Tag: heroic-fantasy

Seisen Cerberus: Ryuukoku no Fatalités

(12ish episodes ?)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a heroic-fantasy mobile RPG.

Characters

Hiiro, our hero. (That’s some imaginative naming, right here.) Ten years ago Mom and Dad tried to seal away the ancient evil dragon Dagan Zot. It went poorly, the kid got a magic scar out of it (presumably being the only survivor), and the three macguffins of sealing (a sword, an orb and a mirror, of course) got lost. Now a foolhardy teenager, Hiiro has escaped surveillance from the family retainers and is tracking down the items, in an effort to complete his parents’ quest. Which doesn’t prevent him from spending way too much time feuding with street urchins. Anyway, the lord of the city he’s just arrived in has somehow gotten hold of the orb.

Enter Nambuuko, a powerful merchant who apparently can just barge in with his dozens of soldiers and his annoying sidekick, and strongarm the local lord into giving him favourable deals. And also order the execution of an urchin who had tried stealing the orb, somehow.

Hiiro, having somewhat fraternized with the urchins, won’t have any of it. Especially as his bodyguard has just finally caught up with him.

And then, for some reason, the dragon shows up. Wut ?

Production Values

Adequate enough… but wow, those are some rather uninspired character designs everywhere.

What did I think of it ?

There are a few cute jokes here. Hiiro’s parents making a trap for the dragon by disguising Mom as a sacrifice maiden, only to reveal herself as a swordswoman, is a good one. So is Hiiro carrying around a giant scabbard, only to eventually wield a tiny sword.

But the overall plotting is a complete mess, Hiiro is the only character who’s not completely unsufferable, and the world-building is so by-the-numbers that most of the time the writers don’t even bother explaining shit.

I just can’t bring myself to care. Next !

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

Endride

(24 episodes)

What’s it about ?

“Original” show about a teenager being transported to a medieval-fantasy land. That’s never been done before !

Characters

Shun, our teenage high school protagonist has one passion : gems (and assorted pretty rocks). That’s all he ever thinks about. Well, that, and being a bit angry at Dad for being so busy at his vaguely futuristic lab that he forgets his own birthday. Hey, what’s that pretty gem in that case near Dad’s desk ? *WHOOSH*

Emilio is the son of the former king of the land of Endora. He learned years ago that the current king had his father killed, has been training for years to achieve his vengeance, and now he ruins it all on a half-baked assassination attempt that fails very predictably. (I’ll note that the “usurper” is surprisingly chill about all this and seems intent on keeping Emilio alive for some reason.)

Shun conveniently pops up right in front of Emilio’s cell, somehow dispatches the guards by summonning a ridiculous sword (the big gimmick of the show, it seems), and then both are off getting out of dodge.

Production Values

Ouch. At best, it looks painfully generic and uninspired. At its worst, we get nonsense like whatever the new king is wielding. Also, the “epic” score probably should be applied more delicately ; a montage of Shun doodling at school or going to the library isn’t quite the most appropriate moment for it to be blaring at full volume.

What did I think of it ?

Well, this is certainly an aggressively bland show indeed. The characters are one-dimensional, the plot is wafer-thin and an excuse for uninspired sword-fights, and every element of the show feels utterly painted-by-numbers.

I just don’t care. Next show, please !

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

Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle (Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a “magic school” light novel series, because there must always be at least one each season.

Characters

Lux, the male lead, used to be a prince of the Empire of Arcadia until it got overthrown by a rebellion and got replaced by something vaguely more egalitarian (with a magic academy to train a new elite). Because light novel crap, his first scene involves accidentally breaking into a female bath, because of course it is. But he’s totally a nice dude, we swear !

Lisesharte is the girl he stumbles right in front of, and rightfully incensed. Wait, they still have princesses in the new regime ? Because she’s one, somehow. Anyway, cue the inevitable duel.

Of course, despite all this mayhem Lux still gets enrolled into the academy, where he’s about to meet a whole set of haremettes, heavily showcased in the credits.

Production Values

Decent enough, I guess ; I’ve already forgotten about it.

Overall Impression

On the one hand, the show does make an attempt at setting up an halfway interesting geopolitical background that had me mildly interested. But then we’re already back to the same old trite clichés, which are EXACTLY why I’m so down on the “magic school” subgenre on principle : it’s an excuse for the writers to get lazy and pad their story out with one-size-fits-all hijinks. It’s not even a particularly good execution of those, either.

Also, I half fell asleep while watching this, can barely remember any of it, and stalled for days before getting around to writing it up. I think my subconscious is telling me something there. Like, really not to bother with this one.

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

KonoSuba – God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World! (Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!)

