Tag: conspiracy

Big Order

(10 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of manga series by the same people who brought you Future Diary.

Characters

Daisy is a weird fairy/hallucination who goes around and turns random people into Orders, which basically means that they get super-powers based on whatever they were wishing for at the time. She seems to be mostly doing this for shits and giggles, as she expects to be entertained by whatever interesting things the Orders will do with their powers. And in that regard, she’s been rather disappointed by…

Eiji, our teenage protagonist, who somehow got powers so incredible that he basically wrecked the world by accident when he got them. Ten years later, the scars are still visible all around, and he’s trying to keep as low a profile as possible. Other compelling reason to never ever use his powers again : his little sister is in the hospital because of his past outburst (and his inner monologue makes it sound like she’s barely got six months to live).

Rin is the pretty new transfer student into Eiji’s class, but of course that’s just a front, because it wouldn’t be a Sakae Esuno story without a sadistic redhead stalking the protagonist and being very creepy indeed. She’s an assassin nominally working for a secret council of weirdoes supposedly running what’s left of the world, and tasked with tracking Eiji down. Of course, since her parents died in the catastrophe, she quickly ditches her recon job and goes straight for the kill. Also, she’s an Order with regenerative powers, so she’s basically immortal.

Eiji spends most of the episode whining and panicking, but Rin straight out stabbing his little sister is the straw that broke the camel back. Together with Daisy putting a big range limiter on his ability (so that he can use it without risk of wrecking the whole world), this spurs him into fighting back. Especially as Daisy clarifies that his power isn’t actually to break stuff. He’s really a reality warper, able to bend the world (and people) around him to his will. (With a range now limited to at best the size of a building.) See, his wish as a kid was patterned after his favourite cartoon character, who was about conquering the world for its own good. So hey, Eiji might as well go and conquer the world… starting with the council of assholes who went after him. And Rin is his first draftee, whether she wants it or not.

Production Values

On the one hand, this is very raw looking indeed ; studio Asread isn’t known for producing polished shows, and this is the case here too. On the other hand, there are some great visuals for the initial catastrophic event, with the world just getting broken and fractured in a very unsettling way.

What did I think of it ?

This was certainly a very rough start. The episode spends most of its runtime being miserable and without much direction, spending more effort on histrionics than coherent storytelling. But it all comes together with the final reveal, which gives its protagonist a much-needed agenda, interesting powers that he’s already using creatively (lol at Rin healing Eiji’s little sister without even noticing it for a while – “Wait, why the heck am I doing this ?”), and dynamics with his supporting cast that promise to be fascinating.

This show is of course very derivative of something like, say, Death Note, but there’s enough energy and ideas here to keep it fresh. I’m willing to watch where it goes for a while.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2016 – Page 6

Kiznaiver

(12ish episodes ?)

What’s it about ?

Er, fuck if I know. The title seems to be a play on “kizuna” (“bond”), and there’s some talk about achieving world peace ? Anyway, it’s the latest original show by studio Trigger (but without Imaishi involved).

Characters

Agata, our protagonist, is your ordinary student at one of those public high schools where nobody does much studying, and the teachers don’t care. Strangely, he doesn’t feel pain much ; which means that whenever he gets bullied (and it happens often), he just lets it happen and waits it out.

One day, he’s approached by a strange girl named Sonozaki, who starts a long and not particularly coherent spiel about him being part of a modern version of the Seven Deadly Sins, who are the key to achieve world peace. Also, she pushes him down some stairs.

When he wakes up, he finds himself with five other classmates :
– Chidori, his not-girlfriend who always wants him to either step up against the bullies, or at least bring the teachers in ;
– Tenga, the big guy who crushed the bullies earlier on, because seriously ;
– Hisomu, the self-absorbed playboy who thinks he’s way cooler than he actually is ;
– Niko, the chuuni weirdo who keeps getting distracted by her own imagination ;
– and Maki, the high and mighty ice queen who thinks herself above all those losers.

