2013 Q4 – Fall – Page 3 – Blog@Jhiday.net

Nagi no Asukara

(26 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Fantastic slice-of-life show (or maybe romantic comedy) where most of the cast happens to be living at the bottom of the sea.

Characters

Hikari, one of the sea-dwellers. Very proud of his culture, to the point of enjoining his mates to keep their old uniforms when they transfer from their now closed-down undersea high school to the closest one near the shore. It’s obvious he cares a lot about…

Manaka, his childhood friend, clumsy and quite shy. It doesn’t help that the shaman has just stricken her with a very embarrassing curse : a fish-head coming out of her knee. Easily flustered, she runs aways and gets lost in the forest ; this is problematic, as her kind can only stay out of seawater for so long. She’s rescued by…

Tsumugu, a normal, land-born boy in their class. Son of fishermen, which is bound to lead to conflict later on, as the landpeople and the seapeople are feuding about fishing zones and the like. Unlike most of his classmates, he’s fascinated by the seapeople, and especially finds Manaka beautiful. Embarrassing fish-knee and all.

Chisaki, the other girl in the seakids’ group, obviously has a thing for Hikari, but certainly wouldn’t wish anything bad to happen to Manaka. She’s her friend, after all. She’s clearly putting up a brave face.

There’s a fourth member in their group, but he doesn’t leave me much of an impression yet.

Production Values

It’s from PA Works, so of course it’s beautifully-rendered scenery porn, and fluid animation.

The big struggle here is to make the undersea environment work. It looks a bit too normal to be entirely believable (clothes don’t work that way underwater !), but that’s part of the point.

Overall Impression

Oh, look, a fable about how ridiculous racism is ! How novel !

Well, at least it’s not too heavy-handed. This is perfectly pleasant to watch, and some care has been applied to figuring out the details of how exactly the undersea culture is supposed to work. It’s not realistic at all, but the idea is that both groups are very similar beyond the land/sea differences.

I’m not sure there’s really 26 episodes of story in this, but I’m intrigued.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2013 – Page 6.

Golden Time

(24 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Romantic comedy, set in college.

Characters

Banri Tada, our provincial protagonist, is just entering a law college in Tokyo. He’s more than a bit overwhelmed by the big city and his newfound independance. Fortunately, he finds a twin soul with…

Mitsuo “Yana” Yanagisawa, who’s having some of the same troubles. While he is Tokyo-born, he’s cut his links with his family and transfered to this average college instead of the prestigious elevator academy he was previously attending. All this to escape from…

Koukou Kaga, his clingly childhood friend. Unfortunately, his efforts are for naught, as she immediately finds him (she’s rich and has many powerful connections) and transfers with him. She sees his attempts to avoid her as “him just being a tsundere”, although I’m not entirely sure how delusional she is. Somehow, Tada is a bit attracted to her, despite the crazy.

Chinami Oka, a random innocent-looking student in their group, looks like another potential love interest. It’s not like she seems to have any other reason for her prominent introduction.

But it’s Nana “Linda” Hayashida, a senior from the Festival Club, who makes the strongest impression on Tada, when she rescues him from the numerous clubs attempting to recruit him.

Production Values

Perfectly okay for this kind of thing. The ED song’s quite catchy.

Overall Impression

Well, this is a bog-standard romantic comedy, already busy setting the various possible options. And there’s nothing wrong with that : it’s perfectly pleasant, most of the main characters have some charisma… well, except from the protagonist, who’s a bit bland so far.

It’s a decent start, and I see myself sticking with it for the long haul unless the season is way too busy.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2013 – Page 5.

KILL la KILL

(24ish episodes)

What’s it about ?

HOT-BLOODED ACTION !

Characters

SATSUKI KIRUIN, student council president of HONNOUJI ACADEMY, where the story is set. She’s the TOP DOG around, with even the teachers knowing better than to challenge her (having her mother on the board helps). She has set up a strict hierarchy inside the academy (and the city enclosed within its walls), and has distributed POWER UNIFORMS to the underlings she judges worthy.

IRA GAMAGORI is one her four main lieutnants, and the one in charge of day-to-day DISCIPLINE. Some dude has sneaked in to steal a ONE-STAR UNIFORM, that gives its wearer super-strength ? Well, TOUGH LUCK for the little punk, as Ira has a THREE-STAR UNIFORM, and intends the make an EXAMPLE.

RYUUKO MATOI, our heroine. This BADASS just transfered in and wants to ask Satsuki QUESTIONS about who killed her father. Her only clue is HALF A PAIR OF GIANT SCISSORS that she’s always carrying around. Unfortunately, even she can’t beat the Head of the Boxing Club with a TWO-STAR UNIFORM, and she barely manages to escape.

MAKO MANKANSHOKU, a MOTORMOUTH innocent student who takes a liking to Matoi after our protagonist beats up her little brother and his gang (who were trying to rob her). Obviously Mako’s quickly taken HOSTAGE by Satsuki and her goons to force Matoi to come back into the open.

