Tag: from RPG.net

Brave 10

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Yet another Sengoku-era anime…

Characters

Isanami, the only surviving priestess of a temple that got burned down by ninja mooks. She’s really, really annoying ; the kind of useless, needy, rude and emotionally manipulative damsel-in-distress I hate on sight. To the show’s credit, this does seem to be intentional. Also, she’s got a magical jewel on her head that starts killing everything in a ten-feet radius when she’s under too much duress (but she doesn’t seem to be aware of it).

Saizou, our protagonist, a ronin that Isanami stumbles onto while fleeing more ninja mooks. He tries (and fails) to get rid of her for the whole episode, but those pesky mooks keep attacking and dooming themselves by announcing they don’t want witnesses. Since he’s a badass with magical attacks, that’s obviously a terrible idea. Anyway, he’s painfully aware that Isanami is trying to take advantage of him.

Yukimura, the local lord. Isanami was advised to run to him, but he doesn’t think she’s worth the trouble and throws her away. He changes his mind after seeing the effects of the life-sucking jewel : this looks like something worth controlling, although he’ll need more muscle to keep hold of it. Hence his decision to assemble 10 warriors for that task. (Yeah, I don’t really trust this dude either.)

It looks like the show is going to spend some time gathering the 10 ; so far, we only have Yukimura’s right hand man and a reluctant Saizou. I’m pleasantly surprised to see there’ll be some women amongst the others.

Production Values

Perfectly okay.

Overall Impression

Hey, this was a lot more entertaining than I expected. A good deal of the show’s charm resides on Daisuke Ono’s charisma, who’s perfect for world-weary badassitude and injects tons of personality into our protagonist. You can hear the facepalming at getting dragged into this nonsense.

… Because, let’s be honest, there’s not a shred of originality in the plot itself or the way it unfolds. This is rife with clichés, and only the tongue-in-cheek sense of fun makes it watchable. It’s a show that knows it’s stupid and invites us to join the ride anyway. I think they had me at “Daisuke Ono” anyway ; I’m a sucker for mediocre shows starring him.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2012 – Page 4.

Bodacious Space Pirates (Moretsu Uchuu Kaizoku)

(26 episodes)

What’s it about ?

In the far future, after mankind spread into outer space, there was a big war between the central power and the most far-flung colonies. The separatists were so out-matched they had to commission space pirates to undermine their enemy. It’s now been about a hundred years since the war ended (and the show is pointedly not telling us how it ended, besides implying it was somewhat ludicrous), but some of those space pirates are still around somehow. Although given that their license is currently under review, this may be about to change…

Characters

Marika, the teenage daughter of the captain of the main pirate ship still around, although she didn’t know that. Daddy died a couple of days ago, and the law says the ship goes to his next of kin, so suddenly the crew is stalking her and innocently asking her whether she’d like to visit outer space. Marika’s nonplussed by the whole thing (“Wait, there are legal pirates ?”), but outer space does sound cool.

Ririka, Marika’s mother, used to be part of the crew, but the implication being that she settled down after having her daughter. (But given that we later get a short look at her working in a military uniform, she’s hardly the stay-at-home kind.) She enjoys seeing the old crew again, and doesn’t have any qualms about Marika leaving with them… provided that’s what she wants, of course.

Kane McDougall, the navigator, somehow managed to become the replacement teacher for Marika’s class. Half to keep an eye on her, and half to discretely scout new recruits for the crew. Refreshingly, he immediately tells the class he’s married, and later notes he’d never had guessed dealing with high school girls could be so tiring, so that’s at least one bullet dodged.

Chiaki, a conveniently new transfer student who immediately starts stalking Marika. She does save our protagonist from a kidnapping attempt by a fake law officer (as well as a roomful of MIBs who were suspiciously lounging in the maid café Marika works part time at), but there’s still no hint of who she’s working for. (She’s voiced by Kana Hanazawa in “Everyone I’m talking to is an idiot” mode, which is always pleasant to listen to.)

There’s a token normal friend of Marika running around, and she’s prominently featured in the ED, but she’s yet to do much.

Production Values

Quite nice indeed. There’s something slightly retro to the character designs, which works well with the general atmosphere. Despite what you’d expect from the title, the fanservice level is quite mild (well, aside from that thing Kane’s colleague was wearing in the café).

The OP & ED sound like someone liked the autotune effects a bit too much, but I don’t have a problem with that.

Overall Impression

Perfectly pleasant, and with enough sense of fun for me to keep watching. I quite like that the show is immediately addressing the concept of “family-friendly pirates”, and I’m intrigued at what reason there is for them to still exist.