Sonozaki explains that they were all abducted gathered by her agents, and have been given implants to become “Kiznaivers”. The most obvious practical effect is that whenever one of them gets hurt, each of them receives a portion of the pain (which limits the injury for the one actually struck).

How any of this is supposed to achieve world peace, I have no clue. But then, Sonozaki and her crew seem to be into really weird research indeed. And there’s the obvious question of why there are only six of them given the “Deadly Sins” theme (my immediate suspicion being that Sonozaki herself is the 7th). Oh, and I highly suspect Agata’s condition might be due to already having another set of Kiznaiver links inside him (if the cryptic flashbacks are anything to go by).

Production Values

Well, it’s studio Trigger, so expect lots of hyperkinetic action and bold colour choices… and actually, it looks like there’s less shortcuts in their animation than usual. And there’s tons of neat little visuals, from Tenga’s dynamic entry to the mascot-like appearances of Sonozaki’s crew.

What did I think of it ?

Well, that’s certainly intriguing. The plot outright makes no sense, but then it seems to run on nightmare logic more than anything else. It’s fast-paced enough to pull it off, quickly sketching out the main characters with remarkable economy. I’m especially impressed by the “show, don’t tell” approach for Sonozaki : we know nothing about her, but her speech paints a fascinating picture.

This is one of the most interesting shows of the season ; I definitely want to watch more to learn what’s going on here.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2016 – Page 5

Joker Game

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a novel series about spies in ’30s Japan.

Characters

The show is built around “D Agency”, a spy training organization created in 1937 by one Lt Col Yuuki. After some intense selection and training, they now have weeded down to eight trainees, who certainly at least talk a good game.

Interestingly, our actual point-of-view character for now is Lt Sakuma, who comes from the regular Japanese army and is clearly the odd man out here. From what I can gather, he’s been sent as a liaison from high command… with the explicit mission to find any single issue that could be an excuse for shutting down this dodgy agency that has yet to produce any results. Now, Sakuma himself is way to straightforward to act shadily ; that’s exactly why he despises the liars, cheaters and cowards trained by the agency he’s overseeing.

The case of the fortnight involves a “totally not a spy” US resident that D Agency is tasked to find evidence against. Which is of course utterly pointless from a counter-intelligence point of view, but hey, that’s the orders from on high.

Production Values

Perfectly good ; the depiction of the period feels authentic enough to work. And you can never go wrong with a Kenji Kawai score to build an oppressive and claustrophobic mood.

What did I think of it ?

First, the elephant in the room : given its subject matter, the show is doomed to confront the fact that the Japanese military did some really dodgy shit in that time period, and by “dodgy” I mean “huge war crimes”. The good news is that for now, the show is sidestepping the issue by portraying D Agency as a group with no patriotic links, and just doing the same shit that every other modern country is already doing (with the precise example of the 1922 Washington Conference). Also, they seem to spend just as much time and energy in feuds with other branches of the military as doing any actual spying/counter-spying (the US spy in this first story is as much a pretext as anything).

With that out of the way, this is a peculiar first episode. Most of it is devoted to characters telling Sakuma he’s an idiot who understands nothing about spying. Which is true, of course, but he feels more like someone to be exposited to for narrative convenience than an organic component of the story, at least until the final twist. Even then, I feel like the show may have been better served without him being around. Show, I already think that spying is inherently cool despite the dodgy ethics ; I don’t need a “but spying is EE-VIIL !!” mouthpiece to be proven wrong every couple of minutes.

Now, you might think I didn’t like the show. That’s not true ; there’s a lot to enjoy here, and I definitely plan on watching it throughout. It’s just that I hope that the clumsy writing quickly gets out of the way once the series’ found its narrative feet.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2016 – Page 3

Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu)

(25 episodes, the first one double-sized)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a light-novel series about a loser shut-in who gets to start a new life in a fantasy world… but without any of the protagonist perks those stories usually entail. Wait, doesn’t this feel awfully familiar ?

