Tag: from RPG.net

Shining Hearts – the Bread of Happiness (Shiawase no Pan)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Generic fantasy RPG setting. Starring bakers.

Characters

Rick, a promising young breadmaker, whose shop is starting to get great business. No personality beyond “the reasonable one”.

His three interchangeable “cute” employees, who barely share a personality (and a brain) between the three of them. And let’s not even go into those terrible outfits those girls are wearing.

Alvin, the ruler of the local elf-forest our heroes get lost in halfway through the episode. He’s a dick. He’s got a sister who’s more amiable but no less irritating.

There’s no plot whatsoever in sight. Alvin mumbles a bit about the red moon being a bad omen, but there’s no indication it’s anything other than a sign announcing bad weather the next day.

Production Values

Terrible. The character designs are generic crap, the music is off-the-shelf and just ridiculous whenever it goes for the dramatic, and the whole thing feels like it has no soul whatsoever.

One point that sums the whole show up : there are numerous female characters, played by a variety of more or less popular voice-actresses. There are only two male characters of any note, and both of them are voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya.

Overall Impression

Look ! It’s generic soulless crap ! At least Sengoku Collection had a joke (however stale it was) and sketched out the plot within its first episode ; this is just a big pile of nothing, with no tension, no plot, no characters and no jokes.

I’m sure you can make a decent series about making bread, but this isn’t it. There’s absolutely nothing worth watching here.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2012 – Page 10.

Kids on the Slope (Sakamichi no Apollon)

(11 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Jazz in the 60s in Japan.

Characters

Kaoru, our point-of-view character. He’s a perpetual transfer student (his father kept moving around due to his job, and he’s now staying at his aunt’s), and not very good at dealing with other people. His main problem is that his anxiety often builds up and makes him nauseous… Oh, wait, he gets over it within the course of the first episode. Move along, then. Also, he’s got an actual personality : the stuck-up, bright kid that looks down a bit on everyone. He plays the piano and loves classical music, but this changes when he meets…

Sentarou, the class delinquent, the huge dude everyone’s afraid of. The kind of guy who can take on three senior students and not look ridiculous (he loses, because this is not the kind of series that lets him get away with it unscathed). He takes an interest on this puny protagonist that won’t back down, and it’s irritation at first sight between the two of them. He plays drums (often with improvised sticks on every available surface), and is a jazz fanatic.

Ritsuko, the class representative, and the actual reason Kaoru takes an interest in jazz. See, her father has this record store, and she invites him to the soundproof music room downstairs… and Sentarou’s already there, playing drums (they’re childhood friends). Cue macho posturing.

Production Values

Pretty good. And hey, if you’re going to do an anime series about jazz, you can’t go wrong with a Yoko Kanno soundtrack.

Overall Impression

There were always going to be a lot of expectations over Shinichiro (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo) Watanabe’s big return. Well, this is nothing like those shows. This isn’t an action showcase at all, and you couldn’t make it more mundane and down-to-earth if you tried. The direction doesn’t do flashy at all… although there are some nice ideas such as introducing Sentarou through his music way before we actually get to see him.

What this is, though, is a love letter to jazz, played by characters who have some charisma indeed. I’m hooked, and I could see this grow on me as the season passes.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2012 – Page 10.

Tsuritama (“Fishing Bowl”)

(11 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Saving the world through fishing !

… Yeah, I haven’t a clue either.

Characters

Yuki, our point-of-view character. He’s a perpetual transfer student (his grandmother, with whom he lives, keeps moving around the country), and terrible at dealing with other people. His main problem is that his anxiety keeps building up until he’s suffocating… literally, which from an outside point of view looks like he’s getting angry and making weird faces for no reason. His other problem is that his self-pitying narration makes him very annoying.

Haru, the other transfer student. He’s very, very weird. For starters, he keeps claiming he’s an alien. He wanders around the city with a fishbowl on his head. This fish may or may not be his sister. He suddenly starts living at Yuki’s with no explanation. And he’s got a watergun that stops Yuki’s anxiety moments and makes the target lose consciousness and follow him for a bit.

Natsuki, a normal dude in their class that’s a bit irritated with those two bozos. Unfortunately, he works part-time at the fishing store Haru has now decided to patron. Poor guy, I pity him.

There’s also a mysterious foreign dude (and his MIB unit) stalking them and observing them from afar. He’s seen having a meal with a duck.

Production Values

Perfectly alright. It’s got an heavy metaphorical bent (water keeps invading the screen and drowning Yuki, for example) that helps the general weirdness blend in.

Also, I have no clue what that pre-credits sequence (a myth of a woman defeating a five-headed dragon) was about, but it certainly was pretty to look at.

