Brothers Conflict

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Look, the official abbreviation for this series is “BroCon”. Do I really need to spell it out ?
(Adapted from a series of shojo novels, which of course got otome game adaptations.)

Characters

“Chi”, our female main character… wait, her real name’s never actually uttered at any point in the whole episode ? Wow. Way to make her even more generic. Anyway, her father has just remarried, and so she moves in with her new family, i.e. 13 brothers. (Daddy and new-Mommy actually live elsewhere because work.)

Juli, her pet squirrel. For some reason she can talk with it. It’s very overprotective of her, what with her now living with 13 men. Very annoying indeed.

The various brothers don’t really get to show off more than one personality trait each, and they’re all generically handsome.

Production Values

Perfectly okay for this sort of thing.

Overall Impression

Let’s be frank : this is an incest-bait show. I’m not sure how seriously the more proactive brothers are supposed to pursue things, but at the very least there’s some insistant teasing. (And just to round things up, the two twin actors also act out a gay scene, because “fun” misunderstandings.) It doesn’t help that the –ing squirrel keeps issuing warnings to the MC even when everyone’s acting perfectly innocent.

There might be a very narrow audience that finds this kind of show riveting. I’m not part of it.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2013 – Page 2.

Sunday Without God (Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Remember the parable about God creating the world in six days, and resting on Sunday ? Well, here he finished the job in five days, rested on Saturday, and just left on Sunday. As a result, people don’t really die anymore, unless those special people called Gravediggers bury them and give them eternal rest.

Characters

Ai, our protagonist, is the cutest little Gravedigger ever : loved by her whole village and her adoptive parents. Sure, she had to bury her own mother and her father is a mystery, but she’s happy, right ? And nobody’d ever lie to her about being a Gravedigger, right ?

“Humpnie Humbert”, who readily admits this is a bullshit pseudonym (taken from some fairy tale). Unfortunately, this is also the name Ai’s mother gave as the father’s (which should ring alarm bells to anyone with a lick of sense), which causes a lot of confusion. But not among the villagers, as he’s already killed them all. Well, shot them until they became zombies, given how the world is now. Why ? He doesn’t say. He much prefers deriding the cruel joke the townfolk inflicted on Ai : Gravediggers don’t have parents, they come from nowhere when they’re needed. Ai’s mother must just have been deluded.

The sad thing is that I can’t tell whether this asshole is right ; there are some hints that Ai does have Gravedigger powers… or maybe not.

Production Values

I watched a preview streamed from NicoNico (the show is set to have proper airings starting Saturday), so this means no OP/ED sequences, and eyebleed-o-vision quality. It’s still very distinctive artistically, with oversaturated colours all the time (making it seem like all the scenes are shot at dawn or dusk) and a love for Dutch angles. It certainly contributes to the surreality of the whole piece.

Overall Impression

Well, the least I can say is that this is a show that makes an impression. There’s a contrast between the bleak premise and Ai’s cheerfulness (Aki Toyosaki in full squeaky mode) that makes it way more depressing than if it was just played straight. It’s not just yet another zombie show, as it quickly builds up a very distinctive atmosphere.

It doesn’t entirely work, though. There are bits where the banter between Ai and the mysterious stranger goes a bit too much comedic to really mesh with the oppressive mood, making the tone of the episode vary quite a bit more than it needs to be really effective. It’s a bit too much all over the place.

There are some bits that do work, though. The progressive reveal of that one villager’s head wound, that’s somehow always out of sight from the camera until he pulls on his hood and you can plainly see that his skull’s shape is just horribly wrong, is a very nicely paced sequence. As is the scene where Ai has cheerfully dug up graves for the whole village in advance, and wonders out loud what she’s going to do now. Great moments, but the show doesn’t quite find its groove yet.

But I’m intrigued enough to give it at least another episode to see where this is going.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2013 – Page 2.

Dog & Scissors (Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

The adventures of a deeply eccentric novel author and her biggest fanboy… who’s a dog.
(Adapted from a light novel series, if you hadn’t guessed.)

Characters

Kazuhito Harumi, used to be a normal high school boy… well, as normal as a guy who spends all his money on books can be. One day, he’s killed in a diner robbery gone horribly wrong. He wakes up as a dog, for some unknown reason.

Kirihime Natsuno (nom de plume : Shinobu Akiyama), his favourite author. She hears his thoughts non-stop after his transformation, and tracks him down in order to get some peace. She refrains from killing him once she figures out he’s the same boy who saved her life during the robbery ; she’s obviously grateful and offers him to stay at her place. She remains very cold and borderline sadistic throughout the episode, though. Also, she carries a pair of scissors at her thigh at all times, hence the series’ title.

There are lots of other characters shown in the OP/ED sequences and making cameos at various point (including an idol who seems to be in every commercial), but their significance has yet to become apparent.

Production Values

Quite nice, actually. There’s some decent atmosphere, and it’s good enough to sell the jokes. The OP sequence is fun and catchy, which is quite an achievement since it starts with Marina Inoue rapping.

Overall Impression

Well, I’ll give it that : it’s better than I expected from the title and outline. There are some decent jokes, and the story happens to be way less stupidly than you’d have thought.

But it’s still not very good. Way too much time is spent on stale unfunny bust size jokes, and the S&M subtext is so blunt and generic that it becomes unsavoury. Moreover, there’s no sense that the story is going anywhere : sure, Natsuno is already going after the killer, and there’s the mystery of how Harumi became a dog in the first place, but none of these directions seem particularly promising ; this doesn’t feel like a premise that can support a 12-episode series.

In another season I might have given it more of a chance, as there were a few good laughs here, but I can’t justify keeping watching it.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2013.