New Anime Series – Page 27

No-Rin

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Romantic comedy (with a heavy focus on the comedy) set in an agricultural high school in rural Japan. Adapted from a light novel series.

Characters

Kousaku, our male lead. He’s completely obsessed with this one idol, to a frightening extent. Body-pillows and everything. He even was regularly sending him the cucumbers he’s grown !

Minori, his childhood friend. It’s very transparent why she follows him around, though she’s yet to make any actual move. No clue what she sees in this jerk, aside from being one of the very few eligible prospects from their small village.

Kei is the “serious” member of their trio of friends, and often takes the straight man role. There’s an obvious attraction between him and the stuck-up top animal husbandry student (the threes are in the produce major), but they’d both die before acknowledging it.

“Becky”, their teacher, is that stale joke about desperate single 30-somethings taken up to eleven. I don’t think her students wanted to know about that night she took selfies naked and covered in oil, but she’s telling them anyway.

Ringo is a new transfer student, and it’s obvious she’s Kousaku’s favourite idol incognito after her surprise retirement.

Production Values

There actually seems to be quite a bit of budget behind this, especially in the opening dream sequence where Kousaku fantasizes about his idol.

The fanservice level is quite high, and you’re going to see a lot of big boobs bouncing.

Overall Impression

If you make an entire show out of stale old jokes exaggerated to a ludicrous degree, can the result be worth watching ? The answer here seems to be no : it’s just a painful trainwreck all around. (The “Becky” sequences, in particular, are both extremely memorable and a joke I’m in no hurry to watch again.) It’s mildly funny and quite fascinating, but you still want to escape.

No way I’m keeping up with this when Silver Spoon is already airing.

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

Sakura Trick

(12ish episodes)

What’s it about ?

High-school romantic comedy about lesbians. (Adapted from a 4-panel gag manga.)

Characters

Haruka, our main point-of-view character. She would be the straight man in half the jokes if she wasn’t a lesbian girl. A bit airheaded and clumsy.

Yuu, her longtime girlfriend. They were already friends each other in middle school, and are now pushing it to the next level. More brash and fiery-tempered.

There are quite many other lesbian girls in their class… oh, fuck it, this is so boring I fell asleep and can’t remember anything about them.

Production Values

Studio Deen recruited a SHAFT alumnus to direct this, and it shows ; he’s trying his darnedest to spruce up those talking heads with every visual trick in his bag : unusual shots, some good use of colour, and of course many close shots of young girls’ thighs.

Overall Impression

How can this show be so DULL ? Admittedly I often run hot and cold on 4-panel gag manga adaptations, but the jokes here just aren’t very funny, and the characters are instantly forgettable. It feels like the show’s only selling point is “Lesbians!”, and that just won’t cut it.

Don’t bother with this one.

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

Magical Warfare (Mahou Sensou)

(12ish episodes)

What’s it about ?

Wow, that’s probably the most generic title you could give to a light novel series, and I’m surprised nobody used it before 2011. But hey, it’s quite accurate to both the premise and the genericness of its execution.

Characters

Takeshi, our generic high school male protagonist, was leading a perfectly ordinary (and generic) life. The one wrinkle on his genericness was that he already had an actual girlfriend, which is quite rare for this type of thing. (Actually, there seems to be something quite unsettling going on at his house. Were the writers seriously implying his mother was having sex with that boy who could be his brother, or am I just completely misinterpreting it ? It’s hard to tell when none of them are talking to each other and the whole scene lasts for less than a minute.) Anyway, his life is completely wrecked when he meets…

Mui, a teenage magician on the run. Of course mere minutes later she faints in a way that leads to an accidental kiss, and of course she starts getting violent when she notices. The big idea here, though, is that he gets magic powers because he’s been splashed by her magical gun’s discharge. Curiously, his new powers are completely unrelated by what he’s been hit with ; he now has “evasion” powers, which are actually the best kind right now (for reasons I’m about to explain).