Characters

Subaru, our shut-in protagonist, somehow went from buying groceries at night to finding himself in a med-fan world with just his tracksuit, some pocket change nobody here accepts, a cellphone without reception, a bag of chips and some instant noodles. There’s nobody around to explain to him how and why he’s been brought here (and certainly no cute and helpful girl). He doesn’t suddenly know any magic. And he’s wandered off into a dark alley where he’s immediately mugged by three toughs.

“Satella” (totally not her real name) is the girl who saves him (after a fashion). She’s really after a thief who stole her badge, but she’s got chronic tsundere hero syndrome, and thus can’t stop herself from taking the time to heal Subaru up. (She’s an half-elf with ice and healing magic, plus a catlike familiar.) And then she helps a random lost kid to find her mom. On the one hand… there’s no way she finds her badge back at this rate, right ? On the other hand, Subaru is much of the same mold, and thus insists on helping her track it down.

Felt, the thief, is a smart kid who knows that it’s better to hold sale negotiations with the backup of a half-giant with a big stick who lives in the slums. She’s going to hold a tough bargain when they finally get there.

Production Values

Wow, pretty ! I’m not so sure about the rough CG passerbys in the background, but this is otherwise gorgeously animated and pops out full of life.

What did I think of it ?

Oh, nice one. At first it indeed feels a lot like a gentler KonoSuba, with characters who are actually quite likeable and don’t feed off each other’s misery. But that’s only to lull the audience into a false sense of security ; the show is much darker (and bloodier) than the heroes’ easy-going hijinks initially let show. There’s something quite sinister going on in the background, and the swerve is handled rather well. Indeed, this is a very good use of the first episode’s double-length.

It was already quietly growing on me, but now I must keep watching to learn what the heck is going on here. Well done, show.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Spring 2016 – Page 2

Schwarzesmarken

(12ish episodes ?)

What’s it about ?

Yet another iteration of the sprawling Muv-Luv Alternative franchise, this time adapting a bunch of prequel light novels. And by this, I mean “with different characters and set in a whole other continent”, so this should be accessible enough for anyone new to the franchise.

This is nominally set in East Germany in the 1980s, although with the massive invasion of nasty aliens since the 1960s, it’s basically alternate-history science-fiction, with mecha thrown-in for good measure. (Yeah, I’m as weirded out as you by a franchise that started out as standard dating-sim visual novels now churning out grimdark milSF.)

Characters

Theodor, our protagonist, is a young mecha pilot in the elite 666th unit (the titular Schwarzesmarken). He can’t have been here for long, as he’s still chaffing around basic orders like “don’t be a dick, protect your teammates !” This is at least semi-understandable given how he’s experienced first hand the brutality of the Stasi (the East German political police), with his whole family but him dying in a botched escape attempt to the West ; this isn’t an environment conducive to trust.

Irisdina, his team captain, doesn’t help matter by infamously being an informant who reportedly sold out her own brother. She claims she’s trying to turn a new leaf in atonement, but he doesn’t trust her at all. Once burned, twice shy.

Katia is a West German pilot they rescue on the anti-alien front. Despite this accident of fate being rather suspicious, Irisdina makes the choice to trust her and recruit her for the 666th. Katia is enough of an East-fetishizing idealist (“the war against aliens would go so much better if the West and the East worked together !”, yeah don’t say this too loud in front of the Stasi commissars) to accept… Although there’s obviously more to her than that. Which makes it all the more a pain in the ass for Theodor, who’s stuck training her after being the one to rescue her.

Production Values

Decent enough ; the aliens certainly look very freaky, and alien indeed. The show itself doesn’t go overboard with fanservice despite the design for female pilot suits it’s stuck with in this franchise… but the ED clearly milks it for maximum titillation.

Overall Impression

This is a happy surprise ; instead of being fetishized, East Germany is depicted as awful a place as it should be if you’re bothering to set a story there. The only weird bit is that they somehow have a competent army in the 1980s despite the politics being even more awful than in reality, but I take this as a genre convention.

