Tag: romance

Age 12 (Juuni-sai : Chicchana Mune no Tokimeki)

(12 episodes would be ideal, of course)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a romance manga series about the love lives of kids, well, aged 12.
(Quite a number of OVAs were released over the last couple of years by a different studio ; from what I can gather this adaptation is restarting from scratch.)

Characters

Hanabi, our female lead for this episode, is your average sixth-grader. Helpful to her friends, not fond of the boys in her class being gross, and not afraid to call them on their bullshit.

Takao, the nice-looking boy that half the girls in her class have their eyes on, wasn’t even on her radar. It’s obvious he doesn’t crave the attention either (given how much time he spends alone on the rooftop), and it turns out he’s a rather decent guy. Neither of them have much of a clue how to proceed beyond the awkward first kiss, though.

Aoi is one of Hanabi’s best friends. Bigger and probably slightly older, she’s starting to struggle with the way the female body changes at this age. When her first period isn’t crippling her, though, she’s actually rather outspoken and ready to call out the boys on being assholes.

Hiyama is the informal leader of the “bad boys” of the class, and as such gets an earful from Aoi when some of them start flipping girls’ skirts. Actually, he quite likes her, but he’s so awkward about it that his warning of “be careful, my friends say they’re going to target you next” becomes a context-less “don’t ever wear skirts again !”.

Kokoa is your standard-issue bully : all sweet and smiles in front of Takao, but the venomous ringleader of most of the girls otherwise. Takao doesn’t fall for it when Hanabi comes into her crosshairs, though.

While the first episode is mostly about Hanabi & Takao, I get the impression that the show will alternate focus between them and Aoi & Hiyama.

Production Values

Very shojo indeed, including the inevitable romance bubbles. Doesn’t look half-bad, though. And thankfully, no fanservice whatsoever.

What did I think of it ?

Wait, this is the show no simulcaster is touching with a 10-foot pole ? The mind boggles.

This is your standard romantic comedy, except that instead of the usual high-school bullshit, you get grade-school bullshit, and the characters feel more genuine about not having much clue about all this love and sexuality thing. Frankly, it feels very refreshing, and the portrayal doesn’t feel exploitative in the least.

I’m liking this a lot, and it’s a shame nobody is picking it up.

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

Super Lovers

(10 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a shojo manga series about a teenager connecting with his new adopted young brother.

Characters

Haru, our protagonist, has come to his mother’s house in the Canadian countryside to spend the summer. Well, originally it was because she pulled yet another stunt, claiming to be at death’s door (haha, no), but he might as well stay for a bit.

Mom is an eccentric author, and it’s not hard to see why there was a divorce with Haru’s father and he got remarried. She’s really annoying, but has just enough charisma to pull it off. And her latest great idea was to adopt…

Ren, a kid who’s borderline feral and spends much of his time with the family dogs. Neither him nor Haru like each other much at first glance, but then they’ve got a whole summer (and series) to get closer.

Production Values

Studio Deen surprised us last summer with a couple of really great-looking shows. Not so much here : it looks okay, but very much in line with their average for this kind of low budget show.

What did I think of it ?

On face value, this is perfectly watchable ; and as long as the show doesn’t go beyond that summer, it should be alright. But the source manga has a reputation similar to Usagi Drop : after a time skip, it turns into a Boys’ Love series. And, er, no, just no.

It could turn out to be inoffensive after all given its short length, but the show isn’t compelling enough as it is for me to be willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. I’ll be skipping it, thank you.

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

Winter 2016 Capsules

Sushi Police has exactly one joke : an elite police task force regulating the quality and authenticity of sushi. Unfortunately, the execution is rather dismal : few of the gags land, and the animation style is an acquired taste at best. You probably shouldn’t bother seeking it out.

 

Old Man & Marshmallow is an office romantic-comedy about a middle manager who loves marshmallow. One of his underlings keeps teasing him about him in a way that makes it clear she’s flirting with him ; he’s oblivious. Nothing great here, but it’s paced decently, mildly funny, and rather okay overall. I may stick with it.

 

Oh, and I’m giving up on Assassination Classroom. The first season had huge pacing and consistency issues ; mostly, it wasn’t that funny. So this new season really had to hit it out of the park to keep my interest… It didn’t. It’s a below average episode with nothing particularly interesting happening ; it might have worked partway through the season as a breather, but something much more punchy was needed at this stage.

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

 

I’ve given up on writing a full review for Divine Gate. This is an adaptation of a smartphone game where characters aligned with six different elements fight against each other. The show makes it darnedest to try and build up my interest into the token plot and make it look visually interesting, but I just don’t care. I just can’t summon the energy to take interest into whatever is going on here, and the characters certainly aren’t appealing enough to carry the show.

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

Sequel watch !

