New Anime Series – Page 15

#20 : Boys Be…

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a shonen romance manga series… Actually, there seems to have been several iterations of the manga, with the TV series picking and choosing characters and storylines as it saw fit.

Characters

Kyoichi, our male lead, is a high school student with a distinct inferiority complex over his unfitness and “unmanly” hobbies (such as his painting). It doesn’t really help that his hormones are kicking in and making him notice…

Chiharu, his childhood friend, who has grown into an attractive, if athletic and tomboyish girl. Kyoichi thinks he doesn’t stand a chance, especially after her senior in the track team makes his confession. In any event, he’s going to keep quiet about his own feelings. And if this description seems like it’s all about him… well, yeah. We never get into her head, although there are signs she might not be as unreceptive as he thinks she is, and is also trying to test the waters.

Makoto, his lecherous “friend”, who makes a point of mining data about all the girls in school… aside from Chiharu, because he doesn’t do tomboys. He’s a slimy worm and proud of it, and happy to share his knowledge with his pals. (Who look more embarrassed than pleased by his “help”.)

Yoshihiko, the third member of this circle of friends, is a quiet dude who doesn’t leave much of an impression yet.

It seems the series is going for an ensemble/anthology format, as next episode seems to be about Makoto rather than Kyoichi/Chiharu.

Production Values

Quite nice looking indeed ; the characters can act and convey more than they say through their body language.

Due to the content, there’s quite a lot of male gaze in the camera work whenever we’re put in Kyoichi’s position, but it’s more in the angles than actually showing anything. Which is why the eyecatches with live-action ass shots are especially puzzling.

Overall Impression

Let’s be clear : this is a boys’ club series. It shows in detail how teenage boys see girls, with no room for the latter’s experiences. But once that is said, there’s a certain purity to this approach, and it’s not like the script can’t do nuance. The boys clearly have very different outlooks on the subject ; there’s enough variation here to offer proper depth and character development. (And there’s always the possibility of future episodes showing a female point-of-view, although I’m not holding my breath.)

And you know, it’s almost refreshing to see a anime romance show where teenagers’ lewd thoughts are front and center, instead of being shoved aside for their base unseemliness. It’s certainly enjoyable enough to watch, and I’m putting it onto the “to see later” list.

Source: [In Which I Review] Anime series from 2000 – Page 5

#19 : Sakura Wars (Sakura Taisen)

(25 episodes + tons of OAV spin-offs)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of (a series of) videogames, part tactical-RPG, part dating sim. It’s set in an alternate version of 1920s Japan that has gone in a decidedly steampunk route.

Characters

Sakura, our protagonist, is a country bumpkin and a new recruit to the Imperial Floral Division, part of the forces defending the capital against… some offscreen “evil” forces we have no real exposure to yet. Sure, she’s clumsy and has trouble following instructions, but she compensates it with overenthusiasm (which often gets her into more trouble). But she’s completely nonplussed when she arrives at the rendezvous point : why do headquarters look like a theatre ? Why are her new teammates performing a play ? (That she proceeds to make a mess out of, of course.)

Said teammates :
– Maria, the taciturn one who thinks the newbie won’t cut it and thus won’t bother talking to her
– Iris, the creepy kid who talks to her teddybear
– Sumire, the “star” who takes personal offense at Sakura’s bumbling (which gets worse as she tries to apologize)
aren’t very welcoming, to be polite. While they may be overreacting, you can see their points.

The brass, on the other hand, are delighted by Sakura’s arrival. Sure, there might be some initial problems, but she’s from a famous and powerful lineage, we need her… Oh dear gods her aura’s so powerful it made the mecha in the basement randomly activate, traumatizing her. (And of course it’s Sumire‘s mecha that gets trashed.)

I think there are more members due to join the team soon, given the OP & ED sequences.

Production Values

This looks quite good indeed : nice animation, and lots of attention to detail to sketch out this past Tokyo with some good verisimilitude.

Overall Impression

Well, I didn’t expect this : a non-standard setting, with a very weird setup that leaves me more intrigued than frustrated by the lack of explanation for it. The characters are sketched enough not to be annoying, and it does have the budget to support its ambition.

I want to know what’s going on here, and to watch more of this. Mission accomplished, then : I’ll pretty sure I’ll come back to this series later this year.

