Cute sentient ~~dolls~~ action figures doing cute things.

Characters

There’s a token generic dude who owns the show’s starring dolls, but he’s so superfluous and lacking any personality that he disappears offscreen for most of the episode.

Not the three main dolls have much personality either. There’s the generic main one, the jerk and the pushover who likes maid outfits. They spend most of the episodes “comically” unpacking the guy’s stuff after they just moved back into Tokyo. They meet a fourth one in a park. A fifth one shows up at the end of the episode.

Frankly, it’s a pain to describe such bland characters, especially as they do virtually nothing for 24 minutes.

Checking out the cast list on ANN is utterly depressing, as it promises appearances by dozens of other dolls, in what looks like a catalog of nearly every currently at least mildly popular voice actress. I’d hope they at least get a decent paycheck for this, but considering how the numbers are in favour of those merely being glorified cameos…

Production Values

Mostly okay, although be advised that the dolls are in leotards (and thus don’t wear pants). Fanservice isn’t too obnoxious, though.

What did I think of it ?

Oh gods please shoot me. This isn’t awful, but it’s terminally boring if you’re not an action figure fetishist. This was really a chore to watch to the end, and I’m not wasting any more of my time on another episode.

Which is disappointing, considering how the short ONA was actually decent and had semi-interesting ideas (although Angelic Layer did it better a decade ago). None of which are on display here, leaving just a empty pile of nothing. Avoid.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2012 – Page 3.

BTOOOM!

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Battle Royale with bombs.

Characters

Sakamoto is one of the world’s top players of BTOOOM!, an online FPS whose distinguishing feature is that your only weapons are bombs (of various types : contact-triggered, timed, etc.). The downside to his virtual fame is that, well, he’s a bit of a complete loser : unemployed for two years and spending all his time in front of his computer. Bonus points for verbally abusing his poor mother, who has the audacity to keep trying to find him a job, any job. (He’s got his eye on an opening at the game company producing BTOOOM!, but if he really believes he has a chance, he’s deluding himself.)

One day, he wakes up stranded on a tropical island, without any clue as to how he got there. (An eventual flashback shows that MIB seem to be involved, always a bad sign). His starting inventory : his grocery shopping from just before he got abducted, a starting set of 8 timer bombs, and a jewel incrusted into his hand that seems to work a bit like the sonar feature in BTOOOM! (except a lot less accurate).

The first dude he meets on the island’s beach never bothers to introduce himself, and point blank refuses to explain what’s happening to the n00b. Instead, he just attacks our protagonist with impact-triggered bombs.

Later on, our hero stumbles on another participant, a girl washing herself in a small lake. I suspect she’s his briefly-mentioned in-game wife, although if this show has any sense of humour that was probably the earlier dude. Anyway, she doesn’t even get a line of dialogue yet ; the next-episode preview suggests it’s entirely devoted to her backstory. (Are we having rotating point-of-view characters ?)

Production Values

Perfectly alright, although the girl’s character design is very fanservice-y indeed. Let’s hope she doesn’t poke anyone’s eye out.

What did I think of it ?

How can you hate a show so refreshingly honest about its nature that it’s called “BTOOOM!” ? This is a thoroughly dumb premise that’s fodder for nicely tactical action sequences and lots of explosions. The unsubtle bits of social satire aren’t unwelcome, either.

Ontological mysteries can often get a bit silly, and with only 12 episodes for an still-ongoing manga I doubt we’ll be getting many answers, but so far I’m tentatively enjoying the ride.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2012 – Page 3.

K

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Magic gang warfare in the future. With heaps of style.