I didn’t want to place hopes to high on this, but so far it’s fulfilling them.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2012 – Page 3.

Symphogear – The Swan Songs of the Valkyries (Senhime Zesshou Symphogear)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

In the future, Earth is randomly assaulted by swarms of “Noises”, (basically : eldritch abominations). Our only effective means of defense are the Twei Wings, a pair of song-powered superheroines (supported by a whole secret agency) who have secret identities as idol singers.

Characters

Kanade, the red Twei Wing, who jumps into action without waiting for support when a swarm of Noise attacks one of their concerts. The big twist is that she sacrifices herself halfway through the episode to save some innocent bystanders by singing an actual swan song (i.e., the cost of its power is her own life).

Tsubasa, the blue Twei Wing, has obviously turned somewhat bitter as a way of coping with her partner’s death. She’s thrown herself into the job even more, in an emotionally detached way.

Out actual protagonist, at least for this episode, is Hibiki, a girl who was attending the concert and got caught into the attack ; Kanade was trying to save her, and she gets such an injury that it’s a wonder she survived (the scar does look quite suspect). Kanade’s sacrifice has obviously left a big impression on Hibiki, and when she later stumbles onto yet more Noises, she gathers all her strength and will to try and save a kid who happened to be there. When eventually surrounded by Noises, she even tries to sing her own swan song… except what it transforms her into looks rather more like a monster than a superheroine. Oops.

And just to make this more hopeless, the episode opens with a flashforward of Hibiki’s best friend visiting her grave. Oh, dear.

Production Values

This looks quite impressive indeed : the future looks wonderful, the Noises are creepy as heck (they don’t look too frightening until they actually attack, and urgh), the animation for the fights is crisp, and if you’re going to feature battle songs prominently, you can’t go wrong with Nana Mizuki (who’s on top form here).

Overall Impression

Wow, this took me completely by surprise. This is a show that lulls you into a false sense of security with its bright colours and cheerful atmosphere… until the Noises attack and innocent bystanders go down like flies. I’m glad they didn’t go for a darker palette, because the show is already brutal as it is.

It also helps that I have absolutely no clue where this is going, what with killing off one of the four main characters and promising to do the same to another one (and there’s no OP or ED yet to give any hints). This could turn into Tsubasa begrudgingly mentoring Hibiki as a replacement for Kanade… but if there’s something this first episode has proven, it’s that anything can happen.

Me likey.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2012 – Page 3.

High School DxD

What’s it about ?

Harem show featuring succubi in yet another of those high schools that recently went co-ed and have far more girls than boys.

Characters

Issei, our protagonist. He’s part of a clique of three perverted guys who joined the school to get some. His catchphrase ? “I want to touch boobs !” Obviously most of the girls view them with disgust and stay well away. Just to make him even more repellent, he’s voiced by Yuki Kaji, whose voice I’ve grown to hate over the last few seasons.

Yuuma, a girl who asks him out and proceeds to have the most cliché date possible with him. Everyone (including himself) wonders what she sees in that bozo. It turns out that she’s actually a succubus, and she stabs him halfway through the episode because of some nonsense about how he’s supposed to be important in some war between devil clans or something (she doesn’t seem quite clear herself on why he would be important, but better safe than sorry). Unfortunately, he’s then resurrected by…

Rias Gremory (sic), leader of another succubi clan dwelling at the school. Actually, she can only make Issei into a half-demon creature, with enhanced strength and senses at night… which really doesn’t sound too bad for him, especially as he gets to hang with a bunch of hot girls.

Production Values

Fanservice out the wazoo : gratuitous panty shots, naked breasts in abundance, lucious transformation sequences that make the protagonist admire them instead of running away…

There seems to be quite a bit of budget behind this : the animation is quite good (although it mostly focuses on body parts).

Overall Impression

This is slightly better than I expected. It’s got a good grasp of atmosphere, it’s well-paced, and some of the jokes are actually funny. On the other hand, there’s absolutely no way to save the plot, and I loathe the protagonist. I have no qualms with skipping this one.

But hey, points for trying a bit harder than most fanservice-y harem shows.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2012 – Page 3.

The Knight in the Area (Area no Kishi)

What’s it about ?

High-school soccer melodrama.

Characters

Kakeru, our protagonist. He used to be quite a good soccer player until he injured his left leg (the flashbacks are quick and vague), although since he’s running around without trouble most of the damage must be in his head. He’s switched to being the “manager” of his high-school soccer club (in the Japanese sense that he has no authority whatsoever and is a glorified go-fer). While he’s enthusiastic about it, he’s obviously in denial.