Overall Impression

Well, that was certainly a bizarre watch. I think there may be too much emphasis on Yuki’s “normality”, because he’s way too obnoxious and only becomes tolerable once in presence of characters who won’t let him get away with so much mopping around.

Now, the alien/”saving the world” thing… I have no clue whether this is all Haru’s delusion, or there’s some actual SF elements to the show. The series does just enough to intrigue me. I’m not sure I care enough to see it to the end, but it gets at least another episode.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2012 – Page 10.

Jormungand

(12 episodes + 12 more episodes this Fall)

What’s it about ?

Psychotic arm dealers are COOL.

Characters

Jonah, child soldier from whateverland. Presumably he’s got quite some backstory, but this first episode doesn’t care to enlighten us much yet. Having lost his family to the pointlessness of war, he obviously hates weapons, and thus arm dealers. But to do anything about it, he needs weapons. Hence why he’s now in the employ of…

Koko, head of a tight-knit arms-dealing group. The joke here is that half the time, she behaves like most other Shizuka Itou characters : constant flirting, childish temper tantrums… It’s just that in this context, it makes her even more terrifying. Especially when she suddenly drops back to “pro” mode in mid-sentence.

There are eight other members in the unit, but there’s no time for them to get too much development yet. there’s the prettyboy, the seasoned old soldier, the token other girl who’s a bit too protective of Koko, the guy in a suit and glasses that can’t be as innocent as he looks… Presumably we’ll get to know them better in the next 23 episodes.

Production Values

Impressive. This has the best car chase I’ve seen in a while, for example. And Koko wouldn’t work as well without the care applied to her body language and crazy faces.

Also, Taku Iwasaki signs the soundtrack. It’s not his flashiest, but It does become more and more catchy as the action sequences gather momentum. (Also, I laughed out loud at the track playing during the next-episode preview. Perfect choice.)

Overall Impression

Hello, Black Lagoon clone ! Not that there’s anything wrong with that, mind. It certainly manages to catch the right vibe, balancing charismatic psychotic characters, dynamic action sequences and discussions of existentialism quite well.

There’s one little problem, though : this first episode features two different jobs, and they both suffer from the small screentime they get. The first one has muddled stakes (it’s not immediately clear what our team is trying to achieve), and the second has them pulling a plan so straightforward it makes their opponent look like an idiot.

But that’s a minor problem ; the goal here was to sell us on the premise and the protagonists. Mission accomplished.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2012 – Page 9.

Nyarko-san: Another Crawling Chaos (Haiyore! Nyaruko-san)

(12ish episodes ?)

What’s it about ?

Lovecraft monsters as cute girls ! Except not really.

Characters

Mahiro, our token male protagonist. Mostly there to keep complaining that nothing makes sense. For some reason, he’s targeted by tons of creepy monsters, thus why he’s being protected by…

Nyarlathotep, aka Nyarlko. Except she’s not really a sanity-destroying abomination (unless you want to give this series way too much credit), but an alien agent sent by the Galactic Defense Organization to protect Mahiro. Oh, and the access to Earth entertainment is a nice side-benefit, too. Obviously she’s supposed to be annoying, but they kinda overshoot the mark.

We see a bit of Mahiro’s supporting cast, including a rare non-perverted best friend (who’s just bland), and the inquisitive journalist-type who’s set up to be a regular annoyance. The OP/ED also promises two more of Nyarlko’s kind, but they’ve yet to really show up.

Production Values

Not very good. And no, re-using the same stock monster three times does not become more tolerable if it’s pointed out.

Overall Impression

You know what ? I actually enjoyed somewhat the Flash-made shorts from a little while ago. Sure, they were crudely drawn and some of them were boring, but they did have a good final punchline, and clearly suggested that those were eldritch abominations mindfucking Mahiro (and the audience) in a very convoluted way for the lulz. That was a decent way to make the premise work.

Unfortunately, this new series pretty much throws all of that away. I mean, you can still interpret it that way if you’re so inclined, but that’s probably wishful thinking. Instead, Nyarlko is transformed into a generic superhero who’s bloody annoying in the downtime scenes (I can only stand Kana Asumi in small doses), which is just a waste.

So we’re left with a generic superhero show with an insufferable heroine and tons of 4th-wall-breaking jokes that aren’t funny. I’ll pass.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2012 – Page 8.

Dusk Maiden of Amnesia (Tasogare Otome x Amnesia)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

A high school detective club who investigate ghost stories. And the club’s president is a ghost.

