Tag: romance

Diabolik Lovers

(12 15-minute episodes)

What’s it about ?

This season’s token “otome game” adaptation : it’s a well-defined genre where the female protagonist can romance a variety of boys.

Trigger warning : rape. Plenty of it.

Characters

Yui, our teenage female protagonist and audience surrogate. Her father has sent her off to live in this mysterious creepy mansion, without much of an explanation. There are hints that she may unknowningly be more than an ordinary teenage girl (at the very least, she didn’t know she was adopted), but that’s news to her. She has enough sense to try and run away (as well as phone for help) once she catches on what kind of place this is, but of course it’s all for nothing.

The mansion is inhabited by six creepy prettyboys, covering the usual stereotypes : the angry one who casually punches walls, the childlike one, the one with glasses, the aloof one who seems to be in charge, the borderline rapist… Wait, scratch that : since those brothers are all vampires, they all take turns invading her personal space. Their casual ability to teleport makes it even creepier.

Production Values

This may be an effect of the reduced running time, but this looks quite good : it’s got lots of atmosphere, and sells the spookiness of the setup all too well. The character designs aren’t particularly original, but they’re not offensively generic either.

Overall Impression

Are there any otome games that aren’t about rape ?

Okay, there may well be, but this certainly aren’t one of them. It takes all of three minutes for Yui to be assaulted, and the guys keep going at her throughout. No actual sex yet, of course, and I doubt there will be any, given the transparent vampiric metaphor. But there’s no mistaking what this is all about. The characters are shallow and the plot a mere excuse for as many assaults as possible in the short running time.

It’s a relatively pretty package, but there’s no disguising that it will only appeal to a very narrow audience who enjoys this kind of stuff. I’m not part of them, so I’ll pass.

via [In Which I Review] New anime, Fall 2013.

A Town Where You Live (Kimi no Iru Machi)

(12ish episodes ?)

What’s it about ?

Adaptation of a romance manga where some girl from Tokyo comes to live in the protagonist’s house in the boonies and the usual hijinks ensue…

Well, except that’s not what this anime series is about AT ALL. There was a short OVA miniseries a while ago that adapted a late chapter where the Tokyo girl has gone back home and the protagonist seizes the opportunity of a class trip to see her ; this new series occurs even further down the timeline. (Which makes the title a complete artefact.)

Characters

Haruto, our protagonist. He’s suddenly transfered in the middle of the school year to a high school in one of Tokyo’s suburbs so that he can spend all his free time looking around for the girl. If that sounds very stalker-ish… Well, her younger sister would agree.

Aoi, his older sister, whose pad he’s crashing at. Since she’s a busy salarywoman, she’s barely ever around anyway.

Asuka, their next-door neighbour. Since her first contact with Haruto is attacking him with a baseball bat, mistaking him for a burglar, they’re not exactly off on their best foot. So of course they attend the same high school ! She mellows down relatively quickly, and even starts giving him on how to better fit in class (where he’s not making any friends). She’s very obviously projecting some of her own issues onto him, especially her self-consciousness regarding her country dialect.

Kyousuke, Asuka’s “friend” and overall nice guy. Perceptive enough to point out that, whatever they may pretend, Haruto & Asuka have a lot of chemistry together… not that it takes too much to notice it.

Eba, the girl Haruto is actually looking for, doesn’t show up at all in this episode at all, although since she’s prominently in the OP/ED sequences she’s bound to appear at some point. Next episode will apparently feature flashbacks to the original setup, with the old supporting cast.

Production Values

There’s something a bit old-fashioned about the artstyle here : thicker black lines, saturated colours… Or maybe I just watched a bad transfer. Anyway, it looks somewhat rough, and doesn’t seem to be used for any artistic purpose.

Overall Impression

Well, it’s always intriguing when an adaptation starts off at a very late point from the original material. I can understand why they did it : the early premise sounds generic as heck, and the story of what happens after Eba has gone back to Tokyo and the status quo is shattered seems more interesting. It does result with a series that barely has any relation to its title anymore (since it’s not set in the town where Haruto used to live).

On the other hand, it seems to be a running joke that Haruto has way more chemistry with anyone but Eba, and his current behaviour looks very unhealthy indeed. So it’s not like the two of them being reunited feels like something we should be looking forward to. There’s kind of a sense that their romance has run its course and he really shouldn’t be trying to rekindle it. And I’m not entirely sure I trust this series to pursue this to its logical conclusion.