Suguru, his older brother, and the captain/star player of the club ; there’s a pre-credits scene of him marking for Japan against Brazil in the under-15 Cup, just to hammer the point. To say that Kakeru has an inferiority complex over him is an understatement. Suguru is getting annoyed at Kakeru’s denial and passive-aggressiveness, and frankly I’m with him. He pulls strings to get Kakeru back onto the team, which hopefully is going to get him out of his funk.

Nana (“Seven”), Kakeru’s tomboyish childhood friend. Her family had moved to the US for the last few years, but now she’s back. She claims to be making a move for the manager position, but I hope she gets to be on the team somehow, because she’s got spunk and she’s shown to have been quite good at it back in the day.

There’s a mysterious person (disguised as a grey, of all things) who surprises Kakeru as he was playing soccer alone in a park at night, and plays around with him for a bit. Kakeru thinks this may be either Suguru or one of the few other named players we’ve seen so far, but I’m not fooled for a second : this is obviously Nana.

We see a few of the other members of the soccer clubs, but because Kakeru seems to prefer associating with the underdogs, that means they’re the perpetual loser and the mandatory horny dude. Sigh.

Production Values

Quite low. It overuses still frames, and the animation’s nothing to write home about. I don’t really like the way how Suguru looks so much older than Kakeru despite them being stated to only be one year apart. Also, the score is laying the melodrama a bit thick.

Overall Impression

This is quite better than I expected at first. Kakeru is very annoying indeed, but I was pleasantly surprised that the series seems to agree that his attitude needs to change. I quite like the other characters (well, aside from the horndog), and I’m intrigued by the hints that Suguru may not survive the next couple of episodes.

I’m somewhat optimistic about this one, although I’m not sure how long I’ll keep with it (especially as I’m not sure for how long it’s going to run).

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2012 – Page 3.

Kill Me Baby

(12-ish episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a 4-panel gag manga about a hitgirl’s high school life.

Characters

Sonya, the Russian hitgirl. Extremely skilled in various ways of hurting people. She tries to mask it as “normal” paranoia, but she’s a bit of a scaredy cat.

Yasuna, Sonya’s too-dumb-to-live best friend. More accurately, she’s obviously playing up her stupidity to troll Sonya, though she really should have learned by now not to tap her on the shoulder.

Agiri, Sonya’s ninja rival. Has a tendancy to call anything a ninja technique (e.g., the “my hair’s not falling down despite my standing upside down on the ceiling (and neither is my skirt)” ninja technique). She’s a very effective troll. Also, while Sonya’s abilities are mostly plausible in a “waif fu” way, what Agiri can do just staggers disbelief.

There are other supernatural elements teased – mostly some saucer-type aliens prominently shown in the OP.

Production Values

Well, it plainly shows that JC Staff is animating 5 others shows this season, as this one is obviously operating on a shoe-string budget. The character designs are crude, and the whole thing is barely animated.

The OP is a strong contender for the most irritating of the season. The tune just doesn’t work. (The ED’s more to my tastes.)

Overall Impression

Well, the good news is that this show does seem to have more than one joke, which is essential for a regular-length comedy show. And the main characters do seem to have a little depth behind the façade (well, aside from Agiri, but that’s the joke). This goes a long way towards making the show watchable.

Is it actually funny ? Er, let’s not get carried away. I did get some chuckles out of it, but as not consistently enough as I’d like. As it stands, I’m considering dropping it soon if it doesn’t improve and better shows air this season.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2012 – Page 2.

Recorder & Randsell

(3-minute episodes)

What’s it about ?

The brother is 11 but looks 17. The sister is 17 but looks 11. “Comedy” ensues !

Characters

There’s really nothing to add to the high concept above. We get a glimpse at supporting characters, but none of them are worth noting.

Production Values

This looks decent enough… well, until the script call for a car to roll down a street, and we’re subjected to horrible CG. It’s obvious this barely has any budget. (It’s by the same studio as last year’s Miss Morita is Silent.)

The OP at the end eats a sixth of the running time, by the way. It’s mostly inoffensive, aside from a character who’s really going to hurt herself if she keeps running like that.

Overall Impression

Do you find “mistaken for a molester” jokes funny ? Well, I hope so, because that’s all you get this episode. This is obviously a series that’d live or die depending on whether it can extract actually funny jokes out of its bizarre high concept premise… and nope, sorry, there’s not a shred of anything but stale humour here.

