Geneshaft

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

The future, where everybody is genetically engineered to be AWESOME. A special team of elite agents has been assembled to get rid of a mysterious gigantic ring object that appeared near the moon years ago (it’s kinda in the way), but the mission quickly goes south when (1) terrorists blow up most of the recon team and (2) the ring itself fires a giant beam at our heroes’ space station.

Characters

Mika, our protagonist. She’s got something of an inferiority complex (everyone else on the mission is much more AWESOME than her, why was she chosen to participate ?). Although everything’s relative, given the kick-ass fight/greeting she has with her old friend (and straight-woman) Sofia.

Mir is the leader of the recon mission, and she’ll never let you forget she’s the most AWESOME person on the mission. She’s already got a groupie. Her reputation’s not undeserved, though, as she manages to survive both an assassination attempt by half of her recon team (infiltrated by terrorists) and the ensuing point-blank explosion.

It has to be mentioned that most of the cast (and Earth’s population, apparently) are female. Males are viewed as “dangerous”, and under constant surveillance by dedicated monitors. The mission has three of them : the Captain, who’s smarmy enough to warrant the monitoring ; Amagiwa, who apparently has some history with Mika (his role on the mission’s not clear yet) ; and…

Mario, the backup Captain, who hangs around with his sister Tiki. Which is puzzling, given that it’s specifically pointed out that siblings are not supposed to happen in this brave new world. (Points off to the show for claiming they have the same DNA. Urgh.)

Production Values

Well, it’s certainly got some budget. Good use of CG graphics for the space station and the ring. Overall, this looks quite sharp. The cheesecake factor is quite high, but very tolerable (it’s mercifully sparse on ass shots).

The score is very heavy on guitar solos, which quickly becomes quite annoying.

Overall impression

Disclaimer : I watched half of this first episode 6 years ago, before giving up at the inane figh/greeting scene. Let’s just say that I approached this again with some apprehension.

But actually, it’s much better than I remembered. A lot less fanservicey than I recall, and there seems to be an actually decent plot. It’s certainly a well-put-together show.

Do I want to watch more of it ? Let’s not get carried away. The characters range from inoffensive to bloody annoying, the gender politics look more like an excuse to have women kicking ass instead of a genuine exploration of the issues, and the exposition is beyond clunky. The next-episode-preview makes it sound like it’s heading into giant-robot territory, not a direction I care for. And finally, I don’t think I can bear those frigging guitar solos any longer.

Handshakes will be a little more complicated in The Future.
Handshakes will be a little more complicated in The Future.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2001 – Page 5.

Without Wings -under the innocent sky- (Ore-tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Fuck if I know ; I can’t make head nor tails of the plot. I’ll say “fanservice-heavy harem comedy with a dash of heroic fantasy” to err on the safe side, but even that fails to accurately describe it.

Characters

Takashi Haneda is the protagonist of a ridiculously cliché harem, with various girls (his little sister cousin, the aggressive one, the athletic one who lets her mind wander, and a fourth one I can’t quite get a hold of yet) fighting over him before he’s even stepped five feet towards school. Also, we get numerous panty shots and even naked shots of their breasts when they push themselves onto him. And he’s got whiny narration by Hiro Shimono (when did his career devolve into “cliché harem lead” ?). But the lot of them only get 5 minutes of screentime.

The rest of the episode is dedicated to a trio of loser dudes unlucky in love, and desperately trying to set up a drinking party with whatever girls they find. One of them is 35 and owns the bar they hang around at ; the other two look high-school/college-aged. Anyway, the only girls who accept the invite are the part-time waitresses. Overall, it’s a very pathetic scene that makes me loathe everyone involved.

But wait ! Just before and during the ending credits, we see all of them in a heroic-fantasy setting, fighting monsters and the like ! Is this a MMORPG or an actual parallel world they’re escaping into ? I have no clue ! (And why would Haneda need escaping anyway ?)

There’s also a bizarre framing device with radio/TV shows (including an outrageous American-accented DJ) shown in a rapid succession… and I’ve got no clue why they’re doing this.

Production Values

Decent, I suppose. The very heavy fanservice whenever a girl’s on screen is quite annoying, though.

Overall Impression

What the heck is this shit ?

Now, I can understand trying to be a bit creative when adapting yet another harem dating sim. But this is just incoherent crap, with three different narratives that completely fail to coalesce into any coherent whole. It’s probably trying for the “self-parody” angle, but that just makes it more obnoxious.

