New Anime Series – Page 26

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.

Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha

(10 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Oldschool magical girl show. (The kind without any sentai influence.)

Characters

Inari, a middle school girl, is our protagonist. Often late, clumsy, and quite shy, she’s part of the unpopular kids. (She hangs out with the violent one and the heavyweight nerd.)

Koji, the guy in her class she has a crush on. He’s so dreamy ! Unfortunately, her attempt at cheering him on for his next match ends up with her accidentally pulling his pants down. Oops.

Uka-no-Mitama-no-Kami, the god of the local shrine Inari often attends. Since the girl has just rescued Uka-sama’s familiar, she gets one wish granted : becoming the popular girl Koji seems infatuated with, so that she can gather the courage to apologize to him. Inari soon realizes this was a very stupid wish, but not one that can be reversed easily ; Uka-sama screws the rules by putting a part of herself into the girl, allowing her to shapeshift at will (and thus back to her normal body).

… I’m sure this isn’t going to backfire at all.

Production Values

Quite nice, and there are lots of neat visual gags in the background (such as Uka-sama playing visual novels with her familiars when she thinks nobody’s looking).

Overall Impression

Hey, this was quite fun ! It’s the old “magical girl as a metaphor for growing up” story, but with a fresh enough coat of paint to entertain. The gimmick has potential, the shinto angle reminds me of Gingitsune in a positive way, and I genuinely like the cast. (Especially Uka-sama.)

I may drop another show just to keep up with this one.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2014 – Page 10.

Wizard Barristers : Benmashi Cecil

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Magician Lawyers, duh.

Characters

Cecile Sudo, our plucky teenage protagonist, because of course you can’t have anyone over 17 starring in such a series. She’s a “genius”, well-versed in magic law, with a lot of the usual flaws that are supposed to make her endearing : clusmy, later for her first day at work, overenthusiastic… I just want to throttle her. Very late in the episode, we get a glimpse of a second dimension : her mother is incarcerated for some undisclosed magic crime. Too little, too late.

She has a frog familiar, voiced by Norio Wakamoto. Of course she does.

The law partnership she joins if full of one-note clichés : the hardass middle manager, the comprehensive senior partner, the old guy who spouts random “wisdom”, the other newbie who’s very annoyed by everyone else geeking out over the “genius” and giving her special treatment… Anyway, they all specialize in defending cases of magical crimes, despite the law being very strict against magicians.

The Prosecutor’s Office are hardasses, but seem genuinely sincere : magical crimes can escalate horribly (in both casualties and property damage), so there’s a really need to nip it in the bud. Less justified, but understandable : the casual prejudice and harrassment against magicians (even when they don’t actually do anything) from both the population and the police.

This week’s case involves a “customer” killing a bank robber, apparently in self-defense. Cecile has barely started building her case, though, when she gets arrested for using magic against hoodlums attacking her (and they’ve conveniently disappeared by the time the cops show up).

Production Values

Wow, incredible budget ! This is by far the most lavishly animated series of the season, hands down. Everything from the numerous action sequences to the body language to even the hair gets tons of attention, and always moves fluidly.

Overall Impression

How can you screw you up this premise so badly ? Well, just have it star the most irritating protagonist possible. She sucks off any goodwill the awesome visuals and the fun premise could generate. I loathe Cecile, and I refuse to spend one more minute watching her bumble towards success she doesn’t deserve.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2014 – Page 6.

World Conquest – Zvezda’s Plot (Sekai Seifuku ~Bouryaku no Zvezda~)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

A weird sci-fi-ish and conspirationist tale that features half-naked girls on their way to taking over the world. Words fail me to describe the plot’s sheer mentalness.

“An anime-original project by the director of Wolf’s Rain and Darker than Black” doesn’t help, as it’s completely unlike those shows.

Characters

Asuta, our point-of-view character. He immediately earns brownie points for non-genericness by telling his father to get lost through a phone call, and running away from home. Unfortunately, before he can even get any food there’s a big city alarm : terrorists are attacking !

Kate is a young girl on a bike he meets in those empty streets. Despite looking (and sometimes behaving) like a grade-schooler, she claims to be the leader of the Zvezda organization, and on her way to conquering the world. No, seriously. There’s even a ridiculous flash-forward showing she’ll eventually succeed somehow. After a while she starts wearing a “combat” suit that barely covers anything.

She’s got a bunch of followers : what looks like a dude in full armour ; a woman who can slice a tank in half with her sword ; and another remote-controlling a robot. Also, for some reason, Asuta’s dad as a low-ranking (and completely incompetent) footsoldier.

The authorities seem at a loss on how to deal with Zvezda, as sending a bunch of tanks against them has completely failed. There’s also a couple of mysterious girls uttering some ominous dialogue hinting that they may have a clue what’s going on. Good for them.

Production Values

Well, it looks good, and the action sequences work. Shame about the stripperific outfit for the 8-year-old, though.

Overall Impression

What. The. Hell ?

I’ll give it that : it’s certainly bizarre enough for my curiosity to be needled, and me to try out another episode. It feels like a bizarre satire of… something, but I’m not entirely sure what. It does have some good comedic timing, at least. But unlike, say, KILL la KILL, I can’t see any method to the madness. For now, it feels like a random collection of elements that’s just kind of a mess.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2014 – Page 5.

