Tag: light novel adaptation

Brothers Conflict

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Look, the official abbreviation for this series is “BroCon”. Do I really need to spell it out ?
(Adapted from a series of shojo novels, which of course got otome game adaptations.)

Characters

“Chi”, our female main character… wait, her real name’s never actually uttered at any point in the whole episode ? Wow. Way to make her even more generic. Anyway, her father has just remarried, and so she moves in with her new family, i.e. 13 brothers. (Daddy and new-Mommy actually live elsewhere because work.)

Juli, her pet squirrel. For some reason she can talk with it. It’s very overprotective of her, what with her now living with 13 men. Very annoying indeed.

The various brothers don’t really get to show off more than one personality trait each, and they’re all generically handsome.

Production Values

Perfectly okay for this sort of thing.

Overall Impression

Let’s be frank : this is an incest-bait show. I’m not sure how seriously the more proactive brothers are supposed to pursue things, but at the very least there’s some insistant teasing. (And just to round things up, the two twin actors also act out a gay scene, because “fun” misunderstandings.) It doesn’t help that the –ing squirrel keeps issuing warnings to the MC even when everyone’s acting perfectly innocent.

There might be a very narrow audience that finds this kind of show riveting. I’m not part of it.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2013 – Page 2.

Sunday Without God (Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Remember the parable about God creating the world in six days, and resting on Sunday ? Well, here he finished the job in five days, rested on Saturday, and just left on Sunday. As a result, people don’t really die anymore, unless those special people called Gravediggers bury them and give them eternal rest.

Characters

Ai, our protagonist, is the cutest little Gravedigger ever : loved by her whole village and her adoptive parents. Sure, she had to bury her own mother and her father is a mystery, but she’s happy, right ? And nobody’d ever lie to her about being a Gravedigger, right ?

“Humpnie Humbert”, who readily admits this is a bullshit pseudonym (taken from some fairy tale). Unfortunately, this is also the name Ai’s mother gave as the father’s (which should ring alarm bells to anyone with a lick of sense), which causes a lot of confusion. But not among the villagers, as he’s already killed them all. Well, shot them until they became zombies, given how the world is now. Why ? He doesn’t say. He much prefers deriding the cruel joke the townfolk inflicted on Ai : Gravediggers don’t have parents, they come from nowhere when they’re needed. Ai’s mother must just have been deluded.

The sad thing is that I can’t tell whether this asshole is right ; there are some hints that Ai does have Gravedigger powers… or maybe not.

Production Values

I watched a preview streamed from NicoNico (the show is set to have proper airings starting Saturday), so this means no OP/ED sequences, and eyebleed-o-vision quality. It’s still very distinctive artistically, with oversaturated colours all the time (making it seem like all the scenes are shot at dawn or dusk) and a love for Dutch angles. It certainly contributes to the surreality of the whole piece.

Overall Impression

Well, the least I can say is that this is a show that makes an impression. There’s a contrast between the bleak premise and Ai’s cheerfulness (Aki Toyosaki in full squeaky mode) that makes it way more depressing than if it was just played straight. It’s not just yet another zombie show, as it quickly builds up a very distinctive atmosphere.

It doesn’t entirely work, though. There are bits where the banter between Ai and the mysterious stranger goes a bit too much comedic to really mesh with the oppressive mood, making the tone of the episode vary quite a bit more than it needs to be really effective. It’s a bit too much all over the place.

There are some bits that do work, though. The progressive reveal of that one villager’s head wound, that’s somehow always out of sight from the camera until he pulls on his hood and you can plainly see that his skull’s shape is just horribly wrong, is a very nicely paced sequence. As is the scene where Ai has cheerfully dug up graves for the whole village in advance, and wonders out loud what she’s going to do now. Great moments, but the show doesn’t quite find its groove yet.

But I’m intrigued enough to give it at least another episode to see where this is going.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2013 – Page 2.

Dog & Scissors (Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

The adventures of a deeply eccentric novel author and her biggest fanboy… who’s a dog.
(Adapted from a light novel series, if you hadn’t guessed.)

Characters

Kazuhito Harumi, used to be a normal high school boy… well, as normal as a guy who spends all his money on books can be. One day, he’s killed in a diner robbery gone horribly wrong. He wakes up as a dog, for some unknown reason.