Characters

Okonogi, our point of view character for the first half of this episode. She seems to be the secretary of the club. She’s really, really stupid, and completely fails to pick up the numerous clues that there’s a ghost just next to her. Half of her interior monologue is devoted to how much she likes…

Teiichi, the vice-president of the club. He’s apparently got a sixth sense for paranormal events (although reading Okonogi’s thoughts is just a string of coincidences and misunderstandings). At the very least, he’s the only person who can see AND touch…

Yuuko, the club president, and a famous ghost haunting the school. It’s just that Okonogi is too dumb to make the connection. Since she’s invisible to most, she spends a lot of her time trolling people and flirting with Teiichi. She’s got some memory problems, hence the series’ title.

Kirie, the fourth member of the club. Somehow she can see Yuuko (the reason why isn’t explained in this episode, but becomes obvious once I did three seconds of research), and thus she spends most of her screentime being annoyed by her antics.

The gimmick in this episode is that you see the exact same sequence of events twice (down to the specific camera angles), first without and then with Yuuko and her dialogue. It’s not as successful as it could be, as most of it was perfectly obvious the first time around ; but there’s enough new material (especially Yuuko’s body language) for it not to feel like a waste of time.

Production Values

Impressive. The animation team goes out of its way to make even a simple corridor look cool, and the episode’s gimmick wouldn’t work without a great attention to detail and body language. There’s also some good use of colour for atmospheric effect. That said, there are some points later on where Okonogi’s hysterics devolve into SD shorthand.

Overall Impression

Hum. This is a decent setup episode ; the joke isn’t subtle, but it works. And of course, it looks great.

The problem is that, while we’ve now got a good handle on the characters, there’s no indication about where the show itself is going. Is the gang going to have random slice-of-life adventures ? Or is there a wider plot coming ? This episode doesn’t tell us, and so it’s hard to say yet whether the series can sustain 11 more episodes. (I really hope the gimmick was a one-shot, because otherwise it’s going to be bloody annoying.)

Well, at least I’m intrigued enough to check a couple more episodes out.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2012 – Page 7.

Mysterious Girlfriend X (Nazo no Kanojo X)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Romantic comedy (?) where the teenagers are really, really horny.

Characters

Akira, our protagonist. He’s a bit generic, with his most notable character trait being the very weird dreams he has. But then, it’s hard to stand out next to…

Mikoto, the mysterious new transfer student. I’ll grant her that : she’s weird in a way I’ve never seen before. She utterly refuses to socialize with the rest of the class and spends the breaks asleep at her desk. At one point she randomly erupts into wild laughter, to everyone else’s consternation. The only panty shot in the whole episode is to show she keeps a pair of scissors tugged in with the string.

The plot here is that Akira becomes addicted to her drool. Not because there’s anything special in it, ahah, that’d just be nonsense (OR IS IT ?), he’s just a horny teenager who’s fallen in love with her. Not that she minds, as a voice told her he would be the one she’s have her first sex with. (THAT’s why she suddenly erupted in laughter the other day.)

Production Values

Quite good. The dream sequences are especially nice to look at. The character designs are a bit retro, but Mikoto’s eye-obscuring bangs are a good design choice.

Special mention to the soundtrack, which together with the direction manages to permeate nearly every scene with a foreboding and creepily offbeat atmosphere. Even (and especially) when nothing bizarre is happening.

Overall Impression

Another well-directed “a boy and his creepy girlfriend” adaptation this season ? Okay, I’m not complaining, especially as this takes a completely different direction from Sankarea. The emphasis here is on how weird Mikoto is, especially as it’s impossible to tell whether she’s really just a normal girl who doesn’t fit in, or whether there’s something more at work here. There’s plenty to be paranoid about here… and Akira’s overactive imagination doesn’t help.

I have no clue whatsoever where this is going, but I’m hooked.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2012 – Page 7.

The Basketball Which Kuroko Plays (Kuroko no Basuke)

What’s it about ?

Classic shounen sports series.

Characters

Taiga Kagami, an abrasive man-mountain who’s just entering this brand-new high school the series is set in. Of course he joins the basketball club : he’s very good and he knows it. He’s not playing for fun, but because he thinks the tournament’s level is way too low and he must contribute to raising it (his recent stay in the US might explain his attitude somewhat).

Tetsuya Kuroko, another first year with no presence whatsoever. (It’s a running gag that people never notice he’s there.) He comes from a middle school which had a basketball team called “the Generation of Miracles” who crushed everyone else on the circuit. Kuroko wasn’t part of the top 5 regulars, though ; actually, he’s mostly crap at basketball, utterly incapable of dribbling or shooting right. But there’s ONE thing he’s insanely good at : passing the ball in a way that completely blindsides the opposing team. (Obviously, his natural propension at being invisible also helps.)

Riko Aida, the only female character in sight. Well, at least she’s not the manager (if you’re not aware, it’s a traditional position for token females in anime school-set sports series who doesn’t manage anything but is basically a glorified gofer), but the hard-ass coach who’s going to press the first-year noobs into shape.