(11 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of yet another light novel series about a gamer dude being transported to an heroic-fantasy world with RPG-ish mechanics.

Characters

Kazuma, our protagonist, was your typical obsessive and reclusive teenage gamer, barely getting out of his flat once in a while to buy the one store-exclusive special edition of a game. On one such fateful day, he saw a female classmate of his about to be run over, and jumped to push her out of the way. And died. Well, technically she was in no actual danger from the slow-moving tractor, and he died of cardiac arrest, so it was a really stupid and pointless death. Nethertheless, he wakes up in the afterlife in front of…

Aqua, one of the goddesses dealing with triage. Once she can stop sniggering at his totally lame death, she mentions the standard deal : either he goes to heaven (really boring, with no games), or gets reincarnated as a blank slate. Or he can take the special offer : see, there’s this one heroic-fantasy world under the threat of a terrible Demon-Lord, to the point that few of the locals want to reincarnate there. So the offer is for Kazuma to reincarnate there, with his memory and skills intact, PLUS a special bonus ; here’s a list of possible talents, he can choose anything in here.

Being a rules-lawyering gamer to the extreme, Kazuma choses to take Aqua with him. Cue hilarity as it’s technically a valid choice, and she gets shanghaied with him against her will. Her only way back is for them to defeat the Demon Lord. And hey, a goddess is bound to be useful, right ? As it turns out, not much, actually. She’s got no combat skills, knows next to nothing about the world because she never bothered with the small stuff (Kazuma barely gets by on genre savviness alone), and she didn’t have time to get any money. Also, INT and LUCK were her dump stats, if it wasn’t already obvious. (In contrast, Kazuma has very puny stats asides from INT, and a super-high LUCK which is actually said to be useless in this setting.)

The OP sequence playing at the end suggest our heroes are going to be joined by a Paladin and a Mage in their quest very soon.

Production Values

This is another Deen show that looks much better than the studio’s reputation would have you think. It’s especially good at body language and facial expressions, which is essential to selling the jokes.

On the minus side, the camera seems to be quite obsessed with Aqua’s crotch and ass. Especially her half-see-through skirt.

Overall Impression

Hey, this was really funny ! The two leads have amazing chemistry together, and there were actually a few jokes I hadn’t seen before (such as the starting town having no weak mobs to grind with anymore, as they were wiped out ages ago). Even the usual ones are sold by the very good comedic timing.

This looks like a ton of fun ; I’m in.

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

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash (Hai to Gensou no Grimgar)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of yet another light novel series about teenagers being trapped in a videogame-like heroic-fantasy world.

Characters

Haruhiro, our point-of-view character, woke up one day in the land of Grimgar, without any memory of his past (or why he sometimes thinks of meaningless words like “mobile phones”). Together with the dozen or so teenagers who were with him in the same situation, he’s quickly brought up to speed by the predatory gay (sigh) innkeeper : they’re now all new adventures, here’s your starting package with your license and just about enough money for room and food while you get basic training. Have fun grinding the mobs !

Renji, the most strong-headed of the group, takes with him the most competent-looking half of them, and they apparently are making a pretty good start. But this show isn’t about them. Instead, it’s about the leftovers :
– Manato, the level-headed guy who seems like the oldest of the bunch by a bit, becomes the de facto party leader and suggests they all take different Jobs so they’ll have a balanced team. Cleric seems like the perfect match for him.
– Ranta is the brash jerkass who always gets into futile spats with everyone, but isn’t that bad a dude really. Of course he’d take Black Knight, although of course the level-1 armor must have been a disappointment.
– Moguzo, the big guy who’s really a softie who loves cooking, got to be a Warrior (i.e. the tank of the party).
– Yume, the tomboy, became a Hunter despite being unable to hit the broad side of a barn with her arrows.
– Shihoru, the shy big-breasted girl, got to be a Mage. Now, he only she could manage to actually finish an incantation…
– and Haruhiro became a Thief, as Manato figured they’d need one, and that didn’t sound too bad.

Now, after a week of training at their respective guilds, they’re ready to adventure and finally loot some mobs ! Or, er, be driven away by a couple of goblins, aka the weakest monsters around. Despite outnumbering them three to one. They completely suck, both individually and as a team. But, er, surely they’ll get better with trying, as well as better picking their fights ? (Like, maybe only the one goblin, if they can find such a loner ?)

Production Values

Wow, pretty backgrounds ! The animation ain’t bad either. The fanservice level was relatively tame until (1) the Thieves Guildmaster showed up and (2) Ranta started to rant about Shihoru’s huge knockers, which hopefully won’t be a regular occurrence.