Don’t bother with this one.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2012.

Lagrange : the Flower of Rin-ne (Rinne no Lagrange)

(12 episodes this Winter, 12 this Summer)

What’s it about ?

Fanservice-y mecha show.

Characters

Madoka, our teenage protagonist. She’s an honour member of basically every club in her high school (her schedule is a thing to behold), although she declined the honours of heading the Kendo Club and/or being the Student Council President because she prefers presiding the Sweats Club (whatever that is), despite being the only member of it. She’s the kind of person who jumps in to save a random swimmer drowning on her way to the school, and doesn’t think too much of it. It also happens that about a decade ago, she made a contract of some sort with the super-speshul mecha at the heart of the plot. (Her absent mother is strongly hinted to have been the previous pilot.)

Fin e Ld si Laffinty (aka “Lan”), the mysterious albino girl in swimsuit-like sci-fi clothes… oh, wait, she says almost immediately she’s an alien. Mystery solved, then. She shows up out of the blue to drag Madoka to the aforementioned mecha so that she can pilot it against another alien faction. The subtext is that she’s obviously taking advantage of Madoka’s generous (and slightly clueless) nature for her own ends.

Yoko, Madoka’s 20-something cousin, a scientist (?) who’s part of the human task force working with Lan’s alien faction. She’s entirely against Madoka piloting the mecha (this comes from a promise to Madoka’s mother). She’s rough and callous, but it’s obvious the two of them do love each others like true siblings.

The human task force operates out of a floating base cruising near the town Madoka lives in. Lan’s faction appears to only have a couple of envoys, while the other alien faction operates out of a spaceship and attacks because… er, I don’t really have a clue yet. It also looks like there’s only three of them.

Production Values

This is a XEBEC show, which means a good amount of fanservice. It includes scenes such as Yoko randomly asking Madoka to strip (because the mark of her pilot powers or something is conveniently located on her butt cheek), or a gratuitous extended shower scene for Madoka. It really could be a lot worse, though : it’s a bit distracting and eye-rolling, but there’s nothing horrible (or worth being censored). Just know what you’re getting.

The good news is that this is a XEBEC sci-fi show with some ambition : the mecha fights look great, the background are gorgeous (wasn’t this half-sponsored by the Japanese district it takes place in ?), and the body language of the characters is well-animated. This show obviously has quite some budget behind it. Almost a shame to watch this first episode in eyebleed-o-vision instead of the proper broadcast next week.

What did I think of it ?

This is about what I was expecting : a fun little mecha show that doesn’t take itself too seriously. I feel this is very similar to Stellvia of the Universe : the characters aren’t very deep, but pleasant to see interacting with each other ; the setup is mildly interesting (I like the idea that Madoka was only brought in because they need her to boot the mecha up, and the actual piloting is done remotely by a team of professionals… well, until Madoka takes matters in hand), and, well, it’s just a fun show.

I don’t expect this to be among the best shows of the season, but it’s quite enjoyable indeed.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2012.

The Tatami Galaxy (Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei)

(11 episodes, 2010)

My previous exposure

It’s a noitaminA show whose OP sequence was among JesuOtaku’s “best of 2010”. Beyond that, I knew nothing of it.

What’s it about ?

Our unnamed protagonist/narrator is a young college student who has spent the last two years in a quirky club ; he thought that’d be an occasion for socializing and having a great time, but it made him miserable and the only “friend” he made was Ozu, a backstabbing asshole who even looks impish. Well, there’s also this Akashi girl from the engineering department who might be a possible prospect… but our protagonist has by this point made such a mess of his life by this point that he thinks it’s too late to make a move, and really wishes he’d joined another club and never met Ozu.

The joke is that each episode has him joining a different club as he enters college, still meeting Ozu somehow, and still making a mess of his life in a completely different way. The series plays quite a bit on the format, first in #6-8 by having him join three clubs at once (with three different endings to about the same series of events), and then by climaxing in a tale where he never joins any club and things get really weird.

What did I think of it ?

Well, this is certainly a different anime from about everything else I’ve watched. I’m reminded a bit of some of the works of Satoshi Kon, with a stream-of-consciousness kind of storytelling that leaves a lot of room to dreamlike imagery. The character designs are deliberately cartoony, which helps when the plot gradually becomes more insane. I also love the ED sequence, which can only be described as “blueprint porn”, as rooms shuffle around rhythmically and thrust into one another along the tune.

