New Anime Series – Page 31

KILL la KILL

(24ish episodes)

What’s it about ?

HOT-BLOODED ACTION !

Characters

SATSUKI KIRUIN, student council president of HONNOUJI ACADEMY, where the story is set. She’s the TOP DOG around, with even the teachers knowing better than to challenge her (having her mother on the board helps). She has set up a strict hierarchy inside the academy (and the city enclosed within its walls), and has distributed POWER UNIFORMS to the underlings she judges worthy.

IRA GAMAGORI is one her four main lieutnants, and the one in charge of day-to-day DISCIPLINE. Some dude has sneaked in to steal a ONE-STAR UNIFORM, that gives its wearer super-strength ? Well, TOUGH LUCK for the little punk, as Ira has a THREE-STAR UNIFORM, and intends the make an EXAMPLE.

RYUUKO MATOI, our heroine. This BADASS just transfered in and wants to ask Satsuki QUESTIONS about who killed her father. Her only clue is HALF A PAIR OF GIANT SCISSORS that she’s always carrying around. Unfortunately, even she can’t beat the Head of the Boxing Club with a TWO-STAR UNIFORM, and she barely manages to escape.

MAKO MANKANSHOKU, a MOTORMOUTH innocent student who takes a liking to Matoi after our protagonist beats up her little brother and his gang (who were trying to rob her). Obviously Mako’s quickly taken HOSTAGE by Satsuki and her goons to force Matoi to come back into the open.

THE INDECENT COSTUME is found by Matoi by chance (?) in her family house’s basement. It BARELY COVERS ANYTHING, but that won’t stop it from forcing itself on her. Also, it talks. But whatever : Matoi’s now got her own set of SUPER-POWERED CLOTHES, and can strike back. Go for ROUND TWO !

There’s also a MYSTERIOUS TEACHER hovering over the fringes of the plot and doing stuff like discreetly guiding Matoi towards the costume. Since he looks BADASS when he takes his glasses off, I assume he’s important.

Production Values

Very rough-looking, but with hyper-kinetic action when it matters. If you’ve watched Gurren Lagann, you know what to expect : dynamic camera angles, artful shot composition, omnipresent chiaroscuro, and giant captions all over the screen. Sometimes the background characters devolve into barely-animated caricatures, but that’s part of the charm, and it does have impressive animation when it counts.

Neither the OP nor ED sequences seemed ready for this first episode ; the ED song just plays other a stylized rendering of the title.

Overall Impression

Probably the most hyped show of the season : the triumphant return of Hiroyuki Imaishi (Gurren Lagann, Panty & Stocking w/ Garterbelt) with his new studio Trigger, on their first actual series after little appetizers such as Little Witch Academia. (Let’s just politely ignore Inferno Cop.) How does it measure up ?

The good news : it works. It’s outrageously stupid, of course, but it ties together into a coherent whole despite its wild excesses. There is masterful storytelling at work here, introducing a dense setting and plenty of charismatic characters, while keeping every single shot visually interesting and shoving in as many sight gags as possible.

Everything I expected it to be, and then some. A complete success.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2013 – Page 5.

Walkure Romanze

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Jousting !

Characters

Mio, our protagonist. Dumb as a bag of hammers, she’s not a jousting knight. She’s attending a completely different department from this jousting high-school, and is terrible at handling horses. So of course a series of contrived coincidences is going to put her on the saddle by the episode’s end. (Well, nearly. But she’s already been challenged to a jousting match.)

Takahiro is just about the only male knight we ever see. Well, except he stopped jousting after some accident, so for now he’s just tending to his temperamental horse Sakura, and angsting about his future. He’s completely oblivious to Mio’s affections (despite all the effort she spends hovering around him)… and doesn’t particuly care about the various top females knights wanting a partnership with him either.

Those include Celia, the Student Council President With Drill Hair, and Noel, her devious self-proclaimed rival.

Bertille is a lower grade of alpha bitch, cultivating her own reputation among her pair of hanger-ons… but being the first to run when Sakura comes charging in. Thoroughly humiliated, she challenges Mio (who just about managed to rein the horse in) to a jousting match.

Production Values

You know a show has its priorities straight when every single female knight wears a (very short) skirt. And panty shots are featured starting right from the OP sequence. Also, the horse keeps eating those skirts, which means that Bertille spends half her screentime in her underwear.

It’s a shame, as the jousting sequences do look quite good ; those cell-shaded CG graphics are impressive.