Source: [In Which I Review] Anime series from 2000 – Page 4

World Break: Aria of Curse for a Holy Swordsman (Seiken Tsukai no World Break)

(12ish episodes ?)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of yet another light novel series set in a magic high school. You know the drill.

Characters

Moroha, our male lead, is a new freshman at the academy. Like all of them, he’s the reincarnation of past warriors, and as such should regain his memories and abilities with the right prodding. Which will be sorely needed, if the talk of various nasties roaming the world and the mandatory opening epic battle flash-forward are any indication. Unfortunately all of this is still hazy for him.

Satsuki, one of his new classmates, doesn’t have that problem. She’s already got a good handle on her abilities, and remembers Moroha as her beloved brother in a past life. And now there’s no pesky incest taboo to hinder them ! (I have no words. What happened to Ayana Taketatsu’s career for her to be so regularly pigeon-holed into bro-con roles ?) Aside from that, her main trait is that she’s very enthusiastic about their mission of saving the world.

Shizuno, another classmate who manages to steal Moroha’s first kiss “by accident”, to Satsuki’s furor. Given how constantly she’s gently trolling them, I’m sure there’s more to it. At least she doesn’t feel malicious.

[Random Asshole whose name I can’t be bothered double-checking], who quickly comes to blow with Satsuki after mocking her “ally of justice” mindframe. He humiliates her, leading to a rematch where Moroha tries to teach him a lesson… and unlocks his own powers just in the nick of time.

Production Values

This is actually quite sharp-looking. Vivid colours, nice animation, gorgeous backgrounds… Some care has been put into giving motion to this.

There’s quite a degree of fanservice at play here, if only from the script managing to fit in a locker scene, a shower scene, some clothing damage, and girls rubbing a guy’s head against their chest. Given all that, the execution almost feels positively restrained.

Overall Impression

This looks quite good, and there are some okay beats, but I still can’t quite shake my impression that like many of its ilk, it’s coasting on the “magic school” setting and its associated default hijinks to substitute for an actual plot. Since I have little patience for those clichés, I have trouble getting invested into even a better-than-average execution of it. (It doesn’t help that I’ve been badly burnt by the likes of the Irregular at Magic High School.)

Let’s be honest : there are many shows I’d rather be viewing than this.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2015 – Page 2.

Samurai Warriors (Sengoku Musou)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

This season’s token visit to the Warring Kingdoms period, because the schedule just wouldn’t be complete without one. Adapted from a series of hack&slash videogames.

There was a OVA prologue of this that got broadcast 9 months ago and completely fell under my radar ; fortunately, Crunchyroll had the good sense of snagging the rights to it, so I’m probably watching it momentarily. This first episode does a good job of getting the viewer back to speed, anyway.

Characters

This show earns immediate brownie points for having everyone at about the right gender (and even some of the cast over 20 !), although the presence of a number of skimpily-clad warrior girls makes me doubt its strict historical accuracy.

Another good surprise : Oda –ing Nobunaga does NOT feature in this ; it’s set after his death, with Hideyoshi now running the show and on the verge of conquering all of Japan, with Kanto as the last holdover. This isn’t a time period usually covered by this subgenre, so my interest perks right up.

Our actual protagonist is Yukimura, hot-headed middle-ranked warrior. The type who runs to the sieged enemy fortress just before the all-out assault to ask for a duel with their top general, in a probable effort to avoid bloodshed. (He’s got a girl sidekick/future-wife in tow, mostly to square off with the general’s similarly-female top sidekicks.)

Nobuyuki, his brother, is obviously facepalming offscreen, but goes off after him to help him out (with his own girl sidekick in tow). After all, they do love each other.

And then they win. (With the help of the full force coming right after them, of course.) And we get the full “happy ending” course, including the sudden marriages. At episode 1 out of 12. This is obviously not going to stand.

Production Values

Okay enough. Everyone wears way too fancy armour to really feel historically-accurate (to say nothing of the somersaulting around), but at least everyone has distinctive enough character designs to help mitigate the massive number of character introductions.

Overall Impression

Fascinating. A Sengoku-era series that completely bypasses Oda Nobunaga and goes for the relatively unexplored territory of what happened next ? That’s quite refreshing, and enough to catch my interest a bit. But on the other hand, there are still some silly bits here that could grate on me very quickly if left unchecked. The characters have yet to win me over, and I’m still unsure how complex the politics at play here will turn out to be.