THE INDECENT COSTUME is found by Matoi by chance (?) in her family house’s basement. It BARELY COVERS ANYTHING, but that won’t stop it from forcing itself on her. Also, it talks. But whatever : Matoi’s now got her own set of SUPER-POWERED CLOTHES, and can strike back. Go for ROUND TWO !

There’s also a MYSTERIOUS TEACHER hovering over the fringes of the plot and doing stuff like discreetly guiding Matoi towards the costume. Since he looks BADASS when he takes his glasses off, I assume he’s important.

Production Values

Very rough-looking, but with hyper-kinetic action when it matters. If you’ve watched Gurren Lagann, you know what to expect : dynamic camera angles, artful shot composition, omnipresent chiaroscuro, and giant captions all over the screen. Sometimes the background characters devolve into barely-animated caricatures, but that’s part of the charm, and it does have impressive animation when it counts.

Neither the OP nor ED sequences seemed ready for this first episode ; the ED song just plays other a stylized rendering of the title.

Overall Impression

Probably the most hyped show of the season : the triumphant return of Hiroyuki Imaishi (Gurren Lagann, Panty & Stocking w/ Garterbelt) with his new studio Trigger, on their first actual series after little appetizers such as Little Witch Academia. (Let’s just politely ignore Inferno Cop.) How does it measure up ?

The good news : it works. It’s outrageously stupid, of course, but it ties together into a coherent whole despite its wild excesses. There is masterful storytelling at work here, introducing a dense setting and plenty of charismatic characters, while keeping every single shot visually interesting and shoving in as many sight gags as possible.

Everything I expected it to be, and then some. A complete success.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2013 – Page 5.

Walkure Romanze

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Jousting !

Characters

Mio, our protagonist. Dumb as a bag of hammers, she’s not a jousting knight. She’s attending a completely different department from this jousting high-school, and is terrible at handling horses. So of course a series of contrived coincidences is going to put her on the saddle by the episode’s end. (Well, nearly. But she’s already been challenged to a jousting match.)

Takahiro is just about the only male knight we ever see. Well, except he stopped jousting after some accident, so for now he’s just tending to his temperamental horse Sakura, and angsting about his future. He’s completely oblivious to Mio’s affections (despite all the effort she spends hovering around him)… and doesn’t particuly care about the various top females knights wanting a partnership with him either.

Those include Celia, the Student Council President With Drill Hair, and Noel, her devious self-proclaimed rival.

Bertille is a lower grade of alpha bitch, cultivating her own reputation among her pair of hanger-ons… but being the first to run when Sakura comes charging in. Thoroughly humiliated, she challenges Mio (who just about managed to rein the horse in) to a jousting match.

Production Values

You know a show has its priorities straight when every single female knight wears a (very short) skirt. And panty shots are featured starting right from the OP sequence. Also, the horse keeps eating those skirts, which means that Bertille spends half her screentime in her underwear.

It’s a shame, as the jousting sequences do look quite good ; those cell-shaded CG graphics are impressive.

Overall Impression

I’m watching this so you don’t have to. I’m sure I’ve lost a few brain cells here.

… Actually, I enjoyed watching this one a bit. It’s one of the dumbest shows in a season that’s not really shined for its intellectual prowess so far, and the fanservice is kinda skeevy, but it makes me a lot less uncomfortable than the wrestling one. If I’m going to keep watching a guilty pleasure show, it may well be this one.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2013 – Page 10.

Coppelion

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Post-apocalyptic thriller.

Characters

After the Earth got contaminated by [whatever], the only “safe” way of searching the cities for survivors is to send teams of genetically-engineered high-school girls, the only people who can explore without protection. Our team is composed of :
– Ibara, the leader, who’s got some experience and some good fighting skills ;
– Aoi, who keeps complaining about everything ;
– Taeko, the other newbie who’s a bit more accepting about things, and is good with animals. Like, it’s hardcoded into her DNA.

The cast also includes their supervisor, “Vice-Principal” Mishima, who’s surveying them from a helicopter high above. He also does stuff like giving TV interviews in the middle of a field operation, because goshdarnit we need some exposition.

Production Values

Very impressive. This is dripping with budget, and the camera loves to show off how it can move around the characters. I’ll be surprised if this level of animation can be sustained throughout.

It’s sometimes a bit weird when the thick outlines for the characters clash a bit with the very detailed backgrounds, but it mostly works out.

Overall Impression

Now, this is more like it. It’s got an intriguing setting and some genuine suspense. It’s well-paced, and looks great. Admittedly, only Ibara is a compelling character among the three leads, but she’s enough to carry the show at this stage. Hopefully the others will either grow some more dimensions, or leave the stage quickly (if the cliffhanger is any indication).

Bottom line : I want to see more of this.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2013 – Page 4.

Beyond the Horizon (Kyoukai no Kanata)

(13ish episodes)

What’s it about ?

