2014 Q2 – Spring – Page 3

Kamigami no Asobi: Ludere deorum

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

An adaptation of a female-targeted visual novel, with a male harem to romance. You know the drill.

The hook here is that, aside from the player-insert protagonist, they’re all gods.

Characters

Yui, the stand-in for the audience. She’s from a shrine family, and good at fencing ; she stumbles on the plot while investigating the storeroom in the back, and touching the shiny glowing sword. She’s immediately transported to a parallel world.

Zeus is the one who organized all of this. He’s picked up a few gods from each of the struggling old pantheons, and Yui’s going to teach them about humanity. Why her ? Well, she found the sword. Let’s be honest, Zeus is a complete dick here.

So cue many prettyboy gods. Clueless Baldr and devious Loki. Angsty loner Hades and obviously-main-guy Appolon. And others. They all become a bit same-y after a while.

Production Values

Quite nice ; the flowery backgrounds as each god gets introduced might be a bit overkill, but they’re a staple of the genre, and I do get the impression we’re reaching self-parody.

The ED sequence dispels any doubts about this being anything else than an excuse to display juicy manflesh.

Overall Impression

This first episode is quite alright : it’s decently paced, it’s got a sense of humour about itself, and Yui has more of a clue and a backbone than average for her archetype.

But I have no confidence that this isn’t going to quickly devolve into standard harem hijinks, and I’m not the target audience anyway. I’ll pass.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2014 – Page 2.

The Irregular at Magic High School (Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei)

(26 episodes)

What’s it about ?

The novelty is going to blow your mind : it’s the adaptation of a light novel centering on a high-school where students learn tech-assisted magic ! With an extensive female cast surrounding a special snowflake male protagonist !

Characters

Tatsuya, our main character. He’s got an actual personality, which is a plus. (Thank you, Yuuichi Nakamura, for conveying so much within so little dialogue.) He’s not constantly narrating his every thought at us, which is appreciated. Especially as he’s obviously got an agenda, and it’s to the show’s credit that it lets us piece it together progressively.

The idea here is that despite being a hard worker, he’s been consistently been put down by society. His parents would rather him aim lower. The Magic High School puts him among the second-rank students, and he should be lucky to even have been accepted. His answer has been to put up a front of accepting it, and overcompensate by training himself even harder in his strengths. Which are many : he’s an accomplished martial artist, and while he’s not that good at actual magic, he can achieve a lot through quick-witted analysis. But he’s careful not to let it show too much ; it’s too early to reveal his hand yet, so he’ll bide his time for now.

Miyuki, his younger sister, is a good contrast : she’s a genuine magical prodigy and thus gets to be a first-rank student, but she believes she doesn’t deserve any of it, and would rather HE get all the honours. I’m less thrilled by her worship going a bit too far, but he’s careful to keep it at a reasonable level : she’s his precious little sister and he enjoys the attention, but that’s it.

We meet a few classmates of Tatsuya’s : Mizuki the shy one, Erika the tomboy, and Leonhart the lecherous dude. With the last two being a bit hotheaded (and obviously at stage one of the tsundere romance), it’s no surprise that they don’t take kindly to the arrogance of the first-class students.

Mayumi, the Student Council President, breaks up the fight before it escalates too far. Interestingly, Tatsuya goes out of his way to downplay it as horseplay ; now’s not the moment to make waves. She’s not fooled, and is going to keep an eye on him.

Production Values

Budget ! The animation here is sumptuous, with very well-directed fight scenes. Tons of scenery porn too, and there’s many neat touches with the magic effects.

I’m not entirely sure what’s going on with the female uniforms (what are the colours supposed to be about ? Magic types ?), but they must be a PITA to animate and still look as good as this.

And of course, I’d be remiss not to mention the Taku Iwasaki soundtrack, which is as engaging as ever.

Overall Impression

It’s taken a long time, but finally I’ve found a wish-fulfilment light novel adaptation I’m actually enjoying watching. Oh, sure, it helps that it’s got impressive production values, a snazzy soundtrack, and some good world-building ; but the real success here is in building an actual protagonist, who looks like he actually wants to do stuff instead of just bumbling through life and having everything handed down to him. This isn’t a clueless nice guy ; he’s a calculating bastard who’s faking every and each of his social interactions.