There’s a lot that can go wrong here, but it’s at least earned my checking out the OVA, and probably a second episode. I’m curious.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2015 – Page 2.

#18 : Transformers: Robots in Disguise (Transformers: Car Robots)

(39 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Do I really need to give an overview of the Transformers franchise ?

As far as this series goes, it’s a complete re-imagining of the concept, divorced from any of the previous animated series ; it got retooled a bit for the US broadcast in 2001. And that is what I’m watching, as I couldn’t find the version that went on Japanese airwaves.

Characters

Megatron, leader of the Predacons (no, not the Decepticons) is an EVIL tyrant from space who wants to conquer Earth and drain its energy. Oh, and he’s a transforming machine, of course.

Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, is here to show that not all transforming machines are evil ! They’ll fight Megatron and his henchmachines ! (The fact that not only have they infiltrated Earth, disguised as common vehicles, but also set up a secret network of tunnels that allow them to go anywhere in the world, is not creepy at all.)

Dr Onishi is the leading human authority on energy (and archaeology, because one needs hobby) ; he attends some world conference in the US and gets targeted by Megatron. Being a good man, he refuses to cooperate.

Koji, his son, is obviously distressed seeing his dad being captured on live TV. (Er, why are you calling his cell ? And how the heck is he answering ? Is Megatron patiently waiting while the professor takes the call ?) I have no clue why Megatron goes to the trouble of retrieving the kid in Japan and bringing him to the attack’s location, as he’s worse than useless.

Production Values

Decent enough ; I presume the weird background music and the clunky CG transitions were added for the US version, as they don’t fit well.

Overall Impression

… Why does the English dub sounds like it’s voiced by LittleKuriboh ?

Seriously, this is full of terrible acting, always on the verge of underlining on the plot holes, but not enough for it to feel deliberate. And dear gods, are there many plot holes indeed ; it’s hard to take what’s happening seriously.

I have better things to do than spend hours mock-watching this crap, however unintentionally hilarious it might be.

Source: [In Which I Review] Anime series from 2000 – Page 4

Yatterman of the Night (Yoru no Yatterman)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

History lesson time !

40 years ago, studio Tatsunoko started producing what would become known as “the Time Bokkan series” (named after the first installment) : sentai-ish comedy shows with highly referenced humour. Most of them were released in the 70s and 80s, with a few revivals into the 90s and 00s. Most famous of them was Yatterman, the second Time Bokkan series, which got to last for a very respectable 108 episodes.

Now the one other big thing the Time Bokkan have in common, despite being mostly unrelated plot-wise, were a trio of ineffectual villains with highly distinctive character designs (the blonde vixen “leader”, the tall gadgeteer with a big nose, and the big dumb muscle) who were recycled from series to series, to the point that by 2000’s Kaitou Kiramekiman they got more screentime than the titular leads of the show. It wouldn’t be wholly inaccurate to think of them as the Team Rocket Trio of their time.

Now, the last time Tatsunoko made a modern revamp of a beloved property of their back catalogue, we got Gatchaman CROWDS.

This series is completely unlike Gatchaman CROWDS in nearly every respect.

Characters

This is set long after the sentai heroes, Yatterman, won. We’re generations away from the original Dorombo trio, and there was a conclusive end to the war several decades ago. (It looks like the moon got destroyed in the process or something.) As a result, the Dorombo (and their eventual family) got exiled to a hellhole, away from the idyllic new Yatter Kingdom.

Leopard, our protagonist, is the grand-(…)-daughter of Doronjo, the original leader of Dorombo. Now, she initially didn’t know this ; she was brought up to romanced tales of Yatterman being paragons of Justice, and only learned of her legacy by happenstance about when she turned 9. Obviously, she rejected it ; Dorombo where thieves, and stealing is bad. And it’s not like her loving mother has been anything but laudative of the heroes.

Voltkaze, genius gadgeteer and heir of Boyacky, & Elephantus, big strong guy and heir of Tonzura, are basically part of this happy family ; their ancestors have always served this family, and it’s clear they’re enjoying taking care of the young Leopard. (They also have a pet pig called Sir Oda.)