Overall Impression

I’m watching this so you don’t have to. I’m sure I’ve lost a few brain cells here.

… Actually, I enjoyed watching this one a bit. It’s one of the dumbest shows in a season that’s not really shined for its intellectual prowess so far, and the fanservice is kinda skeevy, but it makes me a lot less uncomfortable than the wrestling one. If I’m going to keep watching a guilty pleasure show, it may well be this one.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2013 – Page 10.

Coppelion

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Post-apocalyptic thriller.

Characters

After the Earth got contaminated by [whatever], the only “safe” way of searching the cities for survivors is to send teams of genetically-engineered high-school girls, the only people who can explore without protection. Our team is composed of :
– Ibara, the leader, who’s got some experience and some good fighting skills ;
– Aoi, who keeps complaining about everything ;
– Taeko, the other newbie who’s a bit more accepting about things, and is good with animals. Like, it’s hardcoded into her DNA.

The cast also includes their supervisor, “Vice-Principal” Mishima, who’s surveying them from a helicopter high above. He also does stuff like giving TV interviews in the middle of a field operation, because goshdarnit we need some exposition.

Production Values

Very impressive. This is dripping with budget, and the camera loves to show off how it can move around the characters. I’ll be surprised if this level of animation can be sustained throughout.

It’s sometimes a bit weird when the thick outlines for the characters clash a bit with the very detailed backgrounds, but it mostly works out.

Overall Impression

Now, this is more like it. It’s got an intriguing setting and some genuine suspense. It’s well-paced, and looks great. Admittedly, only Ibara is a compelling character among the three leads, but she’s enough to carry the show at this stage. Hopefully the others will either grow some more dimensions, or leave the stage quickly (if the cliffhanger is any indication).

Bottom line : I want to see more of this.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2013 – Page 4.

Beyond the Horizon (Kyoukai no Kanata)

(13ish episodes)

What’s it about ?

Self-aware urban fantasy.
Very obviously adapted from a light novel series (if you’re familiar with the tropes).

Characters

Akihito, our protagonist. He tries his hand at Kyon-style sarcastic narration, but doesn’t quite have the charisma to pull it off. And I can’t quite call him a generic high school student, since we learn very quickly the twist : he’s immortal, due to being half-demon.

Mirai, a new student at his school. He first meets her as she’s about to commit suicide… wait, no, that’s just a trap to lure him in so that she can stab him with her blood-sword. She’s the last heir of a demon-hunting clan with that special technique, you see. She tries again several times in the following days. He’d very much like her to stop : it doesn’t work, but it still hurts like hell. Especially as he’d find her cute if not for the stabbing thing.

Misaki, the other member of the Literature club besides him. Also the heir of the local demon-hunting group, who have an understanding with him and instead focus on the people-possessing demons who actually do some real damage. They also seem to include one of their teachers. Anyway, they don’t see the new troublemaker’s arrival with a good eye.

Production Values

It’s KyoAni : of course it’s gorgeously animated.

Overall Impression

Am I so jaded that I have a hard time enjoying any of this ?

Part of the problem is that it often feels like the main characters suffer from acute chuunibyou. Yes, the supernatural stuff is real, but it feels so off-the-shelf and generic that it’s hard to get too invested in it. The constant snark and self-awareness doesn’t help one bit : sure, it’s mildly funny, but it completely undercuts any gravitas the plot might have.

I’ll give it one more episode to try and make me care, but it’s not off to a good start.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2013 – Page 4.

Tokyo Ravens

(24 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Oh, look, another rural fantasy show !

Characters

Harutora, our protagonist. He’s part of a branch of a powerful mage family, but doesn’t feel he’s talented enough to undergo mage training. He’d rather stay in this little town with his “normal” friends forever.

Said friends include Touji, the usual perverted best friend ; and Hokuto, his tomboyish not-girlfriend, who’s really pushing for him to become a mage.

Natsume, his cousin, is the actual heir of the family, and poised to become the super-mage. They’re still somewhat on good terms, but have grown apart, especially as she usually lives in Tokyo. Harutora assumes she’s in town because it’s summer vacation, but that may not be the whole story.

Suzuka, a girl who shows up out of nowhere, looking for Natsume for nefarious purposes. She’s a big deal enough for a bunch of MIB to try and contain her as soon as she shows up ; she makes short work of them. After the initial confusion where she mistakes Harutora for Natsume, she leaves him with a message for her. And forcefully kisses him in front of Hokuto, just for kicks.