Kirihime Natsuno (nom de plume : Shinobu Akiyama), his favourite author. She hears his thoughts non-stop after his transformation, and tracks him down in order to get some peace. She refrains from killing him once she figures out he’s the same boy who saved her life during the robbery ; she’s obviously grateful and offers him to stay at her place. She remains very cold and borderline sadistic throughout the episode, though. Also, she carries a pair of scissors at her thigh at all times, hence the series’ title.

There are lots of other characters shown in the OP/ED sequences and making cameos at various point (including an idol who seems to be in every commercial), but their significance has yet to become apparent.

Production Values

Quite nice, actually. There’s some decent atmosphere, and it’s good enough to sell the jokes. The OP sequence is fun and catchy, which is quite an achievement since it starts with Marina Inoue rapping.

Overall Impression

Well, I’ll give it that : it’s better than I expected from the title and outline. There are some decent jokes, and the story happens to be way less stupidly than you’d have thought.

But it’s still not very good. Way too much time is spent on stale unfunny bust size jokes, and the S&M subtext is so blunt and generic that it becomes unsavoury. Moreover, there’s no sense that the story is going anywhere : sure, Natsuno is already going after the killer, and there’s the mystery of how Harumi became a dog in the first place, but none of these directions seem particularly promising ; this doesn’t feel like a premise that can support a 12-episode series.

In another season I might have given it more of a chance, as there were a few good laughs here, but I can’t justify keeping watching it.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2013.

The Pervert Prince and the Stony Cat (Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko.)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

High school romantic comedy.

Characters

Yokoudera, our perverted protagonist. The kind of guy who joins the track & field club just so that he can have an excuse to squat up and down in front of the swimming pool’s window. The club president mistakes it as dedication to the club, and names him her successor ; he’d like to refuse, but couldn’t find the nerve to. That night, he makes an offering to the Stony Cat, which unexpectedly ends up working : he doesn’t have any inhibitions anymore. Considering his filthy mind, that’s not a good thing ; he’s quickly dubbed the “Pervert Prince” across all campus.

Azusa, a high-class student at his school who inherited his inhibitions : she’s now unable to publicly speak her mind regarding his antics for fear of losing face. Hopefully he can convince her to give them back ? (I’m not sure him grovelling like a dog is going to do the job, though.)

Tsukiko, a girl who made a wish to show less emotions on her face at the same time ; she’s now utterly unable to express anything. Her main purpose, beyond probable love interest, is to provide tons and tons of exposition.

Production Values

Utterly unremarkable.

Overall Impression

It’s not a real anime season without a tiresome embarrassment “comedy” is it ? While there are some decent jokes here and there, this is just painful to watch, with every plot twist making the characters more unlikeable and the show less entertaining.

Avoid.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2013 – Page 15.

My Teenage Romance Comedy SNAFU (Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru.)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Haganai clone. Which seems to be becoming its own subgenre of harem comedy now.

Characters

Hikigaya is your standard misanthropic protagonist, horribly bitter about being lonely and spinning it out as a way of life. Not that he’s fooling anyone.

Hiratsuka, his teacher, who won’t put up with his bullshit and forces him into the “Service Club”.

Yukino, sole member of the Service Club until now, also a loner, and now tasked with solving his “personality problem”, whether he wants it or not. (And whether she wants to do it or not.)

Yui, another girl, sent to the club to solve her “terrible cook” problem. She’s way more naive and upbeat, and the perfect foil for the two of them.

Production Values

Okay, I guess. There are flashes of nice direction ideas at various points to spice up the talking heads a bit (including some fun flashbacks), but they’re few and far between.

Overall Impression

Very average. This kind of show needs lots of zingers in its dialogue and good comedic timing to rise above the parade of rom-com clichés, and this doesn’t quite pull it off. The chemistry between the characters isn’t quite there yet, and it’s not like it’s got a particularly interesting premise.

I’m not even sure I’ll be bothering with a second episode of this.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2013 – Page 5.