It’s an intriguing series, I’ll give it that. But I have enough doubts about its direction that I’m not sure I’ll see it through.

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

Love Lab (Renai Lab)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Comedy about students at an all-girls middle school practicing romance.

Characters

Riko, aka “The Wild One”, because she does delinquent-ish things like hiking her skirt up and tying her hair up. (This is the kind of elite middle school that frowns down on such trivial matters). Also, she’s athletic and more than a bit of a tomboy, which has netted her many female admirers. To tell the truth, she’s a bit bored, until she stumbles upon…

Maki, aka “The Princess”, the student council president. To everyone else, she’s perfect : diligent at her work, good grades, pretty. In reality, though, she’s a complete goofball that Riko finds practicing kissing on a bodypillow. Maki is absolutely obsessed with preparing herself for romance, and forcefully enlists Riko as a coach, because surely she must have tons of experience ? (Riko has too much pride to admit her love life has been pretty crap so far.)

There were originally three other members to the student council, but…
– The actual president (Maki was only vice-president originally) got annoyed by Maki doing all the work and leaving nothing for her to do ;
– The treasurer got thrown out for acting way too creepily while counting the money ;
– And the secretary still comes in occasionally, but she’s got so little presence you’d barely notice she was there.

Production Values

Perfectly okay for this kind of thing.

Overall Impression

I’m shocked : I was in stitches for the whole episode once we got to the reveal about Maki. This is very funny stuff, mostly because Maki never stops being hilarious. This combination of earnestness and cluelessness works perfectly, especially as she’s still able to be menacing to Riko when she feels the need to. Riko herself has some good jokes, too ; the flashbacks to her failed love life have perfect comedic pacing.

This is why I’m glad I’m doing those season reviews and watching the first episode of everything : once in a while, one of these shows that were completely under my radar and would never have tried out otherwise (how can you make a title more unpromising than “Love Lab” ?) turns out to be a very pleasant surprise.

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

Servant x Service

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Work-com about civil servants at the welfare office.

(Adapted from a manga by the creator of Working!!.)

Characters

Yamagami, our protagonist. She has just joined the welfare office for one purpose only : finding and exacting revenge on the person who authorized her parents to name her

Lucy Kimiko Akie Airi Shiori Rinne Yoshiho Ayano Tomika Chitose Sanae Mikiko Ichika […]

. For very understandable reasons, this is a bit of a berserk button for her, and she’s got a general grudge against public servants.

Hasebe, another new hire, is the epitome of everything she hates public servants : he’s lazy, takes every opportunity to slack off, and uses his job to try and pick up girls. He’s also surprisingly competent and reliable on the very rare occasions he takes his job seriously and helps the other newbies out.

Miyoshi, the third newbie, is very awkward, but absolutely loved by the customers. Maybe it’s because she looks like the ideal daughter.

Ichimiya, their supervisor, has eight years of experience… and absolutely no clue how to handle them. He seems to spend half his time running ragged trying to prevent Hasebe from slacking off.

Chihaya, Yamagami’s senior at her desk, is very efficient at her job but sounds terminally world-weary. Yeah, this job can do this to you after a while.

Production Values

Quite nice ; a lot of the jokes are sold by the attention given to body language in this. Also, I quite enjoyed the gimmick for the OP sequence (which is only slightly less catchy than “Someone! one! one!”).

Overall Impression

Even better than I expected. This is a very funny series, made all the more hilarious because all of it sounds so true. It strikes exactly the right balance between mocking and empathizing with its characters. It’s also quite well-paced, letting the mystery of why the heck Yamagami is always hesitating before omitting to say her given name when introducing herself build up nicely. And it’s got more than one joke, which is always welcome in a gag show.

Definitely a must-see for me this season.

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

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.

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.

The Flowers of Evil (Aku no Hana)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

I’m not quite sure yet, but it’s certainly very creepy.

Characters

Kasuga, our protagonist. He’s an average high school student who’s completely unremarkable in every way aside from his hobby of writing bad poetry and totally digging Baudelaire.

Saeki, the beautiful top student of the class whom Kasuga (and most of the other boys) has a crush on. She gets maybe two lines in the whole episode ; her chief role is clearly to be an object of desire.

