#46 : Android Kikaider – The Animation (Jinzou Ningen Kikaider – The Animation)

(13 episodes + a few OVAs)

What’s it about ?

Remake of a manga/tokutatsu show by the creator of Kamen Rider. 70s nostagia ahoy !

Characters

Dr Komyoji is the kind of robotics engineer who has a laboratory in the middle of woodlands and lives estranged from the scientific community. Admittedly, the main representative of those is an obviously evil rival who try badgering him into selling his research. Cue totally not suspicious fire in said laboratory leading to the death of the old professor.

Mitsuko, his adult daughter, is trying to uncover why her father died. (Also, taking care of her little brother.) The hidden blueprints she’s discovered (and is savvy enough to interpret) hint that he was working on an android far more advanced than anything else currently available… Did he actually build the thing ?

Jiro, a guy who wakes up as a amnesiac nearby with a guitar on his back… oh, come on, this is totally the title android. Which is confirmed soon after when he transforms to face the baddies hunting him down.

Production Values

Wow, retro character designs ! Most of those people wouldn’t feel out of place in the Star System. Fortunately, we’ve got modern animation quality ; this looks quite good and has some decent atmosphere.

Overall Impression

Nice ! We’re dealing with well-worn archetypes here, with actual explicit references to Pinocchio just to drive the point home… but it’s actually quite fun ; both Jiro and Mitsuko turn out to be pleasant characters to follow. It’s clearly a nostalgia piece, but with enough heart to be watchable by people without much knowledge of the original.

I’m strongly considering coming back to it at a later point.

Source: [In Which I Review] Anime series from 2000 – Page 12

RIN-NE (Kyoukai no Rinne)

(25 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of the latest manga series by Rumiko Takahashi (Ranma 1/2, Inuyasha). Okay, it started publication in 2009, but you know what I mean.

Characters

Sakura, our heroine, is an ordinary high school girl with the one quirk : she can see ghosts and spirits. (Apparently someone thought it was a good idea to bring her to the spirit world when she was young.) She’d rather not have that gift and live a normal life, though, so she’s trying to ignore and avoid eye contact with the various ghosts she crosses paths with daily.

Rinne is supposed to be the guy sitting next to her in class, but there’s clearly something off with him. There’s the bright red hair. There’s the fact he didn’t show up at all for a month, making everyone wonder whether he even existed. He’s also apparently so poor he can’t afford a proper school uniform… or so he claims, since he also got his hands on an expensive-looking robe that makes him invisible to everyone but Sakura. (It also works the reverse way : people can see ghosts wearing it inside out.) Also, he’s set up a donation box so that people can ask him to solve their supernatural problems ; this mostly involves him guiding ghosts to the next step of the Circle of Reincarnation so that they stop harassing humans.

Two small cases this week, mostly as a way to introduce the premise : a prank caller, and that ghost dude who was stuck in the middle of Sakura’s way to school.

Production Values

Remember when studio Brain’s Base used to produce some of the most interesting series in any given season ? Well, it seems their star has fallen a bit, as they’re not involved anymore with the new seasons of Durarara!, or even Teenage Romcom SNAFU. Instead, they’re doing this… which I don’t think is going to put them back on the map either.

This show looks decent, but there’s something in the transition to modern animation and coloring techniques that seems to smother Takahashi’s original style a bit.

Overall Impression

Well, this is perfectly watchable, there’s some decent comedic timing… but why does this feel so generic and rote ? This is drowning in stock elements (half of them pilfered from Takahashi’s other, better series), and lacking any kind of personality. That it’s a daytime show not even getting a full year doesn’t feel like the producers have that much confidence in it. (And it’s not like like anyone expects a Takahashi series to have a satisfying conclusion within only 25 episodes.)

This is mildly entertaining, as even Takahashi on autopilot still has a perfect control of the basics, but I’m afraid that won’t cut it in a season with much more distinctive shows available. I’m giving it a second episode to see how the supporting cast is introduced, but I don’t expect to stick with it.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2015 – Page 3.

Sound! Euphonium (Hibike! Euphonium)

(12ish episodes)

What’s it about ?