Nisekoi (“False Love”)

(26ish episodes)

What’s it about ?

High school romantic comedy. (Adapted from a manga series.)

Characters

Raku, our male lead, wants to become a honest and productive member of society. That’s a bit hard when he’s the heir of a yakuza gang and there are dozens of henchmen expecting him to succeed his crimelord of a father. (For now, those are family-friendly mobsters whose only visible mischiefs are feuds with other gangs, but that may change later on.) They do respect his wishes for the time being, but they sure hope he’s gonna change his mind.

Kosaki, the nice girl in his class. It’s heavily hinted that she owns the key to the locket he exchanged with his childhood love 10 years ago, and she’s been testing waters in attempts to confirm that… but actually, that’s so obvious I’m expecting some kind of swerve.

Chitoge, the new half-American transfer student. It’s antipathy at first sight ; it doesn’t help that she has a terrible personality and accidentally stepped onto his face while jumping the wall into the school. They do mellow a bit after a while (an evolution nicely underlined by chapter titles progressively shifting from calling her “Monkey Girl” to her actual first name). On the other hand, they’re both taken aghast when their respective fathers order them to (at least pretend to) be lovers for three years, in order to broker peace between the two gangs. Hence the title.

Production Values

It’s impossible to forget Akiyuki Shinbo & studio SHAFT are at the helm here : weird angles for shots, editing used as punctuation, text hidden in the background, the trademark head tilts, some great use of colour… heck, even Kouki Uchiyama often sounds like he’s doing a Hiroshi Kamiya impression.

It helps that the show has enough budget to animate lavishly the rare actions sequences. Nice music, too.

Overall Impression

Let’s not mince words : this series’ key selling point is the presentation. The plot and characters are serviceable, and there are some good jokes, but it’d be instantly forgettable in lesser hands. I’ve seen an interview of the manga creator being delighted that SHAFT would adapt his series, and I can believe it. This is way better than it deserves, if the series is as pedestrian as a quick browse through a few pages lets me think.

But while this is certainly a great-looking (and -sounding) anime series, it doesn’t really add up to anything. It’s still a generic romantic comedy with a formulaic hook. It’s not like, say, Sankarea, whose impressive execution added tons of atmosphere and edge. We’re firmly into well-trodden territory here.

But hey, I’m such a Shinbo fanboy I’ve watched through aggressively terrible SHAFT series (hello, Maria+Holic !) ; there’s no way I’m skipping this. After all, it’s perfectly okay.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2014 – Page 5.

Wake Up, Girls!

(50-minute prologue movie + 12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

The formation of an idol group, in way more detail than you can be entirely comfortable with.

Don’t skip the movie, it’s the essential first step of the story (and as such I see why Crunchyroll licensed it).

Characters

Ms Tange is the president of a very minor Sendai talent agency, and after a few setbacks she decides to try and cash in on the idol craze. With barely any budget or actual know-how, of course. Frankly, she’s the kind of horrible person that are dime a dozen in the entertainment industry : callous, cynical, has no shame whatsoever, and is a complete jerk all around. And that’s before she takes off with all the agency’s money and leaves everyone else hung to dry.

Matsuda, her long-suffering assistant, does seem sincere, but he’s wildly out of his depth, and content to follow her orders to prey on naive teenagers. I’d pity him if I didn’t know better. (Because, seriously, enablers like him are also part of the problem.)

The girls they’ve picked up are, frankly, the bottom of the barrel. Okay, there’s the “leader” who does have some professional experience as a fashion model, and the one who won a singing competition, but after that, it’s just “whoever answered the ad” : a waitress at restaurant who hopes this is going to be better than being pinched by customers (ahah, you fool), another waitress from a maid café who sees this as her big break, a rich 13-year-old girl who’s endearingly naive about the industry, and a girl-next-door type who sounds horrible even when not singing.

Mayu, on the other hand, is their jackpot. She’s the former MVP of top idol group “I-1”, which she left for mysterious reasons. Whatever it was, it left her with some deep trauma, and no wish to be an idol ever again. (It also left scars in her family, with her apparently now single mom having had to move back from Tokyo to her parents’, and taking some unsavoury jobs.) She only went to the agency to escort her best friend. But of course she’s eventually talked into joining, impressed by the eagerness of those hopefuls.

Production Values

Quite good indeed ; there’s some neat attention to body language at every step. Interestingly, the dancing sequences are not CG (which is all the rage these days), but traditionally animated.

Overall Impression

I have no clue what this series is going for.

On the one hand, this is a multimedia project designed to launch the title idol group ; heck, all the girls have the same first names as their voice-actresses/live-action versions, for convenience’s sake. (All of them being complete newbies recruited for this definitely shows, with some of them being painful to listen to.) And it definitely carries the message that idols have a positive impact on people’s life.

But on the other hand, it makes a point of showing in great detail how scummy the idol industry is. Aside of Matsuda (who’s still young and naive), every producer is a terrible person with very shady methods. The fan messageboards are toxic garbage. The humble debut is as unglamorous as possible. And there’s no escaping how this unit got its start as a cynical cash-grab.

I’m going to keep watching this, as it’s a fascinating detailed look which barely whitewashes the milieu. As long as it keeps up with that angle, I’m interested. Even though I fear it’s going to hedge its bets eventually.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2014 – Page 5.