Production Values

That’s some very clunky CG for Suzuka’s summon, and the MIB’s black vans. But overall, this isn’t half-bad looking, if a bit generic.

Overall Impression

I don’t know. There’s nothing particularly wrong with any of this : it’s decently paced, it introduces the characters and the main conflict well, and overall it’s perfectly competent.

But it doesn’t quite grab me ; it’s not a genre I have that much time for, and it doesn’t do anything particularly new or fun with it. And I don’t feel like signing up for six months of it. It’s a busy season where I need to make choices among the many “not loving it” shows, and this one doesn’t make the cut for me.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2013 – Page 12.

Diabolik Lovers

(12 15-minute episodes)

What’s it about ?

This season’s token “otome game” adaptation : it’s a well-defined genre where the female protagonist can romance a variety of boys.

Trigger warning : rape. Plenty of it.

Characters

Yui, our teenage female protagonist and audience surrogate. Her father has sent her off to live in this mysterious creepy mansion, without much of an explanation. There are hints that she may unknowningly be more than an ordinary teenage girl (at the very least, she didn’t know she was adopted), but that’s news to her. She has enough sense to try and run away (as well as phone for help) once she catches on what kind of place this is, but of course it’s all for nothing.

The mansion is inhabited by six creepy prettyboys, covering the usual stereotypes : the angry one who casually punches walls, the childlike one, the one with glasses, the aloof one who seems to be in charge, the borderline rapist… Wait, scratch that : since those brothers are all vampires, they all take turns invading her personal space. Their casual ability to teleport makes it even creepier.

Production Values

This may be an effect of the reduced running time, but this looks quite good : it’s got lots of atmosphere, and sells the spookiness of the setup all too well. The character designs aren’t particularly original, but they’re not offensively generic either.

Overall Impression

Are there any otome games that aren’t about rape ?

Okay, there may well be, but this certainly aren’t one of them. It takes all of three minutes for Yui to be assaulted, and the guys keep going at her throughout. No actual sex yet, of course, and I doubt there will be any, given the transparent vampiric metaphor. But there’s no mistaking what this is all about. The characters are shallow and the plot a mere excuse for as many assaults as possible in the short running time.

It’s a relatively pretty package, but there’s no disguising that it will only appeal to a very narrow audience who enjoys this kind of stuff. I’m not part of them, so I’ll pass.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2013.

Summer 2013 capsules

Turning Girls is the latest web-thingie from Studio Trigger. Now, you may remember this studio was founded with much fanfare by the mad minds behind TTGL & Panty & Stocking w/ Garterbelt ; they also produced the wonderfully-animated Little Witch Academia one-shot for the Anime Mirai project earlier this year. But they’ve yet to produce an actual full series, and won’t until this Fall. In the meantime, all they’ve given us are shoe-string-budget shorts like Inferno Cop and now this.

Inferno Cop had some zany charm, but I quickly got tired of it. This is noticeably worse : an attempt at satire that’s not really funny, and has nothing more to say than “[female stereotype of the week] are annoying and terrible people, dur dur”. Also, it looks absolutely horrible, like something that was quickly thrown together between proper projects (which it probably was).

Don’t watch this crap. Especially when there are non-terrible takes on similar themes (such as the all-fujoshi new season of Genshiken) due out this very summer.

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

And now for something completely different : a few words about the first instalment of Ghost in the Shell : Arise.

This is a series of four one-hour OVAs, the first of which was released on DVD/BluRay AND debuted in theaters about a week ago. The pitch is that it’s a prequel about how the Section 9 team got together, so you don’t really need to know anything about the previous movies & series in the franchise.

The good news is that it’s very good indeed. The plot for this opening chapter may be a bit too convoluted for its own good, and it certainly deserves a rewatch to make sure all the pieces fall together, but then the same could be said about many SAC episodes. And it’s certainly got a clever twist that puts everything under a new light… and makes the Major look even more awesome in retrospect. It’s also great-looking, with impressively-animated action sequences that contribute a lot to conveying the stakes.

In many respects this is a fanservice project (“so this is how the Major met Aramaki…”), but it’s well done enough not to feel too contrived. (And it refrains from having the whole of the team coincidentally investigating the same initial event.)

