Hanaukyo Maids (Hanaukyo Maid-tai)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

A boy receives a sudden inheritance from his grandfather : a ridiculously huged mansion, staffed by hundreds of maids. (Also, tons of money.)

Characters

Taro, our protagonist. Completely baffled by the whole thing. In the grand tradition of stupid harem comedies, he’s got an allergy to girls, which makes it all very awkward.

We don’t actually see his grandfather, but he sounds like a gigantic pervert : his video will to Taro only has footage of maids sunbathing on a private island, there are nude statues everywhere, and then there’s all the training of the maids to be very intimate to their master. Now, I can somewhat understand why a squad of them would help him pee and bathe, but there’s little excuse for the “final service” after lights out.

Mariel seems to be the head maid or something (although it’s not actually acknowledged onscreen). Taro seems to like her, and she’s the only maid who does not set off his girl allergy (which of course raises all sorts of alarms in my brain – hopefully they’re not going that route, are they ?).

There are literally hundreds of other maids, although the only other notable ones are a set of triplets who seem the most sexually aggressive of the bunch.

Production Values

Terrible. This is barely animated at all. Also : boobies ! There’s LOTS of nudity here.

The ED sequence has live-action footage of what looks like the voice-actresses cosplaying as their characters, which is frankly embarassing. At least they’re properly clothed…

Overall Impression

Dear gods this was horrible and sanity-destroying. This obviously tries to be a raunchy sex comedy, but this is neither funny nor titillating.

This somehow got a remake in 2004. I can’t see how that’d improve things.

I had trouble retrieving the only SFW scene of assault in this episode.
I had trouble retrieving the only SFW scene of assault in this episode.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2001 – Page 7.

Galaxy Angel

(26 episodes)

What’s it about ?

A squad of women can perform any mission if you pay the price… This episode : finding a lost cat. No, really.

Characters

Ranpha, the hot-tempered blonde who complains about everything. Only Yukari Tamura’s charisma can keep her from being too annoying.

Forte, her tall and snarky partner, whom I mistook for a dude until I saw the frankly embarrassing cleavage hole in her clothes. Urgh.

Milfeulle, a girl they encounter during their mission and who just happens to have found the precise cat they’re looking for. She’s got insane amounts of luck, although it seems to mostly be the ironic kind. Presumably she’s joining the team soon.

There are a couple of other women on the team, plus their elderly boss, but they don’t contribute much to this episode.

Production values

Not very good, to tell the truth. It’s got decent comedic timing, and that’s all I can really say for it. Forte’s costume aside, the fanservice ain’t too obnoxious, but it’s still quite present.

Overall Impression

That… wasn’t very good, was it ? While the characters have some decent chemistry, there’s no plot in sight, and even the characters complain about the inanity of the premise in the very first scene of the episode. The comedy is decent, but nothing you haven’t seen done better elsewhere.

This got three sequel seasons ? Really ?

Now, which cat's the right one ?
Now, which cat’s the right one ?

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2001 – Page 6.

Health and Physical Eduction for 30-year-olds (30-sai no Hoken Taiiku)

(13-minute-long episodes)

What’s it about ?

A thirty-year-old virgin gets visited by an annoying sex god who’ll educate him so that he can finally pop his cherry.

Characters

Imagawa, our male lead, exactly as pathetic as you’d expect (and voiced by Hiro Shimono, of course). The kind who borrows the 600,000-yen blow-up doll from one of his co-workers. Very annoyed by the sex god’s intrusion : he’d like to take his time, thanks (but then that’s his whole problem…).

Daigorou, the sex god. Very, very annoying, and impossible to get rid of. He can only go away when his mission’s accomplished ; to his credit, he does offer Imagawa the easy way out to get done with it (but Imagawa doesn’t want to even think about it).

Andou, the female lead, barely makes an appearance in this first episode, but the OP & ED suggest she’s getting a pair of sex gods too.

Production Values

Dire. It doesn’t help that there’s some very heavy censorship that hides anything vaguely risqué (we don’t even see one bit of the blow-up doll) and blips through half of the dialogue.

Overall Impression

I didn’t think it was possible : this is making me long for B Gata H Kei. There’s an art to the raunchy, ecchi comedy with protagonists raring to get it on, and this series completely fails at it. It’s not funny, and the heavy censorship kinda defeats the point.

Since this reportedly adapts a PhysEd book, it does sneak in some helpful tips (Wash it appropriately to get rid of bacteria ! Don’t squeeze too much on them !), but they’re drowned by the tedious attempts at whimsical humour by walking clichés calling themselves characters.

Avoid.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2011 – Page 6.

2010 Young Animator Training Project

(Four stand-alone episodes)

Government-sponsored shorts to showcase new talent.