No, this isn’t KyoAni revisiting their past glory of K-On!. After all, instead of a slapstick 4-panel manga, it adapts a novel featuring what looks like a “save our club” dramatic storyline.

Characters

Kumiko, our heroine, used to play the euphonium (a sort of smaller tuba) in her middle-school’s brass band club, but she’s more ambivalent about it right now. For one, she’s clearly trying a bit too hard to reinvent herself for her high-school debut. For two, this school’s band club sucks. And for three, she kinda wants to avoid the likes of…

Reina (trumpet), one of the most serious members of her middle school’s brass band club, and the one most broken up by the club narrowly failing to qualify for the national gold prize. Things got a bit awkward between her and Kumiko after the latter blurted out the wrong thing while trying to console the former. Anyway, for some reason she’s in this mediocre high school too (despite Kumiko thinking she could have aimed for better), and she joined the band club in a heartbeat.

That Shuuichi (trombone), Kumiko’s childhood friend with whom she just had a nasty break-up (despite him trying to play it like nothing happened), also joined the club doesn’t help. She really doesn’t want to revisit that drama.

What changes her mind are her new friends : Sapphire Midori (contrabass), who hates her embarrassing name, and Hazuki (an enthusiastic newbie who’s apparently going to take up playing the tuba). Both of them manage to remind her enough of her initial enthusiasm at playing an instrument to convince her to give the band club a try.

There’s a dude wandering awkwardly while listening to music in a few scenes that have no connection with anything else (aside from him having the same taste in music as Kumiko) ; I presume he’s going to be the club’s new advisor or something.

Production Values

It’s KyoAni ; of course it looks gorgeous, with impressive attention to detail. No shortcuts while showing people playing music here. And hey, brass band music is awesome.

Overall Impression

Well, it’s the tried and true “Save Our Club” formula, mixed with a strong narrative focus on Kumiko herself. There’s nothing wrong with that, and she does come off as having some hidden depths, but it’s not exactly earth-shaking either. It’s perfectly okay and watchable, but that’s it.

On the other hand, I like this kind of music, and it’s not like there’s anything else to watch on Tuesdays, so I’m probably going to stick with it.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2015 – Page 3.

#45 : Invincible King Tri-Zenon (Muteki Ou Tri-Zenon)

(22 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Yet more mecha ! But not by Sunrise, and boy does it show.

Characters

Akira, our kid protagonist, has had it enough with his father being hounded by his creditors, so he takes all the family’s few possessions (including his little sister Ai) and goes in search of the legendary treasure their ancestors supposedly left them a map for.

Dad and Akira’s not-girlfriend Kana eventually converge to the spot in their pursuit.

Also converging to the same spot : an old couple who turn out to be from another branch of the family, and also want to lay claim to the treasure. They apparently have a deed for half-ownership of the spot. (Which is basically a wasteland in the country.)

Also coming there : a serious-looking dude with green hair who actually seems to have a clue of what’s hidden down there, and has enough money on hand to try and buy the spot.

Of course it’s Akira, Ai and Kana who fall head-first into the titular “Tri-Zenon” mecha as they dig it out. (Apparently it fell from the sky centuries ago.) Maybe they’re going to help against the alien-looking mecha that are wreaking havoc nearby, as the army seem to have trouble even containing them. (As they always do in this kind of series, of course.)

Production Values

Not very good. The character designs for the main characters are particularly garish.

Overall Impression

That’s an impressive collection of annoying characters you’ve got there, show. It doesn’t help that the plot is kept wafer-thin as an effort to build to a joke that’s really not funny enough to deserve so much screentime.

What makes the show actively painful to watch are the terrible subtitles in the only copy I could find, apparently translated from the Chinese (they don’t even get Akira’s name right !). Not that there was anything of interest there, really.

Source: [In Which I Review] Anime series from 2000 – Page 12

The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan

Again, no full review for the Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan ; it’s a show that makes no sense if you’re not familiar with the parent franchise.

If you are familiar with it, then you’ll be even more baffled, as it completely misses the point.

A running thread in the Haruhi franchise is how protagonist Kyon is in complete denial over Haruhi being his type, as his narration instead keeps lusting over super-submissive moeblob Mikuru. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is all about Yuki misunderstanding his feelings by creating an alternate reality that keeps Haruhi out of the picture and turns herself into a moeblob. And the whole point of that story is that it was a mistake, a horrific perversion of reality that Kyon couldn’t decently let stand.

