Although the realm of Flonyard appears to be incredibly peaceful, exceptionally pleasant, and irrefutably safe, it’s essentially a world plagued with horrifying demons, merciless highway bandits, and innumerable crimes and destruction.  Even with respect to the lighthearted, friendly, and optimistic themes that Dog Days’ constantly upholds, Flonyard is beleaguered with threats and menaces.  While a world perfect for fun and adventures to any traveling hero or super-solider, it must be entirely the opposite for the citizens who inhabit these lands and call Flonyard home.

From the perspective of any humans, be it the visiting heroes residing in the various kingdoms or the audience watching this anime, Flonyard is presented to us as a world of excitement, adventure, and sociable beings with adorable animal-ears.  This is how we’re intended to see Flonyard, a domain created for our entertainment, our delight, and our desires.  It’s a place where you can play with your friends in assorted war-games, relax among the world’s elite in spacious, grandiose palaces, and rescue one another from whatever dangers arise.  It is designed and configured for us, meaning that every aspect of this realm is in some way intended for our enjoyment, be it straightforward or indirect.  And because of this, there are several aspects of this world that generate peril and vulnerability for the citizens in the various kingdoms of Flonyard.

Yes, to the people that are actually born, raised, and reside in Flonyard, life is close to hell.  While the townships within the kingdoms are safe, thanks to a protective force that surrounds these lands and prevents against injury and death, the entire world is full of callous monsters that can only be quelled by the most powerful of soldiers or warriors.  And not only that giant rat demon from the previous episode but the terrifying demon from the first season, too.  And even with the protective forces resonating throughout the lands, it doesn’t prevent one from being attacked and turned into one of those fluffy animal balls.  Keep in mind those rabbit bandits and the feral cat god were able to attack and mug people the citizens within their city walls, either being stripped of their clothes or stealing their wares.  And though it seems most of the population is within the military, evidenced by the swarms of people participating in the war-games, they are largely ineffective to these threats as they’re typically matchless against these terrifying beings.  Everywhere you look, be it within the castle walls, down the city’s thoroughfare, or in the untamed wilderness, danger awaits the people of Dog Days’.

However, most citizens heed no attention to these risks, nor does it seem to be a pressing concern for the leaders of the nations to address.  Instead, the world is deemed safe enough to sponsor various war-games between nations, hold massive festivals, and even broadcast live concerts, so the thoughts of how treacherous the world is are not actively on the minds of the people.  Hell, Galette doesn’t even have its own demon-hunting special-forces unit yet, so it’s somewhat evident that there’s some indifference toward this issue.  And with each nation housing an awe-inspiring hero and several formidable warriors, the thought may be that any issue can be addressed before it becomes a problem.  Not only that but it seems many of the demons that have harassed these nations are properly sealed and kept dormant, unable to ravage the lands anytime soon.  So while the world may be bursting with danger, none of it appears to be active danger, with the only issues being the clothes-stealing bandits and the wild cat god excited by shiny jewels and metals.

So, what does such an analysis on the setting have to do with the anime currently?  Well, given the episodic nature of the past few episodes, the question of a central plot to this sequel becomes more and more apparent with every passing episode.  While the first season was story-heavy and straight to the point, never deterring from the strict schedule it assigned itself, the second season has been carefree and lenient in how it illustrates its adventures.  But sometime, and likely sometime soon, the main plot of Dog Days’ will appear and we’ll be thrust into a fantastic quest involving the three nations and their main forces.  And what appears to be the only force able to warrant such an opposition, especially considering the foreshadowing throughout the previous episodes, would be an external force from nature that poses a threat to each society.  And by examining the setting of Dog Days’, we’re able to understand a bit more about what might possibly cause such an event to occur: the fact that the world seems exciting to the visiting heroes, is hazardous to the townspeople, and the fact that no one really pays too much attention to it.  Given these perimeters, it’s likely some foreign threat will appear to challenge these nations and turn the anime toward a serious and comprehensive storyline.  Or not and just be lighthearted and episodic the entire time, either way really works for Dog Days’.

This concert sucked compared to the ones from last season.  Worse song, no awesome sakuga, boring visuals.  Millhiore is still cute but that was it.  I want my money back.

The second season of Dog Days has concluded peacefully without any interruption or harm by any form of plot whatsoever.  The season was left to be carefree, directionless, and virtually an entire season of filler and character set-up that was never delivered nor resolved.  However, with several hints dropped during the finale, as well as embedded gracefully throughout the season, it appears that yet another sequel of Dog Days is within the minds of the creators and producers.  Should that be the case, then one can’t help but wonder what possibly could happen in a sequel to follow this season.  It feels like the series has already run out of ideas considering the lack of focus, structure, and planning that occurred in this season.  What can Dog Days do to make its next season worthwhile?

With the second season of Dog Days, we saw a shift in storytelling going from a centralized conflict following Shinku in his efforts to settle the war between Biscotti and Galette to a series of disconnected side-stories that focused on distinct groups of characters having their own fun and adventures in and around their kingdoms.  The change in style offers us a stark contrast between the two seasons, with one narrating a long and detailed plot that served a meaning while the other described many little stories that dedicated themselves to fun and ecchi fanservice.  It’s here where we see a fault in the second season of Dog Days, one where the purpose of the anime is lost beyond its pure entertainment value.  The sequel had no direction, lacked structure, and showcased dismal planning in its efforts to create something expressive or significant.  The plot points of this season, including the Bright Power Gears, Adel and Valério and their Hero/Demon Crystals, romantic tensions between the girls, Shinku besting Nanami in battle (why didn’t you animated this?), and even Nanami’s selfish desires to pet Gaul were all left unresolved and basically ignored.  Hell, even the most interesting battles of the Union Fest were cut as the whole war was essentially fast-forwarded it to the end, a questionable move on the series as a whole.  Beyond that, the character development felt minimal, especially with most of the old cast members essentially stagnating from start to finish, and the individual adventures that encompassed the episodes were largely forgettable.  You almost wonder if they actually designed this season to be entirely comprised of filler and set-up for another season that will occur in the near future because that’s the only way this season makes any reasonable sense.

Well, provided certain specific lines of dialogue and how open-ended the finale felt, I’m now fairly confident that another season is in its infancy, or somewhere, at this moment.  As with the first season leaving behind clues of a sequel, this season essentially did the same with many direct and indirect references to more episodes, going from the obvious of telling Nanami they’ll have a Hero or Demon Crystal for her next time or the fact that Shinku specifically mentions his Autumn break to the subtle with Noir expressing interest in establishing a counter-demon force for her nation of Galette.  And with these plot points still requiring a conclusion, we have some idea of what might happen in the next season as well.  However, given the style of storytelling in this season and the selection of content, you wonder if the series wants to continue this recent trend or revert back to the first season and tell another story with the its enormous cast of characters.

Considering the two options, it’s entirely possible for Dog Days to achieve its goals, resolve its issues, and conclude the series with either methods of storytelling.  Even with the diversity and breadth of the current issues with its characters, there should be enough time to provide closure to all these story points in as either side-notes to a different central storyline or as specific episodes in another collection of random episodes.  With the current structure of the series favoring a haphazard arrangement of episodes, it wouldn’t be surprising to see another season do the same, though should the series want to find a possible end for itself, then a strong storyline seems the most ideal given what it would provide for the anime as a whole.  And let’s not forget the possibility of the characters for Flonyard from visiting Earth for any duration of time, though outside their realm of magic and wonder, they’d be unable to perform their usual assortment of acrobatics and damage to each other without shredding more than each other’s clothes.

Or, of course, it’s entirely possible that the anime will choose a different path, one that does as the series pleases.  Hey, the anime could even reappear as a movie or OVA provided what it wants to do with its characters and their stories.  Or, of course, it could be another TV anime which could air next year or whenever.  It’s really unknown where the series will go after this season of assorted episodes covering distinct and divided content for which to explore its world and its characters.  The only thing we’ll know for sure is that the series will retain its heart and soul, highlighting the fun adventures and resilient friendships that made Dog Days such a delightful and entertaining anime.  Whatever occurs next, whether it’s similar to the first season or a continuation of the second, it will be enjoyable to watch.

It’s amusing to see Rebecca and Shinku study the mysterious and convoluted language of Flonyard.  Not only are the characters incredibly detailed and specific but they’re not easily discernible or recognizable.  That and writing out everything must take forever considering how complex and convoluted every letter is.  It might be akin to kanji or Chinese characters but even then there are simple ones and patterns within the languages that have some logic to it.  The language of Dog Days, however, is strange and irrational, something that shouldn’t exist or hopefully is evolving into something more simple and practical.  It’s like an entire language of Wingdings only crazier and not nearly as funny.  Makes you wonder if the actually crafted an entire remapped language of Japanese for this anime or not.  Makes you wonder if anyone has actually tried to discern a pattern or not for this language, too, should anyone try to translate Becky’s letter to Couvre.  Hmmm… makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

Seeing as the Autumn anime season is already upon us, a number of anime having recently aired with fervent discussions trailing closely behind, there’s no better time than now to provide a brief overview to the assembly of anime premiering this season, primarily composed of my thoughts, opinions, and general hype for each show.  So what anime am I keeping my eye on that might be wise to do the same?  Come and let’s explore what is to be the Autumn anime season of 2012!

Beginning the season preview is a quick summarization of all the shows with previous anime material to their history.  Whether another sequel, a stylized retelling, or some sort of a series reboot, the continuations feature an impressive collection of renewed anime material. Airing this season are: Bakuman 3, Cross Fight B-Daman eS, a Gintama reboot, a new Hayate no Gotoku!, Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb, Hiiro no Kakera S2, Initial D Fifth Stage, Jormungand Perfect Order, Medaka Box Abnormal, a new Seitokai no Ichizon, and ToLoveRu Darkness.  With that said, there are only two anime of this list that I have watched and am prepared to begin again with the new season, Jormungand and Medaka Box.  Because the other continuations are based off previous material, that may or may not require watching hours upon hours of anime, I figure that those who are planning on watching these sequels have already watched the required viewing material previous or, should they be missing this prerequisite, are either in the midst of a marathon session currently or preparing to watch this anime with reckless abandon for understanding what the hell they’re getting themselves into… which, you know, actually sounds kinda fun.  Regardless, here are my thoughts on the two sequels that will be beginning again this Fall:

Jormungand Perfect Order

Opinion: Though I had some minor problems with the first season, I’m thrilled to begin the anime again and return to the intense action and astounding comedy that made Jormungand so entertaining and enjoyable in the first place.  What I hope from this season, however, is some improvement over its flaws, namely the predictability of its fights and the invicibility of its characters.  Should those two changes be addressed during this season, then it’ll be on its up-and-up.  If not, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this anime stagnate like it did toward the end of the Spring season and allow the influx of new anime to quickly pass it in terms of quality and ranking for this season.  Let’s hope it’s the former.

Plans for this show: Will watch

Medaka Box Abnormal

Opinion: Yeah, so, Medaka Box actually turned out to be pretty decent though unimpressive in its first season.  I’m honestly surprised to see it get a second season so quickly but I’m actually rather quite happy to see this anime return since it ended strongly and appears to be getting into the better part of its series now.  The comedy and fighting were the two sturdiest aspects of the first season and I’m sure they’ll only improve as the sequel progresses but I was warming up to the characters and beginning to appreciate Medaka during the fight arc of the first season.  It appears the trend will continue, so don’t be surprised if Medaka Box Abnormal appears in the upper-half of my anime rankings at the season’s end as one of the better entertainment anime of this Autumn.

Plans for this show: Will watch

With the continuing anime section now complete, let’s move onto the bulk of the season, the new and original anime.  With roughly 30 new anime beginning in the opening weeks of October, there is plenty of material to review and weigh before we decide if we should even watch the first episode before they air (though at the time of this post, many shows have already aired!  Whoopie, that completely discredits the previous statement!).

The order of anime listed below is not chronological nor alphabetic but ranked in order of my anticipation and how likely that I think, before watching any episodes, that I am to keep the anime as one of my regulars this season.  There are 5 tiers that these anime are grouped in and each tier has the anime listed alphabetically within each.  Along with a sample video, the one that I used to help evaluate the anime, is my opinion on the material as well what my current plans for the anime are.  Don’t be discouraged if one of your highly anticipated anime are ranked poorly or not in my current plans for watching, I often sample shows that do not rank and often end up keeping one or two each season.  These things readily change within the first few weeks, so though everything here is organized and in order, the whole process is in flux with shows flipping and skipping and dancing all over the place.  Well enough of this, let’s see what’s in store for us for Autumn of 2012!

K

Opinion: What can I say; I’m a sucker for fighting anime.  And with such smooth, fluid animation during the fight sequences, complete with camera movement (pans, tilts, rotation) and a brilliant symphony of colors and lighting, this appears to be the anime tailored to my tastes for this season.  I haven’t found much material on the story or characters but, honestly, at this point, that’s the furthest thing from my mind.  While I truly value characters, their roles and their development throughout a series, plot is among my least significant aspects in determining whether I watch an anime or not.  And based off the trailer alone, (as well as the other one) it looks to be something akin to gangs fighting in a futuristic city, either over territory or the ditzy girl in the second trailer.  Well, whatever it is, I’ll be watching.

Plans for this show: Will watch

Little Busters!

Opinion: For the longest time, I’ve wanted to play Little Busters! but never found the time to actually play it.  After a while, I found my motivation slipping and eventually convinced myself to just watch the anime whenever it came out.  Well, after many years of waiting, it appears Little Busters! is destined to be a television anime.  What I’ve seen from the trailers hasn’t impressed me, simple displays of animation with the main cast over the opening theme, and I’m never a huge fan to romance/school/harem/blah type anime, but I’ve been waiting years for this anime to come out, albeit without much hype or enthusiasm.  Even if the anime turns out to be subpar, I’ll finish it; I’ve been waiting too long to pass up this opportunity.  And hey, if the anime turns out to somewhat decent or even outstanding, then that’s all the more for me and everyone else watching this anime adapation.

Plans for this show: Will watch

Magi

Opinion: With a setting like that, how could I not watch this anime?  Stylized in the theme of Arabian Nights, Magi’s physical setting is unparalleled this season with such a distinguishable desert environment, blocky and domed stone architecture, and bright environment where, if you press your face up against your screen, you might even feel the heat of the blazing sun (as if it could be anything else!).  The remainder of the setting appears to borrow themes from the story of Arabian Nights, such as the character names (Aladdin, Alibaba, etc) and other fantasy elements to give the anime a thriving, vivacious setting.  The story elements of the anime seem to deal with fighting and adventure which are certainly two big pluses for me in a story.  The art style and animation are impressive, too, considering the dazzling use of lighting, and judging that it’s an anime from A-1 Pictures (AnoHana, Tsuritama, Working!!) I’m sure everything visually will be fine.  Oh, and how did I forget to mention the music from the trailer?  Probably my favorite anime of the pre-season and one that I’ll strongly recommend anyone to watch.

Plans for this show: Will watch

Psycho-Pass

Opinion: I’m kinda a sucker for this type of anime, too.  Given the futuristic setting, one with a magnificent visual interface as this and a heavy emphasis on the integrated technology, especially the weapons, I can’t help but find myself already absorbed and fascinated with the world that is Psycho-Pass.  That and this style of drama, involving what I assume are two police or special-forces officers, gives me a positive impression for the story and the characters.  The video above features some mediocre displays of animation, nothing really impresses me but it looks detailed and smooth and there’s nothing wrong with that.  I don’t know much else about the anime besides Gen Urobuchi (Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Fate/Zero) being the writer, so if nothing prior convinces you or explains my rationale for why this anime is so high, maybe that does it.  And if that doesn’t, well, I suggest you give the first episode a try when it airs.

Plans for this show: Will watch

Robotics;Notes

Opinion: Okay, I’ve cheated with this one.  A manga adaptation of the visual novel has been running in Ultra Jump the past few months (the manga magazine I have a subscription to) and I’ve been following it since I’ve been anticipating this anime since it’s an indirect sequel to Steins;Gate.  While unimpressed at first, I’ve grown to enjoy the story and the characters, especially after the first few chapters.  Frau (the blonde girl with the twintails) has been exceptional and is enough of a reason alone to watch it despite my initial tedium with the series.  Her visual gags, personality, and commentary are remarkable and showcase the potential and talent the series has.  She should be reason alone to watch this anime.  As for the animation, it appears to be desirable for an anime of this caliber, and the use of robotics in this setting is good, though it doesn’t do too much for me.  Overall, I’ve have high anticipation for this anime since I’ve begun to enjoy the manga in recent chapters, but I expect it to be slow for maybe the first episode or two.

Plans for this show: Will watch

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!

Opinion: At first glance, you can immediately note how comprehensive and thorough the animation is, a byproduct of being a Kyoto Animation (Hyouka, Nichijou) anime.  That and the incredibly moe art style, too.  That alone is enough for me to watch it, but the remainder of the anime leaves me feeling that it will be underwhelming compared to the animated masterpiece that conveys this story to us.  The story seems to be another school-aged romantic comedy under the pretense of characters with vivid delusions and the courage to act on their wildest desires in public.  It doesn’t seem to be the kinda anime I go bonkers for but I’ve been proven wrong with romantic comedies in the past, just infrequently.  It’s been a while since a romcom has made its way onto a list of my favorites or even received a favorable score from me, so perhaps this anime is about the buck the trend and prove me and my history with these kinda anime wrong.

Plans for this show: Likely watch

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure The Animation

Opinion: Without much knowledge about the JoJo’s universe, reaching its 25^th year anniversary this past month, congratulations, I’ll be going into this anime blind but expecting a good anime if not more.  What I do know is that I can expect some amazing fighting sequences and tremendous comedy, two things that are among the quickest to my heart.  Beyond that, I’m not really expecting much else.  The setting caught me off guard being placed in what appears to be 19^th century Europe and the art style and animation seem good but nothing near my favorite.  Either way, this anime will be watched, just I’m not really sure how it will perform nor how I will receive it.  Guess we’ll find out shortly.

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

Shin Sekai Yori

Opinion: Though this anime has already aired by the time this post is published, I haven’t seen nor read anything about it, so my opinions here are untainted.  It appears to be some mix of a futuristic/fantasy/horror setting given the trailer and synopsis which is good enough to catch my eyes as an anime I should be watching.  If it is, that remains to be seen and I’ll probably start it up as soon as this post is published.  The art style and animation are both pluses, above-average though not in my favorite character visuals.  Not sure what to expect, or even what to think from the story, but I’ll quickly know whether it’s a hit-or-miss near the start and adjust my expectations from there to fit what the anime is actually presenting and not what the trailer likely dictates.  Well, I probably should stop now since I figure most people have already given this episode a shot and know whether or not to continue with it, but for now, my thoughts are generally positive with this one.