Tsuganashi is her brother (or so she claims), who has apparently been brainwashed by whoever the bad guys are. She was looking for him, but she’s now hunted by him and his posse, and Takeshi gets caught in the crossfire. Let me point out that this posse are very, very stupid : two out of three of them lose their magic powers due to their sheer incompetence, as that’s what happens when you use magic to directly attack a magician in the mundane world. The third one happens to also have evasion powers, which are kosher to use (and work great in combination with conventional weapons).

Isoshima, Takeshi’s girlfriend, also accidentally gets splashed into becoming a magician. She gets shapeshifting powers, the immediate effect of which is for her breasts to grow to an uncomfortable size. /facepalm. Takeshi’s best friend Ida also got splashed, so Mui decides the best way to “protect” them is to bring them to the magic school in the magic world. (Hopefully Ida will be able to learn how not be on fire all the time.)

Production Values

Decent enough. Sometimes it manages to build some atmosphere, but then we’re back to utter blandness. Great credits sequence at the end, though.

Overall Impression

Urgh. There are glimmers of vaguely interesting ideas here, but they swim in such a sea of stupidity that it’s hard to get invested in this. The plotting verges on the nonsensical, with “shocking” twists that make everyone involved look terminally dumb. Not that the characters are particularly compelling, anyway. And frankly, it’s not like the promise of shifting the setting to a magic school inspires me much confidence.

No way I’m giving the benefit of the doubt to this.

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

Hoozuki the Cool-headed (Hoozuki no Reitetsu)

(12ish episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a comedy manga about hell bureaucrats.

Characters

Hoozuki, our protagonist, is a key member of Hell’s administration ; more specifically, he’s the guy who’s dispatched everywhere to deal with whatever problematic situations arise. It’s way less glamorous than it sounds, as the complaints are usually petty and/or misdirected. Still, that’s his job, and he accomplishes with imperturbable (but always slightly irritated-sounding) phlegm.

King Enma of Hell, his boss, is completely overwhelmed by all the complaints addressed to him, and is all too happy to offload the whole of them onto his subordinate. He respects his competence, and spends the second half of the episode trying to make some small talk with him.

Momotarou, the Peach Boy, invades Hell in the first half to kill some demons, with his three animal sidekicks in tow. (If you’re not aware, killing demons was his shtick over in his tale.) He thinks himself a man with a mission, but really he’s just embarrassing himself, and his sidekicks are tired of his antics. Hoozuki deals with him with barely any use of violence.

(Apparently, each episode will feature two independent tales.)

Production Values

Well, it’s certainly got a distinctive artstyle, well-detailed and full of background jokes. It’s good at conveying how both alien and mundane Hell is, and that’s key for the joke to work.

Overall Impression

On an intellectual level, I appreciate what this series is doing. It’s got a decent joke at its core, the dialogue is witty, and it looks like nothing else being aired right now. I had every reason to want to like it.

Unfortunately, it’s Very Japanese Indeed : it relies heavily on folklore and pop-culture jokes I have no familiarity with. As it is, I just can’t connect with it, and enjoy it ; I’m going to have to give it a pass.

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

Engaged to the Unidentified (Mikakunin de Shinkoukei)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a 4-panel gag manga about teenage arranged marriage.

Characters

Kobeni, our protagonist, is a normal high school girl. Who’s just learned she’s been forcibly engaged to some far-related cousin from the boonies. And he’s coming to live with her family right now. Obviously, she’s not too happy about this, despite her generally easy-going nature.

Hakuya, said fiancé, does seem like a decent dude. He’s got no presence whatsoever, though.

Mashiro, his younger sister, is the big problem. For one, she’s also coming to live in. But mostly, she’s just very, very annoying in her worship of her brother and her jealousy against Kobeni.

Benio, Kobeni’s older sister, is the idol of her high school… but a lecherous, borderline-lolicon at home. Maybe she’s just joking, but Mashiro certainly hates her attentions.