And yet, here we are, in a version of this perverted universe with the added wrinkle that Kyon seems none the wiser, and is thus having a generic romantic comedy with Yuki as the main love interest, and Ryoko as the pushy friend who nudges the two of them together. I find it rather telling that Kyon’s character design is horribly off-model in this, making him look way more generic than the KyoAni version. (Yet, Tomokazu Sugita still somehow voices the same Kyon as always.)

The problem here is that while Yuki’s wet dream originally had a narrative purpose, it’s completely boring once stripped of that context. The links to the original franchise only underline by contrast how empty and dull the characters have become. You’ve basically removed everything that made the original story interesting.

I can’t imagine what the effect of actually bringing back Haruhi into this will be (she only gets a cameo in this first episode, but it looks like she’s going to actually feature in the future), but I’m not masochistic enough to stick around until it happens. I’m done, thank you.

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

Blood Blockade Battlefront (Kekkai Sensen)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a shonen manga series by the author of Trigun.

Characters

Leonard, our protagonist, has the most boring voice ever ; I’m pretty sure his narration put me to sleep at least once. Anyway, he’s come to New York City Jerusalem’s Lot, the City of Miracles, where half the population are aliens because of something weird that happened a few years ago. (By now, everybody’s gotten used to it.) He wants to make a living as a cub reporter, but that’s not really working out.

He stumbles into the secret organization Libra, who briefly confuse him with their latest recruit. They are :
– Mr Klaus, the guy in charge, who looks half-gorilla and may well be. Cool dude, though, and impressive in a fight.
– Zap, an abrasive asshole who of course gets partnered with Leo for half the episode. He uses a smaller version of Mr Klaus’s blood weapons.
– Chain, our token woman, who seems to have super-agility powers that allow her to exit the scene quickly and have nearly no screentime whatsoever.
They’re basically an underground vigilante force working against the likes of…

Femt, a cackling madman who looks more like an opportunity for Akira Ishida to chew scenery than somewhat with a coherent agenda. He takes over the airwaves and warns the city that he’s planted a “gate” that’s about to wreak havoc ; those gates are what made JL so weird in the first place, so that sounds bad.

Fortunately, a previous encounter with a gate (I’m not sure if it’s the big original one or a smaller, later one) has embued Leo with super-sight powers, allowing him to find the real gate (as opposed to the decoy planted by Femt that everybody was running after).

There’s a framing sequence set six months later with Leo’s sister reading a letter narrating all this… Which makes no sense whatsoever since the aforementioned event made her blind. WTF ?

Production Values

This is a show that puts a lot of work into making this altered version of NYC feel real and lived-in, with all the weird aliens looking completely at home. I’m less enthused by the color design, which is drowning in greys and browns until the super-powered action brings in flashes of bright colours ; I can see what the art directors were going for, but that makes most of the show look rather drab.

Overall Impression

Why the heck can’t I enjoy this more ?

On paper, I should love it. It’s got a great concept for a setting, colourful action, some decent comedic timing, and it even tries to do something clever with non-linear storytelling.

But there’s something that just doesn’t quite work. Maybe I’m just a bit tired, but the plotting felt like an impenetrable mess. (I had to watch it twice to get a better sense of what was going on, and Femt’s plan still makes no sense whatsoever.)

I’m giving it another episode to turn me around, but it had better shape up quickly.

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

SHOW BY ROCK!!

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a smartphone rhythm videogame (with some raising sim elements).

Characters

Cyan, our highschool protagonist, spends the first five minutes of the show thinking she’s in a K-ON! clone : so shy she agonizes for ages over joining the light-music club, and moping over her guitar every evening that she couldn’t find her nerve. Sorry, girl, that’s the wrong show : so witness your phone suddenly crapping out and suddenly transporting you into a psychedelic digital world. As a gothic lolita catgirl, of course.

She lands in the middle of a concert by super-star band Trichronika, who were completely rocking it out until some monster showed up and shifted them to a parallel combat world. Apparently that’s a thing that often happens ; at least bystanders are safe, since only people with musical ability are affected… How, wait, Cyan was also standing there, right ?