I hate every single character and it makes no sense whatsoever : avoid like the plague.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2011 – Page 4.

Fireball Charming

(13 2-minute episodes)

What’s it about ?

In a far-flung future, war rages between humans and robots… and the robot princess has nonsensical conversations with her butler.

Characters

Drossel von Flügel, the robot princess. Prone to random flights of fancies, and completely out of touch with the real world.

Gedächtnis, her construction-mecha-looking butler. Desperately trying to put his mistress back on track, although he’s not above deadpan snarking. Her father left him books of notes for her education… but it doesn’t really help.

Production Values

Full CG graphics, and it’s very gorgeous indeed.

Produced by Disney Channel Japan. No, really.

Overall Impression

I normally don’t cover sequels in depth, but this one deserves the exposure. A previous season of this (simply called Fireball) was broadcast in 2008, and this is basically more of the same. You don’t need to watch the first series to get this, though (although you should, it’s only 26 minutes of your time).

The setup is only an excuse to have quick-going barely coherent conversations between the two leads, combining puns and dry wit at a frenetic pace. It’s just plain hilarious, hitting punchlines one after the other like clockwork.

This first episode of the second series looks like it’s actually going to advance the plot a bit, but that doesn’t really matter (the first season had no continuity whatsoever, with the two leads changing looks for each episode just because).

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2011 – Page 4.

Sister Princess

(26 episodes)

What’s it about ?

A very bizarre harem (?) series where the protagonist is sent to a high school on a remote island… and meets a series of girls who all claim to be his long-lost little sisters.

Characters

Wataru, our hapless main character. The poor boy seems to be the universe’s chew toy – despite being a top student, he fails to enter his dream high school because of a computer error. Tons of other humiliating stuff happens to him in this first episode alone. His background is somewhat intriguing : there are no parents in sight, he seems to be living alone with an elderly butler (who quits five minutes in)… and there’s immediately a backup plan from nowhere for him to get enrolled into another high school after his initial failure (this involves him getting manhandled by two Men In Black).

So far we only see four of the “sisters” (although the OP promises more). They all adhere to the usual harem clichés : there’s the mistress of the mixed message, the trendy one, the shy one and the kid one.

Taro is your usual annoying “perverted sidekick”, whose main purpose seems to be eating up precious screentime with his antics.

Mami is a bizarre girl who comes to the island at the same time as Wataru and Taro. She monologues that she’s there to observe Wataru… and indeed, she can often be seen in the background stalking him.

There’s a running joke that all the island’s adult staff (so far, the boat driver and the realtor) look like Jeeves, Wataru’s old butler. Whether it’s always the same guy in disguise, a group of relatives, or just a coincidence is up in the air at this stage.

Production Values

Quite low, to be honest. On the other hand, there are lots of little directing tricks and sight gags to keep the whole thing visually interesting and very surreal ; not quite SHAFT-ish, but more in the vein of Utena. Me likey.

Overall Impression

What the… ?

This is a very surreal series indeed. At first glance, it’s your typical collection of harem clichés (see above). But there’s a very nasty undercurrent that the whole thing may well be a joke at the protagonist’s expense, as absolutely nothing here makes any kind of sense. The plot is full of holes, which is fully acknowledged by the series (and the protagonist is appropriately bemused by it all).

But I’m really not sure I want to commit to 26 episodes of it ; there’s a very distinct risk of it turning into a just quirky cliché harem series, something I have no interest in. Maybe it’s better if I stick with the memory of this intriguing first episode ? I doubt the actual series can match my expectations…

This school makes offers you can't refuse.
This school makes offers you can’t refuse.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2001 – Page 4.

SoulTaker

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Our protagonist’s mother’s just been killed, but not before stabbing him herself. He’s barely been rescued from the grave by his sister (or is she ?) that she’s kidnapped. He goes to the rescue, but another faction’s interference allows the kidnappers to escape.

Characters

Kyosuke, our protagonist, seems to be an unkillable mutant capable of transforming into a giant monster. He has no clue why all this bizarre stuff is happening to him or who all these weirdoes are, but he’d really like to find out.

Maya claims to be his little sister (that he’s never heard of), although she looks older than him. She’s identified as a Flicker, whatever that means (from what I understand, she got transplanted memories). There’s a possibility she’s got multiple personalities, although she gets too little screentime to judge (she becomes a macguffin everyone fights over barely six minutes in).

