Tag: humour

Assassination Classroom (Ansatsu Kyoushitsu)

(22 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a comedy shonen manga series.

There was an OVA in 2013 adapting a random manga chapter, from a completely different cast, crew and studio. It’s everything but required watching, as this is a much better introduction to the premise. The OVA was kinda crap, anyway.

Characters

Koro-sensei is a weird yellow tentacle monster that showed up out of nowhere one day and destroyed most of the moon. As you do. He plans on doing the same to Earth in a year’s time ; but it the meantime, since just hiding would be no fun, he’s going to teach this random high school class in Japan. They can try their best and kill him ; he promises never to harm them. It just won’t be easy, as he can move at up to Mach 20.

Mr Karasuma, from the Department of Defense, explained all this to a bemused classroom. He added that the world’s governments were happy to comply with Koro-sensei’s wishes, as (1) nothing they’ve tried has more than very temporarily inconvenienced him ; (2) at least this way they can keep an eye on him ; and (3) you never know, maybe one of the students will get lucky and nail the freak. By the way, there’s a $10-million for whoever does the deed, if saving the world wasn’t enough motivation.

Now, most of the class are background figures and barely get a few lines each ; presumably they’re going to be developed properly in future episodes. We’re starting with…

Nagisa, who gets the second half of this first episode. He’s so wimpy and feminine that it took me a while to realize he was a guy. A few of the bigger boys coerce him into trying to suicide-bomb Koro-sensei. The point here is to make clear that the yellow freak WON’T allow his students to hurt each other, or indeed any harm to come to them. He is quite impressed by Nagisa, though, which must be the first time someone has ever said this with the poor little dude.

Production Values

Hey, did they get the character designer from Dangaronpa ? (Yes.) There’s some very heavy linework here, giving characters much more presence than you’d expect from their relatively generic looks. It helps compensate for the okay-ish-at-best animation.

I was wary of director Seiji Kishi’s involvement, but he does have a knack for comedic timing and brutal mood swings ; this is thus the kind of material he’s best suited for.

Overall Impression

Hmm. I have a strong suspicion this is hewing very close to the manga’s original structure, which is always a challenge given how you don’t pace a joke the same way for different mediums. But so far, it’s mostly working out ; the manga was already strong enough to support this approach, I guess.

Now, the big question is whether the joke can support 22 episodes. I’m not sure ; a lot will depend on how much the other students can stand on their own. A good sign is the hint of a secondary plotline, with this class actually being the rejects and dropouts who didn’t cut it for the better classes ; and Koro-sensei turning out to actually be a darn good teacher.

Anyway, the gags are more hit than miss as of now, so I’m willing to give it at least a few more episodes to see where it’s going.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2015 – Page 2.

Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend (Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata)

(12 episodes if you include this “prologue”)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a light novel series lampooning romantic comedy clichés.

Characters

This series follows the members of a high school club aiming to produce a romance videogame, including :
– Tomoya, the one dude and apparent “leader” of the club, the idea guy giving direction to the group.
– Utaha, the main writer (who also makes light novels on the side). Very sardonic and critical of the clichés of the genre, she’s quick to make fun of Tomoya’s terrible exposition in his narration and dialogue. Also aggressively vamping on him, with enough plausible deniability to leave him confused.
– Eriri, the main artist (who also publishes bestselling doujinshi on the side). A proponent of flash over substance, and thus in content conflict with Utaha. It doesn’t help that she’s Tomoya’s childhood friend and doesn’t like this newcomer macking on him.
– Michiru, the musician, an oddball who mostly stays in the background so far.
– Megumi, the one “normal” girl in the club, with no apparent artistic ability. She’s used by Eriri as a model for her artwork. Paratext indicates that she’s the girl Tomoya is actually interested in, and thus the “Boring Girlfriend” in the title.

This is a hot springs episode, with all the (lack of) plot advancement this implies.