… And that’s a good thing, as Trichronika were completely overpowered and she totally saved their bacon.

Amazingly, Cyan is then recruited not by Trichronika (who are grateful), but by the far less successful band Plasmagica, who nabbed her first after the battle. They’ve got a bunny girl, a dog girl and a sheep girl. Their manager is an egg.

So Cyan’s lost in bizarre world she has no clue about… but hey, she’s in a band now ! Score !

(There’s also a stinger another rival band showing up, and another with a mastermind plotting evilly and cryptically.)

Production Values

It should be pointed out that for the battle sequences, the musician characters are shrunk in size and rendered in CG ; it looks all the more weird as they have no mouths. They return to more humanoid designs for the more mundane scenes… well, aside from the egg with a moustache.

Overall Impression

What is this I don’t even…

Well, I have to give it to this show : it fooled me completely over what genre it was going to be, and it’s a well-executed swerve. It’s also bursting at the seams with weird ideas and designs. That Cyan’s character arc doesn’t get lost in the shuffle is a near miracle.

… But there’s only so far energy and sheer weirdness can carry it ; I fear it’s going to collapse into a unholy mess very quickly. I’m pretty sure I won’t stick with it, but I suppose I’ll at least give it a second episode just to be sure. It’s at least earned that.

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

The Heroic Legend of Arslan (Arslan Senki)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a series of fantasy novels by the author of Legend of the Galactic Heroes. They already got adapted into a couple of anime movies and a short OVA series in the early 90s ; this revival is inspired by the recent new manga adaptation illustrated by no less than Hiromu Arakawa (of Fullmetal Alchemist & Silver Spoon fame).

Characters

Arslan, our title character, enters the series as the 11-year-old Crown Prince of the kingdom of Pars. As such, he’s lived a very sheltered life. He’s a bit of a wimp, but comes of as a kind person who actively wants to get out of the warm cocoon sewn by the many people trying to protect him so that he can learn new perspectives. that’s quite admirable, and the people seem to love him all the more for it.

King Andragoras, his father, is beloved for a completely different reason : he seems to always be off to another battle to protect the kingdom and its allies, and he manages to win some impressive victories with very few casualties on his side. Thanks to him, Pars is very prosperous, and its capital quite safe.

Queen Tahamine, despite living in the palace full-time, seems to have even less time than her husband for Arslan. Mind you, she’s also very cold towards Andragoras himself ; something tells me he’s been sleeping on the (jewelry-incrusted) couch for a while.

What clearly becomes apparent is that Pars’s prosperity wasn’t built merely on its king’s pure awesomeness ; it’s also because they enslave whoever they beat on the battlefield. Arslan doesn’t see much of a problem with this : submitting to slavery still gets you a better meal everyday than in whatever hellhole country the slaves came from. But his viewpoint his challenged by the attitude of the latest captives, Lusitanians, whose faith in a staunch anti-slavery religion brings them in direct opposition to the Pars system. They’d rather die than submit.

Half the episode is spent on a massive chase scene, as an unnamed Lusitanian kid escapes captivity by taking Arslan hostage. Who doesn’t actually mind that much, and saves his captor a couple of times (and even goes out of his way to allow him to escape). Again, it’s all an opportunity to learn different viewpoints, however dangerous that may be.

The episode closes on Arslan musing that he still has a lot of time to learn and grow into the role of the future king, what with his father probably keeping on being an awesome king for a few more decades… Hahahaha, no way. Cut to a mere few years later…

Production Values

This is an epic production, and it almost looks like so. Certainly it’s got a good attention to detail in the world-building. It’s just a shame that the CG armies look so lifeless and awkward…

It does have the cool LoGH gimmick of putting up an introductory caption whenever a major character first shows up in a given episode, which is well-appreciated given the size of the cast and the number of so far interchangeable captains in the Pars army.

Overall Impression

This episode had one job : selling me on Arslan as a protagonist I want to follow, as epic stuff happens around him (and it takes him some time to really shape up enough to actively participate). That’s a success : he’s just such a nice guy that you can’t help cheer for him. He’s not perfect, and he’s certainly got his cultural blinders on, but he’s willing to improve, and that makes up for a lot.