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

Busou Shinki

Opinion: Cute, moe (and miniature?) girls who transform into fighting units who battle each other over urban Japan for some bizarre reason? Yeah, it appears to be another generic anime based off a line of action figures or some sort of merchandise that makes this anime more of an advertisement for otaku than any form of storytelling told through the medium of animation (but wait, Avv, aren’t all anime just advertisements for manga or whatever?).  To be honest, I don’t expect to watch the anime this season but I’m kinda curious to see what it’s like or even how bad it is.  And if I keep it around, then it’s probably because I think the girls are cute, and yes, that’s a legitimate reason to keep an anime around if you were wondering.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

Girls und Panzer

Opinion: Another loli x military anime, akin to Strike Witches or Upotte!! but without all the unnecessary panties and uncomfortable fanservice.  Wouldn’t be surprised to see some form of it in this anime but at least it’s not a marketing point judging from most of that trailer.  Nevertheless, I’m not expecting anything from this anime but it looks like it has the potential for something fun and some mild entertainment if nothing else.  Right now it looks like any moe girl slife anime but with tanks (and therefore better than most moe girl slife anime).  Art and animation are surprisingly decent for an anime of this stature but I wonder if it will dip considerably seeing as these are PVs and not the average quality from the episodes.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

Kamisama Kiss

Opinion: This is the region where you’d expect romantic comedies to appear but there’s some merit to Kamisama Kiss that puts it above the median.  The style of comedy is what immediately catches my attention and, given how the art style and character visuals resembles Maid-sama, I have a good feeling of this anime already.  Given that it’s a shoujo romance, too, it shouldn’t be ridden with horrible anime clichés that cause me to bang my head on the sharpest corner of my desk repeatedly but shoujo romances have failed me in recent memory, too.  Nevertheless the positives outweigh the negatives right now but I have no real hype for this series since, well, it appears to be another shoujo romance with a strong comedy presence.  Hope this one sticks because there don’t seem to be too many comedies this season which might be troubling for me.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo

Opinion: Another romcom anime but geared toward the male audience (every PV or CM had panties in it).  What keeps this one above the ‘no-watch’ threshold is simply because there appears to be a bit of a lively, vibrant cast and perhaps some above-average comedy.  Art and animation are surprisingly decent for what appears to be a lackluster anime, so that’s ultimately a positive just given as a backhanded compliment.  I don’t expect the anime to be ecchi at all but if it is, it’s likely to be the only one this season and that might end up being its saving grace (but I fully expect it to be just that once pantyshot in the opening and that be it, kinda like a bait-and-switch for me perverted otaku).  Guess we’ll see when it gets its chance later this Autumn.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun

Opinion: Another anime that has already aired and with it, a firestorm of conversation, criticism, and discourse throughout the animeblogoshape.  I haven’t been immune to the discussions about this anime, so I can’t say my viewpoint hasn’t been affected, but I still plan to give the anime a fair shot as I had planned all along.  It’s another shoujo romcom like Kamisama Kiss before it but without the cute comedy nor foxboys that give it a rich fantasy element.  This one appears to have a bit more imagination to it but still appears to be dead-set in a school setting with typical shoujo romance tropes including one that has been criticized heavily since its debut just a few days ago.  Guess I’ll find out for myself whether its worth watching or not whenever I find the time, but for now, it’s one of the doubtful ones.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

All that remain are the anime that I have minimal to no interest in watching, the anime that either appear to already be flawed, boring, or simply outside my demographic.  While these anime may in fact be watchable to some, they do not appear to be for me.  I doubt I’ll watch any more than the PV linked in their sections but there’s always a chance for me to pick one or two up every season, so not all hope is lost.  However, for most of them, there’s already zero chance I’ll even think about them after writing my opinions for each.

Battle Spirits: Sword Eyes

Opinion: Cards and CG and shounen and bleh.  No thanks.

Plans for this show: No dice

BTOOOM!

Opinion: I like the visuals but, holy shit, the characters and story will just destroy this anime for me.  Also seen some boring ecchi material for this anime, so I think even less of it now than when I just watched the PV and read the synopsis.  I might end up giving the first episode a scan but I don’t expect nothing more than me shaking my head and feeling ashamed of myself.

Plans for this show: No dice

Chou Soku Henkei Gyrozetter

Opinion: Why does this kid have a nicer car than me?  And it’s a robot, too? Shit, I’m just jealous.

Plans for this show: No dice

Code:Breaker

Opinion: It, like, does nothing for me.  Well, I guess making me feel bored is something, so there’s that.

Plans for this show: No dice

Ixion Saga DT

Opinion: Couldn’t some other animation studio make this and allow Brain’s Base to continue Durarara!!, Spice and Wolf, or even more Sengoku Collection?

Plans for this show: No dice

Monsuno

Opinion: How do kids these days find the time to watch all these monster, robots, cards, and other anime?  Makes you wonder if they go through an evaluation process like this before each season to find out which ones are the best.

Plans for this show: No dice

Onii-chan Dakeko Ai Sae Areba Kankei Nai yo ne~

Opinion: Didn’t this anime already air?  How all these anime avoid copyright infringement is beyond me.

Plans for this show: No dice

Sukitte ii na yo

Opinion: No elements of comedy in a romance anime?  No surprise it didn’t make the list despite it looking better than most of the other romantic comedies that get their first episode screened.

Plans for this show: No dice

Zetsuen no Tempest

Opinion: Stuff happens but I’m not interested.  I might actually check this one out if it gets any hype or following.

Plans for this show: No dice

And with that, my personal preview of the Autumn 2012 anime season is complete.  As I’ve mentioned before, everything is in flux, so this is simply a snapshot in time after evaluating everything and putting down my thoughts before watching any new anime.  Things will change and shows are certain to rise and fall, especially within the first few weeks of October.  Up next are my first impressions on the anime, likely coming up quickly seeing as how a few of these shows have already started and are being discussed by our ever expanding anime community.  So enough of this, it’s about time we get back to doing what we all enjoy and start watching the next season of anime!

The setting for Magi is a dream-come-true for anime fans like myself, a stone-structured Arabic metropolis nestled in some barren, sunbaked deserts and beleaguered with danger, magic, and adventure around every street corner.  For the characters residing in this world, however, it’s nothing more than a living hell.  It’s a society wherein class dictates your fate and (lack of) fortune and any challenge against this system is met with severe and crippling punishment.  Still, this doesn’t stop Alibaba and Aladdin from confronting the established society of Magi though their difference in power and knowledge lead to completely different results.

The social order in the world that Magi sets itself in, or at least the city of Qishan where this episode takes place, is effectively a caste system.  The societal hierarchy is simple; those who are born into nobility are bequeathed fortune and live comfortably in luxury, whereas the merchant class struggles and survives, and the slaves have their fates controlled by the men and women who own them.  Those with power and influence work to keep this system in place, static and ageless, through a combination of intimidation or unjust, brute force.  It’s an uneven, unfair society but it’s also one without enemies or rebellion, though at least for now.

Enter Alibaba and Aladdin, two young lads who both see the injustice and wrongs of their world.  Though neither speaks their mind about it, for fear of retribution or enslavement, their actions highlight their feelings over the inequalities that people face in their everyday lives.  And though both have the same perspective on the issue, these two boys have vast differences in power and understanding, and to start, both their challenges to this social system ultimately fail.  It isn’t until they combine their talents until they enact some form of change in this world.

Alibaba is powerless but learned, he understands how the system works and the people within its hierarchy work, too.  After luring Aladdin into his scheme to conquer the local Dungeon, Amon, and treating him to a lavish party, Budel, Alibaba’s boss, catches the two and threatens Alibaba based on his outstanding debt to him.  Knowing that defying Budel would end his freedom (and potentially his life given the two armed guards present), so Alibaba resided to working for Budel as the driver of a wine cart.  And though the correct choice in this situation, Aladdin became dissatisfied with Alibaba as he continued to suck up to Budel and spew nothing but lies with a smile on his insincere face.  It really isn’t a challenge to the social structure in Magi when one readily backs down but it was the opportunity given to Alibaba and this is the choice that he made.  Unlike Alibaba, however, Aladdin acted on his chance.

After running into Morgiana (literally) in the crowded market of Qishan, he discovered that her legs were shackled at the ankles.  Though Alibaba explained to him that the chains represented her status as someone’s slave, Aladdin paid no attention to this warning and severed her chain by playing a note on his enchanted flute.  What resulted was panic and slight chaos, the freeing of a slave in public is certainly a punishable offense, one that could end with enslavement and death.  Thankfully for Aladdin and Alibaba, the power of Aladdin’s friend, Ugo, was enough to subdue the assaulting guards and allow the two to escape.  Here we see Aladdin’s power and his foolishness.  Without knowing or thinking, he committed a crime in broad daylight with dozens of witnesses.  He was challenging the system, freeing a slave without knowing the magnitude of his actions or what dire consequences he placed everyone in.  In fact, because of his actions, Aladdin effectively placed Morgiana in a harsher, deadlier situation as she was being sent to labor in the mines.  So even with power and a righteous heart, Aladdin’s challenge to the system failed because it ended up with him and Alibaba running for their lives and Morgiana being enslaved again and forced to toil underground.  However, with Alibaba and Aladdin together, they were finally successful in enacting some change to the local social system.

When under attack from the desert hyacinth, Mina and Morgiana were captured by the planetoid beast.  Being two lowly slaves, Budel thought nothing of this loss and sought to save his cargo and the others, and to carry on while the monster digested the two girls.  Overcome with grief, Alibaba acted on his instinct and emotions and rushed to save the girls by poisoning the monster with the supply of alcohol.  Aladdin, armed with the almighty Ugo, assisted Alibaba in his efforts and after some close calls and some redemption on Alibaba’s character, the two proved victorious and rescued the two slave girls from certain death.  However, by destroying the cargo of wine and going against the orders of their masters, Budel proposed that the two become slaves for putting the lives of slaves before the cargo of a merchant.  And this challenge to society, one that combined Alibaba’s intelligence with Aladdin’s power (and joint together with their moral justice), was met with success as Ugo decimated the escorting guards with one swift blow and the two were free from retribution for their unthinkable and forbidden actions.  Once Alibaba and Aladdin combined their strengths, they were able to use their will to overcome one aspect of this world’s social injustice.  This is certain to be just the beginning of a number of social changes that Aladdin and Alibaba will undertake as they adventure together as friends.

The city of Qishan intrigues me.  It appears to be a bustling urban center, ripe with produce, wealth, and large merchant and slave populations… but for what reason?  The land surrounding the city doesn’t appear to be fertile nor does there appear to be any farmland within or beyond the city walls.  On top of that, there doesn’t appear to be any fresh water source for agriculture either, making me wonder how it even supports the population of this metropolis.  And speaking of water sources, it’s not situated by any body of water for shipping and trade either nor does it appear to be the center of a network of roads that lead to other cities.  For what purpose does this city exist and at its size, too?  The only reason I can think is that it could be a strategic landmark, built on a steep hill as an outlook near a nation’s border, but that hardly explains the size and lifestyle of the citizens here.  It is mildly perplexing and something that has steadily gnawed at my curiosity but it’s hardly a problem for the series or setting in any way.  It’s just a number of details that I’d like to know, something would help enhance and enrich the setting beyond what it has already been able to do.

The world of Magi has not always been one of wonder and magic.  Sadly enough, at some point prior, all the kingdoms and all the countries existed much like our very own, lands without indescribable fortunes,  enchanted weapons, mythical creatures, or the awesome power of conjured djinns. Grounded in an unforgiving reality, this world experienced a dramatic shift with the appearances of these imposing, towering labyrinths, commonly referred to as Dungeons.  It is here where all the fantasy in Magi originates.  Through the influence of these countless Dungeons, we see a very different world than the one that existed fourteen years ago.  Now, Magi is a world inhabited with magic, wonder, and adventure, and all solely because of these Dungeons.

At first glance, the Dungeons seem to be nothing more than a series of traps and trials, set to assess the cunning and intelligence of any adventurers who dare cross its portal, before rewarding the triumphant with its riches and powers.  Indeed, that appears to be a component of the Dungeons, but these monuments of miracles and curiosity go well beyond these short-term events and outcomes.  Rather, the enduring influences that these Dungeons have on the world of Magi show a far greater impact, reaching well beyond the adventurers who either die or succeed, to construct a world that exists as a duality, a single world made up of both reality and fantasy.

Perhaps the greatest impact that these Dungeons have are how it has inspired and influenced the people of every nation.  Because of these Dungeons, people have now witnessed the awesome powers that even they may be capable of.  With rumors and tales circulating of unimaginable wealth, magical weapons, and spirits able to be summoned at a moment’s notice, people have begun to change their life to reflect new goals and ambitions.  Unfortunately for most, many have met a grim demise, but for the few that succeed, the ones who return to this world and bring to life the magic and wonder, they become a part of the legend and a piece of this fantasy.  Yes, these Dungeons serve as an inspiration to the people, allowing them to dream of fame and fortune, to get a sense of magic and adventure, and, ideally, perhaps motivate them or encourage them to live a better life within their capacities.  Maybe not everyone will be rich and renowned for conquering a Dungeon, but at least these men and women can dream, something they didn’t have before.

Another notable influence, and perhaps the most obvious, is that the Dungeons brought to the world all of its magic and wonder.  Of course, there could’ve been magic, enchanted weapons and djinn before their appearance fourteen years ago but it’s likely that these Dunegons are the primary source of such sorcery, if not the only ones.  Yes, these Dungeons bisect the world of reality and fantasy and serve as a corridor to connect the two.  As a result, the adventurers who return bring with them these marvelous phenomena which are now as much a part of their world as they were within the Dungeons.  Now the real world is inhabited by mystic scimitars and friendly djinn, and the people who control their awesome potential, are able to influence the world to their command.  For example, because of a Dungeon, Aladdin was able to challenge the established social order of Qishan and free Morgiana from her bondage (or so he thought).  It is here where we see how much of an impact these Dungeons have on the world through its magic alone and without it, there’d be no such way for Aladdin’s and Alibaba’s adventures to exist.

Beyond those two apparent affects, there exists a number of other changes, though these all depend on the people who conquer the Dungeons and are granted access to the magic and fantasy that these Dungeons offer.  Here, the long-term impact of the Dungeons cannot be easily documented or described since it’s as unpredictable as the characters in the anime, if not more so.  However, by combining their dreams and ambitions with whatever magic their yield, these characters will be able to influence the world as however they wish.  These indirect impacts can reshape the social, economic, and/or political landscapes of the world and redirect the very history of the world.  It is here where we see the greatest capacity of change and influence that these Dungeons have, very well creating an entirely new setting for Magi.

From this, we can see how much of an impact and a change that these Dungeons have on the setting of Magi.  Not only are they essential to the story itself and the characterization of Alibaba and many others, but they have a permanent influence on the world in which Magi sets itself in.  And as we can tell, these go well beyond the immediate effects of danger, adventure, fun, and fortune.  No, these Dungeons even go beyond the magic and fantasy that they brought to this world.  From what we can tell, these Dungeons are what give Magi its current and distinct setting, one of world where magic and adventure await our heroes Aladdin and Alibaba.

So, according to Alibaba, as much as a finger or hair touching the portal and you’re sucked into the portal of the Dungeon.  Is that right?  Well, if that’s the case, and it appears to be so, why hasn’t anyone put up a wall or barrier over the portal entrance?  If it is so easy to be sucked into an obvious deathtrap, why not create something to prevent people from readily killing themselves?  Sure, you could have it where people could go around it and enter it if they really wanted to, but there was no warning or caution signs, notices of any kind, or anything to alert people that even the slightest touch would lead to certain death.  Not even a simple rope fence or anything.  Who really knows what kind of affect such devices would have, but you think there’d be something to turn people away from just throwing their lives away.  Well, just my thoughts on the issue, though it appears to not even be an issue for the people of Qishan.  Buncha wierdos…

The setting of an anime is visually expressed through the various architectures and environments.  Magi has featured a number of diverse physical settings thus far and has done well communicating these to us through its use of dazzling and detailed backgrounds and sceneries.

Through these first seven episodes, Magi has seen its characters visit the sun-scorched desert kingdom of Qishan, the Kouga settlement in the sweeping highlands, and Balbadd, the picturesque port city laying restless on the ocean’s edge.  Beyond these locations, we’ve also seen the majestic and mysterious interior of the Amon Dungeon and the foreboding thieves’ hideaway on the highway between Qishan and Balbadd.  The adventures of Aladdin and his friends have allowed us to discover only a mere fraction of this expansive world but, from what we’ve seen, the setting of this anime is rich and diverse in its specific locations.  And one of the ways this is conveyed to us is visually, through the varied backgrounds and environments that the characters explore.

The geographies and cultures of each city and region are primarily shown through the vivid artwork of Magi, often showing meticulous detail in the aspects of architecture, vegetation, and various other specifics.  Although some of these choice settings appear to be similar or even the same, each has illustrated enough to show how each is individualized and unique.  For example, the sandstone structures of Qishan and Balbadd might blur their distinctiveness but the two cities are quite different; Qishan shows square, stonework buildings topped with either a domed- or flat-roof whereas Balbadd features more brick façades, angled-roofs, and exterior pillars.  The floras in each setting are wildly different, too, ranging from an arid desert, to calm grasslands, to a thriving, vibrant wilderness.  And while there has been little time spent on the plant-life in this anime, the background vegetation does help indicate the climate and help pinpoint the specific cultures of the world that Magi is based on.  It’s the same with the food, too, which helps reinforce the themes and ideas of each culture in each setting, too.  And the clothing and interior décor are no different, too.  Every visual aspect of the anime plays some part in helping to identify and enrich the setting of Magi.  And with many more settings to go, these details are certain to change except with respect to the quality and detail they are given by the animators of Magi.  With such comprehensive and careful detail placed into these aspects of the setting of Magi, each new setting from here on out is certain to be engrossing and enjoyable.

It is our understanding that Sinbad got drunk (could smell the alcohol on him) and passed out in the shade of some palm trees on his journey back to Balbadd.  However, when he awoke from his drunken slumber, he seemed to be completely sober and surprisingly rational.  He wasn’t suffering from any hangover nor did he wake-up drunk; he was perfectly normal or what’s considered normal for Sinbad.  Now I know the anime doesn’t want to spend time having a drunk and naked Sinbad wandering around, but couldn’t there have been some transition so that we see Sinbad somewhat drunk?  I mean, the evidence is there in what the thieves smelled off him but, come on, if he were drunk enough to pass out, at least show some more of that.  Or perhaps he was like that for hours before me managed to run into Aladdin and Morgiana?  That’d be my guess since no one is really pleasant or smiling after waking up from blacking out.  Still, I would’ve liked to see Sinbad drunk (drunk and not naked, oh please spare me), so hopefully this isn’t the last time something like this happens.

One of the most fundamental and essential concepts present throughout all of Magi is the romance of adventure.  The romance of adventure is not an idea that unifies the romance between two characters with the genre of adventure (although one could argue that a powerful bond existed between Aladdin and Alibaba), but one that quantifies the stylization and presentation of adventure that is largely romantic and idealistic.  Whether it was questing through treacherous dungeons, relying on the help of mystic, majestic djinns and their phantasmal magic, fending off monsters and assassins alike or hunting for treasures of unimaginable wealth, the image and feeling of adventure in Magi was portrayed as glamorous, glorious, rewarding and extremely passionate.  Magi wanted to show these elements of adventures through this distinctive perspective which then helped enthuse and entertain the audience.  As you can imagine, this concept had a significant and permanent impression in Magi.

Before beginning, it’s worth nothing that almost all adventure stories are romanticized to some degree.  Whether in the form of ancient temples teeming with ferocious monsters and tormenting booby traps or evil villains and wicked wizards seeing control or domination or any form of magic that either helps or hinders, all adventure stories contain some amount of idealistic imagination to aid in its storytelling and entertainment.  Even adventure stories that are based on examples from real life are likely to be embellished or dramatized to a certain extent, especially those passed on by hearsay or distorted by time, or built up to make it so that the story is worth telling.  Of course, Magi is no exception with its story.  For example, you can take various elements of Magi, say the dungeons or the djinn, and replace them with real world counterparts to further illustrate how romanticized this anime is.  The action and adventure in Magi is essentially romantic, being used to represent its challenges and its rewards, its struggles and its triumphs in such a way to make everything seem more spectacular, more remarkable and above all, much more enjoyable.