This is a very wordy series. The characters are very talkative, and when they shut up, the protagonist takes over and never lets go. It could be tiring (and it is a bit), but the series is funny enough to get away with it. There are some great gags in every episode, the highlight probably being ep #3’s Cycling Club and its feud with the Illegal Parking Brigade.

What truly makes the series remarkable, though, is that the repetitive structure works. Each episode is different enough to entertain, and through each iteration we get a better handle on the supporting cast and how they all fit together. Especially remarkable is the final reveal about Ozu : he does have a purpose and a plan beyond random mischief, and it’s actually quite endearing. The weakest link may be Akashi, who doesn’t show that much personality beyond “ideal love interest”, but there’s still enough depth in her for the romance not to be forced. (It helps that some episodes have the narrator pursue some completely different women… or approximations thereof.) The ending is a bit weakened by the obviousness of the fractal structure of the narrative being made into the actual text, but there are enough pay-offs to what initially looked like throwaway bouts of weirdness for it to work.

This is a very good show which tried to do something very different from the norm and pulled it off. And it’s a lot of fun, too.

via [LTTP/WIW] Various anime from the 00s and beyond – Page 7.

Guardian of the Spirit (Seirei no Moribito)

(26 episodes, 2007)

My previous exposure

Heartily recommended by this thread at least thrice.

What’s it about ?

This is set in the Yogo empire, a parallel version of pre-industrial Japan with a rich spiritual world bubbling under the surface. A good part of the plot revolves on the relatively recent Yogo empire having mostly erased the spiritual knowledge of the previous civilization for political purposes, and having it biting them in the ass.

Case in point : Chagum, the young second son of the Emperor, has become the host of a major water spirit ; the Emperor mistakes it for a demon (because that’s how the faked histories describe it), and engineers “subtle” attempts on his son’s life to get rid of the menace. Chagum’s mother isn’t too keen on that, and hires Balsa, a foreign female bodyguard reputed to be very good at her job, to try and save him. Cue chase scenes and all-too-brief respites in the countryside in between.

Also among the main cast are Shuga, the high priest/diviner (and Chagum’s tutor) who leaked the news about the spirit to the Emperor and really regrets it ; Tanda, Balsa’s not-boyfriend, a skilled herborist who’s really handy to cure her frequent wounds ; and Torogai, Tanda’s teacher in all things spiritual, a wise (and abrasive) old woman who’s one of the few characters with enough knowledge to understand the significance of Chagum’s possession…

Because what Chagum is really carrying inside him is the egg of a water spirit whose rebirth is essential to the cycle of life in the world ; on the other hand, all the data Torogai can gather seems to confirm that Chagum is going to die in the process…

What did I think of it ?

This is a gorgeous show, with tremendous attention to detail. We spend a lot of time with our main characters living quiet lives in the countryside, and all of it feels real and well-researched. The (relatively rare) fight scenes are also impressive, Balsa being the most badass depiction of a spear-carrier I’ve ever seen. I also like that Chagum’s character design slightly changes in the last few episodes to reflect Balsa’s training and growing maturity.

The only false note on the production side is the score ; not that it’s bad (it’s very adept at rendering the atmosphere of a slightly eerie countryside with barely-concealed danger lurking underneath), but because it’s so strongly similar to another Kenji Kawai score from the same time period ; as a result, I was often half-expecting a redhead with a billhook to jump in at any time. That was quite distracting indeed. It’s only within the last few episodes that the soundtrack really manages to rise above this.

The strength of this series is its deep grounding in verisimilitude : all of it feels real, even when the cast is battling giant crablike monsters or sliding into the spiritual world. The society looks real, the politics are depressingly familiar, the characters feel like actual people (even the one-dimensional evil Emperor is a somewhat believable jerkass), and the supernatural elements are carefully and methodically worked in progressively so that they don’t feel jarring. I also enjoyed Chagum’s characterization ; he doesn’t whine, and he’s smart and well-learned. Actually, most of the characters are quite smart, and see reason relatively easily once they get the right information.

And this may be the part that doesn’t quite click : a big part of the plot hinges on the Emperor being a ruthless asshole as the only explanation for why the more reasonable rest of the cast spends so much time blundering about and working at cross purposes. It feels a bit like forced conflict, with the heavy-handed Message that forgetting (or worse, erasing) old knowledge is Wrong.

Still, this is a very entertaining tale that tries very hard to hit a mythic vibe, and mostly succeeds. Not my favourite genre, but it’s so well-done it doesn’t matter.

via [LTTP/WIW] Various anime from the 00s and beyond – Page 6.