I should probably mention that all the roles have been recast with different voice-actors. It doesn’t jar too much ; sure, Maaya Sakamoto is easily recognizable, but she recaptures a lot of Atsuko Tanaka’s original performance (and there’s precedent for her to play a younger Major anyway). Also, Miyuki Sawashiro seems to have a lot of fun playing a ~~Tachikoma~~ Logicoma, which is delightful.

The next episode is due in November ; it’s going to be a long wait…

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

I give up : I can’t muster the will of giving Gifuu Doudou!!: Kanetsugu to Keiji (“Dazzling Sengoku Period Story: Kanetsugu & Keiji”) a full review. It’s going to be hard to beat as the most mind-numbingly dull show of the season. It may be a cultural thing, but those “legendary” men spending their time monologuing in poetry about the beauty of the world, and patting each other in the back on how awesome they are, just bore me to tears. And this ain’t helped by the retro-ish artstyle that makes all those 6-feet-tall forces of nature look the same to me.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2013 – Page 2.
A few words on Yami Shibai first : it’s a series of horror shorts with peculiar collage-like artstyle… and it doesn’t really work for me. Maybe because the first tale is so deliberately obtuse. (I think I get what the twist is supposed to be, but would it have killed the creators to spell it out ?) It’s not like it’s doing anything particularly original, anyway. But nice artstyle, still.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2013 – Page 11.

A Town Where You Live (Kimi no Iru Machi)

(12ish episodes ?)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a romance manga where some girl from Tokyo comes to live in the protagonist’s house in the boonies and the usual hijinks ensue…

Well, except that’s not what this anime series is about AT ALL. There was a short OVA miniseries a while ago that adapted a late chapter where the Tokyo girl has gone back home and the protagonist seizes the opportunity of a class trip to see her ; this new series occurs even further down the timeline. (Which makes the title a complete artefact.)

Characters

Haruto, our protagonist. He’s suddenly transfered in the middle of the school year to a high school in one of Tokyo’s suburbs so that he can spend all his free time looking around for the girl. If that sounds very stalker-ish… Well, her younger sister would agree.

Aoi, his older sister, whose pad he’s crashing at. Since she’s a busy salarywoman, she’s barely ever around anyway.

Asuka, their next-door neighbour. Since her first contact with Haruto is attacking him with a baseball bat, mistaking him for a burglar, they’re not exactly off on their best foot. So of course they attend the same high school ! She mellows down relatively quickly, and even starts giving him on how to better fit in class (where he’s not making any friends). She’s very obviously projecting some of her own issues onto him, especially her self-consciousness regarding her country dialect.

Kyousuke, Asuka’s “friend” and overall nice guy. Perceptive enough to point out that, whatever they may pretend, Haruto & Asuka have a lot of chemistry together… not that it takes too much to notice it.

Eba, the girl Haruto is actually looking for, doesn’t show up at all in this episode at all, although since she’s prominently in the OP/ED sequences she’s bound to appear at some point. Next episode will apparently feature flashbacks to the original setup, with the old supporting cast.

Production Values

There’s something a bit old-fashioned about the artstyle here : thicker black lines, saturated colours… Or maybe I just watched a bad transfer. Anyway, it looks somewhat rough, and doesn’t seem to be used for any artistic purpose.

Overall Impression

Well, it’s always intriguing when an adaptation starts off at a very late point from the original material. I can understand why they did it : the early premise sounds generic as heck, and the story of what happens after Eba has gone back to Tokyo and the status quo is shattered seems more interesting. It does result with a series that barely has any relation to its title anymore (since it’s not set in the town where Haruto used to live).

On the other hand, it seems to be a running joke that Haruto has way more chemistry with anyone but Eba, and his current behaviour looks very unhealthy indeed. So it’s not like the two of them being reunited feels like something we should be looking forward to. There’s kind of a sense that their romance has run its course and he really shouldn’t be trying to rekindle it. And I’m not entirely sure I trust this series to pursue this to its logical conclusion.

It’s an intriguing series, I’ll give it that. But I have enough doubts about its direction that I’m not sure I’ll see it through.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2013 – Page 11.

Hyperdimension Neptunia – The Animation (Choujigen Game Neptune: The Animation)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

An adaptation of a action-RPG game franchise that’s very loosely based on the Console Wars. The setting (“Gamindustri”) is divided into four countries : Lastation, Lowee, Leanbox, and “Neptunia”, which doesn’t seemed to be based on any real console.