Durarara!!x2 had a very good start for its last third. Most of it is taking stock of the story so far, as Celty desperately tries to get an explanation of what the heck is going on and WHAT ARE ALL THOSE PEOPLE DOING IN HER HOME, but superbly executed. Izaya & Shizuo also get good scenes, so I’m perfectly content with this.

Koyomimonogatari are the latest instalment of the -monogatari franchise, this time around as shorts only available on a mobile-app. (So ready your eyepatch if you want to watch it.) It adapts a bunch of short side stories, so it’s not that great a loss if you miss it. “Koyomi Stone”, the first one, is set before Bakemonogatari and fun enough, as an insight into Ararararagi’s early character development.

By the way, Snow White with the Red Hair is still as fun and engaging as before the break, it’s the one bright spot on Mondays.

I’ve Had Enough of Being a Magical Girl is basically a similar premise to Nurse Witch Komugi R, i.e. a magical girl parody, except as 3-minute shorts and actually half-way engaging. Nothing to write much home about, though.

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

Rainbow Days (Nijiiro Days)

(25ish 13-minute episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a shojo romance manga series. Interestingly, it seems to follow the point of view of the boys.

Characters

Natsuki, our protagonist, is your standard highschool student, of the nice guy (bordering on Nice Guy) mold. He has three friends (Tomoya, Keiichi & Tsuyoshi) who mostly spend time being a jerk to him, each in slightly different fashion. (The credits suggest that they’ll each get their own arc and love interest in further episodes.)

Kobayakawa is a girl who he keeps running into and he’s fallen in love with. There’s no sign whatsoever she’s into him ; indeed, there are hints she’s having a tryst with the math teacher (also Keiichi’s older brother), although that could all be a misunderstanding.

Production Values

Perfectly okay ; especially the attention to body language and facial expressions to build the mystery about Kobayakawa.

Overall Impression

This turned out to be a lot of fun. The half-episodes help keep proceedings tight and and to the point, the cast have good chemistry, and the gags flow well enough.

It’s not like there’s a flurry of non-harem romantic comedies this season, so there’s a good chance I’m going to stick with this one. It’s fun.

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

DAGASHIKASHI

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a romantic comedy (with a strong emphasis on “comedy”) manga series about the heir to a sweets shop.

The title is a pun, by the way ; “Dagashi” are traditional (cheap) Japanese sweets, but it can also be read as “but still…”.

Characters

Kokonotsu, our male lead, is the heir to a rural sweets shop, but to his father’s despair, he’d rather draw manga instead. Until one day, comes a girl who looks just like one of his drawings…

Hotaru is from that one famous sweets-making dynasty. She’s here to headhunt Kokonotsu’s father, as the company would really enjoy his expertise. While he appreciates the offer, he does need his son to agree to take over the shop when he’s gone. So she takes for her new mission to convince Kokonotsu. A good chunk of the humour comes from the contrast between her headstrong personality and her sheltered upbringing, as this is her first trip to the countryside.

Saya is the barrista at the local coffee shop, and obviously crushing for Kokonotsu. But she’s too tsundere to say it outright, and he hasn’t picked up the hint. Of course, she takes very badly to Hotaru hovering around him.

Production Values

Decent enough. What makes the show visually distinctive are its character designs, and they mostly work in context.

Overall Impression

This is a perfectly okay romantic comedy. There are some good gags, some bits of awkward pacing at the story skips from a scene to another, and the characters have good chemistry together.

In any other season I’d be gladly enjoying the show. With such a busy schedule and heavy competition ? It may fall into the cracks.

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

Girls Beyond the Wasteland (Shoujo-tachi wa Kouya wo Mezasu)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a visual novel about highschool students producing a visual novel.

Characters

Buntarou, our male lead, is your usual “helps out everyone” aimless high-school student, but at least he’s got good banter with his friends. Since this is a VN adaptation, it takes the slow approach of making us spend a lot of time with him just going about his day before the plot finally gets introduced. We do learn that he has some decent writing talent, but moreover he’s good at taking charges during crisis and making everyone work together while assuaging egos. All skills that should be invaluable later on.

His close friends include Yuuka, his tomboy childhood friend with a talent for acting, and Atomu, the third wheel who’s doomed to fade into the background.

Kuroda is a weird girl who keeps checking him out. After a tense not-date, she eventually reveals she’s been scouting him for her VN-making circle. She’s very driven about it, viewing it as her future career rather than just something to keep busy during high school. That, er, may be a bit over-optimistic, but hey, this is a wish-fulfilment fantasy.

Production Values

Perfectly okay.

Overall Impression

It’s your average “school club” series, basically. Its origin means that it’s more interested in setting up the long game than rushing through particularly noteworthy sequences ; as a result, it lacks some punch to really catch the audience’s attention.