Production Values

Perfectly okay for this kind of thing. There are heavy white highlights that give a somewhat pastel look to the characters (if that makes any sense), which looks okay enough.

Overall Impression

Well, this could be a lot more cringe-worthy, what with the forced-marriage and lolicon elements of the premise. As it is, it feels oddly charming.

On the other hand, it’s not that funny, and I have better comedies to watch. So I’m not going to bother with it.

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

Winter 2014 Capsules

Double Circle is quite a bizarre project. It spends most of its short screentime introducing its cast of quirky oddballs (that aren’t too interesting yet), until the reveal that they’re actually a sentai hero team. This is quite a gear change, to put it mildly. Apparently this series was produced by Toshiba to promote its clean-energy and environment-friendly projects ; that it’s barely visible in the final product might speak of a core problem. Anyway, it’s fairly generic and the irregular release schedule makes it pretty sure to fall off my radar by the time the next episode is out.

Pupipo! is more conventional stuff. This manga adaptation tells the story of a gloomy girl who’s the only one who can see the many ghosts surrounding her. Presumably they stick around her because she’s the only one who can interact with them ; unfortunately, they’re quite jealously demanding her attention, and she has to fend off any attempts from kids her age trying to be friends with her, lest they get attacked. This understandably puts a crimp onto her social life. This all changes one day when (1) she meets a girl too stupid and stubborn to back off like everyone else, and (2) she finds “Po”, a mysterious creature that looks like a fuzzy pink ball and is scary enough to make the ghosts start behaving a bit.

It’s a standard coming-of-age story, clearly aimed at young girls ; but it’s decently done, and quite good at developing its atmosphere. The gloomy protagonist has a striking design, as well. And it’s short enough not to overstay its welcome ; I could quite see myself sticking with it for the whole season.

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

Okay, I tried watching Future Card Buddyfight, but there’s only so much I can stand from a blatant cardgame advertisement. Everyone gushing about how awesome Buddyfight is ? Check. The whole world revolving around it, to the point that this cop offers a criminal a choice between surrender, and duelling him at a cardgame ? Check. School classes that include unpacking new cards at the start of the lesson ? Okay, that’s a new one for me, but whatever. Blatant token introductions for a dozen of bit characters that are obviously going to be featured later on ? Par for the course.

Sigh, I’m just not in the market for this. It actually looks quite fine, and there are some decent jokes, but I just can’t get any enthusiasm into watching this. The two annoying protagonists (good samaritan kid and his new dragon-buddypet that just can’t stop complaining about everything) just get on my nerves way too much.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2014 – Page 2.

I tried, but I just can’t gather the will to write at length about Robot Girls Z. It’s a very gimmicky show (mecha-girls patterned after mecha from vintage shows such as Mazinger Z) that falls completely flat for me. I have no nostalgia for those old series (they were before my time), and the actual machines are what I find the least interesting in that genre anyway ; crossing them with moe girls doesn’t help. And it’s not like these shorts really do anything with the premise aside from pure fanservice.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2014 – Page 4.

Strange+ is yet another of those shorts adapting a gag manga. (Not a 4-panel one, though.) It follows the wacky hijinks of a team of “detectives”, and while it’s far from subtle, it did get a few laughs out of me. It looks terrible, but that’s par for the course for this kind of thing.

I know some of you were waiting for my take on pupa, but what is there to say ? I already had an inkling of what I was in for, and anyway the first episode barely gets anywhere, what with clocking at barely four minutes long. For what it’s worth, it’s a straightforward horror series about a girl who gets transformed into a cannibalistic monster ; we don’t even get to the part where she starts eating her brother. Still, it’s good at building atmosphere, and that’s what really matters. I’ll probably keep watching to see where it goes.

Z/X Ignition is a full-length show, but it was so boring I literally fell asleep halfway through ; and I have no wish whatsoever to try rewatching it to get a better sense of the plot. From what I can gather, a bunch of dark portals appeared all over the world, spawned monsters and “destroyed civilization” ; somehow civilization seems mostly fine a few years later, with some people having somehow domesticated monsters. There’s a lot of impenetrable exposition about monster classification and so on, because of course this is adapted from a card game.