The romance of adventure in Magi had an impact well beyond that of just the dungeons and magic.  The themes of searching for lost friends, rescuing slaves, preventing war and even saving a kingdom are all storylines that were portrayed as romantic idealizations in Magi.  And this is expected, especially considering that these ideas are what the story of Magi wanted to be.  Considering the presence and degree to which these stories are told and these adventurous elements were employed, its clear that Magi wanted to be a grand tale that catered to our desires, of a story that both intrigued and fascinated us.  Just as the stories of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights delighted audiences for centuries with its classic tales of might and magic, Magi too develops its story in a romantic manner that plays tribute to the work that inspired it.

To me, this post means more to me than the last individual anime post in the foreseeable future.  To me, this post symbolizes two characteristic of blogging an anime that pushed me in this direction, one being the perturbing lateness with my posts and the frustration that stems from it.  You see, I had the idea and theme for this post since midway through the very first episode of Magi.  However, instead of writing on this subject for the very first episode, I decided to save the topic for a later episode, one that’d be more appropriate and for one that’d be on time.  As the episodes rolled on, I began to juggle more on my schedule and subsequently, I began to struggle finding time to watch anime, let alone write about it.  Trying to watch over a dozen anime each season and write about them, even something as simple as a paragraph or two proved to be more challenging now than it was last year or even a few months ago.  And when I did find the time, I often found I was neither in the mood to watch or write about anime.  It had arrived at the point where I began to rationalize that I didn’t have the time in me to write individual posts like these anymore without sacrificing quality or value.  I do wish I could return to this format and style of blogging since it allows me to do develop ideas much better than my weekly posts, especially when exploring themes, explaining my opinions, and grasping certain practices and styles of anime and storytelling in general.  If you look back at the two-and-a-quarter years of which I have done these individual posts, you’ll see how my understanding, my writing, my voice and my appreciation for anime has evolved over these years from just this blog and these shows alone.  But it also represents a period of which I had more free-time than I do now which is why these posts are going to halt for now.  So when I think back to this post and this topic on ‘the romance of adventure in Magi’, I’ll always think of it more as the post that symbolizes what I want to do with blogging and the reality that I just can’t do it right now.  But rather than end this with something sentimental or emotional, here’s a picture of Morgiana to make you feel better.  I hope you enjoyed!

This week: loving the scrutiny and struggle in Yura’s character in Stella Jogakuin Koutouka C3-bu,  recognizing Sayomi’s contributions in Tamayura ~more aggressive~, thoughts on the father’s four attributes being divided among his sons in Uchouten Kazoku, and criticizing Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou for having a death, just for the sake of having a death.

Best episode of the week: Uchouten Kazoku

Anime trending up this week: Silver Spoon

Anime trending down this week: To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S

Uchouten Kazoku (Episode 8)

The little bit that Yasaburou added, how each son embodied a distinctive and characteristic attribute of their deceased father, was really a pleasant and impactful addition to conclude the episode.  Not only did it further explain how each child is connected to their father personally but also how he continues to live on through his four sons.  However, when comparing the four sons to their father, you can’t help but wonder if this is another example of ‘the whole is more than the sum of its parts’.  That is to say, the father was able to do more and accomplish more with these four attributes together than the four sons can do individually.  Not to say that because of his status as the leader of the entire tanuki community of Kyoto did he accomplish more but that as a person, a father and a character, he seemed more complete.  Perhaps it’s because he was able to keep these four attributes in perfect harmony within himself rather than being subjected to criticism and conflict like what we see with the brothers.  Well, whatever the reason, Yasaburou’s astute observation was a wonderful way to surmise the importance of his father’s legacy on himself and his brothers.

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S (Episode 19)

There’s such a thing as loli and then there’s such a thing as too loli.  And this is too loli.  I had always considered the main quartet of characters in Railgun to each be young girl on their own or in their groupings, maybe borderline loli depending on the definition or usage of the term.  But now with Febri on board, I can’t help but think of these girls as young adults, acting all grown-up and responsible when taking care of this little, lost child.  And no, I don’t get this impression from what they’re doing but merely from how they look in comparison to Febri.  That is to say, Febri is so loli, she makes other lolis look like young adults.  And when you get to be that loli, that’s too loli.

Tamayura ~more aggressive~ (Episode 8)

Poor Sayomi.  Her character is frequently chastised and avoided by the main cast of Tamayura due to her eccentric behavior, reckless driving skills and her infamous hikes and adventures that are more tiring and time-consuming than writing for an anime blog.  But all Sayomi does or want to do is to share experience with her sister and her friends all the wonderful sights, sounds and smells that she’s discovered in her life.  It’s not her fault that these hikes and explorations are grueling excursions through forests and up mountains, but she’s confident the experience is worthwhile and that it’ll have a meaningful impact on anyone who finishes the trip.  It’s not like she enjoys tormenting these girls; everything she does is in good faith.  She knows that everyone will cherish the experience and be thankful that Sayomi guided them there.  But how is she repaid for all this?  Not very well.  Not very well at all.  It’s kinda sad to see this level of conflict between the two sisters in Tamayura, though you always know whatever resistance Kaoru puts up is met with submission and followed by reluctance.  Maybe Kaoru and the others should be fortunate that Sayomi spends this much time and energy on trying to impress them with sights and experiences that they would never otherwise partake in.  Now if only she were able to spend that much time and energy on learning how to be a better driver…

Stella Jogakuin Koutouka C3-bu (Episode 8)

So what is C3-bu all about?  Is it about the C3 club and their participation in airsoft tournaments and survival games?  Is it about Yura’s phantasmal fantasies that have seemingly dropped off in recent episodes?  Or is it about Yura’s flaws as a character and questioning whether she’s happier when she’s winning, praised and revered or if she’s happier being another seat at the table of friendship.  Well, to be honest, it’s probably a healthy dose of all three blended nicely together, but the recent focus on Yura’s flaws, ones that really question and challenge her character, have been exceptional for this anime and Yura as a protagonist.  Seeing these imperfects and blemishes in her character and seeing them manifest in conflict has really highlighted the drama in this anime by showcasing the conflict going on in Yura’s mind.  She wants to win.  She wants to be praised.  But she also wants to have friends, to be happy and to smile again.  And unfortunately for her, she lacks the perception to understand what she really wants and the clairvoyance to understand how to get it.  Really, seeing the deterioration of Yura’s character and her unfortunate true nature have made C3-bu a joy to watch.  I can only hope to see this continue and for there to be a resolution to this storyline since it really has become the anime, more than the airsoft and delusions combined.

Silver Spoon (Episode 7)

What’s new and spectacular for Hachiken is same old, same old for everyone else.  It’s rather amusing to see what riles up and excites Hachiken is pretty much an everyday activity or occurrence for others.  But then again, that’s expected.  Since Hachiken is from an urban setting and has never really experienced a rural or agricultural environment, all these sights must be really exciting for him.  And for a majority of the audience who has never had the chance to experience such events, the reactions must be parallels of each other through to a much lower degree (I can only hope).  It works for the anime considering that our perspective is from Hachiken’s point-of-view, but it’s just humorous to see how he’s the only one who really reacts to everything.  Then again, I’m sure the opposite would be true if you took these other students to Tokyo or some other metropolis and showed them all the neat things there, like delivery pizza in less than 30 minutes.

Monogatari Series Second Season (Episode 8)

The Monogatari series is pretty much a string of conversations between two characters, dialogue that composed in such a way to match two personalities together with a variety of topics and events that comes to tell a story while also being entertaining and thought provoking.  To me, the best pair in terms of comedy has to be Araragi with Shinobu.  When those two are together, when those two personalities are paired, the writing seems to excel in terms of comedy.  While other pairings match better in terms of philosophy or romance or are comprised entirely of wanton sexualization (*cough* *cough* Kanbaru), every pairing has at least some shades of comedy in it, though the styles vary depending on the situation.  Nevertheless, Araragi and Shinobu always seem to be the most entertaining and comically satisfying as compared to all the rest.  That’s not to say that the others aren’t funny as I am particular to Senjougahara, Karen and Tsukihi, but that I find myself smiling the most and laughing the most when it’s just Koyomi and that blonde vampire.  That being said, I can only hope that we see more of Araragi and Shinobu together once this story arc is concluded.

Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou (Episode 8)

*Spoilers*

It takes guts to kill a character.  And it takes even more guts to kill a pleasant, cheerful character that many people liked or enjoyed.  But it almost feels disgraceful or shameful for Genei Taiyou to kill off Ginka like that.  It almost felt as though the series was killing her off for the sake of killing her off, rather than for anything meaningful or significant to the series.  It’s like they did it because they wanted to do it, not because it fit into the story or was necessary for the story or the characters to continue.  It’s as if they realized it would be cool or awesome or it was going to make the anime better or more dramatic if its cast was murdered towards the end of the series.  And maybe it is, but I can’t help but wish that this death was done justice.  That it was done better.  That it actually carried some weight and significance beyond watching a cute girl die some horrible death.  I do understand that these deaths may play a more significant role later on the series and more on Akari’s character, but I can’t help but criticize the way it was handled in Genei Taiyou and that’s the main issue I have here with this episode.  I can only hope the series quickly learns from this lesson before Luna and Seira face the same terrifying fate.

Gatchaman Crowds (Episode 7)

Have you ever wondered what the Gatchaman would be like without Hajime?  Just how backwards or bad their little organization would be without her thinking and fixing and making everything better?  Hell, they’d probably still be messing around with MESS and have no clue about what to do with Katz.  Didn’t it take like one or two episodes for Hajime to fix the MESS mess and have the story jump over to the whole Crowds/Rui/Katz issue?  And even now, she’s pushing the story through at blazing speeds, never wasting a moment for the story to take the next step, then the next one until it’s at a full-on sprint.  And what does this say about her compatriots at the little, secret Gatchaman hideout?  I think it says that they’re just bad or lazy or stupid.  Or at least, that’s what it says to me.

This post reviews: Buddy Complex, Space Dandy, Nobunaga the Fool, Noragami, and Tonari no Seki-kun.

Considering that we are already two weeks into the anime season, there really is no point in publishing a Season Preview since all of the shows have aired 1-2 episodes by now.  And considering that the previews are mainly geared toward my tastes and preferences, it sorta doubles over here into these First Impressions where I document my opinions based on these first episodes.  So in short, I’m starting the season off with my First Impressions for the first anime that aired this season.

Watching:

Space Dandy

Despite the hype and acclaim for Space Dandy received prior to its release, I had my reservations for a series of this style and caliber.  While I am enthralled with the prospects of watching another anime directed by the distinguished Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Sakamichi no Apollon) and am intrigued by the collaboration with international broadcasters (including an English dub airing on Adult Swim), I never felt invested in the story or the characters.  For whatever reason, whenever I saw promotional artwork or PVs, it felt like Space Dandy was too much of a parody or too satirical.  Fortunately, the first episode dispelled these worries with a style unparalleled in anime today.  The style of the show, both in terms of its art, its personality and presentation, is amazing in how it utilizes retro details, like its characters and story, to embellish its charm.  Furthermore, it has updated these retro appeals to interject enough parody into the genre that it feels original rather than a comic mockery of fantasy space exploration.  There is some genuinely humorous comedy too, which is always a plus.  I can’t say I’m thrilled with the story or characters at this point, but those are always details that develop over the course of the series.  That and my original worries about them being too much of a parody were quieted when seeing their relationship and how they go about their adventures together.  One other point is that Space Dandy has a real deep space setting which is an automatic positive for me, especially with how rare space anime are now.  I still have some reservations with the anime but I won’t let that get in the way of enjoying this spectacular anime.  I must say, I am impressed with the series and finally starting to buy into the hype and excitement that I passed over before the season began.

Noragami

Noragami failed to impress me with its premise, its characters or through its PVs largely due to how generic or derivative it felt.  However, when watching the first episode, I found there to be some value in a series that feels like a cliché.  While unenthusiastic about the story of an impoverished god looking to make it big, I did find myself enjoying the female lead character, Hiyori, particularly her sincere and strange personality and her legitimately comical moments.  Often times, in these types of shounen anime, you see female characters being serious and sensible while the male character plays the fool and generates all the laughs.  It’s refreshing to see Hiyori be the awkward or abnormal one, like jumping out of bed and unexpectedly hissing like a cat or her reactions to her out-of-body experiences or during the fight against the giant, demonic toad.  She really impressed me with her personality and I’m excited to see what happens to her with her outlandish problem of becoming a cat-girl spirit.  The art and animation were never spectacular or magnificent (besides the opening scene) but there’s nothing wrong with being mediocre when it gets the job done and I enjoyed the style and directing.  The mild fanservice was a bit of a surprise but the panty shots were only really noticeable if you were actively searching for them.  I do wonder if my interest in this anime will last for the season, but the anime is off to a good start.  I’ve always liked Bones as a studio and think of them as one of my favorites, so it shouldn’t be shocking to see me picking up both of their anime this season.

Undecided:

Nobunaga the Fool

Nobunaga the Fool is the first anime of the season that I truly feel conflicted with.  On one hand, I loved the setting of this anime with its fusion of arbitrary historical figures in a fantasy world with distinctive mecha robots.  The style is noteworthy too, with attractive character designs (who doesn’t already love Leonardo da Vinci?) and fluid animation during battles and action sequences.  I must say I’m enjoying those aspects of the anime.  But on the other hand, I was honestly bored throughout the entire episode.  The pacing was insufferably slow, the episode heavy with too much dialogue and the story seems painfully plain and unoriginal.  It’s never a good sign when I stop caring about the characters/story near the beginning and stop paying attention toward the end… but I’m willing to give the anime another episode to see if it can salvage this wreck and produce an entertaining anime worth watching and enjoying.  It’d be a shame if I dropped this anime since the setting and art are two unquestioned strengths but the mundane characters and tepid story might keep this anime grounded if they don’t improve significantly by the end of episode 2.

Dropped:

Buddy Complex

I’d like to start off with saying something good about Buddy Complex but I can’t.  The premise features no creativity or innovation in the mecha genre with a normal Japanese high school boy becoming a heroic mecha pilot because whatever.  Then there’s the lead female who has a secret crush on him and is also a mecha pilot and, though she can’t bring herself to confess her feelings, she’s able to rescue him from generic evil teenage boy and his giant mecha.  Then there’s like a school and a military and a war and probably other mecha pilots.  And if I’m wrong about any of these details, it’s because I only watched the first 8 minutes and fast-forwarded until the end.  There is literally nothing about this anime that makes it worth watching.  The only difference between this anime and all the other mecha anime you’ve watched recently is that those anime were good and this one is bad.

Tonari no Seki-kun

Ugh, what a letdown.  I come into the anime with no expectations whatsoever and was still disappointed.  The anime is about what I figured it’d be with the main character goofing off, the girl overreacting to literally every little thing that happened and shouting about it (note: shouting should never be the punchline of a joke, ever) and then getting caught by the teacher for another non-joke.  But what made it worse was that the “joke” was so drawn out that it consumed the whole first episode.  Why not divide it up and fit in two or three stories, especially since the final scene in this was the definition of anticlimactic.  Thankfully, I only wasted 7 minutes of my time.

Before moving closing this post, I really want to bring to your attention the Witchcraft Works ED.  It’s so adorable (especially how they sing out the word “activity”) that I am actually thought about watching the anime just to see what it’s like.  Then I reread the synopsis.  Yup, still not watching it despite probably being the best ED for Winter 2014.

This post reviews: Ping Pong the Animation, Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin, Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka?, Knights of Sindoria, Escha & Logy no Atelier: Tasogare no Sora no Renkinjutsushi, and Mekaku City Actors.

Due to the timing in which anime aired in Japan last week, with the week being heavy on the first episodes for a number of new anime and only a handful airing their second episodes, I’ll be starting my Weekly Anime posts for Week 2 starting this week and hopefully out sometime this weekend.

Watching:

Ping Pong the Animation

Ping Pong will be one of the best anime of the year. Based only on what I saw in this first episode, I can say that this anime will be among the very top, if not the top, of the new anime airing this season. Ping Pong features an immediately distinguishing and effective art style that encourages passionate movements, ideal for depicting the lightning-fast pace of the table tennis matches. The directing is exceptional, utilizing cinematography to emphasize shots with motion and emotions, bringing the characters and games to life. Tsukimoto (“Smile”) and Hoshino (“Peco”) are both ideal protagonists for this type of anime, with raw but established skills, different enthusiasms and their own unique flaws, making them the perfect characters to watch as they develop and contrast each other throughout the series. What little we saw of the story is a promising indicator of events to come and the table tennis matches were engrossing and charismatic. I don’t think I could say anything bad about this anime besides it being in a high school setting, but it’s almost necessary since this is a school club and it does break away from the rest of modern anime by focusing on table tennis and being set in the late 90s (the manga was published from 1996-1997). Ping Pong has demonstrated enough to already become one of my favorite sports anime of all-time and, if it continues to impress like I anticipate it will, Ping Pong has the opportunity to surpass Chihayafuru as my favorite of this genre.

Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin

What makes Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin a keeper is that it is an anime that promises to be lighthearted, entertaining and make sure the audience is having fun. The whole setting, scenario and story are all quite silly and unrealistic, but the characters are enjoying their current situations with smiles on their faces despite the fact that one of them was murdered and is now a ghost. But even then, the only aspect that would be considered dark is a cheery girl who loves pudding, plays video games and desperately wants to make new friends. It comes across as quite simple, which works perfectly for an anime of this style. The cast is relatively small at this point with only Juugo and Nanana being significantly introduced, but the remainder of the cast will probably range from pleasant to wonderful with Juugo at the bottom (generic, pervy male lead) and Nanana being at the top (fun, active, compassionate female lead). I can’t really tell whether the story will be good or not at this point considering that it’ll be treasure hunting, but I anticipate it will fluctuate and be episodic, which can be either good or bad. The setting isn’t terribly unique with a futuristic and isolate city where most of the population are students, but the treasure hunting aspect should be enough to differentiate it from the rest. The fanservice was a bit of a turn-off, but thankfully, the anime did not go overboard besides the whole groping scene joke. But besides that one minor flaw, the episode impressed me and certainly left me in a good mood wanting more.

Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka?

Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka? is a delightful and relaxing anime, with some amusing comedy and nothing more. If you’re looking for something with dynamic characters, a thought-provoking story, some stimulating commentary or an insightful message, then this anime is certain to disappoint. Fortunately for Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka?, all I want from it is a cute and calming comedy that makes me smile for 24 minutes and that is exactly what I saw with this first episode. The characters are incredibly moe in terms of their designs and personalities, but each has their own charming attributes and the chemistry was unexpectedly good for something so shallow. The comedy never really produced laughs or anything remarkable, but the humor ranged from ‘they’re trying’ to big smiles with nothing producing a negative reaction. The style is very serene and the setting is picturesque, two aspects that help improve the soothing atmosphere and nature of the anime. The anime was surprisingly ecchi in that we had a character in only her bra and panties for an entire scene, the entire cast changing in the locker room and a bath scene at the end, so it’s clear that there will be mild and innocent fanservice throughout. I do wonder if the anime will ever become stale or stagnate once the entire cast is introduced, but I enjoyed the characters and comedy enough in the first episode to guess that it won’t become a major problem later on. I could be wrong, but I still predict that Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka? will be a pleasant and comforting anime to watch this Spring.

