Winter Season 2012 – Marry, Screw, or Toss

12 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment

by aurajanuary in Anime Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Winter season, one of my least favorite. You don’t get the fun horror of Summer or the epic adventures of Fall or Spring, but usually there’s one or two good shows that capture my attention. Sometimes I wonder if I’m too picky, but hey, I guess this is just an assessment of my opinions. The rules: I watch the first episode of the show and decide whether to marry it (watch it), screw it (enjoy it, but not commit to it), or toss it (if that’s not obvious, I don’t know what is). I will not be reviewing any sequels or OVAs – just original, stand-alone shows with 11 episodes or more.

As you’ll see, I’m a little conflicted on how I feel about this season. For many of these shows, it’s just too soon to tell if they’re going to be great, so I’m creating the “Marry with prenup” clause, which means watch them but with the knowledge that this show could get dropped at any time if it gets on the wrong side of my sensibilities. Here we go!

Sennhime Zesshou Symphogear

Air date: December 26

Plot: “Two years ago, a pair of idols, Tsubasa Kazanari and Kanade Amō, collectively known as ZweiWing, fought against an alien race known as Noise using armor known as Symphogear. To protect a girl named Hibiki Tachibana, who got severely wounded by the Noise, Kanade sacrificed herself. Two years later, as Tsubasa has fought the Noise alone, Hibiki ends up gaining the same power as Kanade.” – Wikipedia

First Impressions: Oh my goodness, it’s every genre combined: There’s boob action, magical girls, musical numbers, apocalyptic human-eating monsters, and teenage drama. I don’t know what to respond to first. Being as this is Elements Garden’s pet project, the whole thing seems very promising. I’m still not sure where this group came from, but the musical battle scenes makes me nostalgic for Yuki Kajiura, and that’s a good thing. The animation alternates between being top of the line and just sort of good and the first episode is too early into the plot developments to determine promise. And yet, if this show gets any better, it could be worth the effort spent keeping up with it.

Choice: Marry (with a pre-nup)

Kill Me Baby Air date: January 6th

Plot: “[Kill Me Baby] follows the lives of a female assassin, her dimwitted friend, and a kunoichi [female ninja].” – Wikipedia First Impressions: These sort of gag shows are rarely my cup of tea. It’s very cute and has a comical tone a la Lucky Star, but I didn’t really have patience for that show either. Given that it’s based off of a four panel comic, I wonder which is more enjoyable, to watch it read it? It’s not horrible, but there isn’t anything new or exciting about it. All in all, I probably wouldn’t watch this show all the way through, but it does have a few golden moments, so I don’t want to completely discredit it.

Choice: Screw

Recorder to Randoseru

Air date: January 6th

Plot: “[This show] follows the lives of two siblings; Atsushi, an elementary school boy with the appearance of an adult, and Atsumi, a high school girl with the appearance of a young child.” – Wikipedia

First Impressions: Holy crap, this show is only three minutes long. It’s both funny and short, meaning that the gags don’t have time to grow old! I was expecting some weird and twisted plot to accompany the humor, and granted there’s a little, but it’s just an awkward comedy and that’s it. Given how little effort it will take to follow, I don’t see any reason to not keep up with it.

Choice: Marry

High School DxD

Air date: January 6th

Plot: “Issei Hyodo is your average perverted high school student whose one wish in life is to have his own harem, but he’s got to be one of the unluckiest guys around. He goes on his first date with a girl only to get brutally attacked and killed when it turns out the girl is really a vicious fallen angel. To top it all off, he’s later reincarnated as a devil by his gorgeous senpai who tells him that she is also a devil and now his master! One thing’s for sure, his peaceful days are over. In a battle between devils and angels, who will win?” – MyAnimeList

First Impressions: This is definitely a show that, despite hints of a potential plot, only exists to provide people with another vehicle for their sexual fantasies. Like, actually, the main female character is completely naked at some points. I certainly can’t handle this kind of show, but if you can, the animation at least is extremely pretty.

Choice: Toss

Area no Kishi

Air date: January 7th

Plot: “Believing himself to be useless at football, Aizawa Kakeru opts to become the manager of his school’s football team, while his brother Suguru is its ace, and is even good enough to represent Japan. However, Kakeru may be harbouring a strong talent within himself that only Suguru can see, and the two often get into arguments over Kakeru’s denial of his skills. Things are made more complicated with the return of Nana, an old playmate of theirs that Kakeru has a crush on. Join the brothers in their journey to the national and even international championships!” -MyAnimeList

First Impressions: I loved this manga when they were releasing it State-side, so I’m a little biased toward the plot. In all honesty, it’s your average sports anime. The animation is standard at best, even a little cheap at times, and the music sounds like its from the ’80s. All of the characters are pretty basic as well and the whole show has a traditional underdog feel. It’s nothing exciting and I wouldn’t neceessarily recommend it to others, but that doesn’t stop me from planning on watching it.

