Tag: heavy fanservice

Spring 2016 Capsules

Don’t bother with Ragnastrike Angels (if you can even find it). It’s a glorified 30-second commercial for the mobile game, and it’s over before you even realize it.

 

With three minutes of runtime, Pan de Peace! (the pun, it hurts !) at least manages to provide a more decent bite of content. It’s yet another adaptation of a 4-panel manga starring four girls with vague lesbian overtones, with the gimmick being that they’re all crazy about bread. Perfectly inoffensive, but nothing particularly distinctive or interesting either ; it’s comfort food, basically. And since I’m on a diet, I’m gonna skip it.

 

Oh, and just in case, the new JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure series, Diamond is Unbreakable starts off very promisingly. The colour design is even more striking than before somehow, too. And with only 39ish episodes planned, there’s a good chance it’s going to be less bloated than Stardust Crusaders.

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

 

As previously mentioned, I won’t be doing a full review of the first episode of Macross Delta, as I already covered a preview of it three months ago. Let’s just say that it’s still as charming, and there are few more minutes of stuff happening at the end. (Since the actual first episode is somehow shorter than the preview, I presume they cut several minutes of fluff earlier on ; none of it is really missed.)

 

And for completeness’ sake, Sailor Moon Crystal is back, now covering the manga’s “Infinity” arc. On the one hand, given the popularity of the first anime version of it, it’s a no-brainer. On the other hand, the manga version (followed to the letter here) unfolds quite differently, and not always for the better. (The “reversion” stuff in this chapter is particularly silly pseudo-science.) And well, the usual flaws of Crystal are still present, especially the lack of atmosphere.

But who cares ? I bought the whole manga despite not liking it much ; I can certainly watch through this for completionism’s sake. (Especially as “Infinity” isn’t too bad as manga arcs go.)

 

Shounen Ashibe: Go! Go! Goma-chan is a short kids’ show about a boy (Ashibe) and his pet seal (Goma), adapted from a 4-panel manga series that already got two TV series in the early 90s. To say that it’s very dated indeed is an understatement ; most of the jokes and caricatures seem lifted straight out of the 70s or earlier. Otherwise, it’s perfectly inoffensive, but I’m way too old to be in the target audience.

Onigiri adapts a MMORPG as a series of shorts. Interestingly, it chooses to take the piss out of this fanservice-ladden cliché-fest, mocking thoroughly how male characters aren’t voiced, or having the main characters’ account be suspended because of tool tampering (as I was indeed wondering about the machine-gun and flamethrower whipped out by one of them in this med-fan setting…). To my surprise, most of the jokes are actually funny and delivered with good comedic timing, so I could see myself keeping watching it for a while.

Bishoujo Yuugi Unit Crane Game Girls is a baffling series of shorts, featuring three random girls being assembled so that they can save the world, but with their handlers telling them they’re going to be idols and playing crane games. The joke is in dire need of a punchline, and doesn’t work at all ; and it isn’t helped by fugly Flash-like animation. Skip.

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

 

Nope, not doing a full review of Tonkatsu DJ Agetarou. It looks awful and is barely animated, the premise is silly (being a DJ is just like cooking Tonkatsu !), and it quickly got on my nerves. I’ll pass.

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

And you thought there is never a girl online? (Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta?)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a light novel series about… well, it’s one of those where the whole premise is spelled out in the title.

Characters

Nishimura, our male lead, is one of those open nerds who has no issue with spending most of his free time on MMORPGs, and in particular Legendary Age, a med-fan dungeon crawler where he plays a tank knight under the alias of “Rusian”. After getting badly burned a year ago, he’s convinced himself there’s no real girls online.

Ako is the incompetent healer of his regular party, and after insisting for months she finally got him to marry her in-game. The joke is that she is an actual girl (that’s even her real name) ; that weird shy girl in his class who’s basically Watamote‘s Tomoko if she played MMORPG, complete with the utter lack of social skills, and the simmering hatred for “normies” lurking under the surface.

“Apricot”, the party’s black mage leader, is one of those players who spends tons of cash at the in-game store to buy tons of showy stuff. You know the type. Anyway, they suggest an offline meet… and she’s also a high school girl ; most specifically, the student council president.

As for “Schwein”, the party’s other fighter, they turn out to be Segawa, Nishimura’s twin-tailed tsundere classmate (he’s never seen the “dere” part), and doing up to now a great job of passing as a normie. Also, she didn’t know her handle meant “Pig” in German.

Production Values

Perfectly okay, if a bit fanservice-y in some character designs (I hope Ako invested in a strong enough bra).

What did I think of it ?

On the one hand, the joke is nearly perfectly executed. Clearly the writers get the kind of hardcore MMORPG it’s portraying, and it show in all the little cute details. It’s got good comedic timing, the characters have decent chemistry together, and overall it’s a fun joke.