Production Values

It takes some gall for a show to open with a gratuitous and very fanservicey hot springs scene, only for one of its characters to immediately launch into a rant against this kind of thing (with another very weakly trying to defend the practice).

Aside from this, it’s a decent-looking show.

Overall Impression

Hum. Usually you get this kind of thing as an OVA, not on TV before the first episode even airs. (Especially as it’s clearly set somewhere in the middle of the series, and isn’t a real prologue.)

But while this episode, by its very nature, doesn’t establish or develop the plot in any way, it gives a very good overview of the character dynamics at play here, as well as the metafictional humour it’s going for. And there’s quite a lot to enjoy here ; Utaha’s dry wit and trolling are the major attraction, and play well with the rest of the cast. There’s nothing particularly original, but the execution is strong enough to overcome my pre-release fears about the plot direction.

This must be the first ever hot springs episode I’ve ever found promising. That alone makes me think it’s doing something right, and pushes the show onto my to-watch list.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2015.

#12 : Hero Hero-kun

(104 episodes)

What’s it about ?

This is a show for very young kids about a weird boy, his family and friends.

The episodes are five-minutes long, and must have been broadcast several times a week, given that 104 of them were pumped out in under 10 months.

Characters

Hero Hero, our hero, is an elementary school kid who’s a bit absent-minded, and has talking nosehairs. Often he jumps and flies around for a bit.

His dad is pretty much of the same mold. Mom is obsessed with her appearance, and puts on tons of makeup for her job at the supermarket. They also have a “dog” (or whatever Pup Pup is).

Bari Bari is a “delinquent” friend of Hero Hero’s who’s even tamer than you can imagine. But he looks so cutely rebellious on his tiny bike !

Kira Kira is another friend of his ; she’s mostly there to be baffled by his antics.

Production Values

This is very rough and crudely animated, but it does have some charm in its energy.

Overall Impression

I’m way too old for this ; it’s clearly targeted at a much younger audience, who’ll appreciate the manic dialogue and the slow outlining of the concepts much more than me.

It’s mildly interesting as a footnote to see what kind of shows were produced in 2000 for 5-year-olds, but 5 minutes of it were well enough for me. (And anyway, it’s not like anyone bothered to fansub more than one episode.)

Source: [In Which I Review] Anime series from 2000 – Page 3

#11 : Gate Keepers

(24 episodes)

What’s it about ?

This adapts a Playstation RPG videogame. The overall plotline is classic “vaguely governmental agency recruits superpowered teens to fend off alien invasion” fare, with the oddity that it’s set in 1969, with Japan still busy rebuilding itself after WWII.

Characters

Shun, our protagonist, is your typical teenage hothead, angry at his dad for getting himself killed and leaving Mom with a serious case of depression and two brats to feed. Aside from that, he’s quite a decent dude, getting on well with the supportive neighbours. He’s the kind of guy who refuses a place on the kendo team (and the potential scholarship attached) because he’s rather start working part-time right now and put some food on the family table. On the other hand, he instantly loses points for constantly comparing his life to a sports manga. (Which is too cute to be funny the first time around, and gets more aggravating as it goes on).

Ruriko is the first superpowered teenage agent of A.E.G.I.S. (the good guys), but they hope to recruit more down the line. Her core powers involve healing, but as that’s not enough she can also channel them to fire white arrows of death at the enemy. Her mission here is to escort a bus transporting some big macguffin, and of course it goes sideways just as Shun happens to be passing by. Obviously he had dormant powers, and after she kickstarts them he’s able to destroy the immediate threat. (Also, he then realizes they were neighbours ten years ago, because what’s one more gratuitous plot contrivance at this point ?)

I’m not really sure how the logistics of the alien invasion work out. Apparently they’ve infiltrated every layer of society and are ALL THE ASSHOLES ? (The punk harassing honest business-owners, the boss firing his secretary after having his fun, and so on…) But then they all go out in bright daylight, transform, and combine into a massive black ball of weaponry that attacks the goodies ? The heck ?