I’m also pleasently surprised by the tone ; yes, this is quite dark indeed, but there’s a point to it, and the show is in no hurry to kill off massive amounts of main characters right off the bat for shock value (unlike Total Eclipse). Indeed, it wisely focuses on East Germany itself rather than the actual fight against the aliens, giving the characters a chance for a decent resolution of their story despite this being a prequel (after all, the aliens will still be around for the sequels).

On the other hand, it’s everything but subtle, the main characters are more than a bit annoying, and I’m just not in the mood for grimdark milSF. But hey, nice try.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2016 – Page 4

Dimension W

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a sci-fi manga series.

Characters

Kyoma, our protagonist. In the future, everyone has switched to the clean and unlimited “coil” power. (Cue technobable about how they’re powered through Dimension W.) But not him ! He’s one of those rare relics who keeps a gas-powered car, despite the prohibitive price of its fuel. Not because he thinks the coil monopoly of “New Tesla Energy” is shady (although it definitely is), but because he hates the technology itself, for whatever reasons. He makes a living as a bounty-hunter subcontractor, helping out NTE’s crackdown on contraband coils in the margins.

Dr Yurizaki was the scientist who invented coil technology in the first place, but had a very bad falling out with NTE. “Whole family dead” bad, so you’ll understand he has a bit of a grudge. He hides out in a decrepit building, working on his mysterious final project, by now being at the article of death (especially with his fancy pacemaker in dire need of a fresh coil).

Schumann is the new chief of NTE’s local forces (+ some history with Kyoma), and is ready to acknowledge that his highers-up screwed up in the past. But surely we can all get past that and enter a more agreeable working relationship. So no hard feelings, eh, Doctor ? Er, can you step off the ledge and not push the big red button you’re waving around madly ? Oh, crap. (Cue an EM pulse that fries everything coil-powered in half the city.)

Mira was the Doctor’s helper android, although clearly he had bigger plans for her than merely looking around for black-market coils for his pacemaker. She’s surprisingly human-like in her behaviour, to the point that it’s obvious to anyone with a bit of knowledge that only one person could have built something this expensive and complex. Kyoma captured her after they squared off for a bit and he took advantage of the pulse disabling her. After rebooting her, she desperately asks to help out on the black-market-coil crackdown… and I don’t think that’s for her maker’s health. (It’s obvious he got some new orders to her during his suicide.)

Production Values

Quite nice indeed ; there’s a lot of attention to detail so that nearly every gadget is clearly coil-powered. Also, I’m not enthused by the camera taking a disproportionate interest in Mira’s ass (especially in the ED sequence), but it could be way worse.

Overall Impression

It’s okay ? There’s nothing wrong with the execution, but it doesn’t really grab me. Mostly because Kyoma is more than a bit of a jerk, and I don’t find Mira particularly compelling as a character either. Since they’ll be carrying the show, that’s a bit on a issue.

I’m giving it another episode to change my mind, but I think my time is better spent elsewhere.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2016 – Page 4

BBK/BRNK (Bubuki Buranki)

(12ish episodes ?)

What’s it about ?

Hmm… An youth adventure series featuring some mecha action. Also, a rare show not adapting anything.

Characters

As a kid, Azuma used to live with his parents and twin sister in a small house in the countryside… with tons of mechas (the “Buranki”) lying around, sleeping ominously. Sometimes one of them wakes up ; it’s quickly made clear that Mom is some sort of semi-retired superheroine who subdues them and keeps them under control.

While Azuma was a rather quiet and fearful kid, his sister Kaoruko was a bonehead tomboy who kept endangering the both of them. She got it into her head that the Buranki needed to be dealt with definitely, and that by aggressively kickstarting her own powers she could kill them all. This was of course a massively stupid idea, as she wakes them all up at once. The best Mom can do at damage control is to stay behind while she sends off Hubbie and the kids while she stays behind to try and contain the Buranki. And by “off”, I mean off the huge space rock the whole sequence has been taking place in, and down to Earth. The impact may have cause some collateral damage.