Shiro is an enigmatic world-weary badass who helps Kyosuke for unexplained reasons (he seems to be allied with Maya). He delivers most of the exposition, although he’s no slouch in the action sequences either.

Maya was kidnapped by the Kirihara corporation, who are apparently a big deal in this world. They’ve got a huge military-scientific facility nearby, patrolled by tons of heavily-armed faceless goons. A no-nonsense, level-headed scientist seems to be in charge, and she certainly knows to shoot before monologuing (not that it’s any use against Kyosuke) and to bolt with the booty when the odds are against her.

The Hospital, represented by a raving mad doctor (also a powerful mutant) and his nurse (who wields giant syringes as a weapon) are wild cards also looking for Maya. They seem to belong to a completely different show (the art style in their scenes reminds me of Soul Eater).

Production Values

Constant chiaroscuro ? Frequent close-ups to feet and eyes ? Odd camera angles ? The frame sometimes gets reduced to a small portion of the screen ? Frantic quick shots that look like the editor is overdosing ? A superb use of color to keep the action clear despite the overall chaos ?

“Directed by Akiyuki Shinbo.” Well, that explains it. This is a feast for the eyes indeed, with every single shot having something interesting happen.

The only false note is the score, which doesn’t always feel up to snuff. I must question the sentai-like theme tune when Kyosuke powers up, as until then this series felt deadly serious despite the insanity, and it kinda ruins the mood.

Overall Impression

Okay, now we’re talking. This is very impressive indeed, with awesome visuals and a very tight script that packs a convoluted plot and three different fight scenes under 23 minutes. And this highly artificial style isn’t gratuitous : it helps merge together the somewhat grounded conspiracy plot and the weirdness of the Hospital characters, and the frantic editing keeps the pace going (the sequences between the action set pieces often feel like montages, but it works).

Now, there are lots of way this could go bad. It goes so fast that it could become repetitive. There’s a risk of losing the precarious balancing of the tone. The actual plot could go either way. The style could get so overpowering that the emotional resonance gets lost. But this is a really promising first episode, and I’m very curious how it goes from there.

Shiro's so badass that his cigar burns through his newspaper.
Shiro’s so badass that his cigar burns through his newspaper.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2001 – Page 4.

Steins;Gate

(24 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Current day setting, but with a lot more weirdness. Our protagonist witnesses a murder that doesn’t seem to have actually happened, attends a lecture that was canceled, and somehow sent text messages into the past. Also, a satellite crashed into the place he was (he doesn’t seem worse for the wear). Despite already having a few screws loose, he’s more than weirded out by the whole thing.

Characters

Okarin, aka Rintarou Okabe, aka Kyouma Hououin. Our paranoid protagonist. Self-proclaimed mad scientist, although this might just be the crazy talking (his actual inventions are far from impressive). He heads a college research club that dabbles into weird science, such as time travel theory. He constantly babbles about a conspiracy orchestrated by something called the Agency, but there’s no real sign of it actually existing.

Mayuri, his sickeningly sweet childhood friend. She seems to have no science background whatsoever (she’s stated to be into sewing cosplay outfits), and probably sticks around because she likes Okarin. The obvious twist would be that she’s an Agency plant.

Taru, SUPA-HACKA ! and reclusive geek, the third and last member of Okarin’s research club. A welcomed source of snark to counter Okarin’s mad ramblings.

Kurisu Makise, a gloomy girl Okarin meets at a time-travel-related lecture, and wants him to explain what he meant (he has no clue what she’s talking about). He finds her bloody corpse a bit later… but she shows up perfectly fine at the end of the episode.

Production Values

A bit hard to judge, considering I’ve watched a crappy streamed version. Still, it’s quite good at setting up a creepy claustrophobic atmosphere with some weird camera angles, and Okarin’s body language is impressive.

Overall Impression

Wow, this is very intriguing indeed. The storytelling borders on the incoherent, especially with a protagonist who isn’t entirely sane, but it still manages to hang together somewhat and set up an intriguing mystery. A lot of the series’s charm comes from Mamoru Miyano’s impressive performance as the lead character, managing to perfectly convey Okarin’s delusions while still making him an engaging character.

Now, it’s perfectly possible this series could eventually disappear into its own arse when it’s time to explain what’s actually happening. But so far, I’m in.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2011 – Page 3.