The Devil is a Part-Timer (Hataraku Maou-sama)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

When his demonic forces are about to get overwhelmed by the human army and their Hero, the Demon Lord decides it’s better to turn tail and flee to a parallel universe, i.e. our Earth. While he’s recovering his strength, he takes a part-time job at the local McDonald’s knock-off. Cue hijinks.

Characters

Satan, the Demon King. After the initial culture shock, he’s actually adapting very quickly to this world. He’s retained a little bit of his magic after entering this non-magical world, but he has no clue how to replenish it and has to use his reserves cautiously, only for emergencies such as obtaining proper papers with low-grade hypnosis or fixing the French fries cooking machine.

Alshiel, his minion. Satan had other generals, but Alshiel was the one who opened to portal to Earth and came with him. Clearly this wasn’t a plan with much thought behind it. He’s spending most of his time at the public library searching for a way to restore their magic. He’s getting a bit worried about Satan going native and forgetting about why they came here.

The supporting cast is rounded up by a couple of Satan’s coworkers : his sardonic boss, and the clumsy cute girl.

Also, he randomly bumps into the Hero on his way home from work. Wait, what ? That’s the cliffhanger, obviously.

Production Values

Wow, budget ! This looks way too good for a forgettable comedy show. The animation is superb, the soundtrack is very good, and the opening 5-minute heroic-fantasy battle scene is a sight to behold.

What did I think of it ?

Well, it’s reasonably funny. It’s a decent joke, sold by characters and direction that play the premise dead straight to increase the comedy value. It’s not a laugh-a-minute riot, but it mostly works.

I’m going to keep watching this one, I think.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2013 – Page 4.

Date A Live

(12 episodes + a bonus OVA)

What’s it about ?

Dating sim mixed with a sentai show. Adapted from a light novel series.

Characters

Shidou, our generic male lead. He’s exactly what you’d expect from a dating sim protagonist : a normal high school boy squabbling with his little sister, he’s got the mandatory perverted best friend, and he’s utterly oblivious about some pretty girls starting to stalk him. Oh, sure, there is some background noise about vast tracts of lands being levelled by “spacequakes” over the last 30 years, but that’s just colour setting, right ?

His life changes when he meets a Mysterious Girl In A Skimpy Outfit at the epicentre of the latest spacequake, which happened right down the block. It turns out that spacequakes are actually the result of MGIASOs landing on Earth, so obviously the authorities are hunting them down on sight. The MGIASO escapes in the confusion before they can catch her.

Origami, the school genius, who was stalking Shidou earlier, is one of the mecha-musume that are the frontline defense against MGIASOs, doing this because her family got killed in a spacequake 5 years ago. She urges him not to tell anyone about this side-job.

Kotori, Shidou’s sister, is actually the commander-in-chief of the local anti-MGIASOs defense force. No, seriously. That’s what her masochist adult subcommander says, so I’ll take his word. They’ve got a spaceship HQ hovering 15,000 km above the city.

The big twist is that the mecha-musume corps isn’t quite cutting it (the MGIASOs have way too much firepower), so our heroes have to resort to a new strategy : have Shidou romance them ! (Why him ? I have no clue.) Cue dating-sim training montage…

Production Values

It’s a bit hard to judge from the eyebleed-o-vision, but I’m not convinced this has much of a budget. The CG is obvious, the character designs are beyond generic, and the animation’s no great shakes.

What is clear is that the fanservice level is noticeably high. We get a bit too much focus on Kotori’s panties for my taste, and these aren’t the only buttshots in this episode. Also, the camera is very interested in the MGIASO’s breasts.

Overall Impression

Well, I’ll grant it that : for a show made exclusively out of stock clichés, it actually manages to put them together in a way new enough to be distinctive. It’s a joke that gave me a chuckle.

Is it actually good ? Good lords, no. It’s impossible to take the rare attempts at emotional impact seriously, given how stupid the premise is. The characters are one-dimensional cardboard cutouts, and none of them look like they’ll rise above their archetypes. (Although I’ll admit the not-nurse is fun to watch.) It’s a show with one joke, and I can’t see it lasting for 12ish episodes without becoming tedious.

In another season I might have given this a bit more of a chance for the fun trainwreck factor, but I just can’t be bothered.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2013.