I’m optimistic about this one, which is more than I could say going in.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2014 – Page 2.

Kindaichi’s Case Files RETURNS (Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo R)

(26 episodes)

What’s it about ?

This is the revival of a well-regarded 1997-2000 TV series, which itself adapted a long-running manga. (I’m not sure whether this new series directly adapts some of the manga or involves original material. The plot does involve smartphones, after all.)

The gimmick is that this is a fairplay whodunnit mystery series, with each arc mostly self-contained.

Characters

Kindaichi, our protagonist, is the archetypal “brilliant but lazy” high-school protagonist. He’s the grandson of a famous (fictional) detective, whom this series can’t actually name because of a lawsuit from the original author. Ahem. Anyway, he’s himself a great amateur detective, which is very useful as he can’t make two steps without stumbling into a new murder case.

Miyuki, his childhood friend who’s always hanging around him, hint hint nudge nudge. This arc’s plot involves her getting scouted by a model agency because she looks just like a fashion model who’s just disappeared, which should have rung some alarm bells. So the pair of them are invited to a fashion show in Hong Kong.

There are half a dozen suspects for the inevitable murder that ensues, helpfully introduced one by one by the script. Usually they start dropping like flies until only half are left and Kindaichi unmasks the culprit.

The location move to Hong Kong prevents most of the usual (sparse) supporting cast from showing up, although there’s a game attempt by Saki, an underclassman of the duo, who conveniently happens to be visiting Hong Kong with his parents. You don’t say.

Production Values

There’s been a fresh coat of paint to update the series to modern standards, but it’s still more than a bit old-fashioned. It still has all the signature gimmicks (such as the suspect grid where they’re crossed out one by one as they die), and even the music’s a rearrangement of the old tunes.

Overall Impression

I can’t be objective with this one. I’m a mystery nut in general, and I’ve always enjoyed what little of the original series I could lay my hands on. This is basically more of the same ; self-contained enough to be accessible, but I’m not sure how appealing it can be for a modern audience.

Still, I’m obviously going to watch this for as long as it lasts.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2014 – Page 2.

Dragonar Academy (Seikoku no Dragonar)

(12ish episodes ?)

What’s it about ?

As the title implies, this adapts a light novel about an academy in fantasy-land where the students train with their dragon familiars.

Characters

Ash, our protagonist. Wait, how many origin stories does this guy need ? There’s an opening prologue where as a kid he helped a girl (his sister ?) do something in an ominous location, and lost his arm for it ; leading to a dragon restoring his arm out of pity and giving it some cool tattoos. That’s fine. And then there’s a modern scene of him getting raped by a succubus-like woman that I really doubt is truly a nightmare. And then there’s this episode’s events, where he finally gets a familiar. That’s a bit overkill. Anyway, he’s got a generic Nice Guy personality, aside whenever someone badmouths his familiar (or lack of any), which makes him flip out. Obviously, he’s got a terrible reputation as a troublemaker.

Raymond, his perverted best friend. Aside from being an endless supply of exposition and gossip, his core purpose so far is to lend out his familiar to Ash, who’s one of the rare few people who can actually use others’. Of course he is.

Silvia, a princess from a neighbour country, with an attitude to match. She seems even more hated than Ash, which is saying something. They quickly start bickering over nothing, leading to a challenge to outmatch each other at the next dragon-riding race. Which he loses conclusively, but he’s had enough fun helping her out against bullies that he doesn’t mind.

Milgauss, an agent from the enemy country nearby (Ash : “wait, isn’t there a ceasefire ?”), who’s investigating some random relic when Ash inadvertently crosses his path. After gloating for a bit, he orders his teenage ninja girl to get rid of the witness. She’s not very good at it, to the point that Ash actually prevents her from falling down a ravine… only for him to stumble down in her place. Oops.

Story’s not over, though : that’s the moment his familiar chooses to finally manifest. Except it’s some girl instead of a dragon.

Production Values

Perfectly adequate, and it’s got some decent designs for the dragons, but it’s all functional rather than imaginative.