Undecided:

Knights of Sindoria

I’m a sucker for sci-fi, space and giant robots, so it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see me try Knights of Sindoria to see if it matches my interests. As for its compatibility with me… that remains to be seen after just one episode. The biggest drawback before watching the anime is that I don’t really care all that much for 3D animation for anime characters (I’ll get into the mecha and environment later), and that really doesn’t change after watching one episode. I will add though, that I did adjust to the character designs rather quickly, but it is still my least favorite visual style for an anime this season. The 3D style does, however, match very well with the setting and the mecha, though I’ll have to see a real battle first before knowing whether it’s merely nice or something more. I don’t really know much about or care for any of the characters at this point, but that’s largely because this first episode installed the setting. Still, I find the main character to be very standard and stereotypical for a male lead in a mecha anime, so hopefully he’ll prove his worth in the second episode. What fascinates me about the setting is the amount of detail and description we’ve seen in this universe, especially in regards to their history, the biology and social structure of humanity and the technology. It actually has one of the better settings this season and the setting is the main reason why I want to give this anime another episode. However, with the characters lacking, the story being nothing impressive and an animation style that I don’t like, I don’t see a bright future for Knights of Sindoria in terms of me keeping it or not this season. What needs to happen in the next episode is that there will need to be some meaningful improve on the characters or the story or for the anime to feature a kick-ass battle with giant robots in space. Or better yet, let’s just hope it can accomplish both.

Escha & Logy no Atelier: Tasogare no Sora no Renkinjutsushi

Another anime I am undecided on, Escha & Logy no Atelier: Tasogare no Sora no Renkinjutsushi is a show that had a decent and delightful first episode but lacks potential to significantly improve and shows signs of potentially growing boring or stagnant rather quickly. Although I am in love with the setting, I do not anticipate significant development for the characters or the story at this point. The anime just doesn’t present itself as one that will show the characters grow and mature over time or feature stories that challenge the characters and force them to make decisions while under stress. There was just very little to find exciting or dramatic about the anime with the episode teetering around boring and mildly entertaining throughout. I suppose there are some issues when adapting a JRPG into an anime, especially in terms of dialogue and exposition and when creating scenes which were intended for gameplay, but the anime was fairly successful overall in terms of its pacing and content. And while I still do enjoy aspects of the anime, I’m not sure whether this JRPG-adaptation will allow for the anime to develop or progress in a way that shows meaningful or remarkable difference and contrasts in its characters. So while I do still appreciate Escha & Logy as an anime, I think I might be better suited to pick up the game it’s based on and play that instead. I’ll give the anime another episode to see if it improves, but this one is likely to be dropped.

Dropped:

Mekaku City Actors

Something must be wrong with Shaft if since they’ve failed to impress me with their two latest anime, Nisekoi and now Mekaku City Actors. Perhaps repetition and a lack of significant change has caused me to develop tolerance and expectation to Shaft’s classic art and animation style, but there must be more to it than that. After all, Shaft continues to thrive as one of my favorite anime studios and I do adore their visual presentation and cinematography. Still, there was nothing innovative or distinct about the way Mekaku City Actors looked. Or rather, it seemed to be a medley of elements from previous Shaft anime, with bits of Monogatari Series, Sasami-san@Ganbaranai, and Hidamari Sketch blended nicely together (with a reference to Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei thrown in for good measure, too). Then again, if I were being fair (and when am I ever fair?), I could say the same thing about a number of other studios with P.A. Works being a worse culprit than Shaft. However, I’m already off on a tangent about aesthetic similarities within anime studios, so let’s end this here and refocus on why I’ve dropped Mekaku City Actors.

Besides the aforementioned point about the artistic style being nice but uninspired, Mekaku City Actors had a number of other faults that doomed it before episode one concluded. One of the biggest motives for dropping this anime is that it failed to inspire me or fascinate me in a way to make me care about its characters or its story. Virtually the entire episode was watching a loner talk to a shockingly intelligent and friendly bot (like a futuristic version of Siri or SmarterChild or something) and then venturing outside for the first time in 2 years to buy a keyboard. Thankfully, some terrorists showed and tried to make the anime interesting, but by that point, I didn’t care what would happen and, unfortunately, nothing interesting followed. I don’t really relate to or care about hikikomoris, so there’s almost nothing for me to like about Shintaro. The rest of the cast didn’t do much besides Ene, who’s best character element is that she is voiced by Kana Asumi. The setting and story were underdeveloped in the first episode, but I figure those elements will be introduced and implemented later, so I can’t really comment on them at this point. However, without finding anything likable about the main character, being indifferent with the visuals and finding myself bored from the content of the first episode, I think there’s more than enough to say that Mekaku City Actors is not for me.

This week: how altering one aspect of Captain Earth will greatly improve the anime, thoughts on why the setting is the best aspect of No Game No Life and how it makes it one of the best anime this season, rationalizing Chaika’s speech pattern in Hitsugi no Chaika and why it isn’t moe marketing and an example of visual details and symbolism in Ping Pong the Animation.

Just a quick note regarding the title of this review, I have named it the review for the third week since technically, this is the third week of the season and the third week of April. However, this is the first of my Weekly Anime reviews for the season, so rather than starting at 2 and ending at 12, I’ll be starting at 3 and ending at 13. Just because of how the anime aired this season, this is really the first week where these weekly posts are appropriate, but naming it for the second week would likely decrease views since people would think it is for two weeks ago (which will really screw things up once I fall behind later this season). So, don’t expect there to be a Week 2 post since this is the first one of the Spring, and I’m naming it Week 3 in order to increase clicks and drive more traffic. So with that said, onto the review!

Best episode of the week: Mushishi Zoku Shou

Anime trending up this week: No Game No Life

Anime trending down this week: Captain Earth

Akuma no Riddle (Episode 3)

How will Akuma no Riddle keep itself fresh with 10 more assassins to go through, especially with the ‘assassin-of-the-week’ style the series seems to be hinting at with the third episode? If every episode follows a similar pattern, with a new assassin targeting Ichinose, learning about their past and their wish and then being defeated by Tokaku and Ichinose and then being expelled/transferring/dying, the series will quickly become stale, stagnant and easily decline. I’m not sure what’s necessary for this anime to stay fresh since this a route that almost all death-games take and one of the reasons why death-games are among my least favorite genres. Also, considering that this is a school anime, I guess we might see some scenery changes like a beach episode, a field trip to a hot springs and other random stuff, so there’s that to disappoint us when the time comes. Hopefully Akuma no Riddle has learned from the mistakes of previous death-game anime and can figure out a way to survive for nine or ten more episodes. Otherwise, we might want to considering expelling this anime from out watch list if it just turns into mediocre garbage from here on out.

Captain Earth (Episode 3)

One area where if Captain Earth would improve slightly it would improve the overall anime greatly is in regards to how the anime views itself. Right now, Captain Earth takes itself too seriously and thinks of itself as dramatic, impassioned and gripping. In reality, Captain Earth is not. There are a number of elements in the anime that undermine this mentality, specifically the characters and its setting. There have been countless times where emotion and passion were demonstrated by the characters, but it has been relatively empty or failed to impact the anime in a meaningful way. And to add on it, the villainous duo from the moon weakens the serious style of the anime by being flamboyant in their appearance, personalities and dialogues. The heroes and the villains don’t match well with each other, and they both need to be either silly or serious for this anime to work. The setting is another issue that doesn’t match well with how Captain Earth sees itself. Every battle between the Earthlings and aliens is supposed to mean a battle to decide the fate of the Earth, whether it will be saved or destroyed or something. Yet, with all these battles, all we ever see are the main characters, GLOBE and the villains. It’s hard to weigh the consequences of their actions and the battles when Earth is never threatened, not with people evacuating, buildings being destroyed and characters or mecha dying. It feels artificial. It feels silly; to consider Earth in danger when all the battlefields we’ve seen have been in sublunar space. Additionally, there are other aspects which undermine the serious mentality of the anime, such as some of the comedy (Mutou walking around naked) and events (Mutou being naked [yes, again] in bubble, mysterious loli giving Daichi the gun). Because of all this, I see Captain Earth as a silly anime, and I haven’t even mentioned the silliness associated with giant mecha battles in space. However, the story and scenario and how Daichi act make it seem like Captain Earth wants to take itself seriously. The anime isn’t even in agreement with itself and that much should be clear to anyone watching Captain Earth. That’s why, once Captain Earth figures out if it wants to be serious or silly and acts on that, then we’ll see this anime improve significantly.

Hitsugi no Chaika (Episode 2)

Giving cute, moe anime girls curious speech patterns, like uguu or de geso, is nothing new for anime. Neither is making moe girls silent, mute or unrealistically quiet. And given the frequency and pattern of these incredibly moe elements, it shouldn’t be surprising to see a handful of these girls every season. So with the arrival of Hitsugi no Chaika, it shouldn’t be terribly surprising to see our main heroine, Chaika, speak Japanese with an abnormal structure. However, unlike her compatriots of speech impairment, Chaika doesn’t seem to be speaking as a way of appearing cuter and therefore attracting a mini-fandom or a horde of followers (though I wouldn’t be surprised if she already had one). Instead, her fragmented speech pattern, one where she communicates her messages primarily with nouns, is likely the result of some event related to her past or some detail linked to her characterization. Her style of speech is vastly different from the other moe counterparts and, while some might consider it cute, there are hints that it is related to her character rather and not just a marketing ploy. If that’s the case, then we might see her speech develop and improve throughout the anime or learn the reason why she speaks in such a fragmented and difficult way as a part of her character maturing. Perhaps it could be that she is indeed a foreigner (given her style of clothes as a gothic lolita, that could be one possibility) or she was secluded from society and unfamiliar with speech. Whatever the reason and whatever results from this, it seems that there is some creativity and meaning behind the way Chaika speaks. And given how often this stereotype is present in anime these days, it feels somewhat refreshing and innovative to see an unusual speech pattern like this have a purpose behind it.

Isshuukan Friends (Episode 2)

After watching the first episode of Isshuukan Friends, I thought to myself that this anime paralleled Chihiro’s story from ef – a tale of memories in a number of ways. After thinking about how Chihiro addressed her issues of anterograde amnesia (slightly different than what Kaori has), I thought that Yuuki should probably watch ef and learn to help Kaori like how Renji helped Chihiro. The first and most obvious thing that came to mind about Chihiro was her diary. And what did we learn this week with Kaori? A diary. Bam! Maybe someone recommended that Yuuki watch ef or maybe he’s seen it already. Regardless of whether this has some inspiration from or reference to ef, it’ll be interesting to see how these two anime compare and contrast in terms of how they address the issues related to memories and how their romances develop.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders (Episode 3)

One of the aspects that makes JJBA so entertaining and so much fun is that it is unpredictable. For people unfamiliar with the franchise, all the extreme and wild developments keep the series fresh and exciting. Every new detail and development is electrifying and remarkable. Even simple aspects have a heightened sense of drama, purpose and meaning to them. And unlike the previous two story arcs, these first three episodes have been a nonstop rollercoaster with little to no downtime and everything serving a purpose or greater meaning. Because of these developments and this style of storytelling, everything that happens has some degree of entertainment to it. And since there has been a timeskip and the advent of new powers (Stands), there has been more material to cover which has helped make this anime the most entertaining of this young season. What’s even better is that we know JoJo’s will be able to sustain this pace and this level of excitement for quite some time, too, since we’re still in the infancy of Stardust Crusaders.

Mushishi Zoku Shou (Episode 3)

I’ve always thought that the girls in Mushishi were hot, but never to the point where they’d burn the skin of a guy they touch. Ok, haha, lame jokes aside, I originally watched this episode at Sakuracon with a number of other anime bloggers and personalities from the ani-twitter community with Mushishi director Hiroshi Nagahama providing commentary. Not only was Hiroshi Nagahama a marvelous and beloved host, for airing this episode during the anime convention, but he provided some remarkable insight into the production of the episode and aspects that were meaningful to him. That isn’t to say he provided commentary over the course of the whole episode, but he pointed out aspects of the episode that stood out to him that I wouldn’t normally pay attention to otherwise, such as how happy he was with the animation of the snow falling. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect that he mentioned during the viewing was that no one on the production team wanted to watch the episode until it was completed because they did not want to cry in the middle of production. These details uncover another layer of passion and opinion that we don’t often consider when watching or reviewing anime and that is the thoughts of the fans in the anime industry. Hiroshi Nagahama is just as much a fan of Mushishi and anime as the rest of us (and quite big on American superheroes, too), so to hear his input during an episode was quite a special and remarkable experience.

No Game No Life (Episode 2)

Although the characters are fun, the story is amusing, and the colors fascinating, easily the single best aspect of No Game No Life is the setting. Not only is the setting influential to the characters, the story and the colors, but there is a high level of detail and effort that helps make this world seem more vibrant and lively than most fantasy or online-game worlds. Keep in mind, we’ve only seen a small fraction of this wonderland and there’s a whole new world to explore based on that picturesque montage in the first episode where we saw a wide array of diverse environments, cities and people. We’ve already been lectured about the history and mechanics of the world, the various societies, kingdoms and magic, and seen where the story will go based on the decisions and actions of the main duo, Sora and Shiro. Furthermore, with only a fraction of this world complete, we’ve yet to really understand the other social hierarchies and economies of this world as well as the games they like to play. We can already expect these different races and societies to have impacts on the characters and learn how to better cheat at board games and card games in real life (provided it’s not all magic). And given what we’ve seen thus far, there’s a good indication to predict that this world will continue to impact the anime greatly in every episode. I’ve always been a sucker for phenomenal settings and No Game No Life will end up being one of my favorite anime this season if its setting continues to expand and unfold like this.

Ping Pong the Animation (Episode 2)

Details and symbolism are quite prevalent in Ping Pong, one of the reasons why it’s one of my favorite anime of the season. One such detail that I’d like to point out is in relation to how the anime depicts Smile’s robotic personality. Through the story and through his speech, we see how Tsukimoto acts and behaves and can understand why people call him a robot. However, the anime helps us understand this visually too through a simple aesthetic detail. When the anime wants to show Tsukimoto as more ‘robotic’, we see his glasses as pale, white displays rather than seeing his human eyes behind him. Instead, without his eyes visible and a pair of white glass on his face, Tsukimoto looks more ‘robotic’. It’s such a small and simple detail but it has a remarkable impact on how we view his character and how it supplements his personality as one that is robotic. Now this isn’t the only minute detail or symbolism going on in Ping Pong, like the hawk, the hero and the butterfly, but each has their own meaning and purpose for the characters and story, especially as we move forward. Keep an eye out for these details as they will continue to build up throughout the anime and continue to play a role for both the characters and the story.

Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin (Episode 2)

Is Nanana really bound to her room and, if so, what happens if she tries to leave? The main reason for this question is wondering what Nanana will do once the treasure hunting and thrill-seeking becomes the main aspect of this anime. Will Nanana be left at home and be moved to a minor role with Juugo and the others out having fun elsewhere? Or does Nanana have the power to leave her house (and just not tell anyone) and join her new friends on their wacky and exciting adventures? Or maybe she’ll be stuck at home with a walkie-talkie or headset and barking orders over the airwaves. Whatever the means, I have a hard time wondering what Nanana will do if her character is indeed bound to the room once the anime begins moving in its new direction. Hopefully Nanana will be able to leave after one or two of the items is found since it would be terrible for one of the better characters in this anime to be left out of the fun and adventures on Nanae Island.

Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii (Episode 3)

The world is indeed beautiful in The World is Still Beautiful, but I do wonder if we’re embarking on a journey too quickly with all the political turmoil, espionage and threat of war with our limited understanding of world history, geography and current affairs. Then again, the anime could be presenting to us this information on a need-to-know basis or we could be learning about the Sun Kingdom through the eyes of Princess Nike who is as unfamiliar with this as we are. Whatever the reason, I do wish we saw and understood more of the world before we began to see dukes and earls and other kingdoms since these names and relationship fall on deaf ears without any meaning or understanding behind them. However, given the quality of writing and the direction of the anime, there may be some reason why we have such a limited understanding of the world. Obviously this aspect of the series can change rather quickly if we receive a history lesson (for the better) or if someone from somewhere does something (for the worse). Hopefully we’ll learn more about the world as we need to learn about the world, but it wouldn’t surprise me if something complex arises before too long since we’re facing a number of nations at the brink of war with the Sun Kingdom and Principality of Rain at the middle of it all.

This week: why conflict is the best thing to happen in Isshuukan Friends, not being distracted to the real story in in Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin, appreciating character developing for a strong, independent female lead in Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii, and some differences between marathoning Mushishi and watching Mushishi Zoku Shou weekly.

Best episode of the week: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders

Anime trending up this week: Isshuukan Friends

Anime trending down this week: Akuma no Riddle

Akuma no Riddle (Episode 4)

Will anything important ever happen during school in Akuma no Riddle? For an anime that spends about half its time in the classroom, not much happens. Virtually everything that moves the story along or is remotely exciting happens outside the classroom, whether it be in the dorms or wherever someone wants Haru to be murdered. I can only imagine that the school scenes are used as downtime between these scenes because the anime would be too exciting otherwise. But, I suppose that half this anime is about Haru and she is keen on making friends and graduating from her class, so there’s some meaning there to her character. It’s just everyone else is apathetic or indifferent to school that it makes these scenes so tedious. Then again, there was a bit of backstory on Kouko’s character in the classroom with this episode, so it isn’t a total waste. Still, Akuma no Riddle would be much, much more without these classroom scenes.

Captain Earth (Episode 4)

One of these days I should try eating human flesh because aliens (and monsters) are always saying that humans are the most delightful and succulent source of nutrition in the vastness of space… and I’m wondering if we’re missing out on something here. Then again, the real topic of this post is in regards to how Amara and Moco, the tag-team duo of the KILL-T-GANG, survived for so long without delicious, delicious human flesh? What did they eat before venturing to Earth and how did they survive for so long without earthlings? And to continue off that point, how do they know that humans are the most perfect food in the solar system? Have they even tried Italian food yet? Anyway, the point here is that it’s rather silly to have aliens comment about eating humans when they have little to no experience with humans, especially eating them. I would be more likely to accept this argument as true (and enjoy it much, much more) if the invasion had already occurred and they had devoured half of mankind. Learning about eating people after that would be something that the series could use to strengthen its villains and the story, but for two aliens to claim that humans are filet mignon without even a lick or a bite into anyone undermines the whole purpose of these villains. Then again, this is hardly the most prominent problem with Captain Earth at this point.

Hitsugi no Chaika (Episode 3)

I am struggling to understand the purpose of Akari’s character. Through three episodes, her single accomplishment is that she’s been a third wheel to Chaika’s adventure. But really, what has she done that Chaika or Tooru couldn’t already do on their own? In fact, if you completely removed her character, the anime would be the exact same. Akari has had no impact or influence on Hitsugi no Chaika. Not even a little. She’s just there. She just exists and follows her brother and Chaika around. Really, what is the purpose of her character and why does she exist now? I usually don’t have issues with characters who have minimal impact on an anime or are meaningful for comic relief or fanservice, but Akari has done nothing for three episodes now and is one of the most prominent characters being shown quite frequently. I figure that there’ll be a time where her character is important or significant in some way, but for now, she has no meaning or purpose, besides being the biggest third wheel in anime.