Characters

Yashiro, an albino student who seems to have no care in the world. Friendly with everyone, but not letting anyone close enough to actually be his friend. An exchange student from wherever, he enjoys the heck out of living in Tokyo. He’s fun to watch, especially as it’s more than hinted that he’s got more depths beyond the cheery surface. He’s targetted by…

Mikoto and his crew of fire-magic users, last seen shaking some intel from some mafia-style group in the action prologue. They’re a bunch of tough guys with the token gothic lolita who has lie-detecting powers. Why exactly they’re after Yashiro isn’t clearly explained, but he may well be a key player in the gang war in disguise. Or they’re just framing him for whatever reasons.

Mikoto’s crew are chiefly opposed by the Blue Coats, a law-enforcement group that are trying their best to look half as cool despite only carrying swords. They’re not entirely unsuccessful, as they appear to have put Mikoto himself behind bars after the action prologue.

The wild card is some telekinetic guy called Kuroh, who saves Yashiro from Mikoto’s gang just to have a better shot at trying to kill him. That’s cold, dude.

Production Values

This is hands-down the best-looking show of the season by far. Not only has it got fantastic world-building with its city landscapes, and incredibly fluid animation that really shines in the action sequences, but it’s also served a colour palette which keeps shifting to better underline whatever’s on screen. This isn’t a realistic show by any reasonable measure anyway, so why not make everthing just pop off the screen through some carefully chosen use of bright pinks and blues ?

Everything here, from the shiny colours to the quirky soundtrack through the slow pans of people just walking ominously, obeys to a coherent aesthetic : making everyone look cool and stylish.

What did I think of it ?

It works. It’s very much style above substance, but the awesomeness of the presentation makes it a very fun ride. The characters aren’t very developped yet, and the actual plot remains obscure before the final twist, but the show has enough energy and charisma to let further depth slowly sink in between the fireworks.

We’ve got a winner here.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2012 – Page 2.

Blast of the Tempest (Zetsuen no Tempest – The Civilization Blaster)

What’s it about ?

Conspiracy action thriller, with a dash of magic.

Characters

Yoshino, our viewpoint character. He seems to be a very ordinary high school student, leading a perfectly normal life (beaten up by the local bullies, etc.). He spends most of the episode being baffled by the increasingly crazier stuff happening around him. Which includes being held at gunpoint by…

“Evangeline Yamamoto, single, 28 year-old and currently unemployed” (one of her actual first lines of dialogue). Whoever she actually works for (she claims she’s just a concerned citizen acting independantly, but if you believe that I’ve got a bridge to sell you), she’s looking for…

Mahiro, Yoshino’s BFF, who disappeared a month ago. He got more and more agitated after his sister Aika got killed some months ago, especially as the police investigation is going nowhere. Which led him to become an apprentice to…

Hakaze, “one of the most talented mages in the world, even in [her] underwear” (actual monologue). One of the heirs of a powerful magic-using family, she was left stranded on a small desert island so she wouldn’t interfere with their plans. (So why not just kill her, especially as you expect her to starve to death anyway ?) She made contact with Mahiro through that old standard plot device, the message in a bottle.

I have no clue what the baddies are trying to achieve, but this somehow involves unleashing a plague upon the city that turns people into metal. (Fortunately, as a magic user Mahiro is immune, Yoshino and Evangeline were close enough to him to be protected too, and everyone Yoshino cares about – his parents and girlfriend – were conveniently out of town.) They also have a giant rock thingie emerge from the sea and float in the air, which somehow sprouts a huge eye.

Production Values

The visuals are quite good, as can be expected from Studio Bones. I’m not fond of the character designs, but they work.

I can’t decide whether the score is horribly misused or just crap ; it tries to be Dramatic! All! The! Time!, which really doesn’t work and makes the narrative’s sudden mood changes even more jarring.

What did I think of it ?

Wow, this is a complete mess. The dialogue is chronically terrible, as nearly everyone talks in exposition all the time. The pacing of the episode is horribly jumbled, with sudden timeline jumps and a general ordering of events which is plain bad storytelling (why have Hakaze narrate her contact with Mahiro instead of just showing it in a quick montage ?). The mood shifts don’t quite work either, with some of the slapstick material with Hakaze on her island not fitting well with the thousands of dead people in the city (not that the show seems to care about them).