Overall Impression

Oh dear gods, the script. In better hands, this might have worked ; but the dialogue and narration are so consistently awful that it drags the whole show down as a result. The worldbuilding is marred by cumbersome exposition that buries everything else down. It’s not helped by trite jargon that merely sounds pretentious. And it’s just impossible to take seriously this protagonist who has to rediscover every aspect of his daily life all the time.

I’m not the audience for this kind of wish-fulfilment light novels anyway, but the level of writing in this adaptation is so terrible that there’s no chance I’ll bother with watching a second episode.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2014 – Page 2.

Daimidaler the Sound Robot (Kenzen Robo Daimidaler)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of an mecha/sentai ecchi manga.

Characters

Kouichi, our protagonist, straight on loan from the 80s, i.e. wearing a rakugan instead of his high school’s more modern uniform. His core personality is that he’s a pervert ; his standard daily routine includes standing below stairs to check out what underwear girls are wearing.

Kyouko, an agent from the PRINCE organization, which is tasked with handling attacks from the evil extraterrestrial Penguin Empire. He mission was to scout Kouichi, as he can generate a high level of Hi-ERO energy. You’ve guessed it : he can power his mecha up by doing something perverted, such as fondling her.

For now, the Penguin Empire are mostly represented by a few of those low-level masked underlings that are so common in sentai ; this is the kind of series that finds it very funny for them to have a front “tail”.

Production Values

Decent, I guess. The Daimidaler mecha has a very peculiar old-school design that at least makes it look distinctive.

Be warned, this is a very fanservice-heavy show. And not just because of Kouichi’s antics ; the camera is just as perverted as him.

Overall Impression

Oh, dear. The kindest thing I can say about this is that it’s neither bland nor forgettable ; unfortunately, its sense of humour starts at tedious and then goes downhill. It’s dreadfully unfunny, and watching more than five minutes of it was a chore.

No thanks.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2014 – Page 2.

Riddle Story of Devil (Akuma no Riddle)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a manga about a high-school class full of assassin girls. With heavy lesbian subtext that could become text anytime soon.

Characters

Tokaku, our protagonist. An elite teenage assassin with a dark past… wait, that describes most of the cast. Her distinctive features is that she’s very taciturn, has no sense of humour, and we spend most of the episode inside her head. It’s not a pretty place.

Mr “Dice” Kaiba, her handler, has had her transferred to this Academy’s “Black Classroom” so that she can kill the one student there who isn’t also an assassin. This dude is a complete dick, played with obvious glee by Tomokazu Sugita. I love the way he chews scenery.

Haru is so much the odd girl out in the class that everyone immediately pegs her as the target. She’s nice, wants to be friends with everyone, has no reflexes whatsoever, and just doesn’t smell like a killer. She’s even played by Hisato Kanemoto at her most sugary. Yeah, there’s of course going to be a twist at some point. Tokaku’s immediately smitten, although she’d be the last one to acknowledge it. Good thing they’re going to be roommates !

For some reason only three other girls are present for the first homeroom class (only the transfer students, I guess ?), and all of them are credible psychopaths, given the way they keep snarling all the time. This includes the one with MPD, of course. A few others show up later at the dorms, and they’re pretty much of the same cloth.

Whoever the mysterious mastermind behind all this is, she’s set up cameras everywhere. And that’s taking into account Tokaku disabling a good number of them as soon as she enters her room. It’s hinted that there have been other Black Classrooms organized before, too.

Production Values

Well, this clearly belongs to the Death Note school of directing : lots of darkness, dynamic camera angles and overpowering music to mask the fact that not so much is happening, and the animation is nothing special.

There’s less fanservice than you’d expect, despite the episode including several shower scenes.

Overall Impression

Wow, this show doesn’t believe in subtlety, does it ? But frankly, the premise is so contrived that it wouldn’t work any other way. It needs that frantic energy and the constant overacting to avoid collapsing into a mess.

So far, it works. But there’s the question of whether it’ll be allowed to go anywhere, given that it’s based on an ongoing (and recent) manga series. That’s the problem with these high-concept stories : they rarely allow for partial resolutions that an anime adaptation can satisfyingly end on. I’ve been burned enough in the past to be skeptical over this series’ chances to buck the trend.