To be honest, I have no clue whatsoever which of the characters I’m supposed to be rooting for. They’re all very generic, I seem to have missed out the part where their motivations get explained. Not even a lead role for Miyuki Sawashiro (whom I’ve surprisingly heard nowhere else this season) can make me pay attention to this crap.

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

Hamatora the Animation

What’s it about ?

A back-alley team of Private Investigators. Who happen to have super-powers, and occasionally fight super-powered crime.

(There’s a manga version being published concurrently.)

Characters

Nice is nominally the PI agency’s leader, but it’s like herding cats, and his occasional stubborness doesn’t help. A running joke is that he’s terrible at managing his finances. His case this episode : investigating the disappearance of several college girls. (He also effortlessly foils a bank robbery while making a withdrawal.) His power : listening to music makes him super-fast, I think.

Murasaki is his purple-themed partner. He’s much more suave and sophisticated, but just as stubborn. He takes the case that will actually provide them some decent money : protecting the safe of a rich family, whose patriarch has died without explaining how to open it. His power : either super-strength or super-resiliency, I can’t quite tell.

Also working with them : laid-back Birthday (electrical powers) and Dr Ratio (x-ray vision that lets him see weak points in enemies), who both take a bodyguarding job.

Rounding up the agency’s cast : Koneko, who acts as their secretary, and Hajime, a gluttonous girl that even the opening titles have no clue what she brings to the table. Also : the owner of the restaurant they operate out of.

Art is a police detective who’s old friends with Nice. He seems delighted to have the team’s help for what the police don’t have time to deal with. (He’s the one footing the bill for the first case.) There are hints he’s got a hidden agenda, though.

As it happens, all three jobs are actually different angles on the same case ; they solve it together by the episode’s end.

Production Values

Very stylish indeed. The wild colour shift for the slo-mo power activation sequences are especially pretty.

Overall Impression

Hey, that’s actually quite good ! The mystery story is well-constructed, the characters produce some lively banter, there are some decent jokes, and the fight scenes are fun to watch. That it’s not actually an adaptation of anything even gives me hope that it’ll be able to properly pace its story out (an issue that has plagued many recent shows also directed by Seiji Kishi).

So far, so good. Let’s see how it develops.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2014 – Page 4.

D-Fragments!

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a comedy manga about one of those high school clubs that don’t do much of anything.

Characters

Kazama, our male lead, is a Delinquent. He’s even got a posse named after him (with an ugly short fat dude, and a tanned hunk who may be partially foreign). On the other hand, they’re way more talk than actual action, and it’s even joked later on that there are far more prominent delinquent group in this school anyway. Really, Kazama is more the straight man than anything here.

Roka is a small girl who’s the head of the Game-Making-Club. Who don’t actually create any games (they just play around), and don’t even have the required number of members for the club to survive. So obviously she’s desperate to find new members, by any means necessary. The joke here is that each of the members patterns themselves after an element ; Roka wields “fire” (read : moe) as a weapon. And when that doesn’t work, she can fall back on her alternate type : Darkness.

Other members : Sakura, who’s Water (read : waterboarding) ; Minami, who uses Thunder (with a taser) ; and Chitose, who’s Earth mostly by virtue of having her hands dirty when she punches people. They’ve actually got a bit more depth beyond that ; I won’t spoil the joke with Minami, but Chitose managed to get elected Student Council President, apparently by beating up everyone else to submission. Why this devious mastermind is slumming it with such a club remains to be elaborated.

Ataru used to be part of Kazama’s group of friends, except he stayed a straight arrow and is now the Student Council Vice-President. Er, the “straight arrow” part shouldn’t be taken at face value : he looks to be as much of a pervert as the lot of them, if not bigger. At the very least, he’s very attracted to Chitose, and it’s obvious what their rivalry is really about.