I’m willing to give it a second episode to see whether it picks up a bit, but as a Thursday show it’s facing fierce competition for my time.

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

Norn9: Norn+Nonet

(12ish episodes)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a sci-fi “otome” visual novel. Interestingly, according to the Wikipedia description it seems to have switched point-of-view characters from the very young dude (who’s yet to show up) to one of the girls (which feels much more conventional).

Characters

Koharu is a girl who’s forgotten nearly everything about herself (it takes the whole episode for her to remember her name), who one day feels to compel to head for a shuttle that leads her to THE WORLD. Not the stand, but a huge ship (big enough to host a town and some bits of lands inside) that travels across the globe… and maybe spacetime, if the appearance of Koharu’s hometown is any indication (The World looks much more futuristic).

The only crew (and inhabitants) of The World are about a dozen teenagers, who seem to have been recruited similarly. (The big difference is that Koharu somehow got her hands on an uniform before she even got inside.) They spend most of their time on the chores required to living on The World (fishing, growing crops, etc.), and frankly I have no clue how they do this with so few people given the sheer size of the thing. On the other hand, The World appears to be self-driving, randomly relocating itself to whatever crisis they are meant to solve. (The show remains mysterious as to what those are yet.)

Oh, and a tower explodes at the end. Good way to keep my interest up, show !

(It’s apparently called “Norn9” because there are 9 dudes aboard, and somehow the three girls – including Koharu – don’t count. Whatever)

Production Values

Quite sharp-looking ; it’s certainly very good at selling The World as a setting with a huge scale and on a completely different technological level from anything else.

As you’d expect for the source, there’s a decent amount of manservice, mainly in the form of a bunch of the guys spending noticeably more time than narratively necessary swimming around.

Overall Impression

Usually I’m not in the audience for otome adaptations, but I have to give points to this one for sheer ambition. Sure, it spends most of its time faffing around with nothing particularly interesting happening, and the main characters don’t deviate much from the usual archetypes, but it almost feels like there’s an actual plot and purpose to the show.

I’m probably going to be disappointed, but I’m giving this a second episode.

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

Dance with Devils

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Ah, the standard romance show with a heroine surrounded by creepy and devilish-looking handsome boys. Except this isn’t a shoujo manga or visual novel adaptation but an original project. And a musical.

Characters

Ritsuka, our protagonist, is your ordinary, slightly naive high school girl. She lives alone with her writer/translator mother, as her older brother is busy being ordained in England. If that last bit wasn’t already eyebrow-raising, then there’s the whole deal with her Mom being very insistant she wear a fresh new talisman every week. Considering it saves her bacon twice this episode, that sounds like a reasonable precaution.

One day she’s suddenly summoned by the Student Council, a quartet of creepy boys of various strikes. There were rumours she had broken some school rule, but they refuse to be more precise. Since her talisman prevents them from doing anything too nefarious, she’s just dumbfounded at this group of jerks and their unfounded accusations.

As she comes back home that evening, she sees a bunch of hooded thugs ransacking the place, and her mother motioning her to stay away. Of course, by the time she comes back with the police, everything is back to normal (aside from her mother being mysteriously absent), and they don’t believe her. As a perfectly sensible precaution, she decides to stay the night at one of her friends. However, than plan is hijacked by…

Rem, jerk student council president, who “rescues” her from the thugs attacking her again and… wait, did he just incinerate two of them while she wasn’t looking ? Anyway, he escorts her back to his mansion, supposedly for her own safety. He claims the student council are investigating a circle of devil worshippers at school, and initially mistook her for one of them… but I have a hard time taking anything he says at face value.

Production Values

As mentioned above, this is a musical. It opens with a glorious villain song featuring an evil Greek chorus being ominous as crap, goes on with Ritsuka going to school like she’s a Disney princess under the cherry trees, and also has the student council being introduced as super-creepy in their library den. It’s thus slightly disappointing that there’s so much plot setup that we don’t see anymore of those musical numbers in the second half of the episode. Hopeful the next episodes will balance them better, as they’re gorgeous-looking and the clear highlight of the show, both musically and visually. (Though the rest of the show looks quite good too.)

Overall Impression

From previous reviews, you may have notice I have very little time for this genre, especially if the numerous prettyboys aren’t particularly distinctive. But this pulls of the stops to get me onboard with a series of glorious musical numbers that are so over-the-top they’re incredibly charming. Which is a feat, for a series about rapey boys.

I’m less sold about the actual plot and characters (although I have seen much worse heroines than Ritsuka), but if the show can keep the musical numbers as impressive as this opener, then, to my complete surprise, I’m in.

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

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

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Oh, just shoot me.

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

Characters

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

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

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

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

Production Values

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

Overall Impression

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

Yeah, no, I have better things to watch.

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