Isshuukan Friends (Episode 3)

I’m thrilled to see conflict in this lighthearted anime since conflict is exactly what this anime needed. Without conflict and without problems that arise, this anime would stagnate, grow stale and grow boring. But with conflict, thanks primarily to Shougo’s character, we’ll see the characters grow from this event and for them to mature as human beings. Instead of the anime being simply nice and boring every episode, Isshuukan Friends is moving along its story and its characters through meaningful interactions. Had Shougo acted the same as Yuuki, then the anime would have done nothing new. Instead, Shougo confronted Yuuki about Kaori and her condition and challenged him to view her through his perspective instead of his own. It pushed the characters in such a way that they had to react to this conflict. And as a result, we saw the characters become something more than when the episode started. I can only hope there continues to be conflict in every episode since that is exactly what this needs to continue to improve. It’s already one of the better anime this season and a simple conflict every episode will continue to help its characters, it story and its overall product, grow.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders (Episode 4)

Not only was Joseph Joestar the best protagonist in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure but he continues to be the best all-around character thanks to his brazen and flashy personality. He easily has the best presence of anyone so far in this season of JJBA, both in terms of his dynamic with the other characters and how his comedy is portrayed. It’s actually amazing to think but his character has actually improved from the last arc to this one, which is saying something since he was phenomenal as the lead character in Battle Tendency. It’s promising to see him again in Stardust Crusaders since his personality contrasts so sharply with Jotaro’s and the two complement each other by making up for the other’s weaknesses. However, given how much we’ve seen of Joseph already, I’m not sure if he’ll continue to improve as a character or if this is the pinnacle of his success as a character. However, if that’s the case, he’s leveling off at the right place and is certain to make this season of JJBA an unforgettable one.

Mushishi Zoku Shou (Episode 4)

Unlike every other anime airing this season, I find it odd to watch Mushishi only once a week since I marathoned the series prior to the second season beginning earlier this month. During that golden week, I would watch numerous episode of Mushishi together and the end of one would mean the beginning of the next. Now, each episode stands alone for a seven-day period and I dare not wait for these shows to pile up since every episode is an individual masterpiece. So with this new season of Mushishi, I found that I am watching the series different than I did before and I have much more time to digest the episodes each week than after six or seven or eight at a time. I’ve found new aspects and details to appreciate with the series and can enjoy it for a longer duration of time, yet the downside is that I know each viewing is limited to half-an-hour instead of several hours at a time. There’s now that sense of hunger at the end of each Mushishi episode, wanting to skip ahead to next week’s episode and watch it right after. Then again, I doubt that’s any different with any other anime that’s as remarkable as this one. Probably not, but it’s interesting to see how stark of a difference there is between marathoning an anime and watching it week-to-week, especially of an anime with such extraordinary quality as this one.

No Game No Life (Episode 3)

Watching Sora and Shiro play real world games in No Game No Life would be interesting but not as interesting as playing games with magic, made-up rules and chaos. Here, we’re able to see the characters go beyond strategy and employ emotion, personality and humor into these events to turn these common games into something more. And while I wasn’t expecting anything to the degree of this new game of chess (I was expecting cheating to various degrees), I found something new to look forward to with each new game in each new episode. So instead of watching people play checkers or slot or something normal, we can now expect Sora and Shiro to play crazy checkers or silly slots. It certainly livens up the setting and scenarios in No Game No Life, which is quickly becoming a pleasant surprise this season.

Ping Pong the Animation (Episode 3)

I often don’t comment on the music in anime, so the few choice times where I do mention it, you can tell it left a favorable impression on me. There were actually three noteworthy songs that stood out to me in the third episode of Ping Pong; the first being the melody that used ping pong balls as a rhythm, the second being a techno song during Kong’s first match and Tsukimoto’s humming at the end. Each had their own brilliance to it, with the ping pong ball song being beautiful, the techno song augmenting the visuals and the humming song carrying importance and implication. Each song displayed its own unique value to the episode and helped improved many different aspects of the episode as a result. It often takes quite a bit for a song to impress me in an anime, so for Ping Pong to do it three times in one episode, is nothing short of astonishing. Even though we’re still in the first month of the season, I think I’ve found my favorite sounding anime of the season with Ping Pong.

Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin (Episode 3)

What I’m enjoying the most about Nanana isn’t so much the adventures, the puzzles and the treasures but how the series presented Nanana’s death, the role of her character and how the series is trying to move our attention away from her and toward these fun, little scenarios. To me, the series would not have presented the importance of Nanana’s character and her murder if it weren’t the central storyline of this anime, yet everything since then has been a diversion or distraction to take our mind off Nanana’s character and her death and LOOK, SHINY TREASURES AND CGI ANIMATION. You aren’t fooling me, anime, and you aren’t fooling anyone who’s curious about how this all points back to Nanana and her death. And considering the magnitude and imagination employed in Nanana, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Nanana’s ghost be a hoax or the phantasm of a magical treasure device. I mean, after all, who’s putting these treasures all throughout Nanae Island? Really, there’s a mystery presented in this anime that goes beyond searching for treasure. While the episodes present entertaining or amusing puzzles for the characters to play around with, the real puzzle is presented to the audience to understand what’s going on with Nanana’s character, the treasures and everything in Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin.

Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii (Episode 4)

Strong female lead characters always bode well for an anime, and Princess Nike is one of the best at what she does. Rather than being a cute, innocent moe girl who goes to school, enjoys time with friends and fights monsters/aliens/whatever with magic or superpowers, Nike is an active, energetic, passionate and outgoing young lady who isn’t afraid to defy those around her, challenge authority and be a strong, independent woman. And because of that, it’s amazing to see her in the role she’s in and how she’s changing as a person. Whereas before, as princess of the Principality of Rain, where she was free to do what she wanted, now she’s the fiancé of the Sun King and is adapting to a life where her role will no longer be the tomboy that she currently is and into something more regal and royal and regulated. So while the anime continues to focus directly on how Livius I is changing as a king, it’s also an examination of how Nike is changing, too. However, Nike still possesses that strong, independent personality and won’t be remodeled overnight. Unlike many characters who have a weak will or multiple flaws, Nike has a defined and refined personality that is able to resist simple or straightforward character development. Her stubbornness and tomboyish nature aren’t going to fade away quickly, if at all, so it’ll be interesting to see what other traits of her personality evolve as she continues to live in the Sun Kingdom. And even as she changes, she’ll still continue to be the tough, reliable protagonist that will lead this anime to new heights. You can think of it more as adding details or touching-up a project that is in its final stages. Or at least, that’s how I view how the series is trying to improve and distinguish Nike’s character. A strong female lead is always appreciated in anime, but one that matures and grows as a character too, is something truly special.

Last week, if you still remember: understanding that Ping Pong the Animation is not a happy anime, what made this episode the best episode of Akuma no Riddle, detailing a game in which everyone would beat Sora and Shiro from No Game No Life and a super easy way of solving every mystery dungeon in Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin.

Best episode of the week: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders

Anime trending up this week: Akuma no Riddle

Anime trending down this week: Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to

Akuma no Riddle (Episode 7)

What made this episode of Akuma no Riddle the best in the series (to date) was not the menacing time-bomb, the cryptic scavenger hunt, Suzu’s fascinating backstory or seeing all the girls in swimsuits. No, these pieces certainly helped, but what made this episode better from all the previous ones was the completely different dynamic. Rather than having nothing but backstory for the first half of the episode, then isolating Tokaku, Haru and the unlucky assassin for second part, this episode incorporated the entire cast the entire time and made the deadly assassin game the majority of the episode. By involving the cast in the event this time, the other girls were allowed to spectate and commentate on Tokaku and Haru playing Suzu’s deadly game rather than being non-existent like every other episode. The assassin-classmates were involved in this episode to a significant degree, adding a fresh and diverse feel to this episode and providing humor, nervousness and energy to the episode that would otherwise be difficult for the three primary characters. Sure, the other girls have been involved in previous episodes, but nothing to this level and never when someone was trying to assassinate Haru. Involving the cast like this made this episode the most enjoyable thus far and I hope to see future episode incorporate the cast like this during more of these events. That and more swimsuits, please.

Hitsugi no Chaika (Episode 6)

Frederica should be around more. Not only is she the first character in Hitsugi no Chaika to possess an amusing and delightful personality, but she’s also arguably the strongest fighter in Chaika’s gang of misfits. She has the ability to fly, making travel or escape much easier, and is the only one around to question whether Chaika, Tooru and Akari are doing the right thing or not. Having her around would make the adventures of Chaika much easier, too, especially with her ability to transform herself into anything she wants, whether it be another human, a cat, or her natural dragoon form. But really, think about having her disguise herself as someone important and steal the remains every time. It’d be too easy, really. And maybe that’s why we don’t see her around as much. Perhaps having Frederica around all the time would make the anime too easy (it wouldn’t be fun to watch Frederica do everything) or too dumb (if Frederica were around too much and wasn’t doing anything, she’d be underutilized). So maybe having Frederica pop in and out is the best use of her overpowered character in this anime. Then again, she still should be around more since she’s the only fun character in this anime.

Isshuukan Friends (Episode 6)

It’s a shame parents aren’t around more often in anime since mothers are frequently the best characters in the shows they appear in. For example, Kaori’s mother, Shiho Fujimiya, fits this archetype very well, being compassionate to her daughter and charitable to her new friends. Her benevolent personality shined brightly and she was able to have a positive effect and lasting impression on Yuuki, Shougo and Saki. Furthermore, she was able to disclose valuable information about Kaori to Yuuki in hopes that he continues to make her daughter’s life better. She already knows very well about how he has positively influenced Kaori’s life through encouragement and persistence and wants to help him continue by helping him understand more about her daughter and her special condition. And let’s not forget Shiho’s tender and gentle smile. Her genuine affection and honest devotion make her one of the best characters in this anime, if not the best, and I can only hope we continue to see her character in this anime as the series continues.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders (Episode 7)

Jotaro’s catchphrase of ‘yare yare daze’ can be translated and understood a number of different ways. It’s an expression of mild exhaustion, irritation, or disappointment and can even be used to express relief, similar to a sigh. When translating it into words, it can come out as ‘give me a break…’ or ‘how annoying…’ or even ‘good grief…’. All are correct… but some are more sensible than others. ‘Good grief…’, for example, is the unmistakable catchphrase of Charlie Brown, so by translating ‘yare yare daze’ as ‘good grief…’, we have the unintended consequences of seeing bits of Charlie Brown in Jotaro. Then again, there are potential issues with the other translations, too. If Jotaro’s catchphrase were ‘give me a break…’, we might expect him to break out into Kit Kat’s famous jingle. And constantly reading ‘how annoying…’ would get pretty annoying, too, you know? And just replacing ‘yare yare daze’ with *sigh* would be slightly awkward too, because Jotaro sighs a lot already, sometimes right before saying ‘yare yare daze’ (imagine that, two *sighs* in a row). So really, there is no exact or true translation for ‘yare yare daze’, especially when many of the translations for this expression have established uses or fame in English already. However, if you wanted to use a translation that was free from those potential issues, then something like ‘what a pain…’ would probably be the best.

No Game No Life (Episode 6)

The games are flawed in No Game No Life. Like, severely flawed. But rather than document the inconsistencies and arbitrary developments in the game this week, like I did with the review for last week, I will find another topic that relates to this episode. Specifically, what game could you choose and have an easy time beating Sora and Shiro?

Considering what we know, of their impressive supremacy and unbeaten streak, you’d figure it’d be nearly impossible to find a game where you’d have any type of advantage over them. In fact, the anime portrays them as unbeatable in all types of games and, after what we’ve seen, it seems to be true. But really, it’s quite simple to think of a game where you could be Sora and Shiro, and I’m sure anyone who has thought about this question for a little bit has a few ideas. To me, the simplest game to easily beat them in would be a foot race. It could be 100 meters, 400 meters, a mile or anything. Given that the two are hardcore otaku who never venture outside and spend all day sitting around, the idea of a simple foot race as a game is one where the median population would hold the advantage over Sora and Shiro. Additionally, it’s difficult to cheat or hold different interpretations to subjective rules in track, so there’s little they can do with their intellect and knowledge to gain advantage. Or if you wanted, you could really choose any sport or anything with considerable physical activity to win. The reason why we’ve seen Sora and Shiro be undefeated in No Game No Life is that all the games they’ve played have had zero to minimal physical involvement. And even if they know the ideal way to throw a discus, to shot a basketball, to hit a baseball, to do the front crawl or how to sprint, their bodies would be unable to handle the demand and victory would be guaranteed for the opposing party. Of course, the anime loves to introduce silly gimmicks to these games, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see something similar occur in this anime if sports are introduced. Still, the easiest way to beat Sora and Shiro, and probably the greatest chance of success too, would be to race them.

Ping Pong the Animation (Episode 6)

This episode of Ping Pong was particularly happy – unusually happy, even – watching everyone spend their time around Christmas differently and enjoying it in their own unique ways. The cheerful mood was augmented by the jovial music and laughter, and the absence of table tennis matches helped aid in this special atmosphere. However, the attitude and humor of this episode made me realize that most episode of Ping Pong aren’t happy ones. This episode was such a dramatic shift from the norm that I began to realize what the rest of the series was about. Rather than being a story of growth and happiness and accomplishment, the series is quite the opposite with most of the anime concentrating and focusing on the stress, disillusion and melancholy associated with playing competitive ping pong. I suppose it shouldn’t be terribly surprising considering the content and developments of the previous episode, but I never consciously thought that this was a dark or depressing anime. I came to the conclusion early on that this anime was realistic but never to the point that it was an unhappy one. However, after watching a happy episode and realizing how well it contrasts the rest of the series, I can’t help but figure that this anime is supposed to be some level of depressing. However, considering how powerful and outstanding the anime is, I wouldn’t have it any other way. It was refreshing to have an episode like this change the pace of the anime and offer some new perspective, like a one week vacation. However, the best elements of this anime are related to the competitiveness born through the table tennis matches. I can’t wait until the next episode when the anime returns to what it does best.

Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin (Episode 6)

You know what’d make every puzzle in Nanana simple and effortless? Using a rope and grappling hook. Imagine that. Throw the grappling hook to the other side, tie the other end to something and just climb across. Ta-dah! Puzzle completed without having to waste time or energy thinking or doing anything. Oh, what’s this? A geyser puzzle with hot water and pillars that move around and spray water up your skirts? How will we get through this? Rope and grappling hook. Or what about this weird desk room with trap floors and whatnot. Rope and grappling hook. Or any other treasures that we’re bound to see. Again, rope and grappling hook. I mean, seriously, why not?

The Summer 2014 anime season is already upon us! With no time to spare due to all the thrilling and sensational anime that are already out or going to air soon, this Summer 2014 Season Preview will provide a glimpse of what I have planned for the season and some of my initial expectations for all the new shows and sequels this season. So what exactly am I looking forward to the most for the next three months? Let’s find out!

Let’s start the season preview off with some of the more familiar names returning to Japanese televisions this summer. The number of sequels, retellings and other extensions of existing anime franchises this season is quite substantial but most of the attention is being devoted to some of the big names that are starting up again. The list of continuations for Summer 2014 are: Ai Mai Mi: Mousou Catastrophe, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Crystal, Fate/kaleid Liner Prisma Illya 2wei!, Free! Eternal Summer, Kuroshitsuji Circus Hen, Persona 4 The Golden Animation, Pri Para, Re:_Hamatora, Sengoku Barasa Judge End, Shin Strange+, Space Dandy Second Season, Sword Art Online II, and Yama no Susume: Second Season. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for some), I haven’t watched the original shows from these anime franchises, so I am not in a position to provide accurate information and predictions on each one, especially the shows I haven’t watched. As always, I’ll skip over the anime that I know nothing about because you probably already know what you’ll be watching and there are better resources out there for those franchises. So instead, in the section below, I’ll be providing my input to the shows that I am familiar with and can provide some explanation as to why I’m planning on continuing them. (Note: I am not including Monogatari Series Second Season: Hanamonogatari here because it is not a traditional TV anime; it is starting in mid-August and only spans half the season. I will watch it for sure when it comes out, though.)

The order of anime listed below is neither chronological nor alphabetic but ranked in order of my personal anticipation and how likely I believe I will watch that anime this season. Every anime is evaluated and placed into one of five tiers ordered: Will watch, Likely watch, Maybe watch, Doubtful but it gets a shot, and No dice. Within each tier, the anime are listed alphabetically. Dates are not included because who knows when and where these shows will be subbed and available to watch (which really is the most important!). So with that explanation and introduction, here is my preview for Summer 2014:

Ai Mai Mi: Mousou Catastrophe

Opinion: Ai Mai Mi isn’t the most memorable of the rapidly expanding field of 3-minute long comedy anime, but the original series was certainly a success, providing hearty laughs on a range of silly topics. Expect more of the same with a second season of Ai Mai Mi, an anime that provides its value through a series of rapid-fire jokes at the expense of its cast of four overly-enthusiastic and bizarre girls and the wild world they live in.

Plans for this show: Will watch

Persona 4 The Golden Animation

Opinion: Persona 4 is returning as an anime this season, though this time it will be based off the PS Vita re-release of Persona 4 titled, Persona 4 The Golden. And since this anime is technically based on the re-release of the Persona 4 game, it might not be a sequel in the traditional sense since the anime will cover most of the material that was present in Persona 4 The Animation. However, I’m not sure how much the new series will cover of the original Persona 4 story, so I’m placing it here with the other continuations and figure that most watching this will already be familiar with the original anime or the video game. I’m not sure what will be new with this season of Persona 4, but with a new character and new storylines, there will be plenty of different material for fans of the franchise to enjoy. The original anime suffered when its art director quit AIC and the quality dropped noticeably, so it will be interesting to see how A-1 depicts this adventure. Even if it were the same anime as before, I think watching it interpreted and produced by a different studio is reason enough to give this anime a chance. That and Persona 4 was an outstanding anime back in 2011-2012, one of my favorites of those years, so I won’t mind reliving it all over again this summer.

Plans for this show: Will watch

Space Dandy Second Season

Opinion: Airing back in January 2014, Space Dandy returns for its second half this summer with a similar style, personality and flavor that made it a favorite from this winter. However, with a lengthy pause between first cour and second cour, I’ll expect there to be some improvements in the series given that the staff and studio had some time to reflect on the first season and access what they’ll want to do different with the remaining episodes. Even if nothing changes, Space Dandy will be among the top anime of this season like it was for the winter. However, I am looking for improvement in the series this season and for this half to build off the first half and to reach new peaks. No doubt, I will be picking up Dandy again for another dose of zany space adventures.

Plans for this show: Will watch

Yama no Susume: Second Season

Opinion: The original Yama no Susume was a pleasant and charming 3-minute per episode anime that explained and explored the world of hiking, climbing, camping and mountaineering through the eyes of a shy teenage girl, Aoi, and her extrovert childhood friend, Hinata. This new season, however, will expand each episode to 15 minutes and run for a total of 24 episodes, thus making this season 10 times longer than the first one (360 minutes versus 36 minutes). The 3-minute episode formula worked for the first season of Yama no Susume, so the change in episode and season length will have a substancial impact on each subject, each story and how the characters are able to grow. The series will need to adapt to these longer episodes, but with longer episodes, the series will be able to provide depth where it couldn’t before and complete stories in a timely manner, such as completing a mountain in one episode rather than splitting them between several episodes. And unlike before, there’s now a new opportunity to expand on the characters (Aoi’s shy personality) and plot (Aoi’s and Hinata’s friendship and challenges), so this season should be more meaningful and expressive than before. However, I do wonder if the series will retain that enchantment and charisma that made it one of my favorite short anime. I’m thrilled to see we’re getting 10 times the material as before, but I’m curious about how this will affect the quality and value of the anime. Hopefully these fears evaporate before the first episode is over.