The OP & ED sequences showcase a few more members of this nascent teenage brigade, but they’ve yet to show up. This first episode is busy enough already, after all.

Production Values

Unfortunately, this is a production which lacks the budget (and maybe the visual creativity) to support its ambition. Everything looks slightly too cheaply animated, and way too often the director substitutes a dutch angle or a random close-up on eyes for actual movement. (And not in the aesthetically pleasing way Akiyuki Shinbo has become famous for.)

And of course, a good chunk of the character designs (especially Ruriko’s “modern” student uniform) look completely out of place for what starts as a period piece.

Overall Impression

I think I can see what this is going for. Rather than taking itself seriously, it’s a madcap romp that keeps upping the batshit insanity. Of course none of this makes any sense ; who needs coherence when the good guys have a tourist bus (with their elite field agent as the guide) that can convert into a super-armoured tank, chased by a big ball of combined aliens ? This is stream-of-consciousness delirium.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t click for me. Part of it is the clash between the madness and the relatively grounded world surrounding Shun at the start ; the show can’t quite pull off the contrast. Indeed, the set pieces often feel like they’re missing the design sense needed to really bring them to life. And then, there’s the protagonist who actively drags my enjoyment down whenever he shows up.

As a concept, nice try ; too bad the execution is so lacking, and discouraging me from pursuing it any further.

Source: [In Which I Review] Anime series from 2000 – Page 2

Cute High Earth Defense Club Love! (Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu Love!)

(12ish episodes ?)

What’s it about ?

This is an original project (with tie-ins in other media – light novel, manga, videogame…) which asks : wouldn’t it be funny to do a magical girl series starring a bunch of dudes ?

Characters

This stars five high school students, four of whom have unfortunately very similar voices. They also like to discuss some very boring topics, such as what vegetable they like best in a hotpot. The one who’s a bit distinctive is the perky freshman who likes ugly animals.

He’s in luck, because a pink wombat shows up and gives all of them super-powers, making them magical boys. Cue “hilarity” as they now have frilly outfits and find themselves compelled to pose while making silly introductions.

Our mook of the week is a depressive classmate of them who somehow got transformed into a rampaging asparagus. They beat him by showering him with the power of love… and finish him off with the power of fists.

There’s also a cameo by the aloof trio of the student council, who will probably be rivals or antagonists later on.

Production Values

The visuals at least make a good try at selling the joke : the magical boy outfits walk a very fine line between being bright and frilly while still looking like male clothing.

The episode gratuitously starts in a public bath, although there’s not that much flesh in display.

Overall Impression

And the answer to the above question is… not if that’s your only joke. And that’s unfortunately the case here : it’s mildly funny, but can’t carry a full episode on its own, let alone a series. It doesn’t help that the main characters don’t have much personality, and find themselves having some awfully boring conversations when left on their own devices. (Yes, I get that’s a joke. But it’s still tedious to watch.)

I was open to this series in concept, but the execution is far from strong enough to pull it off. Too bad, but at least it tried something a bit different.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Winter 2015.

#09 : UFO Baby (Daa! Daa! Daa!)

(78 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a comedy shojo manga series.

Characters

Miyu is an ordinary high-school student… except her parents just went and left for the US to work at NASA (Mom’s an astronaut, Dad an engineer). She’s left in the care of a long-time friend of a family. Who’s a monk living in a shrine, because no commute is complete without a ridiculous flight of stairs. Said monk almost immediately lands a ticket for a trip in India he’s longed for all his life, and absconds as well.

This hasn’t been a good day for Miyu.

Kanata, the monk’s son, isn’t especially thrilled to be left alone with this random girl all of a sudden. It’s mild irritation at first sight, and we all know where this leads in a shojo manga.

Ruu is a baby who shows up in a flying saucer that night, just as Miyu was about to leave. It’s obviously going to be the plot device bringing the lead couple together as they must care for it.

Wannya is Ruu’s “sitter pet”, who conveniently explains how the baby got there (random space wedgie), how long it’ll stay (at least a year to fix the navigation system), and presumably will care for it while the teenagers are off to school.