But… laying out the central gag took the whole episode, and there’s little sense of where it can go after that. How do you proceed from there ?

Oh, well, this first episode was good enough that I’m willing to try out a few others to see what’s next. So, mission accomplished !

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

Hundred

(12ish episodes ?)

What’s it about ?

Our token magic school/battle harem light novel adaptation of the season.

Characters

Hayato, our bland protagonist, somehow scored compatibility tests with the Hundred (the super-weapons used to fight against stuff) that he’s been fast-tracked to the Little Garden island academy for training, and become a beloved celebrity before even showing up. He’s mostly nonplussed by this, and his only condition was medical care for his ill and possessive little sister.

“Emile”, his new roommate, is just as passionate and possessive, and seems to share some history with him that he doesn’t remember. Also, that’s totally a girl, a fact the show isn’t even subtle about, but somehow Hayato manages to miss despite walking on Emile coming out of the shower. Seriously, it’s really, really obvious ; the only question is whether she’s doing it to get closer to Hayato, or she has other motives besides that.

Claire, the asshole student council president (with the mandatory drill hair), decides to expel on the spot the couple of girls who came late because they were waiting for Hayato at the airport (and he successfully dodged them). With Emile cutting in, this eventually leads to Hayato being challenged to a duel by her to prevent the three of them from being expelled.

Production Values

Other clue that Emile is a girl : the camera keeps perving on her. Not that those battle suits leave much to the imagination.

What did I think of it ?

Oh, dear. My kryptonite genre, and its worst clichés are already piling up like clockwork. (At least they don’t even try and pretend that Hayato is an underdog.) I’m actually mildly interested by what’s going on with Emile, but since that would entail watching more of Hayato being a complete non-entity of a protagonist…

Nope, just nope. Not bothering with any more of this.

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

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

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

Myriad Colors Phantom World (Musaigen no Phantom World)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Already our first “magic school” light novel adaptation ? Well, at least its premise is introduced by an actual fun infodump (followed by a less fun and kinda unneeded second one, unfortunately) : you know how our eyes are tricked by optical illusions. Well, imagine a world where people’s eyes were readjusted by a random global accident that allows them to see all the “phantoms” they couldn’t see yet. Oh, and the teenagers born since then can even fight them, because this is a battle anime of course.

Characters

Haruhiko, our male protagonist and point-of-view character, is the kind of super-nerd who feels the need to exposit at length about the setting to random classmates who already know all this stuff. In other words, supremely annoying. He takes part in after-school phantom-hunting activities to bring a bit of dough in, but he’s not too good at it. He’s partnered with…

Mai, who’s a very good if messy phantom fighter. It’s just a shame that her casting magic involves massaging her own body. Also, any of the bounties they’d win are negated by her tendency to leave off massive collateral damage on her path.

Reina is a random shy and reserved classmate Haruhiko befriends after he sees her eating messily a whole bunch of phantoms at once. Mai is all for including her in… and at this stage, you can agree with her wondering what Haruhiko even brings to the team anymore.

Ruru is a cute little phantom girl Haruhiko has befriended/tamed. She doesn’t actually do that much besides being a bit obnoxious.

There’s another girl stomping off the activities room in a huff, and she’s featured prominently enough in the credits that she’s probably joining the team soon.

Production Values

Oh, dear. You can tell that KyoAni took delight in animating the shit out of that three-minute exposition sequence at the beginning that explores in a visually appealing way the high concept behind the series, because after that their talent is wasted on way too detailed shots of Mai’s torso as she casts her magic. Urgh.

Overall Impression

Presumably you know by now that any show in the “magic battle school” genre faces an uphill battle with me. This one hurts its case by starting semi-promisingly and then falling off a cliff into the same tired old clichés, bothersome exposition, and creepy fanservice. It’s also self-aware enough to make it worse.

Urgh, I’ll pass. I have no time for this crap.

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

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

I Was Abducted by an Elite All-Girls School as a Sample Commoner (Ore ga Ojousama Gakkou ni “Shomin Sample” Toshite Gets♥Sareta Ken)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a light novel series about… well, that’s the nice thing about the premise being laid out in an awfully long title.

Characters

Kimito, our protagonist, is a completely ordinary high school student. One day, he’s suddenly abducted by a bunch of MIBs, who turn out to be the agents of a secret and elite academy for super-rich girls. The principal lays out their conundrums : the academy’s alumni are so sheltered that they don’t resist contact with the real world, and become agoraphobic shut-ins. So the idea is now to gently break the students in by having them interact with the one guy carefully selected by the staff. And just to be on the safe side, they got a gay dude.

… Which is news to Kimito ; it seems his childhood friend trolled the MIBs while they were researching him. But given the alternatives (with the distinct threat of castration), he’s not going to protest his heterosexuality too much.