Production Values

Quite good ; the action sequences are animated fluidly, and the director knows how to set up atmosphere for a throwaway gag.

Overall Impression

Well, crap : I found this hilarious. It’s got some impressive comedic timing indeed, and more than one joke. It helps that it’s got characters with actual personalities, served by some great voice-acting. (In particular, Hana Kanazawa as Roka is a riot.) And it’s just very funny. I have no clue whether it can sustain itself for three months, but I’m game for it.

This is the very reason why I try out everything : it’s a kind of unassuming gem I could have let pass by otherwise.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2014 – Page 4.

Super Sonico The Animation

(12ish episodes ?)

What’s it about ?

A whole anime series about Nitroplus’s mascot virtual character, because YOU demanded it !

(I certainly didn’t.)

Characters

Super Sonico is our focus character, so this is all about her. Sonico being late in the morning ! Sonico being nice to kids ! Sonico at college, where she’s brilliant but as terrible attendance ! Sonico at her job as a gravure idol, where pervert clients try to take advantage of her ! Sonico helping out at her Grandma’s restaurant ! Sonico with her underground band !

It’s hard for any side characters to make an impression when the camera remains laser-targeted at the main character, so the one who does steal the show is her manager at the idol company, mostly because he wears a scary mask for no fathomable reason.

Production Values

You might expect this to feature the 3DCG animation that’s all the rage these days (and was a feature of past Super Sonico clips), but only the ED sequence is like that ; the rest of the series is traditional animation. With quite a bit of fanservice, obviously.

Overall Impression

This is the epitome of vacuity. There’s no escaping it : Super Sonico is a very boring character who leads a very boring life. She’s generically cute, and that’s it. A full episode was already tedious ; I just can’t fathom how anyone could withstand a full series of it.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2014 – Page 3.

The Pilot’s Love Song (Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a very successful light novel series. Before you start running away, I should mention it’s the “ambitious steampunk” type of light novels, not the generic incest/harem/etc. ones that have plagued recent years.

Characters

Kal-el, our teenage male lead. (Who the heck though this was an appropriate name for a character in a pseudo-European steampunk setting ?) He’s a new recruit for an airship piloting school that is set on a flying island. I can’t quite get a bead on him, personality-wise : most of the time he’s your generic protagonist, but at times he’ll have fits of unexplained anger, or impenetrable flashbacks involving some sort of priestress.

Ariel, his “sister”. (I get the nagging feeling he’s been adopted, and some spoilers I’ve encountered pretty much confirm it.) They have typical siblings relationships : often quarrelling over insignificant nonsense, but still there for each other. They’ve actually got two other sisters, but Ariel is the one who also enlisted and is the copilot for his plane.

There’s some mysterious new student whose main distinguishing feature is that he scowls angrily at people. (I don’t think he even utters a single word this episode.) Everyone else wonders what’s the deal with this angry loner bozo.

Claire, a cute shy girl Kal-el meets in the countryside. Ten minutes later, they’re already touching intimately. Well, that was quick. They reluctantly part ways late in the evening : she lives in the “noble” section of the island, which he can’t access because he’s a commoner.

The narration is all doom and gloom. This can’t bode well.

Production Values

Scenery porn !

Overall Impression

Hmm. There’s nothing particularly wrong with this : it does some good (if not particularly innovative) world-building, establishes the characters quite well, looks quite good overall…

But the core problem here is Kal-el : it’s obvious there’s some sort of twist about him incoming soon, but in the meantime the character is left in an awkward place where he keeps shifting personalities randomly. And let’s be blunt : his default “nice ordinary guy” personality is quite boring indeed. (Not that the “angry” one is any better, especially given the lack of context for his outbursts.) Which removes a lot of charm his romance with Claire might have.

Frankly, I just don’t have the patience to wait for the twist ; the story is just too bland so far. I won’t be bothering with this one.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2014 – Page 3.