Production Values

The artstyle looks very 90s shojo indeed, and in some ways not dissimilar to the early days of the Sailor Moon anime. The lush pastel backgrounds are certainly pleasant to look at.

Overall Impression

I can easily see how this was successful enough to last for a year and a half : it’s got a fun premise, decent characters, and a good grasp of comedic timing. On the other hand, it’s a bit on the slow side, and not that funny. Also, I’m probably a bit too high above the target age range to really be invested in it.

This is perfectly okay at what it does. But 78 episodes is a bit too much for me to stick with it.

Source: [In Which I Review] Anime series from 2000 – Page 2

#06 : Miami Guns

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a comedy manga series that follows a couple of cops in Miami City (a parody of America where everyone has Japanese names and drives on the left).

Characters

Yao, the flashiest member of the force, happens to be the daughter of a super-rich business conglomerate owner. When she shows up late, it’s by parachute-diving from a helicopter. (And bungling her landing, because that’s funnier.) She’s an exhibitionist egomaniac who never thinks her “daring exploits” through. The only reason she somewhat gets away with the collateral damage of her stunts is that she can easily buy her way out of trouble.

Lu, the daughter of the police chief, looks at first sight to be the straight (wo)man of the pair, deadpanly snarking at the ludicrousness of Yao’s antics through most of the episode… Except that when she gets bored, she just charges in with a tank to put an end to this crap.

The Chief hates his life and having to deal with Yao, but makes a valiant effort in trying to do his job properly. For all the good it does to him.

Our Perp of the Week is a a hoodlum from out of town who makes the mistake to try and hold a bank up here. Unfortunately for him, (1) in Miami City every bank customer brings in a gun, and (2) Yao & Lu are on the case.

(Good thing Yao bought the whole building, as it’s not standing anymore by the end of the episode.)

Production Values

A bit dated, but decent enough to sell the jokes. The characters can act and the set pieces aren’t too embarrassing.

There’s more than a bit of fanservice (Yao spends half the episode in a bikini), but thankfully the camera isn’t much in pervert mode (except when it’s funny).

Overall Impression

Let’s be clear : this isn’t subtle comedy at all, as it goes for the cheapest laugh at the first opportunity. But with that said, it’s actually quite funny, with most of the jokes landing. The constant refuge in audacity helps.

It’s not a lost gem in any regard, but it seems short enough to be decent popcorn watching and not outstay its welcome. I’m quite interested in coming back to it later on.

Source: [In Which I Review] Anime series from 2000 – Page 2

#04 : Carried by the Wind: Tsukikage Ran (Kazemakase Tsukikage Ran)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

This is an action-comedy series set in the Edo period, following two drifters who fight their way through hijinks.

Characters

Ran, our lead, is someone everyone mistakes for a masterless samurai. She can walk the walk if needed (and WILL win any fight she’s involved in), but her chief concern is to find nice places to rest, and maybe some food despite being perpetually broke.

Meow, her soon-to-be sidekick, is a martial artist from China who randomly stumbles into the same town as Ran this episode. She’s much more bumbling and naive, but no slouch in a fight either. And she’s impressed enough by Ran to stick around with her.

The plot of the week involves a crime group terrorizing a town, with the previous head family haphazardly trying to hire the two heroines to oust them. Very basic stuff that’s enough to showcase the different ways our two leads react to the situation.

Production Values

Quite good : the action setpieces are quite fluid indeed, and sell both women as badasses.

Also, this is the type of series where you can’t go wrong with an enka opening song.

Overall Impression

I’ve said my piece about this show a couple years ago, when I watched it at OM’s recommendation. In short, I didn’t care much for it : it’s a repetitive joke that got on my nerves after a while. It doesn’t help that I feel Samurai Champloo got much more mileage out of a similar setup.