Still, it’s an entertaining start. With my expectations adjusted, I’m open to keeping it on my watching list.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2014.

Blade & Soul

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a fantasy Korean MMORPG.

Characters

Alka, our taciturn protagonist. A member of the Blade clan, she’s on the run for allegedly having killed her master. She doesn’t spend much energy denying it. Impressively badass with knives.

The Whatever Empire are obviously the baddies here, bullying everyone one else under a thin layer of legality, and hunting our heroine down. Unexpectedly for this kind of setting, their goons got guns, which gives them an unfair advantage. Well, except against Alka, as she can cut bullets down. Some of their female leaders are obviously Important, but don’t get much definition yet. Also, their most elite members can wield some magic.

Morii became the teenage leader of a small backwards village after her father died. The villagers are supportive, but what can they do against the might of the Empire wanting to “buy” their lands ? Well, they can hire a passing Alka, but that backfires tremendously, as the Empire sends a disproportionate force to take her down once they notice she’s there. Nearly everyone dies. Oops.

A decent amount of screentime is spent on a bar-owner, and her one customer who looks interested in taking the bounty on Alka’s head, so presumably they’ll show up again.

Production Values

Well, there’s quite some budget behind this, from the scenery porn to the lavish animation. I don’t feel like the general aesthetics quite come together, though ; that may be from the busy and showing-too-much-flesh character designs. Also, this is quite a bloody and violent show, although not to the point of being unbearable.

Overall Impression

Hey, an heroic-fantasy show that doesn’t suck ! But that’s not enough to make it much good, though : it feels very soulless and by-the-numbers. I mean, it’s hard to make it any more cliché than a burnt down starting village, eh ? None of the characters get to display much personality, and nearly all the villagers who do, die horribly without any chance to defend themselves.

The bottom line : this show didn’t manage to make me care about what happens next. I’ll pass, thank you.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2014.

The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior (Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou)

(12ish episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a romantic comedy manga.

If you’re wondering about the bizarrely elaborate official English title, it’s probably an attempt to play off the pun in the original title (it literally means something like “We’re all from the Kawai Lodging House”, but it sounds a lot like “We’re all pitiful”).

Characters

Usa, our protagonist. He’s looking to start his life anew with high school. (There are hints his middle school years were wild.) Hence why he moved to a new town, and begged his parents to let him live on his own. Finding a quiet and intellectual girl to settle down with would be nice, too.

Ritsu, a quiet and intellectual girl in the next grade. And she happens to live in the same lodging house he’s just moved into ! Heaven ! Well, aside from the fact that she’s not about to let him get into her personal space, and seems to have pegged him as a weirdo. But hey, room for progress, right ? Also, that kendo sword looks dangerous. (There’s a fun joke explaining how she can seemingly pull it out of thin air.)

Sumiko, the elderly landlady of the lodging house, seems to fit the “nice but strict old lady” archetype… But that’s at least partly an act, and she’s more mischievous than she looks. There’s a reason the rent is dirt cheap, after all.

Shirosaki, Usa’s roommate, is part of that reason. He’s more than a bit of a creep, although he’s mostly harmless. (After all, he’s openly a masochist. Sumiko quite enjoys playing along.) He’s less annoying than I’d have thought, as he makes a good sounding board for Usa’s own fetishes.

Mayumi, another of the residents. A working woman in her 20s, she comes back early from a trip after dumping her boyfriend for two-timing her. From everyone else’s reactions, it’s obviously not the first time this happens. She’s an impressive drinker, which however does not mean she can hold her alcohol well.

There’s mention of a college student also residing in Kawai Complex, but she’s currently away. The OP & ED sequences suggest she often antagonizes Mayumi.

Production Values

Perfectly alright. There are some sudden abstract backgrounds & overlay text marking punchlines that initially made me think this was adapted from 4-panel manga, but apparently not.

Overall Impression

Well, that was fun. There’s something to be said for run-of-the-mill romantic comedies : it doesn’t set the world on fire, but it’s very pleasant to watch. Nothing wrong with occupying that niche.