And then there’s the other members of the club, but they don’t really leave much of an impression yet.

Production Values

Not very high, but the storytelling is sound. The soundtrack might be trying a bit too hard to make everything dramatic and suspenseful, but it mostly works.

Overall Impression

Hey, this is better than I expected. Sport series obey to a strict formula and there’s nothing here that really strays from it, but there’s enough playfulness around the usual tropes to make it feel fresh. Kuroko’s deadpan attitude is a lot of fun, and him and Kagami make for a fun odd couple.

I wasn’t really expecting to keep following this, but the first episode intrigued me.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2012 – Page 7.

Upotte

(10 episodes)

What’s it about ?

The unholy combination of gunporn and lolicon.

Characters

FNC, aka Funko. She’s an assault rifle that looks and acts like a middle-schooler. (Well, the completely reality-detached fetishization of middle-schoolers you find in lolicon, anyway.) I have a hard time even making sense of this : there’s a permanent association between her body-parts elements of the rifle (guess which part’s the trigger ?), but then she’s shown holding her namesake when firing.

And there’s a whole school of them ! Which includes most of the teachers. But only the girls, I have no clue what the boys are even doing there. Anyway, most of their characterization revolves around stereotypes about which country manufactures their namesake gun (and/or characteristics of the guns), in a way that makes Axis Powers Hetalia look sensitive and subtle. I gave up on keeping track of them when they gave the American a Kansai accent for no good reason… and pointed it out in dialogue quickly. (This series loves breaking the fourth wall. It doesn’t make it funny or endearing, it’s just bloody annoying.)

There’s also a new transfer teacher, and he’s as confused by the whole thing as us. The series never gets around to giving him any name beyond “Sensei”, which seems to be meant as a running gag. Funko sends him to the hospital on his first day after he blurts out he’s seen her wearing a thong and OH DEAR GODS MAKE IT STOP

Production Values

Dire. I presume keeping Sensei’s face obscured for most of the episode is a stylistic choice, although it’s hard to tell when the direction goes out of its way to have whoever’s talking off-screen or shot from behind to skim on the animation budget.

Thankfully we don’t actually see Funko’s thong. The fanservice level keeps to longing shot of the cameras on middle-schoolers’ legs, and copious amounts of clothed breast-groping.

Overall Impression

I was wondering whether we’d been spared any truly dire series this season. Sure, Shiba Inuko-san, ZETMAN and Sengoku Collection are crap, and I’ve skipped the latest Queen’s Blade season, but those are at least somewhat watchable.

But this is utterly sanity-destroying stuff. I alternated racking my brain in an effort to make sense of the utterly incomprehensible premise… and getting assaulted by the sudden ramping up of the lolicon angle. Whatever you think of the bizarre gun metaphor, there’s no obscuring of the fact that Funko spends half the episode aroused at the thought of Sensei touching her.

Also, it’s a comedy show that isn’t funny in the slightest. And it looks terrible. And nobody’s got any personality. There’s no redeeming value to this whatsoever.

Avoid like the plague. I watched this so you didn’t have to.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2012 – Page 7.

Acchi Kocchi

(12ish episodes)

What’s it about ?

Idiot hair, the anime.

Okay, not really, but it’s hard to find any actual premise here. It’s a gag series set in high school, adapted from a 4-panel manga.

Characters

Tsumiki, our central character. She’s short and very shy. Also, utterly improbable hair. She randomly sprouts cat ears whenever the show wants to make her cuter, which just looks a bit weird.

Io, her kinda boyfriend. He’s a boy of few words, and it’s hard to say at this point whether he’s deadpan or just bland.

Mayoi, their insane troll friend. She likes pranks, and the labcoat she’s always wearing makes her a technical genius, which is a dangerous combination.

Hime, their perverted fangirl friend. The kind who always gets nosebleeds when they do something cute. A bit ditzy and clueless.

Sakaki, the mandatory perverted best friend dude. Well, at least he’s more subdued and has more charisma than the norm.

Ms. Sakuragawa, their clumsy teacher with no authority whatsoever.

Production Values

Pretty scene transitions ! It’s almost a shame that these nifty geometric gimmicks don’t bleed more into the actual sketches, because they give the show most of its identity.

Overall Impression

Your token generic 4-panel gag series. Perfectly inoffensive, and most gags do trigger a smile, but the only distinctive thing about it (besides the scene transitions) is that it’s somewhat gender-balanced and centers on a romance subplot (that probably won’t go anywhere).

Eh, it looks like there’s nothing else on Fridays anyway, so I may well stick with it.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2012 – Page 6.