Cue to 10 years later. Dad and Kaoruko are nowhere to be seen. Mom is the official scapegoat for everything wrong ever, to the point that it’s obvious that there’s a lot of cover-up going on. Azuma had been roaming the world looking for something, and gets arrested nearly as soon as he puts a foot back in Japan.

Fortunately, he has a bunch of friends (he has not seen in a while) who come to his rescue from the fascist cops. They all have Bubiki, aka “hands of Buranki”, aka weird super-weapons with eyes. The issue being that the most elite of their pursuers have better ones.

Production Values

Bless studio Sanzigen (Black Rock Shooter, Arpeggio of Blue Steel…) for keeping trying to make cel-shaded CG animation work on a TV budget. 1/4th of the time here, it doesn’t quite work : the body language and the facial animation are a bit awkward. But the rest of the time, it really shines : the action sequences are marvelously kinetic, the scenery has an impressive sense of scale, and the nice colourful designs for characters and weapons really pop. The epic score helps quite a bit, too.

Overall Impression

Wow. This is almost very good, but just shy of it. Not because of the actual plot, which isn’t particularly distinctive ; it’s all in the energy of the storytelling, and the quality of execution. Which makes it all the worse when there are blips into the uncanny valley. And that’s a shame, as it’s otherwise quite enthralling (and enough to make be ignore my qualms about the minor plot holes).

I’ll be watching a few more episodes, hoping it can keep up its frantic pace for the long run. We’ll see.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2016 – Page 3

Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn (Koukaku no Pandora)

(12ish episodes ?)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a manga from Masamune Shirow, of Ghost in the Shell fame. Except at the stage of his career where he can indulge into drawing what he’s always wanted to : lesbian quasi-porn. This time around, where the ladies have very petite bodies indeed.

Characters

Nene, our protagonist, is a rather naive cyborg who had so much of her body replaced that she’s often mistaken for an android. She was on a cruise to wherever, playing videogames, when she caught the attention of…

Uzal, a mad scientist who claims to be fighting whatever is causing those random highly pyrotechnic attacks all around, and “helps” our heroine get to the safety of her lab. It’s very obvious well before we get onscreen confirmation that she’s gaslighting Nene so that she can become a powerful tool and weapon against her enemies.

Clarion, an android, is Uzal’s main underling ; one of the chief reasons Nene goes along is that she finds her cute. Also, a way for Nene to power up (installing new apps that are totally not malware) is for her to put her hand in a cavity in Clarion’s crotch and… DAMN YOU SHIROW.

Uzal also has a squad of incompetent underlings in fetishistic outfits (bunny girl, maid, etc.), because of course she does.

Production Values

It’s colourful, the action sequences are well-executed without overstaying their welcome, and beyond the obvious there’s way less fanservice than you’d expect.

Overall Impression

There are bits here I quite like. Uzal as a Totally Not Evil mad scientist has heaps of charisma. The running gag with the reporter who always gets hit by collateral damage is mildly funny. And it’s certainly not boring.

But then you get to the actual premise, and NOPE NOPE NOPE. It doesn’t help that every character is so one-dimensional I really don’t care what happens to them, or where this is going. The season is way too busy for me to bother hate-watching this.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2016 – Page 3

Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Wait, you thought you could have an anime season without the gratuitous fanservice-ladden boobfest ?

There are a couple of upcoming videogames tying in with this, but with different narrative focus ; this is basically its own thing.

Characters

Tokonome was an ordinary girl with merely an unfortunate surname (it can also be read as “Virgin”) until she got snatched by MIBs and stranded on a mysterious island where people keep attacking her. Or assaulting her.

It quickly becomes clear that the place is a gathering place/academy for super-powered girls. Half of them are “Exsters”, who turn into weapons when aroused ; and the others are Liberators, who do the arousing and can wield them. And they gang up on the newbie as a way to test her strength.

This is actually way more organized than it sounds ; the women supervising the whole island set up the whole thing, and there’s even betting between the numerous bystanders over who will win.