Still, it’s a decent first episode ; the running gags are still fresh, the main characters haven’t annoyed me too much yet, and it looks great for its time. I could see myself put it onto my to-watch list if I hadn’t already seen it. (And then I see the next-episode trailer for the underground sake brewery episode, and urgh. Drunk Ran episodes were the worst.)

Source: [In Which I Review] Anime series from 2000 – Page 2

Fall 2014 capsules

Hmm. For some reason Karen Senki wasn’t even on my checklist. I can’t even find any hint it’s actually airing in Japan. But hey, it’s at the very least a Japanese co-production by the creators of Sakura Wars, and Crunchyroll is streaming it, so close enough for a token mention in this thread.

This is quite an odd series. For one, it’s 12 half-length episodes. For two, it’s full-CG. And for three, I can’t tell whether the plot being so disjointed and making no sense whatsoever is intentional.

It follows the adventures of Karen, who wages an essentially single-woman war against robots, who have taken over society and killed her cute young sister. (Or so she claims ; the flashbacks show nothing of the sort.) But the robots’ rule doesn’t seem that drastic, as everyone else seems to be carrying on normally, aside from whenever they have to deal with the collateral damage of Karen’s battles. Her being randomly attacked by killer-bots seems to be the exception, not the rule. One of her associates seems perfectly fine having a robot lover. And frankly, Karen just doesn’t sound entirely sane.

Or this may just be because the series as a whole is an excuse to string along elaborate action sequences. Now, they’re quite well-directed ; the problem isn’t so much that they’re hard to follow, but that they don’t fit with their context. But the real issue here is that the actual character animation is goddarn awful. People don’t move that way ! They can emote decently, but just about anything else about them is awkward. This is massively distracting, and doesn’t help the series’ case.

I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt, and a second episode. But I dread it’s going to test my patience quickly.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2014.

 

Anyway, let’s say a few words on I Can’t Understand What My Husband Is Saying (Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken). It’s a series of shorts adapting a 4-panel gag manga series. Basically, it’s about a wife being flummoxed by her husband’s ultra-otaku ways. It’s mildly funny, but most of these jokes have already been done to death, and you often wonder why those two even got married in the first place. (That’s actually addressed immediately, but her reasoning is more than a little evasive.) This is a perfectly inoffensive show, but I doubt it’ll hold my attention for long unless it gets significantly better soon.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2014 – Page 2.

 

As it turns out, I just can’t make a proper review of Fate/stay Night – Unlimited Blade Works. Too much of my viewing experience was influenced by my foreknowledge from the DEEN series & movie, as well as Fate/Zero. It’s not like I can remember exactly who’s a Master (and of which Servant), especially as we’re in a different route and things might change around a bit, but I still know more than a few incoming twists that make it impossible to offer a “virgin” preview. (And I do have doubts on whether the series is aimed at anyone but people who’ve already seen either or both of these previous shows.)

Still, this is a good start. Way less infodumpy than Fate/Zero, and with some actual impressive battles right off the bat in this opening double-length episode. It helps a lot that it features Rin as a protagonist ; as someone who actually has a clue what’s going on, but not the details of who she’s fighting, she offers a more interesting and proactive perspective than Shirou did the first time around.

So far, so good. I was wondering whether I had lost interest in the franchise, but this looks fun enough to be worth watching.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2014 – Page 2.

 

Mysterious Joker (Kaitou Joker) might be at least partially to blame for my sleepiness. It’s a kids’ show about a quirky Gentleman Thief… and if you’re wondering what’s the difference with Magic Kaitou, it’s the targeted age group : this show aims much lower. All the characters are highly annoying and SHOUTING all the time, the jokes fall flat, and I literally couldn’t follow the plot because I was falling asleep every couple of minutes. Something about the protagonist recruiting a “ninja” fanboy kid ? I don’t care at all, and it really doesn’t help that another show with similar themes which is superior in every way is airing concurrently. Pass.