Self-aware urban fantasy.
Very obviously adapted from a light novel series (if you’re familiar with the tropes).

Characters

Akihito, our protagonist. He tries his hand at Kyon-style sarcastic narration, but doesn’t quite have the charisma to pull it off. And I can’t quite call him a generic high school student, since we learn very quickly the twist : he’s immortal, due to being half-demon.

Mirai, a new student at his school. He first meets her as she’s about to commit suicide… wait, no, that’s just a trap to lure him in so that she can stab him with her blood-sword. She’s the last heir of a demon-hunting clan with that special technique, you see. She tries again several times in the following days. He’d very much like her to stop : it doesn’t work, but it still hurts like hell. Especially as he’d find her cute if not for the stabbing thing.

Misaki, the other member of the Literature club besides him. Also the heir of the local demon-hunting group, who have an understanding with him and instead focus on the people-possessing demons who actually do some real damage. They also seem to include one of their teachers. Anyway, they don’t see the new troublemaker’s arrival with a good eye.

Production Values

It’s KyoAni : of course it’s gorgeously animated.

Overall Impression

Am I so jaded that I have a hard time enjoying any of this ?

Part of the problem is that it often feels like the main characters suffer from acute chuunibyou. Yes, the supernatural stuff is real, but it feels so off-the-shelf and generic that it’s hard to get too invested in it. The constant snark and self-awareness doesn’t help one bit : sure, it’s mildly funny, but it completely undercuts any gravitas the plot might have.

I’ll give it one more episode to try and make me care, but it’s not off to a good start.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2013 – Page 4.

Tokyo Ravens

(24 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Oh, look, another rural fantasy show !

Characters

Harutora, our protagonist. He’s part of a branch of a powerful mage family, but doesn’t feel he’s talented enough to undergo mage training. He’d rather stay in this little town with his “normal” friends forever.

Said friends include Touji, the usual perverted best friend ; and Hokuto, his tomboyish not-girlfriend, who’s really pushing for him to become a mage.

Natsume, his cousin, is the actual heir of the family, and poised to become the super-mage. They’re still somewhat on good terms, but have grown apart, especially as she usually lives in Tokyo. Harutora assumes she’s in town because it’s summer vacation, but that may not be the whole story.

Suzuka, a girl who shows up out of nowhere, looking for Natsume for nefarious purposes. She’s a big deal enough for a bunch of MIB to try and contain her as soon as she shows up ; she makes short work of them. After the initial confusion where she mistakes Harutora for Natsume, she leaves him with a message for her. And forcefully kisses him in front of Hokuto, just for kicks.

Production Values

That’s some very clunky CG for Suzuka’s summon, and the MIB’s black vans. But overall, this isn’t half-bad looking, if a bit generic.

Overall Impression

I don’t know. There’s nothing particularly wrong with any of this : it’s decently paced, it introduces the characters and the main conflict well, and overall it’s perfectly competent.

But it doesn’t quite grab me ; it’s not a genre I have that much time for, and it doesn’t do anything particularly new or fun with it. And I don’t feel like signing up for six months of it. It’s a busy season where I need to make choices among the many “not loving it” shows, and this one doesn’t make the cut for me.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2013 – Page 12.

Diabolik Lovers

(12 15-minute episodes)

What’s it about ?

This season’s token “otome game” adaptation : it’s a well-defined genre where the female protagonist can romance a variety of boys.

Trigger warning : rape. Plenty of it.

Characters

Yui, our teenage female protagonist and audience surrogate. Her father has sent her off to live in this mysterious creepy mansion, without much of an explanation. There are hints that she may unknowningly be more than an ordinary teenage girl (at the very least, she didn’t know she was adopted), but that’s news to her. She has enough sense to try and run away (as well as phone for help) once she catches on what kind of place this is, but of course it’s all for nothing.

The mansion is inhabited by six creepy prettyboys, covering the usual stereotypes : the angry one who casually punches walls, the childlike one, the one with glasses, the aloof one who seems to be in charge, the borderline rapist… Wait, scratch that : since those brothers are all vampires, they all take turns invading her personal space. Their casual ability to teleport makes it even creepier.

Production Values

This may be an effect of the reduced running time, but this looks quite good : it’s got lots of atmosphere, and sells the spookiness of the setup all too well. The character designs aren’t particularly original, but they’re not offensively generic either.

Overall Impression

Are there any otome games that aren’t about rape ?

Okay, there may well be, but this certainly aren’t one of them. It takes all of three minutes for Yui to be assaulted, and the guys keep going at her throughout. No actual sex yet, of course, and I doubt there will be any, given the transparent vampiric metaphor. But there’s no mistaking what this is all about. The characters are shallow and the plot a mere excuse for as many assaults as possible in the short running time.

It’s a relatively pretty package, but there’s no disguising that it will only appeal to a very narrow audience who enjoys this kind of stuff. I’m not part of them, so I’ll pass.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2013.