A Mysterious Girl shows up just after our heroine (wait, were they all sent by missiles ?), and they quickly partner up. Unlike Tokonome, she actually has a clue about their abilities and what’s going on ; she forces Tokonome to transform so that they can handle the S-M duo sent against them. Also, she’s so stoic and silent that her finally actually speaking in the last scene of the episode is quite the shock.

Production Values

Of course it’s studio Arms at the wheel ; and this is even more softcore-porny than their average, with exposed boobies, clothing damage that barely covers the crotch, and onscreen lesbian sex. Also, nobody seems to be wearing a bra.

Overall Impression

On the one hand, props to the writers for putting a bit of thought to their excuse plot, which is way more elaborate than necessary. On the other hand, this is still crap, with annoying main characters, even more annoying antagonists, and a deep sense of unease throughout that makes this feel very unarousing indeed.

One episode was well enough, thank you.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2015 – Page 4

AntiMagic Academy 35th Test Platoon (Taimadou Gakuen 35 Shiken Shoutai)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Oh goody : this is the third light novel adaptation about teenagers in magical high school this season. Third time’s the charm ?

Characters

Uh, the AntiMagic Academy is a more interesting setting than most of its ilk : it’s an explicit military training facility, preparing the next generation of witch-hunting inquisitors. Students are divided into Platoons, who go onto proper field missions all the time.

Takeru, our male lead, heads the titular 35th Test Platoon. They’re known as complete screw-ups who keep idling around instead of performing their missions. His laid-back leadership may be part of the issue… or maybe it’s the only way to handle such a rag-tag of misfits.

Usagi, the sniper, always gets distracted and can’t aim for crap. Suginami, the mission control, spends more time teasing them than actually giving them intelligence. (And her hacking always gives them more trouble than it’s worth.) Also, they’re kinda lacking a proper heavy hitter.

Enter Ouka. Who used to be a proper graduated inquisitor, but got sent back to training after she turned out to be way too intense and lethal on her missions. The academy make a point of assigning her to the 35th Test Platoon ; she doesn’t get it, and keeps soloing everything anyway. While she is very good at witch-hunting, she’s way too vicious about it, and it leads to an immediate clash with her “teammates”.

Production Values

You can always count on studio Silver Link to make a show look better than average ; not so much with the animation than with the colour design.

Overall Impression

This is a complete shock : I actually quite liked this. WHY ? Let’s take a review :
– Making the setting explicitly military-based shifts the plot beats to something more palatable. There’s virtually none of the standard high school tropes at play here. Even the “competition” between platoons (with explicit points) is framed around real-world missions that give a clear indication of what the academy is grooming its trainees for. (Instead of generic tournaments with no obvious purpose but having super-powered teenagers let off steam.)
– We come to a nearly fully-formed cast. Instead of “Here’s our male lead encountering a bunch of potential haremettes in quick succession”, it’s “here’s our fight unit, which happens to have one dude and three girls”. The one dude feels a lot less special and singled out by the narrative. Focusing the episode on only those four and the bare minimum of supporting cast also helps out.
– It’s quite fast-paced. In one episode, we get the whole cast introduced, two missions, already some character development, and foreshadowing for the antagonists. As it turns out, cutting down on the cliché fluff and being mercifully light on techno-babble leaves out a lot of room for actual stuff to happen.
– There’s a lot of good casting. Yoshimasa Hosoya is a very interesting choice for the male lead, as his baseline is “angry dude”. Takeru is way more nice than his average, but there’s still a heavy subtext of barely-contained anger to his interpretation. Which gives him an edge over most of his type. Also, having Ryoko Shiraishi and Rumi Ookubo for the comedy sidekicks is always a boon, as they know their stuff.
– Nobody’s a princess.

None of this is rocket science ; and it’s not like this is a great show by any regards. (For one, it still has a “dude falls onto the tsundere’s breasts” gag.) But it’s all little touches that make it a show that I’m actually mildly interested in following, instead of just wanting to strangle the writers for their laziness.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2015 – Page 4