Reiko, as class representative of the first-year class Kimito is now attending, helps out a bit to prevent him getting mobbed in. She’s just as sheltered and naive as the lot of them, though.

Aika is another girl he runs into (cue accidental groping, because of course). She’s even more proactive about learning “commoner” stuff from him, as she sees it as the panacea to her socialization troubles. And hey, the two of them already have decent chemistry as friends within a few minutes.

Production Values

Okay enough, I guess. And just about as much fanservice as you’d expect from the premise.

Overall Impression

Urgh. Some of the individual bits are okay enough, and it goes out of its way to avoid the common ojou-sama stereotypes, but there’s not getting around the fact that the latent homophobia inherent to the premise and much of the gags really, really bugs me. And that’s a complete deal-breaker for me.

I’m out.

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

Chivalry of a Failed Knight – A Tale of Worst One (Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Oh, just shoot me.

This is the second light novel adaptation about teenagers in magical high school, with tons of gratuitous fighting and technobabble, airing this season. At least the third one’s not out until next week.

Characters

Ikki, our male lead, is known as the Worst One in his magical academy, as his magical abilities are way below par. He overcompensates by training his physical abilities and swordsmanship, but those aren’t counted by the official grading system, so he’s still “F Rank”. His only hope of graduating resides in winning the inter-academy tournament, of course. One day, as he comes back to his dorm room, he walks into…

Stella, our tsundere female lead, in her underwear. She… has got fire powers and is an actual princess from somewhere in Europe. I swear I’m not making up how ridiculously same-y all those shows are. Anyway, the reason she’s half-naked in Ikki’s room is because the Headmistress trolled them by not telling her she’d have a roommate. Because of course this is a co-ed academy !

Cue mock duel between the two of them, which Ikki wins against all odds, of course. He’s a nice enough dude not to really take her up on her wager that the loser’d serve the winner like a dog.

There are a couple of characters with designs distinctive enough to suggest they’ll join the supporting cast, but proper introductions will have to wait.

Production Values

Decent enough ; the duel in particularly is nicely paced. I also note that there’s a degree of equal-opportunity fanservice, as we get to see Ikki’s abs quite a bit.

Overall Impression

Er… it’s better than the other one ? It does manage to get out some nice character moments along the way, and the Principal’s trolling has good comedic timing. On the other hand, it’s still a generic tournament battle show which oozes blandness and features awkward romantic comedy hijinks which should have been retired ages ago, so it’d be a stretch to actually call it good.

Yeah, no, I have better things to watch.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2015 – Page 2

Asterisk War – The Academy City on the Water (Gakusen Toshi Asterisk)

(12 episodes + another season already announced for Spring 2016)

What’s it about ?

You may have noticed over the years I’ve been doing this that there’s a specific subgenre I can’t stand and will take a lot of work to make me care about : the light novel adaptation about teenagers in magical high school, with tons of gratuitous fighting and technobabble.

Well, lucky me : there’s three of them this season, and this is the first one.

Characters

Ayato, our boring male lead, is a new transfer into this magical academy, and thus everyone happily exposits to him how everything works here and in the world. Not that he really cares ; and I can’t really blame him, since I don’t either. He’s vaguely following the footsteps of his older sister, whose stay at the academy 5 years ago was apparently so tumultuous that records have been expunged (and the action prologue certainly seems to concur with this)… Wait, that sounds way more interesting than anything else in the current timeframe. Why are we following HIM instead of HER ? It’s not even like he’s passionate about finding out what happened to her !

Julis, our token tsundere love interest. With fire-related powers, of course. And even a literal princess from some random European country, because of course monarchy has made a resurgence in the future somehow. Cue avalanche of terrible romantic comedy clichés : him walking on her while she’s in her underwear, the token magic duel where he ends up cradling her and grabbing her boobs by total accident, them being forced to sit next to one another in class…

Claudia, the scheming student council president. She’s intent on getting on board for the inter-academy magical tournaments (for reasons that escape me, since he looks like nothing special so far), and she goes about this through a fix of friendliness, helpful exposition, and downright sexual assault and trolling.

In case you’re wondering, the mandatory pervert best friend does show up in due time, just in time for more clunky exposition.

Production Values

Decent enough, I guess ? The camera is firmly stuck into pervert mode, though.

Overall Impression

Have I mentioned why I heavily dislike this subgenre ? Well, it’s because most of them are crap like this : uninspired, tedious, heavily derivative, and relying on clichés to make up for the lack of creativity. All of the characters are annoying (aside from Claudia, who’s just creepy), the jokes should have been retired decades ago, and the plot seems to be heading nowhere but towards a generic tournament arc. This show has absolutely nothing to it beyond the wish-fulfilment value, but that’s completely lost on me.

And this has already been greenlit for two seasons ? Dear gods. Well, I’m not sticking around, that’s for sure.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2015 – Page 2