Prétear (Shin Shirayuki Hime Densetsu Pretear)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

The baddies have unleashed seeds of misery onto Earth ! The Knights of Leafe immediately start running around to seal them, but their power is limited until they can find the legendary Prétear. (The gimmick is that she gets different powers from merging with each Knight.)

This is actually quite better than it sounds.

Characters

Himeno, our protagonist, has a much more complex background than your average high school magical girl. Her hopeless dad just married a very rich woman who basically owns the town (every company bears her name… or rather his, now) and lives in a ridiculously huge mansion. It’s not clear how that happened, but they do look genuinely in love. Anyway, Himeno doesn’t really get to enjoy it, as she’s martyrised by one of her stepsisters (the other just ignores her blatantly), and ostracised by most of her classmates as a gold-digger.

There are seven Knights of Leafe, all of them male. It’s very obvious most of them were designed as fanservice for the ladies, although three of them are underage for the “cute” factor.

The only one who really gets a personality so far is Hayate, the one Himeno randomly bumps into. It’s irritation at first sight. Too bad their hands connecting identify her as the Prétear : he’d much rather do without this brat.

Whoever the main villain is, she stays conspicuously off-screen (although the Knights do refer to her as female). Anyone taking odds on her being the quiet stepsister ?

Production Values

Perfectly okay, and it does succeed at building a foreboding atmosphere.

A pity that the ED proves that Himeno’s VA can’t sing, though.

Overall Impression

This is quite intriguing. Himeno belongs to an archetype (girl bullied by her stepfamily) that I’m not used to seeing in magical girl stories, although in retrospect it’s a perfect fit for a genre that’s all about wish fulfilment. When the series focuses on her, I’m quite enjoying it. The main plot is very basic, but the show makes a good job of selling it.

On the other hand, I’m not quite buying the Knights, who look like a bunch of bishonen clichés (with some cute shota thrown in for good measure). I fear this could turn into a male harem setting (especially with the blatantly unsubtle subtext of the Prétear merging with a Knight), and that’s the second last thing I want to watch.

This could turn out either way, really.

Blur effects shouldn't be a substitute for actual animation.
Blur effects shouldn’t be a substitute for actual animation.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2001 – Page 4.

Star Ocean EX

(26 episodes)

What’s it about ?

While investigating bizarre occurrences in a remote star system, a spaceship crashlands on a planet after encountering an unexpected asteroid field. While exploring, a member of the crew finds a portal that transports him to a fantasy world, where a local hails him as the Hero of Legend…

Characters

Claude, our protagonist. Son of a hero admiral who saved the galaxy 20 years before. Daddy takes him along on his trips, but does not take him seriously (and given how the brat has yet to display any shred of competence, I kinda agree). Anyway, our “hero” is prone to fits of whiny narration that do absolutely nothing to endear him to me.

Daddy The Admiral himself seems to be a decent sort (and he’s certainly good at saving his ship from random asteroids), and respected by his crew (which seems to consist of only five people, himself and his son included). However, despite him investigating a somewhat interesting plot (did someone send a death-moon to hit a planet ?), it looks like the series will focus on his annoying son’s trip to a fantasy world instead.

Rena, a female elf living in the fantasy world. Mistakes Claude for the Hero of Destiny as she sees him defeat a monster with his raygun (which looks like a sword of light to her). She looks dumb as a sack of bricks.

Production Values

I was under the mistaken impression that this show had a budget, what with the decent CG sequences of space action at the beginning. However, the fantasy action sequences soon resort to still images animated by shaky-cam, and I realized that they’d blown all their cash on the first ten minutes.

Overall Impression

Gods, this is terrible. I didn’t have many expectations from an adaptation of manga that’s itself the sequel of a videogame, but this is by far the second worst show of the season so far. I especially appreciated the bit where it starts as a somewhat decent space opera (despite some warning signs like the insufferable protagonist), and then suddenly jumps into generic-fantasy-land. Way to kill my interest, show.

Blur effects shouldn't be a substitute for actual animation.
Blur effects shouldn’t be a substitute for actual animation.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2001 – Page 3.

Hanasaku Iroha

(26 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Slice of life in a country hot springs inn. Don’t expect any fanservice, though.

Characters

Ohana, our main character. A high school girl who gets dumped by her mother and goes to live with her grandmother… with the provision that she has to work and earn her keep. Ohana is of course completely clueless about this new environment, which leads her to make tons of blunders. Her personality doesn’t help : she tends to run her mouth and be a bit too earnest while meddling with others’ life.