Winter 2013 capsules

First, let’s get a couple of shorts out of the way…

My Little Sister talks like an Osakan Mom (Boku no Imouto wa “Oosaka Okan”) surprisingly isn’t incest-bait, unlike the immense majority of series with “Imouto” in the (long-winded) title. Instead, it’s terrible in a completely different way : it features horrible cheap Flash animation and revolves around a “wow, the Kansai dialect as spoken by this girl is weird and kinda nonsensical” joke that’s mostly impenetrable to Western ears and doesn’t sound that funny to start with. Apparently it’s adapted from a language guidebook, which really shows (with “helpful” translation recaps explaining the jokes slowly all the time).

Inferno Cop is a weird little short series coming from Studio Trigger, aka the people behind Gurren Lagann, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt and Redline. Alas, despite the pedigree this is objectively mindless garbage, with no budget whatsoever. Obviously this is part of the joke, but it’s not that funny. (Even P&Sw/G at its most poop-joke-obsessed lows had more depth and looked way better than this crap.)

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2013.

Anime shorts are hard to review. In some lucky cases, they’re so terrible it’s easy to dismiss them immediately (see above ; although Inferno Cop‘s second episode had such gonzo charm that I’m starting to reconsider it). But in some case, there’s so little content it’s hard to judge how they’ll end up going.

Case in point : Encouragement of Climb (Yama no Susume). It’s about a high school girl who used to love mountain climbing but has been traumatized by a bad fall ; one of her elementary school friends tries to take her back to her old hobby… and won’t take no for an answer. It’s actually quite a promising start : it’s got some decent animation (including a slightly jarring CG-background shot at the beginning that isn’t half-bad), the plot progresses at a good clip, and it’s got more than one joke. Nothing earth-shattering, but good enough to be worth watching.

I’m more wary about Mangirl. It’s a comedy about young women setting up a new manga magazine. The problem is that it’s not really funny ; the basic joke is that they’re terrible at it, but the show features random bursts of offscreen competence so that they can be in business for more than one episode. And if you’re interested in the behind-the-scenes of manga publishing, this looks much more superficial than, say, Bakuman (which is, you know, still airing).

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2013.

Ai Mai Mi is yet another series of shorts adapting some comedy 4-panel manga. It’s notionally about a high school manga club, but really the three title characters spend most of their time or acting out terrible jokes. At least Mangirl had a plot ; this is just unfunny, horrible-looking crap. Avoid.

 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Nekomogatari (Black) somewhere, now that I’ve watched the whole of it (the four episodes aired just before the New Year, but took a bit to get translated).

For those who aren’t aware of it, this is a prequel to 2009’s Bakemonogatari, a very peculiar mix of harem romance, supernatural horror, self-indulgent dialogue and Akiyuki Shinbo being weird for the hell of it. That was a very good show indeed (if only for being a visual masterpiece), but it’s not for everybody. Nisemonogatari, its sequel last year, was basically more of the same, with even better technical quality but also even more self-indulgent.

The question with Nekomonogatari (Black), like any prequel, is whether there’s any point to watching it, considering how the events of “the Cat incident in Golden Week” have already amply been described in the main series in its “Tsubasa cat” arc. I’ve actually rewatched those four episodes to make sure, and yes indeed Nekomonogatari (Black) does cover a lot of (until now) relatively unexplored territory. It helps that this is a lean narrative (by -monogatari standards), making its point very efficiently at a pace that never feels idle. And the visuals are as striking as they’ve ever been.

This obviously whets my appetite for Kizumonogatari (the prequel people are actually looking for, describing “the Vampire incident on Spring Break” we’ve only very briefly flashbacked to until now), whenever that comes out ; and the “second season”, apparently slated for later this year.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2013 – Page 2.

Chihayafuru 2 was off to a good start, with the start of a new school year and the introduction of new club members feeling like a strong enough move forward to avoid repetition of what the first season did, and update the formula somewhat. (To say nothing of complicating the love dodecahedron a bit more.)

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2013 – Page 8.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Senyuu, a series of shorts parodying heroic-fantasy RPG games. Hilariously mean-spirited, and served by some impressive voice work from Yuuichi Nakamura. It’s got a shoe-string budget, but that doesn’t prevent it from being lots of fun.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2013 – Page 9.