Overall Impression

You know what ? I quite enjoyed this, despite not being a fan of the genre. Maybe it’s because it’s discarding most of the “power fantasy” aspects, with the heroes starting at the bottom level and having yet to win a fight by this first episode’s end. This also gives quite some room for world-building and laying out the team’s dynamic ; aside from Ranta, they’re a rather pleasant bunch I could see myself wanting to watch more of.

I’m giving this a few more episodes to see where it goes.

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

Utawarerumono – Itsuwari no Kamen

(25 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Originally Utawarerumono was a tactical-RPG/visual novel hybrid, which got an anime adaptation a few years later in 2006 to tie-in with its PS2 rerelease.

This series is an adaptation of a sequel/spin-off videogame, which got released a few days ago. Synergy !

Characters

It’s not really clear yet whether this is a straight sequel set after the first game, or an alternate universe take ; apparently some of the (surviving) supporting cast are supposed to show up later on. For now, though, it’s all about new characters… who have very close dynamics to the originals.

“Haku”, our new protagonist, is an amnesiac dude who wakes up in cave, with monsters about to eat him. Also, unlike anyone else we see, he’s a straight human wearing a modern hospital gown. Given what I remember of the mythos from the previous series, it’s not a good sign. Anyway, he’s not only an amnesiac, but also completely ignorant of the world and its inhabitants, or even of a honest day’s work. He’s not very athletic and more than a bit lazy, but he does have a knack for engineering.

Kuon, the travelling merchant who saves him, quickly takes him under her wing, declaring herself his guardian and coining his new name. She’s a cat-human hybrid (which shows mostly with the ears and the tail). Anyway, cue cute romantic comedy hijinks in a pleasant medieval-fantasy setting. (That she‘s the one who spies on him in the bath tells you everything about this show’s priorities and sense of humour.)

Production Values

Quite nice ; there’s a good amount of scenery porn, and the animators are careful to let the body language of both leads carry a lot of the story.

Overall Impression

Well, this is certainly a nice and fun early romance between consenting adults. It easily captures what I liked best about Utawarerumono, and even improves upon it by having a more proactive female lead. So far, so good.

On the other hand, there are lots of worrying signs that the original mythos is still valid, and that was quite dark indeed. The original series struggled a lot with the sudden tone shifts between goofy harem comedy and brutal war story (to say nothing of the weird stuff towards the end), and both Haku’s introduction and the fact that the second game is still billed as a tactical-RPG makes me worry we’re going to cover similar territory. Now, it’s very possible this is a “done right” quasi-remake that suppresses the original’s weaknesses ; stranger things have happened. But the trainwreck potential is very present.

Anyway, this is a good enough start, and I’m intrigued enough by the project, to keep watching for at least a while.

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

OverLord

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a light novel series with the novel premise of “player stuck into a MMORPG that became real”. Never seen that one before.
From what I can gather, it has nothing to do with the various videogames of the same name.

Characters

So, Yggdrasil. One of the big full-immersion MMORPG of its time. But it’s been 12 years, the player base had been dwindling down considerably for a while, so its editor has decided to call it a day and shut the servers down tonight.

Momonga, our protagonist, was the leader of one the biggest and strongest “monster” guilds of the game. Max level, tons of stuff and unique items (including his super-wand that can wish nearly anything and even bypass some programming), their own giant demon castle lair, dozens of custom NPC servants, the works. By now, of course, most of the guild members have left, with barely a few of them making an appearance on this last day. But Momonga has decided he’s going to stick around until the end, reminisce, and let the system log him out when the servers shut down.

When he wakes up after midnight, he notices with shock that he’s still in the throne room. The HUD and menus are gone, and he can’t raise anyone (be them other players or GMs) through voice chats. On the other hand, the NPCs now act a lot more real than their previous AI-constrained selves, and obey to all his casually-phrased orders (instead of needing specific commands).

And well, there’s Albedo, his NPC demon secretary, whom he had just rescripted to be in love with him, on a whim. This might have been a poor decision…

What’s going on here ? Has he slided into another world that’s identical to Yggdrasil somehow ? Can he get back to the real world ? Does he even want to ? Will the NPCs keep obeying their very confused master ?

Production Values

Quite good ; there’s some obvious CG work on some undead battle sequences, but it looks okay. And the animators have really managed to make Momonga expressive, with a body language belying clearly a benign middle manager disguised as an over-the-top overlord.

Overall Impression

Well, there’s a reason the cliché premises are still being recycled : they caught on our imagination and offer numerous variants. And hey, I don’t think I’ve seen any of these stories take the point of view of “the bad guys” (who are actually punch-clock villains more than anything else), so that’s something new for this show to explore. And it does so quite well ; Momonga truly feels like a MMORPG guild leader, and a very sympathetic protagonist. The NPC supporting cast also feel like they could grow into interesting characters (or at least entertaining ones).