Nakamura, the weird creepy girl who makes a point of handing out blank papers and insulting the teacher to his face. She only has about two minutes of screentime, but she’s clearly the most memorable part of the episode.

Production Values

This has got a very distinctive artstyle, nearly photorealistic ; it looks quite weird animated, deep into the uncanny valley. Which may well be the point. The soundtrack goes out of its way to build an atmosphere of creeping unease. Too bad about the peppy OP song, which doesn’t fit at all the mood that’d been set up pre-credits ; the weird robotic-sounding ED song is much more fitting.

Overall Impression

Well, this certainly commits to its aesthetic, devoting the whole episode to creating this sense of mundane creepiness. The problem is that most of it is very boring indeed, as litterally nothing happens aside from the Nakamura incident. It doesn’t help that I’m not really into Beaudelaire’s poetry, and thus don’t have a clue whether to take Kasuga’s interest in it seriously.

Still, the progressively rising tension is intriguing, especially after the Nakamura incident exacerbates it ; I’m also quite curious whether the awesomely creepy visual of a flower’s shadow with an eye bulging out of it has any relevance beyond symbolism.

Also, the mangaka insultingly told me to watch the next episode. I guess I’ll do it, then.

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

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.

Photo Kano

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Harem romantic comedy, adapted from a dating sim.

Characters

Kazuya, our generic male protagonist. Even he calls himself boring, although he’s trying to change that with his new hobby : taking photographs of everything ! (Daddy has just handed him down his old camera.)

You know how there’s always a perverted best friend ? In this show, there’s a whole club of them : the Photography Club, including a dude who specializes in upskirts, another in cleavage shots from above, the hot-blooded president, and the token girl who’s practically invisible. They want him to join them, of course.

There’s also a “proper” Photo Club right next door, who do all the official photographs. Although since it’s just its president (who ticks all the “potential love interest” checkmarks) and her clingy underling who’s already in another club, they’re not an actual club recognized by the school.

This being a dating sim adaptation, we also get introduced to other potential love interests : the childhood friend, the tomboy, his annoying little sister’s friend, the student council president… (I really hope said annoying little sister isn’t an option, despite her name being in the title.)

Production Values

Perfectly okay. The fanservice level isn’t overwhelming, but there are many gratuitous panty shots indeed.

What did I think of it ?

Exactly what you’d expect from Generic Dating Sim Adaptation #46127 : inoffensive, easy on the eyes, and instantly forgettable. It brings absolutely nothing new to the genre and goes through all the expected clichés, but it does it pleasantly enough that you probably won’t mind if you have some interest in the genre. Otherwise, don’t bother.

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

The Severing Crime Edge (Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Cutting hair is sexy ! And serious business.

Characters

Kiri, our generic perverted male protagonist. His very peculiar turn-on : cutting people’s hair. He’s also the proud owner of a family heirloom, the titular Severing Crime Edge. It’s just a pair of hair-cutting scissors, although rumour has it was a crime weapon long ago.

Iwai, a cute girl with cursed, uncuttable hair. She’s like Kiri’s dream come true. He stumbles on her house at random, and it’s definite attraction at first sight.

Houko & Yamane, two girls who antagonistically take care of Iwai’s needs (since she stays at home and has no family). Iwai claims they’re murderers (or at least owner of Murder Tools like Kiri), but they don’t actually do much besides acting like creepy antagonists.

Just to make sure we know all of this is tremendously important, at the end of the episode there’s a mysterious dude in shadow who ominously declares that “the games have begun”. Of course they have.

Production Values

The show is sure keen on making us feel that cutting hair is the sexiest thing since Mysterious Girlfriend X‘s saliva. There’s no real fanservice at such, but lots of longing shots of our two leads being aroused by each other.

What did I think of it ?

Wut.

Not the premise as such ; I’ve been around the block too much to be weirded out by it. No, it’s just that I was expecting something besides the the hair-cutting fetish. Like, either a plot or some chemistry in the romance. But this first episode feels empty of substance, and the perfunctory mumblings about the Murder Tools don’t inspire me much confidence.

By the way, I hope the romance is meant to look creepy as heck, because otherwise this is giving completely the wrong impression.

I’m giving it another episode to give me a better idea of where it’s going, but I’m not optimistic.

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