Plans for this show: Will watch

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Crystal

Opinion: The original Sailor Moon aired in Japan back in 1992 and was brought over to the United States in the mid-90s. It was then when I found myself watching anime regularly for the first time, and I still have fond memories of Sailor Moon whenever I think of it or think back to that era. However, as you might imagine, my tastes in anime have matured and developed over the decades and, though I enjoyed Sailor Moon as a kid, I’m not sure I’ll enjoy it again as an adult. It’ll be fascinating to see how the new series differs from the old, not just in animation style and voices, but in society and technology. I’ll be certain to give the first few episodes of the new series a try, but I’m not sure if I’ll be up for watching the whole series; there’s just something about the art style that puts me off. However, like any show with a unique art style, I figure it’s something that’ll need an episode or two to adjust to. Nevertheless, I’m happy to see a continuation of the Sailor Moon franchise in this era and will be giving the new anime series a chance.

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

Sword Art Online II

Opinion: Sword Art Online is really a tale of two anime for me. One on half, you have a gorgeous anime with breathtaking scenery, an innovative and imaginative setting, and a soundtrack to remember. That part of Sword Art Online I liked and liked quite a bit. The other half, however, was frustrating and bothersome. The stories was abject and narcissistic, the characterization was unsophisticated and straightforward, and there were no genuine maturity or challenges for Kirito. Everything related to the story and characters was both simple and stupid with the solution to everything being ‘I’m Kirito and I’m going to solve this, and now I just solved it’. The entire first season was split between those two halves with part of me loving it and part of me hating it. I figure there will be more of the same for me this season with part of me enjoying the sequel and part of me detesting it. I’m willing to give the second season of SAO a chance, especially since it will be set in a new gaming world, and there’s always the opportunity for the anime to try something different to see if it improves. And even if it doesn’t and goes back to the same formula as the original series, the anime will still be watchable. The real question for Sword Art Online II, though, will it be enjoyable?

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

Fate/kaleid Liner Prisma Illya 2wei!

Opinion: The first season of Illya started out strong, quickly descended into mediocrity in the middle, and then hit rock-bottom in the final episodes. The OVA that came out after redefined rock-bottom for the anime with its terrible, terrible buruma/dancing episode, and at that point, I was ready to be done with this series. However, watching the PV again and reading up on the new series has sparked a small interest again in this series, and I’m willing to give the second season an episode or two just to see if it’s worthwhile. I really didn’t find myself enjoying the end of the original and I figure the sequel will just continue going downhill from where it left off. If not, then maybe I’ll reconsider picking up the series again, but for now, I think I’ll pass on Illya this time.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

Re:_Hamatora

Opinion: The original Hamatora was bad. The series felt pretentious, the story was a patchwork of anime clichés, and the comedy was woefully unfunny. The cast of characters was a mixed bag with some being great (Honey, Ratio) and others being pathetic (Nice, Moral). Fortunately for me, it seems as though Nice and Moral are absent from this season, at least for the time being, so maybe the series is trying to rectify its mistakes and put together something more tolerable or maybe even fun. Whatever the reason and whatever the result, I am kinda interested in this new season though I know it’s against my better judgment after being disappointed with the first season. However, with Nice and Moral gone, maybe the dynamic of the series will improve enough for me to enjoy the series again. I guess after one or two episodes, I’ll know whether I’ll be watching Hamatora again or dropping it for good.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

The next section of the preview contains all the new franchises that are starting up in Summer 2014. After reviewing and researching all the shows, I am rather surprised at how massive this season is in terms of total shows, especially for a summer which is traditionally one of the lighter seasons of the year. Additionally, there are quite a few anime that have a lot of potential, too, making this easily the most attractive season of 2014 in terms of previews. However, what really matters is how these anime perform for the next three months and that will dictate if this season is truly better than the rest. As for the shows I’m planning on watching this season, here is my season preview:

Aldnoah.Zero

Opinion: Perhaps the highlight of Aldnoah.Zero, at least for me, is the names behind this new anime project, specifically director Ei Aoki (Fate/Zero, Wandering Son), creator Gen Urobuchi (Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Fate/Zero, Psycho-Pass), series composition Katsuhiko Takayama (ef: a tale of memories, Mirai Nikki, Tasogare Otome x Amnesia) and music by Hiroyuki Sawano (Guilty Crown, Shingeki no Kyojin, KILL la KILL). That all-star production team is reason enough for me to get overly excited over this anime… but there’s more. The plot of this anime revolves around a Martian invasion of Earth by fearsome mecha, so a sci-fi setting that promises action, drama and hopefully psychological torture. The art style and character design seems pleasant, though slightly plain. The PV showcases quite of bit of energy and excitement, so the anime should be lively, though I do expect there to be dialogue-heavy scenes later on. I’m really curious to see what this anime is about, especially since Urobuchi’s name is synonymous with top-tier anime these days. It’ll be interesting to see how this anime competes and compares to the other top anime of Summer 2014.

Plans for this show: Will watch

Zankyou no Terror

Opinion: Given the track record of Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Sakamichi no Apollon, Space Dandy), the man who will be directing this physiological terror-themed thriller, you can already chalk up Zankyou no Terror as another anime marvel. Everything he’s worked on has been phenomenal; a catalogue of his competence, talent and vision as a director on a diversity of anime projects. Zankyou no Terror appears to be his most serious and somber anime yet, given its themes of death, destruction and chaos, so it’ll be stimulating to see how this style contrasts his other work, especially his other anime this summer, Space Dandy. The aspects of this anime beyond Shinichiro Watanabe also give this anime promise. Based on the animation and art style shown in the PV above, the production values are astonishing, which is fitting as this is a noitminA anime. We don’t know much of the story or characters at this point, but the mysterious and secretive vibe thus far bodes well for an anime of these themes and this nature. As such, we can expect this to be one of the premier anime of the season. There is no doubt that I’ll watch Zankyou no Terror this season.

Plans for this show: Will watch

Akame ga Kill!

Opinion: Akame ga Kill! looks to be one of the stronger anime of Summer 2014 based on its entertainment potential alone. I wouldn’t mind watching Akame ga Kill! for its excitement and action, especially if the anime is as dynamic and exhilarating as its PV foreshadows, but I am hoping for some depth and technical detail to complete the other half. If there’s some decent characterization and coherent story development, then that might be enough for this to be one of the top anime of the season. I’m already intrigued by the fantasy setting and happy with the character designs and the quality of the battle animation shown in the PV. Tatsumi’s determination to right the world of its corruption and inequality makes him attractive as a protagonist, but hopefully the anime isn’t too idealistic or heavy in its moral justice, especially if the antagonist are cartoonishly evil villains. I won’t mind it if it’s played out as straightforward heroism or even if it’s comedic, but the main issue I think I’ll have with this anime is if it takes itself too seriously. Otherwise, I don’t really have any issues with this anime and am looking forward to it this summer.

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

Glasslip

Opinion: Glasslip appears to be a somewhat standard PA Works anime, a simple, tranquil slice-of-life anime that’s heavy on friendship with subtle hints of romance. The atmosphere of this anime is both serene and soothing, a mood that’s sure to make this anime enjoyable while giving it a certain charming aura. I don’t expect much in the way of drama or conflict in this show nor do I expect there to be any fantasy elements or magic to take away from the realism of these characters and their relationship. Instead, it looks to be a group of fairly normal kids in a seaside town in Japan just living their lives together. I might be wrong about this but it seems to be something along those lines at this point. And though that might sound boring to some, it really appeals to me this season. A slice-of-life anime that’s grounded in reality really needs a strong cast of characters and the right type of mood, and Glasslip appears to have both elements. If I’m wrong and this turns out to be another fantasy/magic slice-of-life, then the anime will need some wit and quality humor to go along with a strong set of characters. And Glasslip might have that too, though that wit and humor are derivative of the writing and that aspect remains to be seen. Whatever type of slife anime it ends up being, it looks as though Glasslip will be worthwhile to pick up, relax with and enjoy watching.

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

Hanayamata

Opinion: The central element to Hanayamata is yosakoi dancing, a subject I haven’t really encountered all that much in anime. Couple that with a fated meeting between Naru, a normal highschool girl who likes fairy tales, and Hannah, an American transfer student who claims to be a fairy, and you have one of the more original and innovative stories of this anime season. Yosakoi dancing is a style of traditional Japanese dance that’s up-tempo, energetic and full of movement and emotion. What this translates to, at least for an anime, are many scenes with graceful animation and gorgeous art work, two things that I am sure to adore in Hanayamata. The fantasy elements, or at least the fairy tale and fairy parts, are sure to add a distinct flavor to this anime too, and one that should contrast nicely with the yosakoi dance. I’m not sure how heavy the fantasy elements will be but after a glimpse of the manga, I can say that it will certainly be enough to influence the anime to a substantial degree. I’m not sure too sure about the other aspects of the anime, like the story or the characters, but it looks like Hanayamata is one of the more noteworthy anime this season, based on this interesting combination of yosakoi dance and fairy tales.

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

Himegoto

Opinion: Although comedy is my favorite genre of anime, I’m a little skeptical of Himegoto. After reading a few chapters of the manga, I came away largely unimpressed with the humor and jokes. It’s not that it’s bad but just stuff I’ve seen before. Most comedies that are centered on otokonoko/traps/crossdressing characters have very similar jokes and, after watching/reading a number of comedies with traps, I found all the jokes in Himegoto to be similar to the ones I’ve heard/seen before. Still, the anime possesses a number of qualities that make it worth watching this season. Each episode is 5 minutes long, so the episodes will feature cute scenes, quick jokes and won’t drag on too long to the point where it becomes redundant or boring. The characters are wacky and ridiculous, with Hime being the tsukkomi (straight man) for most jokes, and together, they had great chemistry, especially when the 4 other traps (as you can probably guess, most of the jokes are related to crossdressing) started appearing. The anime will be ecchi (all otokonoko comedies are ecchi), as you can tell from the pantyshots in the PV, but that has never stopped me from picking up an anime before, even if it’s a guy wearing the panties. Himegoto might not be the funniest anime of the season and it’s likely to be far from the best, but it should provide cute scenes and genuine laughs at the very least. And that alone is reason enough for me to pick this anime up.

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

Majimoji Rurumo

Opinion: Like Himegoto above, Majimoji Rurumo appears to be another comedy anime with some ecchi elements. However, unlike Himegoto, Majimoji Rurumo appears to have a real story and one that might turn out to be heavy. Still, the anime looks to be a fun comedy with a magical witch as the heroine and a pervert male as the lead. It might not be the most original anime out there and I’m not expecting much more than shallow character develop and a thin story, but the anime should provide some good laughs and high entertainment value for what it appears to be. The art and animation appear to be quite pleasant, and the character design is normal except for the witch’s giant hat which is pretty awesome. I’m mainly curious about how the characters and the story will develop but what will dictate whether I watch this anime is how good the comedy is and whether I am enjoying this anime or not. It’s kinda sad to think that the characters and story are secondary to those elements but that’s how I feel about Majimoji Rurumo right now.

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

Rail Wars!

Opinion: Rail Wars! is a rather silly concept for an anime. The series is set in an alternate world where the only difference is Japan didn’t nationalize its rail system. That’s the only difference. And as trivial as that sounds, it leads to the created of different rail lines having security forces that protect their trains from various threats. Yeah, that’s what Rail Wars is. And as senseless as the anime seems, it sounds like it might be pretty fun. If the anime doesn’t take itself serious and the show is outrageous, then it might be pretty fun. It around sounds like the characters are slightly eccentric, so that bodes well for the hilarity and amusement. If the anime decided to be serious, then that poses the threat that it might get boring quickly, unless there are a lot of action sequences on the trains. The art and animation from the PV are pretty standard, so nothing wrong there besides being rather commonplace. So for now, it’ll get a few episodes.

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?

Opinion: Shin Oonuma (ef: a tale of memories, Tasogare Otome x Amnesia, Watamote) is my favorite director, and I’m willing to give every anime he’s on a chance. It doesn’t mean that I’ll watch everything he produces, but I’ve always admired his vision for projects and how he is able to take ordinary or mediocre material and turn them into remarkable and distinguished anime. His utilization of cinematography, lighting and color bring the visuals of his shows to life and he’s able to improve upon the storytelling of the original material to have a significant impact on the anime, such as the first episode of Tasogare Otome x Amnesia or several episodes of Watamote. However, Rokujouma no Shiryakusha!? doesn’t seem all that special from the PV alone – in fact, it looks rather pedestrian at this point. But still, I’m confident that Shin Oonuma will leave his mark on this anime, making it another visual delight. The story and characters don’t seem too special at this point either. In fact, it seems like a Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin clone depicting the life of a normal high school boy in a small apartment with a ghost girl, though this one seems to be centered on his hijinks with these girls in this apartment than anything else. It looks to be another run-of-the-mill romantic comedy anime, but I’m interested to see what Shin Oonuma will do this time. And if the anime turns out to be pretty plain or average, I won’t mind dropping this like I did with his last anime, Nourin.

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

Tokyo ESP

Opinion: The information I’ve seen on Tokyo ESP doesn’t provide much detail, especially with the promotional videos being short and the synopsis being rather vague. And it would help if I didn’t keep typing out “ESPN” instead of ESP. But still, what little material I’ve been able to find on this anime has me intrigued enough where I think I’ll likely end up keeping the anime this season. The sci-fi setting, with a focus on distinctive superhuman powers, is a style I’m usually fond of, and special physic powers always comes with fighting or action or something along those lines, so those bode well for me. The anime appears to be pretty serious and realistic, at least from the synopsis, the PV and the character designs, so that might be a positive or a negative depending on the stories, the characters and how everything fits together. It might take an episode or two to get me into this story, and if I do, then I’ll be interested to see how Tokyo ESPN performs this season. If, after a few episodes, I don’t feel it, then I don’t think I’ll hesitate in dropping Tokyo ESP.

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

Ao Haru Ride

Opinion: Whereas I am fond of shoujo romantic comedies, I usually despise shoujo romances. And though Ao Haru Ride carries the label ‘comedy’, the PV doesn’t seem to show the anime in a humorous tone. Instead, the anime seems pretty somber and heavy with a strict emphasis on the romance and Futuba reevaluating her life. This isn’t the style I’m looking for this season, but the anime does feature quality production values and the story does have the potential to be interesting and meaningful. I’m willing to give the anime an episode, but I don’t think it’ll be one that I’ll keep this season.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

Barakamon

Opinion: Unlike the comedies listed above, the humor in Barakamon turns me off of the anime. The PV features a few jokes but the gag is always the same. The only punchline this anime seems to have is to have the main character, Handa, have some grandiose overreaction of some trivial aspect of his new rural lifestyle or something related to the unusual characters that now live beside him. I don’t mind humor like that in gag anime when the reaction is sometimes warranted, but the jokes are a kid playing hide-and-go-seek, a squirrel jumping on him and some pots on the ground. Yeah, no, zealous overreactions as a form of humor or stupid or simple things is a negative for me… and using it as the only form of humor is a deal-breaker. Hopefully, I am wrong about this anime using this as its only punchline and that the anime features some legitimate humor. Otherwise, it’s getting dropped without a second thought.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

Sabagebu!

Opinion: Unfortunately for Sabagebu!, I’ve already watched Stella Jogakuin Koutou-ka C3-bu which is another anime that focused on an all-girl survival game club. However, this could also be a positive for Sabagebu! as C3-bu was one of my favorite anime of 2013 and that I wouldn’t mind seeing something similar to it, though with a slightly wackier setting. Still, I don’t see how I can watch this anime without thinking about and comparing it to C3-bu considering how similar the two shows are. Hopefully Sabagebu! will quickly develop its own distinctive elements and differ enough in style to distinguish the two from each other. If Sabagebu! can do that, then I might end up keeping it if it turns out to be fun and entertaining. If not, then I don’t know if Sabagebu! will ever emerge from C3-bu’s shadow. And if that happens, I don’t have enough confidence in Sabagebu! to be nearly as decent as C3-bu, especially with how well Yura’s character was handled and how she influenced the characters around her and dictated the story. An episode or two of Sabagebu! should be enough to decide whether it’s enough different from C3-bu or not, which in turn, will probably be how I decide if I’ll watch this or not.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance

Opinion: Blade Dance can be summarized as an ecchi harem romantic comedy where some ordinary, perverted highschool boy becomes the first ever dude to have super magic spirit powers and transfers to a fantasy, all-girls school. Yeah… it… it doesn’t sound good at all. Ecchi harem romantic comedies are typically pretty cheap when it comes to production quality and have lackluster, one-dimensional characters (and that dimension is usually boobs) and pretty awful stories… that is, if they even have a story. The main reason they exist is for entertainment purposes, and I never find these shows amusing in any way, especially since it is all misunderstandings, sexually suggestive situations and the girls hitting the guy so hard they fly across the universe, especially for making a flat chest joke or seeing the girl naked. I’m praying that Blade Dance isn’t one of those anime and that it will have some value to it, but I really doubt it at this point. I’ll give it an episode to see if there’s anything sensible in this anime but I’m probably going to drop it right after, if I can make it through the first episode.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

Shirogane no Ishi Argevollen

Opinion: Argevollen might end up being a decent anime but, right now, it seems to be stiff. It’s just very rigid, structured and this ultimately makes it boring. Sure, it’s a military anime where the two sides are fighting a war with giant mecha, but there doesn’t seem to be any personality or emotion to it. It’s just kinda there and these soldiers are doing what they’re doing. Without the slightest hint of comedy or any other entertaining elements (like super giant robots flying through the sky firing laser cannons), the anime seems rather hard, realisitic and pragmatic… which might make it good but it might make it long and tedious, too. The art and animation seem to be slightly subpar for an average anime but the 3D models for the mecha look great, though we only have a few battle clips to judge. I think the anime should be given an episode to see if it’s boring or not but I fear that Argevollen’s weakness is that it will be too strict, too stiff and tiresome before too long.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

Tokyo Ghoul

Opinion: Tokyo Ghoul has an impressive PV, an intense display full of enthusiasm, fighting and horror elements. The production values for this anime are high, meaning we should expect more of this beautiful art work throughout. The reason why this anime is placed so low on this list is that I often don’t find myself too happy with horror or gory anime. That doesn’t mean I won’t give it a chance but the horror elements in an anime need to be perfect for me to really enjoy it. It seems like Tokyo Ghoul has some of those elements, though I’ll need to watch an episode or two to see if it’s a series I’m willing to keep. If not, and the horror elements turn me off, then it won’t feel like a loss for me.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

The first two sections reveal the lists of anime that I am planning on watching before the season starts. Now, all that remains are the anime that I have already decided against. The reason why these anime are slotted here is because they either appear to already be flawed, boring, or simply outside my demographic. While these anime may in fact be watchable to some, they do not appear that way for me. I doubt I’ll watch any more than the PV linked in their sections. However, there’s always a chance for me to pick one or two up every season, so not all hope is lost for these shows. However, for most of them, there’s already zero chance I’ll even think about them after writing my opinions for each.

Bakumatsu Rock

Opinion: I’ve never been a fan of male music anime and don’t plan on becoming one now. Placing it in the Sengoku era certainly doesn’t help either.

Plans for this show: No dice

DRAMAtical Murder

Opinion: It’s based on a BL visual novel, but even then, the virtual fighting game looks bad.

Plans for this show: No dice

Fran♥cesca

Opinion: It’s about a zombie idol or something. Whatever it is, it doesn’t interest me at all.

Plans for this show: No dice

Futsuu no Joshikisei ga [Locodol] Yatte Mita.

Opinion: Yeah, another idol anime. Notice a theme among three of these first four? Yeah, idol or music based anime are not my thing.

Plans for this show: No dice

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun

Opinion: I’ll keep an eye out to see if this is funny or not, but this romantic comedy doesn’t seem to be my style of show at all.

Plans for this show: No dice

Jinsei

Opinion: This looks really generic. Going to save my time and just skip it.