I won’t bother with a full review for Straight Title Robot Anime (Chokkyuu Hyoudai Robot Anime). Notionally it’s supposed to be the first anime series fully animated with Vocaloid-type software, but that just makes it look cheap and generic. As for the story, it’s basically three “girl” androids failing to grasp the concept of humour for 12 minutes. I don’t just mean it’s tedious and unfunny (although it certainly is) : that’s really the plot. (They’re trying to recreate human humour long after humanity has vanished.)

I wouldn’t recommand watching this crap to anyone.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2013 – Page 11.

Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren’t They? (Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo?)

(10 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Super-powered teens are whisked away to a parallel world devoted to gambling.

Adapted from light novels, as you can guess from the ridiculously plain and long title.

Characters

All three main characters share the same personality : full of themselves and sarcastic. They are quite clever, but they never stop letting us now it. Anyway, there’s Izayoi, generic loner antihero with telekinetic powers, who does stuff like begrudgingly “saving” guys being bullied by stereotypical delinquants ; Asuka, authoritarian upper-class snob with hypnosis powers ; and You, a “friend to all animals” who can talk with them.

They’re suddenly transported to another world by the Black Rabbit (actually a busty human-rabbit hybrid), who claims to have done that because they’re elite and deserve to participate in those high-stakes, high-reward gambles. Obviously she’s got ulterior motives, and as they’re smarter than her they’re quick to call her on it. (They do agree to participate, as they’re hopelessly bored by their regular life and this sounds slightly more interesting.)

The gambling world is populated by tons of hybrid races, some of them with superpowers.

Production Values

This looks very cheap, with generic character designs and even more generic fanservice. The OP playing at the end is quite well put together, though.

Overall Impression

This actually ain’t as bad as I originally feared after the uninspired “real world” initial scenes and the introduction of the Black Rabbit (who’s a face-palm-inducing character on every regard), mostly because of the strength of the three leads’ personality. Admittedly they all share the same one, but I liked how they take no shit from the Black Rabbit and cheat like crazy at her game after carefully listening to the rules.

I’m mildly curious on where this is going, and willing to give it one more episode.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2013 – Page 8.

Sasami-san@Ganbaranai

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

What is this I don’t even…

Characters

The titular Sasami, a recluse who never leaves home. She’s extensively cared for by her elder brother. When he’s off to work, she uses her computer network to spy on him possessively.

Said brother remains unnamed throughout the episode, and indeed goes to impressively bizarre lengths not to show his face to the camera at any point. Anyway, he’s a high school teacher, and probably well into his thirties.

Then there are the three sisters pursuing him to various degrees. Tsurugi is one of his colleagues, who does stuff like watching porn in the teachers’ office. The other two are students in the same high school : Kagami is the deadpan sarcastic one, Tama the loony one.

And then the plot goes completely insane : chocolate starts overtaking the world until the three sisters put a stop to it and save the world. (Oh, and and Kagami is apparently a cyborg.) It’s implied that this kind of stuff happens regularly.

It’s a SHAFT show, so there are absolutely no other characters around, with a cityscape entirely devoid of even a single extra.

Production Values

Typical Shinbo direction : artfully composed wide shots, random weird body language bits (such as the brother’s insistant avoidance of the camera), non-naturalistic backgrounds and colours. The animation for the action sequence is very impressive, which makes me wonder about the budget of this series.

What did I think of it ?

Hum. I had no worry that if anyone could make a brocon series watchable, it’d be SHAFT. Especially as the source material is said to be quirkily bizarre on its own right. And this is certainly an enthralling watch, even as alarms bell ring to warn that all of those characters are very creepy indeed.

But the big question is : where do you go from there ? A “bizarre menace of the week” structure could quickly become tediously repetitive, but I doubt this is really what the series is going for. On the other hand, there’s not that much room for character growth either : the characters’ quirks are overpowering and allow for little depth.

There’s definitely a lot of potential here, and on a technical level it’s definitely on SHAFT’s upper range, but I’m not convinced yet this is a show with legs beyond the shock-value façade.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2013 – Page 6.