Unfortunately, Leopard’s mom gets a dire case of the cough of death, and requires medicine that can’t be found here. So Leopard decides to take a small boat to try and reach Yatter Kingdom, with Voltkaze & Elephantus helping her. Unfortunately, even at sea there’s this big giant wall encircling the exile zone and preventing them from leaving. But hey, the Yatterman are showing up ! Maybe they’ll help ?

The Yatterman are jerks. (And it’s interesting that they don’t even look human here.) They start shooting before Leopard can explain, with radically more firepower than strictly necessary. Our trio (+ pig) barely escape with their lives, and can only bury Leopard’s mother. The girl is herself completely shaken up : does this mean Yatterman were always the bad guys ? And Dorombo the real heroes trying to bring them down.

Well, fudge this : Leopard, Voltkaze, Elephantus & Sir Oda are going to put on makeshift costumes homaging their predecessors, and bring the fight to Yatterman. They may be hopelessly outmatched, but they’ve got Justice on their side.

Production Values

Very lovely. Tons of fun little slapstick background events, and the character designs contribute a lot to make Leopard look like an adorable little girl, selling very well the loving family atmosphere.

The complete change of tone when things get more serious is well-handled, too, with some interesting deformation of the Yatterman’s traditional sentai designs to make them look more menacing.

Overall Impression

Well, this is the classic deconstruction of a superhero show : what if the villains were right all along ? But this series starts off more cleverly than that ; there’s a very real possibility that Leopard is mistaken and the real problem is merely whoever’s in charge of Yatter Kingdom right now. It’s not like her mom looks like she’s got any bitterness or wishes of revenge, even with the strong indication her own sister was collateral damage to the final battle when they were just kids.

What this show does right, though, is selling out trio (+ pig) as genuinely good people who all love each other and have an actually good point against the “heroes”. The sins of their ancestors really shouldn’t be still weigh on them, and yet they do. As such, they’re the underdogs we really want to see win. It’s not subtle, but it’s got enough heart to work.

This looks like the fun (and accessible) romp I wanted this show to be ; I’m glad my hopes were fulfilled.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2015 – Page 2.

#17 : Kaitō Kiramekiman

(26 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Okay, this is a weird one. In the 70s & 80s, Tatsunoko Productions produced a bunch of anime shows collectively known as “the Time Bokkan series” (named after the first of them) ; the most well-known is probably Yatterman, the second one, which is getting a modern remake this year for the 40th anniversary of the franchise, starting… today. (Serendipity !)

None of those shows seem to have much in common plot-wise, aside from having a trio of villains with similar character designs, and being a variation of sentai. This one, 8th in the series (and produced more than a decade after the 7th), goes for a sentai/gentleman thief mash-up.

Characters

Kaitō Kiramekiman are actually a team of two people :
– #1 is actually Lip, daughter of an unaware police chief, and looks like the one in charge
– #2 is Paf, the… manservant at her house ? It’s not clear, but he does stuff like driving her around and repairing the car. He’s the one handling the technical preparation of their heists, including their giant (and sentient) cat mecha.
From the best I can gather, they’re not really bad guys, they’re just looking for some magic stones, and the heists are a cover to appropriate them. If they got it wrong, they’ll just give the precious stones back to the police down the line (and offscreen).

But much of the screentime is devoted to a trio of inept cops, trying to catch the thieves to better their own reputation. Given that nobody takes them seriously and they’re bumbling fools, you can easily see why. They’re :
– a superficial blonde woman who bosses the other two around ;
– A dumb brute who provides the muscle ;
– A smart guy with a big nose who just won’t shut up… and seems to actually have some competence in store, given how he’s built their own giant dog mecha that does manage to capture Kiramekiman for a while until his efforts are thwarted by the ineptitude of his colleagues.

Now, it’s hard to see those three as villains ; at best, they’re antagonists, and they often feel like the true stars of the show. On the other hand, they’re in contact with a Mysterious Boss that doesn’t seem to be part of the police, so I have a strong suspicion they’ve infiltrated the police station to pursue their own agenda (getting their hands on the magic stones, maybe ?), in accordance with the overall throughline of the Time Bokkan shows. But there’s barely any evidence for that, and you often find yourself taking the side of those poor shlobs against the semi-sadistic and unstoppable thieves.

Production Values

Time capsule ! Which makes sense once you learn the show’s history. And hey, those very retro designs have their charm, mitigating the sparse animation where people don’t even walk down stairs properly.