Plans for this show: No dice

Love Stage!!

Opinion: This is the anime that will haunt my nightmares.

Plans for this show: No dice

Minarai Diva

Opinion: Yeah, I don’t mind watching MikuMikuDance used for music videos or short comedy pieces, but it just doesn’t look good for an anime.

Plans for this show: No dice

Momo Kyun Sword

Opinion: How exactly do you make an entire anime series based on the story of Momotaro? It looks like I won’t be finding out!

Plans for this show: No dice

Nobunaga Concerto

Opinion: If none of the comedies satisfy me this season, I might watch this just for the visuals.

Plans for this show: No dice

Shounen Hollywood: Holly Stage for 49

Opinion: No, actually, this is the anime that will haunt my nightmares. Actually, it’ll probably be both this and Love Stage!!

Plans for this show: No dice

And that concludes my preview for the Summer 2014 anime season. Since the season has already started, I’ll begin posting my thoughts, opinions and evaluations for each show in my First Impressions posts. However, being out of town during the start of the season has made things a little challenging (but what difference does it make if all my posts are late anyway?), but the posts should be up starting next week when the bulk of shows air their first episodes. Until then, I hope you enjoy the start of the summer anime season and love it throughout!

This post reviews: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Crystal, Aldnoah.Zero, Barakamon, Akame ga Kill!, and Sabagebu!

Since Space Dandy 2 and Sword Art Online II are both sequels, they will not be reviewed in these first impressions posts. I was already planning on watching both shows this season, so there was no major decision to be made when watching the first episode and there’s little to add on those anime right now. I’ll have more to talk about those sequels as this summer continues.

Watching:

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Crystal

What I enjoyed most about the new Sailor Moon is how it retains the charm and appeal of the original series. Yes, it’s important to note that this episode was a direct copy of the first episode of the original anime, so you’d figure that it would still have the same charm and appeal… but that’s exactly what I want from Sailor Moon: Crystal. Had the series tried to reinterpret the story or had it gone in a different direction, such as changing Usagi’s character or the dynamic between the characters, then I’d be troubled by this updated version. The distinctive and modernized visuals are less cartoony or chibi than the original, with this having a more elegant and mature feel, but it doesn’t detract from the asinine humor and childishness of Usagi. What I want from Sailor Moon: Crystal is the same magic that made Sailor Moon fun and amusing, and the first episode of Sailor Moon: Crystal indicates that this series will be virtually the same as the old series. Hurray! And since I enjoyed the old series, I figure I’ll enjoy this new one, too. The one thing I’m still uneasy about with Sailor Moon: Crystal is that the show will air every two weeks for a year. It’s a schedule I am not happy with but it’s something I’ll need to deal with if I want to watch this anime.

Aldnoah.Zero

Wow, what a way to start an anime. Not only was Aldnoah.Zero impressive on the surface, with its visual appeal, its promise of action and the climactic end to the first episode, but the anime was effective at establishing its cast of characters, its premise and its setting with no wasted efforts. Every scene had a purpose and a message, and the episode flowed seamlessly, hallmarks of excellent writing and directing. The dialogue was clever yet it never felt forced or unnatural, especially for Inaho. Though the personalities are somewhat unremarkable for now, it’s still early in the series and there’s room for them to grow and mature as the war for Earth begins. That’s not to say the characters aren’t pleasant or amusing, just that there’s nothing innovative or unique about them yet. Another notable aspect of Aldnoah.Zero is that it doesn’t mess around. The scene where Asseylum was attacked by homing missiles and the obliteration of New Orleans shows how critical and determined this anime is. People died. There isn’t some magic bullshit that’ll save everyone and give us a happy ending. We watched people vaporize. And that’s something you don’t see a whole lot of anime do, especially since it was utilized to make an impact. Often times, a show will chicken out right at the end, but no, Aldnoah.Zero killed a significant proportion of its bystanders. And why this point is so important is that this will carry over to the war and be a lasting quality for this anime. Although this episode featured the start of the war, we can already tell how grave and somber this anime will be and how the lives of the cast will be in jeopardy every week. I’m absolutely thrilled with the first episode of Aldnoah.Zero and am more enthusiastic than ever before. If you haven’t given this anime a chance yet, I strongly recommend it.

Akame ga Kill!

Although I often use the word ‘shounen’ as a negative term, habitually when describing traits or attributes of an anime that are stereotypical of shounen anime/manga, I want to describe Akame ga Kill! as a good shounen anime. Or at the very least, it had a solid first episode. What elevates Akame ga Kill! above the other shounen anime is that it was able to demonstrate genuine humor, satisfying action, and an intriguing setting all while still being very, very shounen. The series found a satisfying balance comedy and action, and both those aspects of Akame ga Kill! were well above-average. I actually found myself smiling at a few of the jokes which is challenging for something that isn’t a true comedy. The action sequences were adequate with swords and guns and whatnot, but the fact that people are killed in Akame ga Kill!, and often in violent ways, made each skirmish satisfying in their conclusions. I’m ecstatic to see a collection of protagonists who aren’t afraid to kill other people in order to achieve their goals. And the fantasy setting centered on a corrupted government is fine by itself, but seeing the culture extend beyond them to the townsfolk makes for a more interesting premise than in most shounen stories. Often times, you see the big, bad government being the villain in these shows while the citizens are victims and need to be saved… but here, they’re just as guilty of the crimes and pay for their sins with their blood. Perhaps what I like most about Akame ga Kill! is that it’s a shounen anime that wants to be more than a shounen anime. And the aforementioned points validate that statement. Unfortunately, Akame ga Kill! is still very, very shounen and that can be seen elsewhere in the show. The whole fight/rescue/knowledge of underground ghoul organization for Ken to join assassination organization for Tatsumi to join is very, very shounen. Right from the start, when Tatsumi looked up at the blood red moon and they were posing in the sky for no reason… you could tell this anime was going to be super shounen. And the collection of strange, diverse characters… yeah, that, too. Not to mention the hero with his robust sense of justice and the big, bad faceless government and people doing evil things for the sake of being evil… yeah. Not everything about Akame ga Kill! is good, but it’s good enough. I am optimistic that the series will retain these qualities and manage to stay consistent throughout, but I can’t help but feel the humor and violence might dip now that the introduction is over. All I hope for is that there isn’t a training arc starting with episode 2 and going on to whenever.

Sabagebu!

Easily the biggest surprise of the season, Sabagebu! is a delightful, wacky comedy that will make you smile throughout. Hell, it’s a real challenge for an anime to make me laugh at its comedy but Sabagebu! actually made me laugh several times. Without any other strong comedies this season (with the exception of Space Dandy 2), Sabagebu! is a definite keeper. Beyond that, Sabagebu! has other merits too, though none surpass the excellence that is its entertainment value. The cast of characters are all oddballs but none are too excessive or one-dimensional. Each character possesses some qualities that make them fun, but the series doesn’t define their characters by these traits. The survival game club dynamic does feel a bit like ­Stella Jogakuin Koutou-ka C3-bu, but that one was entirely more serious and analytical than this carefree comedy doppelganger. In fact, Sabagebu! reminds me more of Love Lab than last year’s all-girl survival game club anime. The art and animation are upbeat and colorful, which complements the variety of comedy this anime enjoys and contrasts pleasantly with the dark and dirty survival game themes. Overall, I found this to be one of the best anime this season based on this first episode and the potential for the series. And though I am incredibly biased toward comedies, I think everyone should give Sabagebu! a chance.

Undecided:

Barakamon

Barakamon had a better first episode than some of the anime I’m keeping, but it wasn’t enough to bring it out of the Undecided category. The reason for the indecision on Barakamon is that I am unsure how the anime will perform for the remainder of the season. The first episode was wonderful. Fantastic, even. I was pleasantly startled at the genuine characterization of Seishuu and even more astonished to see a significant amount of character development in the first episode. The comedy was polished, able to make me smile on a few occasions, and I found the characters to all be meaningful in how they interact with Seishuu. The problem with the series is that I’m not sure what the anime can do to top it. I have a sinking feeling that this show will find itself in a rut where Seishuu has a new problem each week and the islanders help him with their quirky behavior and whatnot and then he’s able to draw words prettily again. I’m not sure if I want an anime with that pattern or a show of that dynamic, even if this was one of the better first episodes this season. I’m just very weary of the potential this series has and whether I’ll enjoy it throughout. I enjoyed this episode greatly and would be overjoyed if the anime performs this well throughout, but I don’t see it at this point. That being said, I’m eager to give this anime a second episode to see if it confirms my suspicions or proves me wrong. However, even if the show does fall into a predictable pattern every week, I’m planning on keeping this anime so long as I enjoy each episode individually.

Dropped:

None of the shows reviewed in this post were dropped.

Hello again. For Week 12: my ideas on where I wanted Rokka no Yuusha to go following the mystery, thoughts on the erased timelines in Charlotte, issues with the classroom in Classroom Crisis, and appreciating Hotaru’s character more in Non Non Biyori Repeat.

Best episode of the week: Gakkou Gurashi

Anime trending up this week: Non Non Biyori Repeat

Anime trending down this week: Classroom Crisis

Working!!! (Episode 12)

I’ve always enjoyed Working!! as a franchise, but my biggest complaint with the series is that nothing ever progressed or was resolved. All the storylines and character quirks were never addressed and everything felt unfinished. The third season of Working!! has done an outstanding job at tackling this issue, and I’ve actually felt very satisfied with how the series is progressing. The only issue now is that I don’t want the series to end!

Rokka no Yuusha (Episode 12 [Finale])

I think Rokka no Yuusha is the first mystery anime where I correctly solved the mystery at the very beginning. But rather than gloat about my awesome detective skills, I’d rather discuss where I think the anime should’ve gone instead of the ending we received. During the series, I was always pondering where the anime would go once the Seventh was revealed and they either were killed or escaped. The obvious answer would be that they continue on their way and go fight the demon king, but that would be too easy for a series of this caliber. If it were up to me, the focus of the series would be on the characters rebuilding their trust with each other. The whole ordeal with the Seventh essentially fragmented each character with everyone questioning who was the villain, so it seemed logical to me that once the mystery was over, that they’d need to repair or rebuild their relationships. In fact, I think it’d be a greater mystery for Adlet to forge new relationships with each of the characters and for him to reconnect all the characters, too. Remember how Fremy and Chamo almost tried to kill each other… several times already? Why not focus on making those two friends? Or Hans and Mora, how those two are opposites? Why not try helping Goldof open up to the other Braves, too? Of course, the series didn’t end exactly the way I wanted, but if the series continues with this in mind, I’ll be content.

Non Non Biyori Repeat (Episode 11)

Hotaru never really felt like a fifth grader until this episode. Her character always felt much older given her maturity, her humble mannerisms, and her height. More often than not, it felt like she was the oldest character in the main quartet rather than the second youngest. I was thrilled to see the skit where she acted her age at home with her mom, but it also really shook up how I view her character. The skit was intended to be humorous because we never see her acting like this, but it also speaks volumes about her self-control in public and how she behaves around others. In fact, I think of Hotaru as more mature now after seeing how she usually acts at home and thinking that she corrects herself to act polite and modest in public. That, and I’m also happy to see Hotaru have fun and excitement for once in the anime.

Gatchaman Crowds Insight (Episode 11)

So, why exactly was Hajime disguised as Gel and attacked? I mean, I understand what they’re doing in terms of the story, but why did they put Hajime in such danger? Couldn’t they have faked the whole thing with their Gatchaman technology and shown a battle against a fake Gel? Was this really the only way they could’ve shown them battling Gel was to have Hajime disguise herself as him? I don’t get it, but there’s probably a thousand better ways to do this than to put Hajime in a near-death situation and in a coma for most of the episode.

Gakkou Gurashi! (Episode 11)

Although Gakkou Gurashi is one of my favorite anime of the year, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have flaws. And the one flaw I want to focus on for this episode is that I don’t like where the story is progressing. The whole development with the girls learning about the zombie outbreak and the survival resources at the school aren’t things I’m too keen on. To me, I’d rather have the whole zombie apocalypse be unknown to them and something out of their mind. Instead, I’d rather see the anime keep the reason why the zombies are around a complete mystery rather than finding documents in the school and a potential vaccine within the building. Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t say I’ve been too excited to see the girls finding these secret documents and an anti-zombie vaccine scattered throughout their school.

Classroom Crisis (Episode 12)

For an anime named Classroom Crisis, you’d think they’d focus more on the classroom and the students in the class. Outside of Nagisa, Mizuki and Iris, I’m not sure you needed any of the characters. Really, none of the other students added anything to the series. None of them changed, were relevant to the story, or added anything of value. It didn’t matter if the classroom had a size of 3 students or 30 students… the classroom essentially did nothing for all of Classroom Crisis.

Charlotte (Episode 12)

One thing that irks me about jumping timelines in Charlotte is that all the development between Yuu and Nao after Ayumi’s death in the original timeline is essentially lost. Those events are long gone, almost as if those episodes never occurred. And while Yuu still retains memories of his past self with Nao, the same can’t be said for the girl he fell in love with during this time; Nao has no recollection and no way to experience what it was like pulling Yuu out of depression or going to the ZHIEND concert with Yuu. You can’t help but feel bad for the old Nao, who put in all that effort and who was so happy, to lose it all. Looking at this timeline’s Nao feels different, especially after all that Yuu has gone through. Then again, they were able to save Ayumi’s life as a result, so I’m sure Nao would happily part with her memories with Yuu in order to save his little sister.

The way most people realize that it’s the beginning of autumn is that the days begin to grow shorter, the air begins to feel cooler, and the trees transition into a palette of warm yellows, oranges and reds. But for me, the only way I realize that it’s the beginning of autumn is when the autumn anime season begins! And yes, with the start of the Autumn 2015 anime season this week, it’s time again to look ahead to this new season of anime and project, speculate, and guesstimate which anime we should watch.

As always, the order of anime listed below is neither chronological nor alphabetic but are categorized into sequels and new shows, and then ranked in order of my personal anticipation and how likely I believe I will watch that anime this season. Every anime is evaluated and placed into one of five tiers ordered: Will watch, Likely watch, Maybe watch, Doubtful but it gets a shot, and No dice. Within each tier, the anime are listed alphabetically. Dates are not included because who knows when and where these shows will be subbed and available to watch.

As always, every season marks the return of a number of beloved franchises, in the forms of sequels, reboots, spinoffs, and other continuations. For me, Autumn 2015 looks particularly enticing with over a half dozen of my favorite anime franchises returning. In fact, this is easily the best season for me in terms of sequels as one of my all-time favorites returns after a 9 year hiatus.

Returning in Autumn 2015 are: Ame-iro Cocoa S2, Diabolik Lovers More,Blood, Garo: Guren no Tsuki, Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu Ka??, Haikyuu S2, Hidan no Aria AA, Hokuto no Ken: Ichigo Aji, Itoshi no Muco 3, K: Return of Kings, Ketsuekigata-kun 3, Kindachi Shounen no Jikenbo Returns 2nd Season, Miss Monochrome: The Animation 3, Noragami Aragoto, Owarimonogatari, Owari no Seraph S2, Pokemon XY&Z, Shingeki! Kyojin Chuugakkou, Shinmai Maou no Testament Burst, Soukyuu no Fafner: Dead Aggressor – Exodus 2nd Season, Teekyuu S6, Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen, Young Black Jack, and Yuru Yuri San Hai.

Seeing as I haven’t watched most of the originals to these anime, I will obviously skip them and recommend you check out the originals if you’re interested in any of these franchises. Instead, this section is reserved for the anime that I will be continuing this autumn, with PVs, thoughts, and assessments for each.

Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu Ka?? (S2)

Opinion: One of my favorite anime from Spring 2014 returns with the second season of Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu Ka??. One the surface, the anime appears to be nothing more than an ultra-moe slice-of-life comedy about cute girls working in various cafes in a quintessential European backdrop. However, the anime has charisma and chemistry, and kept me laughing and smiling throughout. If the anime can keep the same pace as it did last year, then this is an easy decision for me to continue this autumn.

Plans for this show: Will watch

K: Return of Kings

Opinion: The one fatal flaw with the original season of K was its lackluster story, but the anime made up for that with style, flare, and an uncomfortable amount of blue tint over everything. I absolutely loved K for its visuals, with its kaleidoscope of colors, its seamless fighting sequences, and wholly unique art direction. Combine that with an intriguing setting and fun characters, and it’s no wonder why K was one of my favorite anime of 2012. If the movie from 2014 was any indication, this second season should address my issues with the story, which might be enough for it to be one of my favorite of 2015, too.

Plans for this show: Will watch

Noragami Aragoto

Opinion: Noragami was one of my favorite anime of 2014 (do you see a pattern yet with the sequels this season?) and Hiyori one of my favorite characters of the year, too, so I gladly welcome the return of Noragami. Although I felt slighted at the ending of the first season, I found the story, character, comedy, and setting to be promising, and am excited to see where the series goes from here. I can’t wait for it to start again and reclaim its enchantment.

Plans for this show: Will watch

Owarimonogatari

Opinion: The Monogatari Series has been one of my all-time favorites, and I am still enchanted with the story arcs and character development from the last TV season. It’s a truly magnificent franchise, thanks in large part due to the elegant writing, the spellbinding visuals, and the exceptional cast of characters. I’m eager to what happens to all the characters. No doubt, this is one to watch this season.

Plans for this show: Will watch

Soukyuu no Fafner: Dead Aggressor – Exodus 2nd Season

Opinion: Again, another sequel that I am highly anticipating based on the astonishingly great first season last Winter. Fafner might be the biggest surprise of the year, chiefly because I almost never start new anime franchises in the middle, and I almost immediately fell in love with everything about the anime. I am hoping to see the anime challenge its cast of characters again with escalating difficulty as the mecha battles were, by far, the highlight of the series for me.

Plans for this show: Will watch

Teekyuu S6

Opinion: Teekyuu is my favorite short anime, so I am always happy to see another season of this outstanding and insane comedy.

Plans for this show: Will watch

Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen

Opinion: Utawarerumono was one of the first anime I watched when I began watching anime again in early 2006. It easily became my first new favorite anime and helped generate my interest in currently airing anime in Japan as well as other shows that I have missed. Utawarerumono played an integral part in helping me ease back into watching anime, and I’ve always had a fond memory of this franchise ever since. And in addition to that, Utawarerumono is one of my all-time favorite anime thanks to its captivating and intricate fantasy setting, its mesmerizing story, its phenomenal cast of characters, and its truly impressive battle sequences. I am thrilled that Utawarerumono is returning as a TV anime for the first time in 9 years. I will say I am a bit cautious that new season is an alternative setting to the original, but it appears to retain all the elements that made me fall in love with Utawarerumono the first time around. This anime will be magical.

Plans for this show: Will watch

Yuru Yuri San Hai

Opinion: How many times to I have to say that an anime is one of my favorite this season? No, of course, that isn’t a bad thing as Yuru Yuri is one of my favorite comedy anime, and I am delighted to see it return after 3 years off. The vibrant and hilarious comedy is certain to keep me entertained as I’ve dearly enjoyed the OVAs that aired this summer. This is definitely an anime I am excited for this autumn.

Plans for this show: Will watch

Miss Monochrome: The Animation 3

Opinion: While the first season of Miss Monochrome was charming with its silly comedy spanning 3 minute episodes, the second season disappointed with its generic non-stories that dragged out 8 minutes each time. I’m not too fond of the series stretching out its content like this, especially since it tries to fill the space with an actual story and not a silly wannabe-idol robot failing at everything she does. I wish the series had more of the style and comedy from the first season and not the second season, but it isn’t a deal-breaker for me.