Grampa’s Lamp (Ojisan no Lamp) has the titular grandfather tell the story of how he rose from pauper orphan kid to successful lamp seller… and what happened next. It’s a nice little country tale, perfectly making its point in the 24 minutes it’s got. It doesn’t have groundbreaking animation or art, and you can probably see where it’s going from a mile off, but it works.

Kizuna Ichigeki is a very energetic tale of a prodigy kung-fu girl and her family… and that’s pretty much it. The artstyle is very rough, although it works out well in the (numerous) fight sequences. Still, there’s not much substance there, and the comedic tone can only carry it so far.

Wardrobe Dwellers (Tansu Warashi) is a very charming little tale where a young Office Lady receives from her mother a magic wardrobe housing little servants that teach her adult skills she’d never got the hang of before (cooking, make-up, sewing, basic security…). It’s, er, not exactly the most progressive story, but it’s got enough charm to get away with it.

The one I found most enjoyable, though, was Super Veggie Torracman (Bannou Yasai Ninninman). Technically it’s an “Eat your veggies” morality tale, but it’s so full of delirious imagery and bizarre symbolism that I couldn’t help but loving it. It’s got superb voice acting, too (Mami Koyama makes for the scariest mom ever).

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2011 – Page 5.

Fireball Charming

(13 2-minute episodes)

What’s it about ?

In a far-flung future, war rages between humans and robots… and the robot princess has nonsensical conversations with her butler.

Characters

Drossel von Flügel, the robot princess. Prone to random flights of fancies, and completely out of touch with the real world.

Gedächtnis, her construction-mecha-looking butler. Desperately trying to put his mistress back on track, although he’s not above deadpan snarking. Her father left him books of notes for her education… but it doesn’t really help.

Production Values

Full CG graphics, and it’s very gorgeous indeed.

Produced by Disney Channel Japan. No, really.

Overall Impression

I normally don’t cover sequels in depth, but this one deserves the exposure. A previous season of this (simply called Fireball) was broadcast in 2008, and this is basically more of the same. You don’t need to watch the first series to get this, though (although you should, it’s only 26 minutes of your time).

The setup is only an excuse to have quick-going barely coherent conversations between the two leads, combining puns and dry wit at a frenetic pace. It’s just plain hilarious, hitting punchlines one after the other like clockwork.

This first episode of the second series looks like it’s actually going to advance the plot a bit, but that doesn’t really matter (the first season had no continuity whatsoever, with the two leads changing looks for each episode just because).

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2011 – Page 4.

My Ordinary Life (Nichijou)

(26-ish episodes)

What’s it about ?

High school slice-of-life surreal comedy.

Characters

Mio, the blue-haired “central” character. A bit of a straight man to everyone else.

Yuuko, our Tomo clone. Loud, obnoxious and clumsy.

Mai, the quiet glasses girl, who gets to do outrageous things as punchlines.

Hakase, whom we only ever see at home with her long-suffering robot servant Nano. You can tell Nano is a robot thanks to the huge winding key sticking out of her back. (Not that it serves any actual practical purpose – Hakase put it there because she’s a jerk.)

A couple other girls and teachers show up, but I’ve already forgotten about them.

Production Values

Very disappointing for a KyoAni series. “Minimalistic” would be the charitable way to put it.

Overall Impression

Oh, dear. A comedy series that is barely funny at all.

Now, I did laugh a bit to Mai’s hijinks and most of the Nino/Hakase scenes. But there’s a lot here that I just didn’t care for.

(If I really wanted to be mean, I’d say that this is KyoAni trying their hand at the surreal SHAFT-ish comedy… and completely failing. But that’d probably be a bit unfair.)

I’ll probably try one or two more episodes to see if it gels together, but I’m not optimistic (and this is a busy season anyway). I’ve watched the OVA, and it’s basically more of the same.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2011.

Hare + Guu (Jungle wa Itsumo Hare nochi Guu)

(26 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Hare is a normal boy living in a quirky jungle community… and then an albino girl called Guu crashes into his life. Cue SAN loss.

Characters

Hare, our 10-year-old protagonist. He’s got a tendency to ramble endlessly at times… but considering the constant assault on his sanity in this episode, that’s a normal reaction.

Weda, his single mother. (And my, doesn’t she look a bit young to have a 10-year-old kid ? Oh dear…) Routinely comes back drunk from village parties, and overall ascribes to the “tough love” school of child-raising.

Guu, the albino girl Weda came back with one night (“she’s got no parents”, which should have raised some warning flags). At first she looks diabetes-inducingly cute… but from the next morning on she drops the façade in front of Hare. But she’s not merely sarcastic : her shtick involves eating stuff whole (including Hare himself twice). Her stomach is a bizarre fantasy land with tons of weird stuff… including two perfectly normal high school students who don’t bat an eyelid about being there.