The blond woman is a frequent source of (very mild because kids’ show) fanservice, because of course.

Overall Impression

This is a fascinating show, especially once I did my research. Which helps make sense of why the titular protagonists barely get any character development or backstory, and the trio steal the show ; we’re at the stage where the latter are the most recognizable element of the franchise. Since they’ve got fun chemistry, it’s a sensible choice.

On the other hand, this is clearly a series that relies a lot on Japanese references and puns that the fansubbers who translated the token episode didn’t bother with ; plenty of it flies right above my head. And I suspect the novelty value would wear off quickly, as this looks like a very repetitive show. So while I’ve enjoyed a decent chunk of this, and I’m grateful this project has exposed me to such an oddity, I’m not too broken up over the non-availability of the rest of it.

It does get me more interested in this year’s Yatterman revival, though.

Source: [In Which I Review] Anime series from 2000 – Page 4

The Rolling☆Girls

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

This really feels like saw the weirdness of last year’s KILL la KILL & Zvezda as a challenge : yup, we can top that !

So here’s a post-apocalyptic setting where the Earth’s actually mostly fine now that the upper crust have left, and normal people are cleaning up. Sure, Japan is now a mess of independent prefecture-states, but we’re more at the level of inter-youth gang squabbles than actual war. It looks more like sentai battles than anything else, with champions called “the Best” and squads of underlings called “the Rest”.

Characters

Nozomi, our kinda viewpoint character, really wants to join her area’s defense squad… and she’s finally been accepted as a trainee. Not that she’s supposed to go anywhere near where the fighting is happening, but she’s too enthusiastic to care.

Masami, the squad captain, has been the one pulling the brakes ; she’s a close friend of Nozomi’s family and doesn’t want her hurt. Anyway, she’s pretty good at coordinating the local defense with…

Maccha Green, the local Best (on loan from what looks like a bigger organisation). This masked hero wears a super-suite that lets her pull incredible moves, but her chief weapon is obfuscation, abusing sentai mystique to make it look like she can call on Maccha teammates of other colors, as well as on a full-blown mecha (actually a decoy balloon). Oh, who are we kidding, she’s totally Masami, and I’m amazed nobody on her team has noticed. (Or maybe they’re just humouring her.)

Shigyo, the Best from the rival neighbouring area, has challenged Maccha Green in their latest effort to make a move on her territory. She wields an array of bizarre weapons (a giant safety pin ?), and wants to had Maccha Green’s suit to her collection (which doesn’t sound creepy at all). She’s pushed back once, but like all good sentai villain she’s already preparing her next plan. Also, she’s totally made Masami, not that she really cares.

Yukina, a girl from nearby who comes with an urgent message to the squad HQ… and never gets to deliver it, as everyone mistakes her for a new trainee and take her with them on their next mission. Not only does she have a pour presence, but she’s got an even worse sense of direction (three days to cover a few kilometers by bike ?).

There’s also a blonde girl wearing a gas mask hanging around. Normally I’d say such a striking character design marks her as a major character, but the squad members include a dude randomly wearing a lizard head mask, so maybe it’s just a fashion statement.

Production Values

Impressive. This is a very colourful post-apocalypse, as it looks like the rich took all the greys with them. And the fight scenes look incredible, however improbable it is for human beings to pull these moves. (Let’s jump dozens of feet in the air !) There’s always something happening in the background, too.

Overall Impression

I’m not sure I understand yet what’s going on (especially all the stuff with the rival factions), and I’m surely missing most of the context for political satire… but I don’t care. Everything happening on screen is so hilariously bonkers that context doesn’t matter. Seriously, the baddies invite the whole squad to an amusement park, and it’s a trap where they’ve removed the tracks of the rollercoaster ! How can you not love this ?

It helps that the show is brimming with life from all corners. It hints at tons of little side stories that give depth to its background. Maybe they’ll be told, maybe not, and that’s fine. (Also, the advertised synopsis sounds like this is just scene-setting and the Maccha Green/Shigyo feud is merely an appetizer for a bigger story.)

This is so charmingly kooky I can’t help being on board.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2015 – Page 2.