Characters

Neptune, the ruling goddess of Neptunia, starts off the series by proclaiming a cease-fire with the three other nations in a grandiose ceremony. But it turns out this aura of dignity is just a façade for the masses ; in truth she’s a lazy bum who didn’t even write her own speech. Since she just plays around all day without doing much, her popularity is declining, which is Bad News for Neptunia. So she goes off on a training trip to get a bit better at her job.

There’s a bunch of supporting characters around her, most prominently her younger sister Nepgear, who’s a bit more responsible but not much more competent (mostly due to her much lower power levels). The others probably had more personality and purpose in the games ; here they’re just nagging on Neptune to take her job more seriously.

Noire, the goddess of Lastation, is very tsundere indeed : she accepts to help training Neptune but staying verbally abusive throughout. Not that Neptune doesn’t deserve it, but Noire’s treatment of her own little sister Uni is a bit more questionable.

The other two goddesses, Blanc (for Lowee) and Vert (for Leanbox) don’t get much screentime yet, with Blanc mostly showing up to make it clear she’s a workaholic who neglects her little sisters.

There are some vaguely nefarious people who show up towards the end in shadows to make some ominous comments.

Production Values

Colourful and utterly generic. This fantasy world doesn’t feel like a real, lived-in place at all.

Also, there’s some horribly contrived fanservice in some places, and those transformations sequences don’t help.

Overall Impression

Terrible on every level. Every single character is annoying, with the token attempts at depth for Neptune & Noire falling flat. The plot is indigent, and barely uses the “console wars” premise at all. (A quick glance through descriptions of the original games shows that those sounded slightly more interesting. But not much.) Nothing of any interest happens. The “transformation” gimmick is just baffling.

Maybe the games are fun to play ; this certainly isn’t fun to watch.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2013 – Page 10.

Gatchaman CROWDS

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Cooler-than-thou sentai show.

(This is a revival from a long-lived franchise, but it doesn’t look like you need to know anything about previous incarnations of it.)

Characters

Hajime, the latest inductee into the Gatchaman program, a secret underground corps that protects Earth (and apparently some other planets) from otherworldly menace. Technically she’s the audience-surrogate who gets told all the exposition, but she’s so downright loopy she’s a bit hard to identify with. She’s a joy to watch as she bulldozes through any attempt by the other characters to keep things serious, though.

Sugane, the “proper” Gatchaman main field agent, who does his best to do things by the book and contain the unrelenting enthusiasm of his new junior. He just so happens to attend the same high school as her. (And there’s an entrance to the underground Gatchaman base in the park next door. Hmmm…)

Paiman, the inevitable ~~mascot~~ panda-like alien who gives orders from the base and tries to keep discipline up. Well, at least until the middle of the episode where it just kinda gives up in the face of Hajime.

Wait, no. The real mastermind behind Gatchaman is “JJ”, the tall mysterious dude who inducted Hajime (in what’s totally not a rape metaphor) and gives orders through riddles transmitted by magic notebooks.

There are three other members to this team (with the implication that there are lots of other teams elsewhere) : the sullen brooding dude who makes the least effort possible, the awful-gay-stereotype guy, and the nearly-mute small swimsuit girl. None of them appear to be doing much in the field, and gay-stereotype-guy outright mention that he can’t transform into powered armor.

Our heroes fight otherworldly abominations that look like giant rubik’s cubes when they aren’t camouflaged as stuff or absorbing people. There’s also a creepy dude who shows up for three seconds at the very end, just to be delighted about seeing Gatchaman are real.

Production Values

Awesome. I love this show’s aesthetics, with colorful crazyness creeping into the edges of a relatively normal setting until it erupts into full-blown futuristic nonsense like the Gatchaman base. I’m less fond of the bizarre shading in people’s hair, but it does help them stand out. Overall, this is very nicely animated, with tons of attention to body language (which is half of Hajime’s craziness).

Also, the score is pretty kickass, never afraid of featuring zany “Gatcha!” choruses.

Overall Impression

Downright the most stylish show this season, doing it best to dust off the sentai genre. On that level, it works : it’s very entertaining, and it’s delicious to look at. Additional points for featuring a quirky girl as its central character.

Now, the big question is : is there any substance in here ? Well, jury’s still out, although there’s some interesting use of social media throughout. I like the idea that Sugane is participating in what looks like a “good Samaritan” social app, which is a fun concept in its own right.

There are some false notes here and there (the gay-stereotype-dude, and JJ being a bit too creepy for the show’s own good), but this is a promising start. Let’s hope the show builds upon it.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2013 – Page 8.