Also falling flat : The Circumstances in My Home’s Bathtub (Orenchi no Furo Jijo). Now, this type of series of shorts based on 4-panel gag manga often have the problem of only delivering the same joke over and over, never really amounting to anything. Here, the issue is that I can’t even see the joke. Dude brings a merman to his bathtub by mistake, and that’s pretty much it. They don’t even have much banter. I just don’t get it.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2014 – Page 4.

 

Sometimes I’m baffled by weird gimmicky series of shorts. Such as Hi☆sCoool! SeHa Girls, where anthropomorphic personalizations of Sega’s consoles enter a bizarre dedicated school ; it’s mostly an excuse to string along “nostalgic” allusions that most often fly completely other my head (as I was more of a Nintendo fan). It’s a better use of full CG animation than we usually get for these, but it’s still a niche gag series where I’m not part of the audience.

Oh, and since I’m pressed for time, I’m going to quickly skip over Gundam Build Fighters TRY : long story short, it’s very promising, doesn’t require any knowledge of the first season thanks to a time jump and a different cast (although Mr Ral still makes a cameo), and I’m pleased to see it has the girl as a true fighter and the leader of the team.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2014 – Page 5.

 

No full review for Ronja the the Robber’s Daughter, as as I fell asleep watching the first episode and don’t care to give it another try. This Ghibli adaptation of a Swedish fantasy book is just very, very dull, and the uninspiring full-CG animation doesn’t help. (Those characters emote way too exaggeratedly for my tastes.) Don’t care, won’t watch any more.

Bonjour Sweet Love Pâtisserie has a completely different problem : it’s a generic shoujo “male harem” romance show that barely gets to breathe in the 5 minutes or so of screentime per week it gets. As a result, all the characters are walking clichés, and the “glamourous baking academy” setup feels completely artificial. Not really worth your time, this one.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2014 – Page 6.

Gonna be the Twin-Tails!! (Ore, Twintails ni Narimasu.)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a series of comedy light novels.

Characters

Souji, our protagonist, is a high-school student with a very strong twintails fetish. That’s all he ever thinks about. He evaluates each every girl around him according to their twintails quality (or potential, if they don’t wear their hair that way). He tries to stay quiet about it as much as possible, as he knows it’s not exactly socially-acceptable, but he doesn’t always succeed.

Aika, his childhood friend, does happen to have magnificent twintails, which I’m sure has no link to her obvious crush on him… but she’s so tsundere and, well, familiar that she’s been effectively friend-zoned. He just seems to used to her being around to really care about her twintails. (Also, she’s highly trained in martial arts, because of course she is.)

Twoearle, a mysterious woman (without twintails !) who shows up out of the blue and starts stalking Souji clumsily. Absolutely unable to speak in without double entendres. She eventually gives him a magic bracelet and explains : he’s the only hope against the Elemerians, invaders from a parallel dimension who have started a war against twintails. (They feed off “twintail energy”, or something like that.) Only him can beat them !

Lizardgildy, the captain of the invasion force, is a true sentai villain. He’s even got hordes of identical small-fry footsoldiers ! And a machine that captures twintailed girls and then extracts energy out of them, undoing their hair in the process…

But then, this is really a sentai show : when Souji activates the bracelet, he transforms into TAIL RED, a warrior who can use twintail energy to beat the baddies up… and happens to be a petite twintailed girl.

(The ED sequence suggests he’s going to be joined in by Aika and the Student Council President, who’s one of the victims of the week.)

Production Values

Rather less fanservice than you’d expect, really ; the camera is a bit perverted at times, but most of the time it tries to sell this as a SERIOUS and TOTALLY NORMAL sentai show. So does the bombastic music.

Overall Impression

Well, this was ever going to be dumb fun, or an unwatchable trainwreck. The good news : the joke works. It’s a very stupid premise, but the direction plays it entirely straight (well, as straight as a sentai show can be), and the contrast between the deadpan exposition and the plot’s complete insanity is hilarious.

I’m not sure it’s a joke that can carry a full series, but I’m willing to give it a try.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2014 – Page 5.