#16 : Saiyuki

(50 episodes, + 51 more for the 2003 sequel, + various OVAs…)

Before we start…

This one has been sitting on my shelves for years. I got a Collector’s Edition of it as a gift package from co-workers when I left my job in 2009 (!), and never got around to watching it since then. (I had trouble transferring it to my phone for easy viewing on my commute.) Now, they knew I was an anime fan and there was little chance I’d already seen it, but they clearly valued quantity over quality in their selection. (The package also included Kiddy Grade, Basilisk, a half-naked figure where you can remove the top if you also tear the head off, the whole Mai-HiME manga, a lone DVD collecting a few episodes of No Money, and the Cutie Honey live-action movie. The last of which I actually enjoyed watching, so it wasn’t all crap.)

All this to say I’m not expecting a masterpiece here, but it can’t be worse than some of the other stuff I got.

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a shonen fantasy manga, vaguely based on Journey to the West.

Characters

Sanzo, a monk (with a gun) who receives instructions from the gods to head to a land far to the west where baddies are trying to resurrect an old demon, which has a side-effects of making all the beast people turn evil and attack humans. So get there quick, deal with it, and put an end to this crap.

Also, take those three party members with you :
– Goku, the monkey boy with the extensible staff, who’s an annoying brat ;
– Gojo, the half-demon rogue with the bizarre vaguely scythe-like weapon ;
– Hakkai, the “nice”, always smiling mage with the pet dragon (who can turn into a car)

Oh, sure, they’re all beast people, but they’ve got power limiters on, so there’s no way they’ll turn on you. And you’ve all worked together in the past, so this quest is bound to go swimmingly, hey ?

Production Values

Urgh. Studio Pierrot got a bad reputation in the 00s for churning out low-quality shonen adaptations, and this is certainly one of them. Cheap animation, so many shots where only the mouths move (badly), to say nothing of the numerous still shots… Also, the disintegration effect for when beast people get killed looks terrible, which is a problem as it gets used all the time.

Overall Impression

You know, show, if you’re going to have Sanzo slowly realize over the course of the episode that the revival of the Demon King is what makes the beast people go insane, why do you have the narrator state it in the first thirty seconds like it’s common knowledge ? Between this and the bizarrely chosen flashbacks (that don’t really establish how those people worked together previously), you get a very incompetently-scripted “gathering of the team” episode.

Which is a bit of shame, as there’s quite a bit to like in there. Aside from Goku, the characters have charisma (helped by top-notch voice-acting) and get nice little introduction scenes. I could see some fun chemistry developing here, as they spend the whole series having adventures on the way to their goal. Sure, it’ll look like crap, but otherwise it should be inoffensive enough. (As I outlined above, I WILL watch this… eventually.)

Source: [In Which I Review] Anime series from 2000 – Page 3

Unlimited Fafnir (Juuou Mujin no Fafnir)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a light novel series.

This has absolutely nothing to do with the Fafner in the Azure sequel that airs on the same day within minutes of it.

Characters

Yuu, our protagonist. He’s a “D”, a vague of children who were born with superpowers after Dragons showed up and wreaked havoc on the world (just by existing, due to their massive size). He’s apparently the only male D, because of course. Initially he worked in the armed forces, but he’s now joining Midgar, the academy where all the D girls in the world were rounded in and are training for anti-dragon warfare.

Mitsuki, his younger sister, and also the student council president. Finally reunited after three years apart ! She hopes he won’t embarrass her.

Iris, a white-hair girl he first meets when she’s taking a skinny dip on the beach. (/facepalm) A bit of a ditz, she’s actually less resentful of that terrible first encounter than you’d expect. She still lets wild rumours propagate, of course.

Lisa, the spokesperson for all the students who are outraged by a boy’s presence in their school. Also, his powers are lame.

Their class’s teacher is mainly there to provide clumsy exposition. Including this uncomfortable tidbit : Dragons can turn Ds into their own rampaging kind, which is a good reason why nobody liked Ds in the first place.

Production Values

Terrible. And this is of course the fanservice-heavy version of studio Diomedea, as you’d expect from this kind of material. It’s especially thick whenever Iris is involved.

Overall Impression

Yeah, this is crap. Maybe there are a few interesting ideas here, but they’re drowned out under tons of the usual light novel wish-fulfilment clichés, and facepalm-inducing fanservice. All the characters are annoying, to boot.

Pass your way, nothing to see here.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2015 – Page 2.