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

The following two sections of the preview contains a list of all the new, original anime that will debut during the Autumn 2015 anime season, with the first section on the anime I am planning on screening and the latter section the anime I have already rejected.  Autumn 2015 has quite a number of new anime, but I can’t say I’m terribly impressed with them, with hope that a small handful will be worthwhile in the end. Then again, I think this season will be carried by the sequels, so maybe it won’t matter too much how these anime perform. Still, I expect a couple to be good, and maybe a few others to be decent at best after that. As you might guess, I’m not terribly excited with most of the new anime this season, but hopefully the season can prove me wrong. My plans to start this season are as follows:

Lupin III (2015)

Opinion: I’ve only watched a dozen or so episodes of the original Lupin III anime, so I’m far from a fan of the franchise, but whenever I watched anything Lupin, I’ve enjoyed it. This reboot of the Lupin III anime, featuring a smooth and eye-catching animation style, certainly has appeal in terms of its visuals and presentation. I’m not sure whether the format will be episodic or follow a central storyline at this point, but it looks to be one of the better new anime this season regardless.

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans (Kidou Senshi Gundam: Tekketsu no Orphans)

Opinion: Beginning a new Gundam universe (Post Disaster), Iron-Blooded Orphans sets itself in a conflict between Earth and Mars. Often a fan of mecha anime, especially from the Gundam franchise, I’m curious to see how this universe uses its mobile suits, how warfare is portrayed, and how everything looks. The PV doesn’t really answer these questions, but I’ve typically been pleased with the newer Gundam anime that I’ve watched. At this point, I really can’t say too much more, but it looks to be worth a few episodes to start.

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

Shingeki! Kyojin Chuugakkou (Attack on Titan: Junior High)

Opinion: This is a chibi, comedy spin-off of the poplar Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) franchise. I always welcome chibi, comedy spin-offs of popular franchises and find this promising after the lovely Shingeki no Kyoujin Picture Drama that was featured on the Blurays of the TV anime. If this is anything like that series, then this is definitely a keeper. If not, then we’ll see how it stands on its own and whether the comedy matches my taste or not.

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

Comet Lucifer

Opinion: The primary appeal of Comet Lucifer is its use of color and light from the PV. The synopsis doesn’t really hook me in, and the PV seems decent though not very informative. Still, it did enough to catch my attention to give it an episode or two. After seeing what the anime is really like, then I’ll have a decision of whether I want to keep it or not.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

Concrete Revolutio: Choujin Gensou (Concrete Revolutio: A Superhuman Fantasy)

Opinion: Concrete Revolutio certainly looks like it’ll be fun to watch with this festival of colors, styles, motifs and visual details. And it certainly has a unique style given its superhuman characters, mecha battles, and giant, happy, suicidal clouds. The anime certainly has personality, but I’m curious if everything will come together and whether the anime is full of energy (like the PV) or whether it comes out flat. An episode or two should be sufficient to decide whether to keep this or not.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

Fushigi na Somera-chan (Magical Somera-chan)

Opinion: From the director of Ai Mai Mi comes another absolutely crazy anime, this time about a magical girl who uses kenpo. I can’t say I was terribly happy with the second season of Ai Mai Mi, but this new anime appears to be a calmer and more focused anime, which should mean it’s an improvement. Still, this animation style is best when it’s absolutely crazy, so I’m curious to see if this is going to be in the same comical style as Ai Mai Mi or if it’ll attempt to tell a story with jokes scattered throughout. I’m curious to see how this performs, and will be giving it an episode to start.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

Hacka Doll The Animation

Opinion: I’m not expecting much in the way of substance with this anime, but it looks bright, colorful, and full of energy (well, except the narcoleptic blue haired girl). I typically enjoy comedy anime with this style, but I’ll need to see if I can sit through an episode first before I can decide whether I want to keep it or not.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

Heavy Object

Opinion: There’s not much to get excited about Heavy Object, given its generic synopsis and characters, but I am intrigued by its setting with snowy landscapes and sci-fi military weaponry. I don’t think the anime will get more than one episode, but I’m curious to see what an anime about the Technodrome is like.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

JK Meshi!

Opinion: Uh… JK-Meshi! doesn’t look terribly impressive, but it’s an anime about girls cooking simple meals. I’m hoping it’s a short anime, because this style and focus could work well if it’s only a few minutes each week. If it’s a long anime, I don’t know how well it’ll hold-up, especially if it’s just girls cooking the whole time or other ordinary slice-of-life activities. It’ll really depend on the length of the episodes whether this is a keeper or not.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

Kagewani

Opinion: A mystery anime about a scientist who hunts down supernatural monsters. I’d be lying if I said the synopsis doesn’t sound somewhat interesting, but I am a bit concerned considering that the staff behind this anime were also behind Yami Shibai, a short horror anime from a few years ago that was really disappointing and forgettable. I’m willing to give this anime a try, but I don’t’ find myself too confident based on the lack of information about it and the staff working on it.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

Komori-san wa Kotowarenai! (Komori-san Can’t Decline!)

Opinion: From the creator of Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken comes a new comedy anime about a junior high girl who is polite to everyone and can never decline a request. It… it really depends on the comedy, but I already like the visual style and find promise consider the creator’s other work. Also, if it’s a short anime, it’ll be easy to watch, even if it’s not very good. Still, it sounds like it’ll be fun.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

Onsen Yousei Hakone-chan

Opinion: It’s really hard to get an idea for this anime without a PV, but it appears to be a moe slife comedy where an ancient fairy spirit is suddenly placed in urban Japan and must adapt to the drastic change in culture. Also, considering that the main character is a hot-springs fairy, I’m guessing there’ll be plenty of fanservice, so we’ll see how it goes. The one strong positive I’ve discovered about this anime is that the manga is short and it has concluded, so there’s a chance that this anime will have a real ending… but that’ll only matter if I’m actually keeping it.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

One Punch Man

Opinion: Probably the most hyped new anime of the season, One Punch Man certainly impresses with its visual style. And for good reason. Everything I’ve heard about the manga has been about the outrageous artwork and stunning perspectives, at times, giving the manga a flow of still images that mimic animation. I’m really curious to see how this translates as a TV anime. However, despite all the hype and celebration over this popular shounen manga, I’ve never really heard much about the characters or story – everything has been on the fights and a bit here and there on the humor. I’m definitely interested in this anime, but I don’t want to get myself too excited, especially if the series isn’t my style. I typically don’t fare too well with shounen anime, so I’ll be cautious heading into this one, but I certainly hope it blows away my expectations.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru (A Corpse is Buried Under Sakurako’s Feet)

Opinion: I feel really conflicted about Sakurako-san. On one hand, I am always curious about mystery anime, and this one seems to have a decent set-up given the bone-crazy ojou-sama at the center of the anime. On the other hand, it feels pretty generic and boring… and the PV doesn’t help with its visual style seeming as lackluster as I imagine it to be. I’ve heard second-hand that the series is popular, so maybe it’s worth a few episodes, but everything I’ve seen and read about it thus far fails to inspire much confidence.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

Subete ga F ni Naru: The Perfect Insider

Opinion: Again, another mystery anime that may or may not be worth watching. It really depends on the presentation of the mystery and the characters present… and at this point, that’s impossible to decide until after watching the first episode or two.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

Taimadou Gakuen 35 Shiken Shoutai (Anti-Magic Academy 35th Test Platoon)

Opinion: I usually immediately dismiss these magical academy anime… but this is something entirely different: it’s an anti-magical academy! Erm, no, the reason why I’m curious if this light novel-adaptation of an ecchi, harem in a fantasy-military-school setting is worthwhile is because I kinda like the art and animation of the PV. I’ll admit that the characters caught my attention when watching the PV and I’m curious if this anime might have some value to it. I’ll probably end up hating myself by the end of the first episode because these types of anime are banal and derivative, but I’d like to give this an episode to see if it’s watchable.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

The first two sections confirm the lists of anime that I am planning on watching based on my knowledge and understanding of the shows. All that remains in this season preview are the anime that I have already decided against. The reason why these anime are slotted here is because they either appear to already be flawed, boring, or simply outside my demographic. While these anime may in fact be watchable to some, they do not appear watchable for me. I doubt I’ll examine these anime any more than the PV linked in their sections. However, there’s always a chance for me to pick one or two up every season, so not all hope is lost for these shows if you see one of your favorites down here. However, for most of them, there’s already zero chance I’ll even think about them after writing my opinions for each.

Dance with Devils

Opinion: I always like a PV where each guy they introduce is worse than the last.

Plans for this show: No dice

Gakusen Toshi Asterisk

Opinion: Congratulations! You’re the 1 millionth anime adaptation of a light novel about students in a magical academy this year!

Plans for this show: No dice

Kamisama Minarai: Himitsu no Cocotama

Opinion: This anime is too cute for me. I can only handle so much cuteness in a season.

Plans for this show: No dice

Koukou Hoshi Kageki (High School Star Musical)

Opinion: If I were to watch this anime, I’d play a game where I try to make sure I never see a single guy the whole time by looking at the background the whole time.

Plans for this show: No dice

Kowabon

Opinion: Real humans? In my anime? No, thank you.

Plans for this show: No dice

Lance N’ Masques

Opinion: I’m not going to watch an anime where there’s a romantic relationship between a 16-year old boy and a 6-year old girl.

Plans for this show: No dice

Monster Strike

Opinion: It’s based off a mobile card game and, yeah… already lost interest in it.

Plans for this show: No dice

Ore ga Ojousama Gakkou ni “Shomin Sample” Toshite Gets Sareta Ken (Story in Which I was Kidnapped by a Young Lady’s School to be a “Sample of the Common People”)

Opinion: I’ll admit, I am kinda curious to see how bad the story of this anime is.

Plans for this show: No dice

Osomatsu-san (Mr. Osomatsu)

Opinion: These types of shows really aren’t my style.

Plans for this show: No dice

Peeping Life Season 1??

Opinion: They’ve made a few of these, but this is the first to focus on peeping in on the lives of anime characters from various franchises. Doesn’t seem to be particularly interesting.

Plans for this show: No dice

Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry

Opinion: It’s hard to turn down an anime directed by Shin Oonuma, but everything about this anime seems awful. I might sneak a peek, but I haven’t been too happy with anything he’s directed lately.

Plans for this show: No dice

Tantei Team KZ: Jiken Note

Opinion: This anime is based on a series of children’s detective novels. I don’t want to embarrass myself by getting mysteries wrong when they’re intended for elementary school kids.

Plans for this show: No dice

Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid

Opinion: I already miss Bikini Warriors.

Plans for this show: No dice

And with that said, there is nothing left to preview for the Autumn 2015 anime season. The next step will be to watch and assess each of the new anime coming out, which should be happening shortly. I’ll be providing my reviews and opinions for most of these anime in my First Impressions posts once each these shows debut. Until that time, I hope everyone enjoys the start of a new anime season!

If you’re wondering where I’ve been, I hibernated this last winter.  Seriously.

Great, and now that I’ve answered all your questions, let’s dive right into… wait, the Winter 2017 anime season started already?  I guess we can skip the Season Preview and jump right into the First… oh, it’s over now?  Wow, that’s uh… well, better late than never, right?  Anyway, here are my reflections from the recently completed Winter 2017 anime season.

According to my hand scribbles and waning memories from last December, Winter 2017 really didn’t seem all that stimulating or energizing.  In fact, outside of a few sequels, the anime I anticipated the most this season was Hand Shakers, an anime I completely forgot about until 12 seconds ago when I pulled up my old notes.  Thankfully, soothsaying isn’t how I make my living (nor is writing for the internet, thank God), and I found myself fortunate to be gifted with a handful of charming and engaging anime this season.  Combine that with some durable and dependable sequels and Winter 2017 turned out to be an unexpectedly decent season.  Here are my thoughts on each series that I kept over the course of the last 13 weeks:

3-gatsu no Lion

It’s worth noting that I never understanding what the hell was going on when the characters played shogi.  Despite all that, 3-gatsu no Lion was an endearing and remarkable anime about growth and development.  And while I often use those words to describe characters, 3-gatsu no Lion touched on various elements of the characters, ranging from individual to family to community and beyond.  3-gatsu no Lion was more an anime about interpersonal relationships than about shogi.  And while shogi was featured prominently throughout, it was often used as a tool or analogy to describe the relationships between Rei and the network of people around him.  It was a beautiful and robust narrative that knew how to blend in fine quantities of humor to ease the melancholy and anxiety.  I am incredibly pleased with how 3-gatsu no Lion performed these last two seasons, and it will be an anime I dearly miss next month.

Gabriel Dropout

Gabriel Dropout is a magnificent example of my favorite subtype of comedy anime.  With all the variety and diversity of comedy anime, it’s hard to find a classification for which type of comedy is my favorite, but Gabriel Dropout seems to match a number of my favorite elements in comedy anime.  The content and delivery of the humor were supported and strengthened by this phenomenal and brilliant cast.  Not only did the characters excel at their defined roles, but they did so with exceptional chemistry and cohesion thanks in part to the writing and character development.  And this, obviously, can be attributed to the production and directing of Gabriel Dropout, a team and studio that deserve praise for creating one of the most memorable anime of the year.  Of course, this is all based on my opinion as comedies are up to the individual and their response, but this is one of the few anime that genuinely impressed me this season.  Nevertheless, Gabriel Dropout was inspired and carefree throughout, with each episode full of relaxing smiles and heartfelt laughs.  I enthusiastically recommend this anime who is interested in being content with a delightful and charming comedy.

Kobayashi-san no Maid Dragon

Kobayashi-san no Maid Dragon is a loveable and enchanting slice-of-life comedy with captivating characters, dazzling art quality, and a heartwarming narrative on family and friends.  While it does suffer from some hiccups, such as giving more screentime to Lucoa than Elma, the overall anime is an absolute delight and excels at its comedy, charisma, and chemistry.  Maid Dragon ended up being one of my favorites this Winter and is one that I strongly recommend for anyone looking for a gratifying and encouraging comedy anime.

Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Syukufuku o! S2

Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Syukufuku o! is very much a hit-and-miss comedy, and it felt like this season was more misses than hits.  And no, that’s not just on the jokes that were often substandard this season, but even the characterization, stories, and artwork felt like missed opportunities with this sequel.  The first season of KonoSuba was decent, but it laid the foundation for what could be an amusing and reliable fantasy comedy with season two.  Unfortunately for this franchise, it felt like it took a step back with it being content to stay stuck in the starting town with no significant character development or story progression.  Oh well; it is what it is, and KonoSuba 2 is still fun, like the original, but ultimately unfulfilling and really unable to capitalize on its amazing potential.

Little Witch Academia (TV)

Bewitched and spellbound, I watch Little Witch Academia and wonder if this is an anime with real magic. Little Witch Academia is a phenomenal display of creativity, imagination, and passion. Luna Nova and its history of witchcraft provide a genuinely rich and vibrant setting that acts as the foundation for its enthusiastic and inspired stories.  It’s an artistic and alluring series, too, with vivid colors and detailed costumes and exceptional animation.  And one my objection with the original two OVA, about the lack of depth and dimension in its characters, has been alleviated as the series has taken time to acknowledge and celebrate its cast around Atsuko.  Simply put, Little Witch Academia is as interesting as it is fun, and it comes out as the champion of this Winter season in my opinion.  I am looking forward to continuing this series and seeing how it performs against the numerous heavyweight sequels of the Spring 2017 anime season.

Masamune-kun no Revenge

In English, ‘romance’ often means ‘love’, ‘obsession’, or ‘intimate relationship’, or something along those lines.  In anime, however, ‘romance’ means ‘reset’ or ‘no progress’.  And, well, yeah… that’s what we got.  It started off with a scenario in the first episode and almost immediately sputtered into the vicious cycle of non-stories about unnecessary side-characters and, after an entire series, finally remembered what it was about for 2-3 seconds before resetting again.  I think romance anime are more afraid about commitment to an actual relationship than I am about updating this blog regularly.  Anyway, aside from my gripe of the story, the anime is serviceable at worst and mediocre at best.  The characters and comedy are fun more often than their not thanks to an uncommon and bitter rapport between Masamune and Aki and Yoshino.  Other than that, I don’t have much else to say about Masamune-kun no Revenge, either positive or negative.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans S2

Gundam IBO had a great beginning and an even better finale, but everything else in the middle was… unnecessary?  Had Gundam IBO been more focused and concise series, perhaps a 12-episode or maybe up to a 24-episode series, I would have enjoyed the series because it had some moments of brilliance in its story and characters.  But no, the franchise ended up being 50 episodes with many of the episodes lacking and stretching the story too thin.  I stayed with the series, but I lost interest during the never-ending space trip in the first season and only regained my interest during the final few episodes.

Nobunaga no Shinobi S2

Always chibi.  Often cute.  Sometimes funny.  Rarely accurate historically.  Never a dull episode.

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu S2

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu is a challenging series for me.  I adore the historical setting and its dedication to rakugo as a unifying art form that connected so many characters.  The art and animation were a pronounced and constant quality.  And the voice acting?  A true example to the weight and significance voice acting has to anime.  So where did it all go wrong for me?  The two main culprits were the characters and the storytelling.  I can’t pinpoint where it went wrong, but I always felt disconnected or empty with the characters.  Or, at the very least, there wasn’t that same chemistry or engagement like with Yakumo and Sukeroku growing together as rakugo declined in the previous season.  I enjoyed Konatsu as a character but never associated with Yotarou or any of the other “new” characters.  The other grievance I have was that the storytelling lacked enthusiasm and energy.  Perhaps this is merely symptom manifest of the first complaint, but a majority of episodes felt lethargic, save for Konatsu’s performance of “Jugemu”, the highlight of the season for me (and a reason why I think criticism #2 may be downstream of criticism #1).  It’s a shame that I didn’t enjoy this season as much as the first, but it did provide a beautiful ending to a faithful and dedicated story.

Trickster

Yes, I kept Trickster, and yes, I still recommend Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace over Trickster as the preferred Ranpo anime.  But that said, Ranpo Kitan doesn’t have Makoto Noro, who is easily the best thing about Trickster.  So if you want to watch an anime with Makoto Noro, you’d have to watch Trickster and not Ranpo Kitan, and I’m pretty sure that’s the primary reason why Trickster exists.

Youjo Senki

Overall, I enjoyed watching Youjo Senki, but the details I remember most vividly about this anime are two negative aspects that dominated my watching and always seemed to overshadow everything else.  First, the anime focused way too much on developing the war and the battles than it did about Tanya.  Tanya certainly had significant roles in these battles, demonstrating her cunning and aptitude, but it was ultimately about progressing the war through Tanya’s tactics rather than progressing her character through growth as a person.  The point of the anime was for Being X to test a Japanese Salaryman but in reality, the experiment of seeing what would happen if you took a Japanese salaryman from 2013, put him in a magical girl’s body and placed her in World War I was what won in the end.  And that leads right into the other criticism which is that the entire war felt amiss.  Youjo Senki wanted magical mages flying around the skies in WWI, which is fine, but failed to understand how it would change the war.  What Youjo Senki did is it took mages and placed them into WWI, and what Youjo Senki gave us was flying mages that no one really knew how to fight.  What Youjo Senki should have done was ask, “how would the existence of mages affected WWI?”, and what Youjo Senki should’ve done was show battles with WWII tactics (knowledge and understanding of how to use air in war) with WWI technologies.  Why?  Because the mages existed for thousands of years in this settling and aren’t a new technology like airplanes were in WWI.  Anyway, despite all that, Youjo Senki was distinctive and entertaining and certainly one of the most unique anime in recent memory.