Of the rest of the jungle community, we only see the one neighbour yet. This is obviously the present day with modern technology (Hare plays videogames in an hilarious RPG spoof sequence), but on the other hand there are some very weird local fauna and flora. Also, “shopping” apparently involves picking bananas directly from trees, and Weda’s “work” seems to be hunting.

Production Values

While the budget’s not through the roof, it makes some nice use of it, with appropriately psychedelic visuals. The background music’s a bit MIDI-ish, but surprisingly effective (there’s some awesome comedic timing there).

The OP is a thing to behold, with a very catchy tune and even the vegetation dancing to it.

There’s a weird prologue sequence, as a pregnant Weda melodramatically leaves a mansion under the rain. It’s a complete mood clash with everything else (especially the OP just after).

Overall Impression

Well, that’s certainly different. The sheer weirdness of it all is overpowering and makes it a compelling watch. (It helps that I share some of its sense of humour.)

I’ll be honest : I’ve already seen the whole series and the first set of OVAs (I need to track down the second set at some point). While it never really goes anywhere (the more serious turn it takes with the eventual disclosure of Weda’s background doesn’t feel like much of a climax), it’s still a pretty good gag series that understands perfectly well that it should never explain Guu.

Oh, it's just a pokute.
Oh, it’s just a pokute.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2001 – Page 3.

Rune Soldier Louie (Mahou Senshi Louie)

(24 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Comedic heroic-fantasy. Three female adventurers are looking for a magician to complete their party. A female one if possible, but the only one they find is a classic male lech who ain’t even much good at it.

Characters

The party is currenly comprised of Merril, the quick-tempered short Thief ; Genie, the amazon Warrior ; and Melissa, the not-that-pure Cleric (Kikuko Inoue in yet another of those self-parody roles – at this point I’m not even sure I remember her ever playing the perfect-woman type straight).

Presumably shortly joining them is Louie, our title character. He ain’t much good at magic (he apparently got into the Magic Academy through nepotism, and doesn’t pay attention to the lectures), and spends his time drinking in towns and leering at any girl he sees. His “accidental pervert” tendencies don’t help : he spends most of the episode either on the run or in jail.

There’s also Ila, his fellow student who’d like to be a bit more, wink wink nudge nudge (he’s totally oblivious). She’s prominently featured in the ED, so presumably the writers’ll find a way to keep her around despite her explicitly stating she has no interest in adventuring (much to the distress of the trio, who’d rather have her than Louie).

Production Values

It does the job, but just that. I’ll also note the rather high fanservice level (it’s mostly the “all in good fun” kind rather than anything skeevy, though).

Overall Impression

Hello, Slayers clone !

Okay, that’s a bit harsh. Especially as I find it quite funnier than its predecessor (mostly because I like the main characters more). Still, this looks like a bog-standard heroic-fantasy comedy… including the vague hints that it’ll get more serious once the real plot shows up.

I’m actually a bit curious on how it goes on : it looks like decent popcorn watching.

 There's a perfectly rational explanation why Louie has barged into Melissa's "religious ceremony" and looks like he's about to rape her. Really.
There’s a perfectly rational explanation why Louie has barged into Melissa’s “religious ceremony” and looks like he’s about to rape her. Really.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2001 – Page 3.

Comic Party

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

After an inspirational trip to Comiket, a group of high-school friends decides to start producing doujinshi.

Characters

Kazuki, our protagonist… although given how much he’s yanked around during the first episode, that’s being a bit charitable. At first he’s sceptical about the whole comiket/doujinshi thing, but he does get taken in by the enthusiasm of those he meets there. Has an art background.

Mizuki, his cliché tsundere childhood friend. Absolutely hates Comiket, but given how she gets trampled over twice before being dragged offscreen for most of the episode, I give her some slack.

Taishi, their “friend” who dragged them to Comiket in the first place, and spearheads the doujinshi project. He’s prone to Gratuitous English, loud speeches, and narration. Very, very annoying.

Inagawa is an already active doujinshi artist that Kazuki meets at Comiket. They quickly hit it off, and she’s the main reason he starts enjoying it a bit. She’s from Kansai (with the inevitable accent and paper fan), but thanks to the power of plot convenience she transfers into everyone else’s high school at the end of the first episode.

There are a few other characters that look like they’ll be recurring – a clumsy girl lugging packages around, and the head of Comiket security. Neither gets much development yet, though.

Production Values

Very, very cheap. The animation is subpar, and this really looks like a product of the 90s. The terrible background music doesn’t help.

Overall Impression

Well, Genshiken this is not. This is broad comedy with barely a hint of subtlety (I do like the notion that the “elevator school” setting allows those people to screw around without care for their studies). It’s quite hard to get attached to any of the caricatures calling themselves characters, as they spend most of their screentime screeching annoyingly.