If there’s one thing that’s lacking here, it’s a clear notion of where the story is going ; we don’t even know whether there’s anyone outside the lair at this point. But hey, that’s something for future episodes to explore ; this one has accomplished its job of selling me on the premise, at least for now.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Summer 2015 – Page 5

Chaos Dragon: Red Dragon War (Chaos Dragon: Sekiryuu Seneki)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Remember how Records of Lodoss War got its start as transcripts of RPG sessions ? Well, similar deal here, but with some rather prestigious players : Kinoko “Fate” Nasu, Gen “Madoka/Psycho-Pass” Urobochi, and Ryohgo “Baccano/Durarara” Narita, among others.

Too bad none of their characters make more than cameos in this episode.

Characters

This introductory episode is all about Ibuki, last Prince of Nil Kamui. (Played IRL by some doujinshi artist/light novel author I’ve never heard of.) His country has the unenviable position of being stuck between the evil demon kingdom of Kouran and the standoffish “good guys” of Donatia, so basically it’s a battlefield for the other two to duke it out. He’s the last survivor of the royal family, and has been laying low helping out in orphanage.

So of course the evil soldiers of Kouran show up one day and start conquering the place and killing at random. It’s time for Ibuki to step up and inherit his legacy ! With his legendary family sword getting empowered by the blood of one of his orphan friends that just sacrificed herself in front of him, of course.

We get short glimpses of the other main party members, including most prominently a bouncy catgirl. We don’t get much of an impression out of them, though.

Production Values

Hey, studio Silver Link are playing around with colour again ! And it does end up looking quite good.

Overall Impression

Wow, this is incredibly cliché-ridden and unengaging. The melodrama is rote and unimpactful, nobody has any depth, and the plot is generic as all heck. Even its prettiness can’t save it.

The only reason I’m giving it a second episode is that I’m curious what the other characters are like, given the pedigrees of their creators. But there’s only so long my patience will last.

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

Rokka – Braves of the Six Flowers (Rokka no Yuusha)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a heroic-fantasy (with slightly Atzec flavour) light novel series.

Characters

The titular Braves of the Six Flowers are the chosen heroes of the world to fight the Demon Lord resurfacing every few hundred years. Since its agents have been resurfacing as of late and assassinating potential Braves, it’s high time to gather a new set. So the most major kingdom has organized a big ceremonial tournament to select some of them. The semi-finals are what really matters, since whoever wins is bound to lose against…

Nashetania, First Princess of the Kingdom, who’s so badass she got seeded directly to the finals. She’s an obvious lock for being one of the new Braves ; her powers involve something not too dissimilar to Unlimited Blade Works. And for some reason she’s wearing bunny ears.

Adlet, “Strongest Man in the World” (or so he claims) crashes the semifinals from nowhere and easily takes out dozens of guards, as well as both semifinalists. While he is strong, he mostly wins because he cheats like a mad bastard, using neat little gadgets to take out his opponents by surprise. Eh, whatever works, really.

While he’s immediately thrown in jail afterwards (and then into an oubliette), he’s convinced he’ll be selected as a Brave down the line. So he’s just bidding his time and keeping in shape. He also gets a visit from a “maid” (with the cunning disguise of not wearing bunny ears), which is the occasion to provide much background about the setting and the origins of the Braves. Frankly, I’m amazed he’s got no clue who he’s talking to.

Eventually the Demon Lord starts manifesting openly, and both Nashetania & Adlet mystically get their Brave tattoos. She immediately frees him from his oubliette (ignoring the objections from her entourage), and they both head to the legendary rendezvous point to meet the 4 other Braves. Whom I’m presume we’ll meet in the next few episodes ; we’re shown glimpses of them from the OP & ED.

Production Values

Quite good, although there’s some obvious CG graphics for the landscape long shots. I quite like the different artstyle for the mythical flashbacks.

On the other hand, there’s no escaping that Nashetania’s outfit is bizarrely fanservicey and looks completely out of place, even considering the very PC-esque designs for the other Braves. Oh, well ; at least the camera isn’t stuck in pervert mode.

Overall Impression

This was actually quite entertaining ; it’s a generic heroic-fantasy premise, but executed well-enough (especially the Atzec-like stylings) to feel somewhat fresh. Adlet & Nashetania are quite charismatic, although I’m slightly worried by the way she lets him take the lead at the end. (Surely she has more experience and knowledge about all this ?)

It depends a bit on whether the other Braves are entertaining or annoying, but I’m at least giving it a second episode.

Source: [In Which I Review] New anime, Summer 2015 – Page 3