And still… there are some intriguing ideas in there, not the least of which being the very well-executed twist at the end, putting a lot of what happened into question. I’m actually kinda interested in seeing where this is going.

Oh, fuck it. It’s got Miyuki Sawashiro (the only reason Hakaze still has any dignity after that underwear line) AND Hana Kanazawa (in full-on bitchy mode as Aika in the flashbacks). Of course I’m going to keep watching this, and complain all the time on how stupid and badly-plotted it is. Let’s this be my token trainwreck show of the season…

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2012 – Page 2.

Kamisama Kiss (Kamisama Hajimemashita)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Shoujo male harem with god bishies.

Characters

Nanami, our female protagonist. She’s got a bit more spunk and personality than the usual, what with now being on the streets due to her dad running away and the debtors taking the house over. She then meets…

Mikage, the local god, who ran away a long time ago and doesn’t really want to come back. So he kisses her on her forehead, which somehow transfers the local godhood to her. The scamp then disappears after giving her directions to the temple. Well, at least it’s a roof over her head…

Tomoe, a more minor local god, who’s been waiting for Mikage for ages. He’s really not fond of this normal human taking over the business, and was about to storm off when she kissed him, which somehow forces him to assist her. (Don’t ask me how it works, I was barely able to pay attention by then.)

There’s also a couple of mini-dudes in masks hanging around and being obnoxiously helpful.

Production Values

Very average.

What did I think of it ?

Snore. It may be because I have no interest in the genre, but I found this very boring. The two leads have no chemistry, and the jokes stop working halfway through. The OP/ED (and the next episode preview) promise more god bishies in further episodes, which I don’t find enticing at all.

I’ll pass.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2012 – Page 2.

Regardless of My Adolescent Delusions of Grandeur, I Want a Date! (Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Chuunibyou : a syndrome in which middle-schoolers with an overactive imagination act out a fantasy life, which wrecks most of their chances at a social life as their classmates have no time for those antics and shunning them. Apparently it’s a thing in Japan.

Characters

Togashi, our protagonist, used to think of himself as the DARK FLAME MASTER (cue Jun Fukuyama doing his Zero voice). He’s now thoroughly embarrassed by this, and trying his best to distance himself away from it. This includes entering a high-school quite away from his home just so that he can avoid anyone who knew him in middle school, and make a fresh start.

Unfortunately, Takanashi, his new neighbour, is still very much in this phase. He’s dismayed to discover she’s in his class, has found out about his dark secret (not that he’s much good at hiding it), and seems stuck to him whether he likes it or not.

Also introduced this episode without much development : the Togashi family (mother apparently working a lot, two little sisters) ; the mandatory lecherous new best friend ; a homeroom teacher who’s happy to rely on Togashi to deal with Takanashi ; and the perfect class representative who’s probably hiding something.

Production Values

Standard KyoAni fare, although in their lower range : good animation and attention to detail. (When Takanashi’s antics make a cupboard half-fall, it stays that way the whole scene.)

There’s a show within the show that shows up here and there, including taking over the ED ; it’s a cute parody of the kind of angsty nonsense those kids are obviously riffing off.

What did I think of it ?

The “guy takes care of a socially-inept girl” subgenre is always fraught with peril and unfortunate implications, but KyoAni dodge most of that minefield by focusing first and foremost on its protagonist, making it clear that he was suffering from the same problem mere months ago (and that he’s not entirely over it yet). It helps that they’ve got Jun Fukuyama, a voice actor with enough talent and charisma to sell every aspect of the character.

Obviously the topic at hand can be a sore one for the geek audience, but it’s to this show’s credit that it’s not really patronizing or insulting. It pokes fun at its characters without mocking them, which is a tricky balance to achieve. So far, so good.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2012 – Page 2.