This is far from my favourite genre, but I’m willing to give it a go. Let’s see what it’s got in store.

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

Ultimate Otaku Teacher (Denpa Kyoushi)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a comedy manga series.

Characters

Junichiro, our protagonist, used to be a teenage prodigy ; submitting impressive research papers before even leaving high school, and apparently figuring out how to build a teleporter (although actually making it from his blueprints won’t be possible for another century). The problem is that he’s now completely bored with science (he’s already done anything he ever wanted to in that field), and has devolved into a NEET focus on his one true passion : anime, and the popular culture around it.

Suzune, his younger sister, won’t settle with his wasting his life and wants him to get off his ass and get a job. Look, she’s found him a part-time teaching job at his former high school, where he still has enough of an aura for them not ask too many questions about the whole year he spent as a NEET. He just has to put on a labcoat so as to look vaguely teacher-like. If he doesn’t go, he’ll have a taster of her bat.

Minako is our first problem student of the week. Well, only a problem as far as she’s obviously bullied by her former kogal friends, who aren’t taking lightly her breaking away from them. Especially as she’s turning a lew leaf by… training to become an anime voice-actress, which they deem childish. (Junichiro has the opposite view : the field is so competitive that she has a snowball’s chance in hell of making it. That lands him her fist in his face.)

There’s a girl observing his humiliation of the bullies from the darkness of an unlit car. She looks more silly than ominous. But then, this is a very silly show.

Production Values

Okay enough for a gag show. Not too much fanservice on display, actually.

Overall Impression

Hum. I’ve always said that what really counts for a comedy is the ability to make me laugh. This show has its moments, but a good chunk of it I just found mildly irritating. Part of the blame resides on Junichiro himself, who’s far from compelling enough to get my sympathy. (Excuse me as I have little time for his ennui.)

Obviously the shadow of GTO looms large on this, and it’s unfair to compare it to a show that doesn’t even pretend to have the same kind of edge. Still, I’d have much more time for this if the jokes landed more often.

Against my better judgement, I’m giving it a second episode. But it better find its feet quickly.

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

Magical Lyrical Nanoha ViVid

As it turns out, I won’t be doing a full review of Magical Lyrical Nanoha ViVid ; it relies way too much on prior knowledge of what happened in StrikerS (the third anime season in the franchise). Gods know what a newcomer would make of our kid heroine’s Vivio ability to transform into an adult body, or of the Numbers in general. Or the whole “your majesty” thing. Quite frankly, I’m tempted to go and rewatch StrikerS myself. (After all, it’s a perfectly okay show only let down by being a sequel to the notably superior A’s second season.)

So, let’s take the point of view of someone who’s watched all three prior anime seasons, but hasn’t bothered reading the ViVid spin-off/follow-up manga. Is this worth watching ?

The good news is that it’s surprisingly relatively light on loli fanservice. Oh, it’s there ; we get a few gratuitous shots of Vivio’s underwear, and a lingering transformation sequence that takes the time of having her every garment explode. But I was expecting much, much worse from this manga’s reputation. As it is, it’s a bit of an annoying distraction but still tolerable. First season level, basically.

The show itself manages to be just entertaining enough for me to keep watching. Vivid is cute, and her interactions with her two moms is heartwarming. (Lol on the writers still being coy about the Nanoha/Fate relationship, but then the series is from the point of view of a 4th-grader.) It even makes a game attempt at giving the Numbers distinct personalities, helped a bit by half of them being in jail at this point. (But I hope not in Jail, that would just be gross.)

What really makes the show interesting to me, though, is reading between the lines of Vivio’s narration and dialogue, in the light of the context provided by StrikerS. That gives a completely different dimension to Fate’s freaking out over Vivio’s adult form, for example. The constant tight rope act of doublethink between Vivio’s innocence and the viewer’s foreknowledge is quite stimulating indeed.

There’s not much of a plot yet, aside from a crazy girl randomly assaulting people as a background thread. But that’s good enough as a starting thread, and leaves plenty of room to reintroduce the rather complex premise and the tons of characters ; which is what this opening episode really needed to do. (StrikerS was 8 years ago, after all.)

So far, so good.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2015.