There’s a good chance I’ll keep watching this.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2014.

selector infected WIXOSS

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Surprise ! It’s another cardgame tie-in ! Except a lot more ambitious.

Characters

Ruuko, our teenage protagonist. She’s the kind of introvert who has no friends besides her family circle. Obviously we can’t have that, and it’s quickly going to change.

Her grandma, for example, would be delighted for her to get some friends. She’s way too nice to press the matter, though. I like her morbid sense of humour (that’s quite the nasty punchline for Skyline Tetris), and it’s easy to suspect she knows a lot more than she’s telling.

Ruuko’s older brother doesn’t seem to be living with them, although he visits often. (Where are her parents, anyway ?) Cue standard sibling antics, as he’s a bit of a slob. Out of nowhere, he gives her a starter deck for this new popular WIXOSS cardgame that even girls are into. Except it’s not an ordinary deck.

Tama, Ruuko’s avatar card, might be Augmented Reality pushed to far. Not only is the character in that small piece of cardboard somehow animated, but she’s also talking. Admittedly, not very coherently. Also, only Ruuko can hear her. At least at first.

Yuzuki, one of her classmates, immediately zeroes on her the next day. See, there are only a limited number of players (“Selectors”) with those special cards. If you win while battling each other, you get a wish to be granted. (Which sounds very dodgy to me already.) If you lose three times, you’re out… and I’m not certain it’s only the card who disappears. Anyway, she’s sure the newbie is easy prey.

Kazuki, Yuzuki’s twin brother, watches the match. Except he can’t hear the cards (you have to be a Selector), nor see the very elaborate VR interface the two players are somehow immersed in, so that must be very boring. He compensates by providing some exposition about the rules, as he feels this match is a bit unfair to Ruuko. Not that he should bother, as Tama is somehow super-powerful. Yuzuki is lucky the match gets interrupted (and thus becomes a draw) by the schoolbell. Also, her tentative wish seems to involve being able to bone him, so, er, yeah.

There are various other Selector/card showcased in the OP sequence, so I’m sure we’ll run into them eventually.

Production Values

Very good. If there’s one thing this show does very well, it’s atmosphere. There’s a constant sense of dread, not helped by the creepy gory dreams Ruuko starts having after getting Tama. All the fantasy/VR/whatever sequences are gorgeous, if a bit dark.

Overall Impression

Well, that’s a way to get me intrigued by a card-game show : have it drowning in murky paranoia. Oh, sure, there are still scenes designed to showcase how awesome the damn thing is, but it’s easily compensated by the impression that it’s all a trap and that this is going to end very badly for all involved. The usually super-cute Tama looking like a bloodthirsty berserker during battles compounds that feeling.

I’m seriously getting some Madoka flashbacks here. I doubt this is going to be anywhere as good, but there are worse aesthetics to ape.

Okay, show, I’m intrigued. Where the heck are you going with this ?

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2014.

Majin Bone

What’s it about ?

Generic kids’ tokusatsu show, tying in with a card game.

Characters

Shogo, our generic teenage protagonist. His most prominent character trait is that he really likes reading his porn mags, because teenager. Aside from that, he’s completely nondescript, for perfect audience identification.

He’s got a decently-sized supporting cast, with a generic bossy father, a generic sarcastic older sister, a generic childhood friend who’s obviously attracted to him, and her generic mother. Also, her generic dog.

The plot involves “meteorites” falling onto Earth, but those are actually baddies (?) in techsuits. One of them happens to fall in childhood friend’s backyard, kicking off the plot : after touching it, Shogo is shocked to learn he can swap into a techsuit too !

There are three mysterious dudes hanging around in the margins, fighting some of meteorites when nobody’s looking. They seem quite interested by Shogo becoming a potential ally.

Production Values

Quite good, overall. Unfortunately, while the action sequences are well-animated, the samey character designs for both sides of techsuits make it impossible for me to tell what’s going on in them.

Overall Impression

BO-RING. It’s an average Tuesday Morning Cartoon, and there’s absolutely nothing to make it stand out from the pack. It’s not particularly bad, but I can’t see myself returning for a second episode. It’s not like I had any enthusiasm for writing this review.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2014.