There’s a bizarre dream sequence before the opening credits where Kazuki finds himself in a typical school harem setup (without realizing it), with everyone mistaking him for the protagonist. While it did raise more of a smile than the rest of the episode combined, I fail to see what the point was.

Bottom line : it’s not nearly as funny as it wants to be. Maybe it improves later on, but I don’t care.

 Because Mizuki getting trampled over never gets old !
Because Mizuki getting trampled over never gets old !

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2001 – Page 2.

Winter 2011 capsules

A few words on the first episode of the second season of Kimi ni Todoke… Well, it’s actually “Episode 0”, for an obvious reason : it’s a recap of the first season.

Now, there was a truly awful recap episode in the middle of the first season, bringing nothing new to the table and saddled with a tedious and downright bizarre Greek chorus. But this is different : after all, it’s been nearly a year since I watched all this, so I don’t mind the plot refresher.

And moreover, the whole thing is from the point of view of Ume “Kurumi” Kurumizawa, Sawako’s unlucky bitchy rival for Kazehaya’s affections. While I don’t think we learn anything new here, it’s a nice change from Sawako’s viewpoint. And I admit I loved the gag around Kurumi’s Death Note.

On the other hand, there is the slight issue that Kurumi’s such an egotist that we barely get any insight into any of the other characters… and moreover, it completely skips the whole Chizuru/Ryuu thing, in which she had no involvement. But presumably all this is going to be covered in the series proper if needed.

The new OP & ED are nothing to write home about, and certainly less epic than the originals. I did get a chuckle out of the implication of Ayane/Pin in the OP, though.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2010-2011 – Page 4.

I’m not going to do a full review of the Supernatural – The Animation series of OVAs, but here are my thoughts on the first episode : it’s perfectly okay, but I’m not sure I’m going to keep watching. You can really see the “standard American TV series” setup (two brothers on a road trip investigating weird stuff in a new location each episode). The two leads have good chemistry, it’s got a decent sense of style, and it’s pretty good at what it does (paranormal thriller). On the other hand, the open-endedness of the premise (it adapts “the first two seasons of the TV show”, plus various original stuff) makes it clear there’ll be no real resolution in those OVAs.

Still, if I was more interested in the genre, I’d probably give it more of a chance, but I’m already watching too much stuff.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2010-2011 – Page 28.

OVA CHECK !

I’m horribly late as is on most of this stuff, so I’ll keep it brief.

Hen Zemi #1 (of 2) (“Abnormal Physiology Seminar”) is a prelude (or whatever) to a full TV series airing next spring. The premise is that a normal college girl attends a special course about “sexual perversion” (for credit, I presume), and gets tons of ludicrously embarrassing assignments from it. And that’s without going into the six other weirdoes attending the class or the very creepy teacher supervising it.

It’s actually better than it sounds – the fanservice could be much worse, Kana Hanazawa is as adorable as ever as the lead, and I’m all for a series that doesn’t demonize bizarre sexual quirks as long as they’re consensual (in other words, it’s miles better than MM!).

The problem is that it’s “nearly funny”, which doesn’t quite cut it. I did smile here and there, but that’s it. It may yet improve, so I’ll try getting the other OVA (out within a couple of weeks) and keep an open mind for the TV series, but I’m not too optimistic.

Mirai Nikki (“Future Diary”) is a 9-minute-long trailer testing waters for a potential future series. The gimmick is that our high school protagonist finds on his cell phone a detailed diary of his next 90 days (given by enigmatic paranormal entities). Various other people were given the same thing, and the whole thing is a game, won by the last person standing.

On these grounds, I’m sold. It’s an interesting premise, the atmosphere is built appropriately (it definitely feels very creepy), and I loved how dysfunctionally the relationship with the obligatory love-interest-with-a-diary-too started off. This reminds me of the best aspects of Death Note, although it’s different enough to be its own thing.

Yuri Seijin Naoko-san (“Lesbian Citizen Naoko-san”) is a 6-minute-long adaptation of a gag manga about… I’m not sure, actually. An sarcastic alien maid stalking a high-school girl and sniffing the skirts of any passing girl because she claims that’s the only way to get good reception from the stars. Also, she can randomly summon trains in the middle of a little street.

This is a very baffling short indeed. The key thing, though, is that it’s not funny at all, and that’s what kills it for me.

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu: Matsuri #1 (of 2) is a bridge OVA before a proper second season next summer. It’s basically the same as ever, with a “cultural festival” backdrop to riff on the usual recurring jokes. It’s good fun, and I loved the multiple endings, but don’t bother with this unless you watched and liked the first season.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2010-2011 – Page 29.