Satsuki, her mother. She barely gets four minutes of screentime, and she’s already a leading competitor for the Gendo Ikari Parent Of The Year award. Not only is she a slob who had Ohana do everything around the house, but when faced with debt she runs away with her boyfriend, abandoning her own daughter (despite the fact that Iroha’s the kind of girl who’d have run away with them in a heartbeat). No wonder then that she’s the black sheep of the family, and it explain why Ohana gets no breaks whatsoever.

The grandmother herself is a complete hardass, running the inn with an iron fist in an iron glove. The kind who slaps employees backstage for having inconvenienced customers.

Minko, Ohana’s new roommate. Hardworking, a girl of few words… and she absolutely hates Ohana’s guts, as the newcomer is unwittingly making her life hell through her careless meddling, on at least three separate instances. (Also, I’m curious on how Minko gets to live there too. Hmmm…)

There’s quite a lot of other staff to keep the inn running ; the maids also include Tomoe, the sempai who thrives on gossip, and Nako, who’s so shy she can barely string two words along. (There’s a fifth one who’s nondescript so far.) Plus the cooks, etc.

Back in Tokyo, Ohana had a Nice Guy called Kou around ; he doesn’t take her departure very well. (But then, Ohana has trouble understanding stuff when you’re not as direct as her ; she never noticed he liked her…)

Production Values

Very nice realistic style (no out-of-place fanservice here !). Lots of detail and subtle body language.

Overall Impression

A very strong first episode, neatly introducing the plot and most of the main characters. This will obviously be a story of Ohana growing up through the power of Hard Work ™, and I’m not entirely sure there’s 26 episodes of material in this, but so far it’s caught my attention. Ohana is an interesting protagonist despite her brattiness, and all those characters feel like real people.

Definitely a show I’ll be watching.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2011 – Page 2.

Tiger & Bunny

(24-ish episodes)

What’s it about ?

In the future, there are super-powered people called “NEXT”. The most prominent ones are garish, megacorp-sponsored superheroes who fight crime in a Reality-TV show.

Characters

Kotetsu “Wild Tiger” Kaburagi, our protagonist. He’s a veteran superhero who is definitely past his prime (he rates barely above the joke who never does anything, and no self-respecting kid buys his trading cards). He’s in it because he believes in making good (and he needs the money for his wife and kid), but he’s kinda bitter with the whole thing, obviously. It doesn’t help that his sponsor just got bought out, and the new guys want a format change. Which includes teaming up with…

Barnaby Brooks Jr, who somehow has the same powers as Wild Tiger (flying brick for 5 minutes). The dude shows out of nowhere in the “season finale” to hog the spotlight, and makes it clear he’s a “new breed” of superhero, unafraid of showing his true identity to the world. Incidentally, he does less collateral damage than Wild Tiger, which probably endears him to the higher-ups even more.

There are six other super-heroes competing in the show : Blue Rose, the current superstar with impressive ice powers but who’s a bit of a coward ; Rock Bison, the only one Kotetsu could call a friend ; Origami Cyclone, who never does anything but stay in the background for product placement ; Fire Emblem, flaming gay stereotype ; and two others who don’t matter at this stage.

The supporting cast is rounded off by Agnes Joubert, the TV show’s producer, who only cares about ratings, and certainly not civilian lives. (“Nice cliffhanger entrance, Wild Tiger ! Can you just do nothing for 30 seconds while we run some commercials ?”)

Oh, and there’s our threats for the week : a group of bankrobbers who are ridiculously underpowered to face superheroes, but manage to run around for most of the episodes thanks to the latter’s incompetence.

Production Values

Superbly fluid animation for the action sequences (which comprise half of the episode) : this show’s got budget and ain’t afraid to show it. It’s also very good at spoofing Reality-TV shows, including the utterly obnoxious product placement on the superheroes’ character designs.

Overall Impression

Wow, this is AWESOME ! I grinned like a madman from start to end while watching this : it’s very, very funny indeed. Combining superheroes with Reality-TV works beautifully, and there’s a nice balance between enough cynicism to keep things grounded and still some idealism to keep it from being too depressing. It’s a very stupid series, but it’s got enough energy to pull it off.

The preview I’d seen didn’t look very promising, so this is a very nice surprise.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2011.