Choice: Marry

Moretsu Uchuu Kaizoku

Air date: January 8th

Plot: “Marika is a first year high school student living in a far away galaxy known as Uminoakeboshi. One day she finds out that her recently deceased father was once the captain of the space pirate ship called the “Bentenmaru”. More importantly, the only one to inherit the captain’s title has to be a direct descendant—meaning that Marika is next in line to become the captain of the ship.” – Anime News Network

First Impressions: I kind of loved this first episode. It’s clearly a comedy of the ridiculous variety with a whole lot of fun Celtic inspired music and ridiculous characters. I’m not sure whether or not this is going to become another Mai-Hime style girly-verse, but if it’s as good as Mai-Hime was, I’m not sure I mind. All in all, Moretsu Pirates shows a whole lot of promise and I’m interested in seeing where this goes.

Choice: Marry

Brave 10

Air date: January 8th

Plot: “The story reimagines the legendary adventures of the 10 brave warriors assembled by the warlord Sanada Yukimura in the year 1600, in the middle of Japan’s tumultuous Sengoku (Warring States) era.” – Anime Ultima

First Impressions: Visually, this show is kind of nice. The character designs are typical of period shows yet the fashion is not at all historically accurate. I reminded myself constantly that this was a man’s show – very young adult’s shounen. I’m not super excited by any of the individual characters and the plot still needs s0me deepening before I can consider it notable. And yet, I wouldn’t say it’s awful. I’d rather let someone else watch it and tell me if it gets any better before making any more moves myself.

Choice: Screw

Rinne no Lagrange: Flower Declaration of Your Heart

Air date: January 8th

Plot: “Madoka Kyono is an energetic girl who is full of passion. As the proud, and only, member of the Kamogawa Girls High School Jersey Club, she goes around helping people in need. But Madokas life is turned upside down when she is suddenly asked by a mysterious girl named Lan to pilot a robot. Motivated by her desire to protect the people and city of Kamogawa, Madoka agrees to pilot the resurrected Vox robot to fight against extraterrestrials that have come to attack Earth.” – Hulu

First Impressions: This show is actually gorgeous. The visuals instantly gripped me to the point where I even tolerated some of the fan-service-y parts (hey, I have been willing to ignore them before). The series has a lot of potential plot-wise, if only because the girl isn’t some angsty Shinji-type who moans and groans about how things need to change. She’s well intentioned but relatively air-headed and clearly has a complicated origin. I’m excited to see what happens next with this one.

Choice: Marry

Another

Air date: January 9th

Plot: “26 years ago, in a third-year classroom of a middle school, there was a student named Misaki. As an honors student who was also good at sports, the charming girl was popular with her classmates. When she suddenly died, her classmates decided to carry on as if she was still alive until graduation. Then, in the spring of 1998, a boy named Sakakibara Kouichi transfers to the class, and he grows suspicious of the fearful atmosphere in that classroom. In particular, there is a beautiful, aloof girl named Mei Misaki who wears an eyepatch and is always alone drawing pictures.” – MyAnimeList

First Impressions: To be honest, I hate scary things. It took me a couple of tries to get through Higurashi and I still won’t watch it at night or with the lights off. Another, however, has a pretty neat plot and has all the other positive elements of a show going for it. The art is beautiful as is the animation, the music isn’t half bad, and because the story is based off a novel, the pacing already seems to be very tempered. I’m looking forward to the next episode, even if I may need to watch it in a definitively safe setting.

Choice: Marry

Ano Natsu de Matteru

Air date: January 10th

Plot: “When a group of friends decide to make a movie over a long summer holiday, they end up learning a little about filmmaking and a lot more about each other and themselves. What begins as a simple way to avoid the summer doldrums quickly turns into something much more complex, intimate and revealing, as the maturing relationships between the members of the young cast take on new, and sometimes very unexpected, turns.” – AnimeUltima

First Impressions: I was definitely gripped by the visuals and opening lines. There’s clearly something heavy and intense under all the fluff and fanservice. One of the creators of Please Teacher was involved in the making of this show, so I can’t say I’m surprised by the nudity, bathing suits, or the male inner musings we’re privy to. But I honestly don’t mind because it’s all executed in an unoffensive way. Who knows what this show will turn into with time, but given the current dynamic, I’m planning on taking the time to find out.

Choice: Marry

Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou

Air date: January 10th

Plot: “The original gag comedy manga follows the humorous yet “realistic” everyday life of Tadakuni, Hidenori, Yoshitake, and other students at a boys’ high school.” – AnimeUltima

First Impressions: Ah high school, a time in which girls are sassy and boys are jerks. I’m not going to life, I’ve been mildly excited about this show. I saw the PV a while back and all I could think was how ridiculous this could actually be. At first, it seemed as though it was the comedy answer to the shojo series Kimi to Boku, which also dealt with the everyday lives of male classmates. DanshiKou, however, is much harsher than that. It’s ridiculous and all over the place and it’s honestly made for the slaptsick. While it is maybe realistic 30% of the time, it is so good at making fun of itself and its characters that I was laughing out loud.

Choice: Marry

Papa no Iukoto o Kikinasai

Air date: January 11th Plot: “Segawa Yuta is a freshman of a university. He lost his parents when he was small and was raised by his sister Yuri. Yuta has been living alone since Yuri got married to a middle aged man when Yuta was a junior high student.  One day, Yuri visited Yuta’s apartment and asked him to take care of her three daughters while Yuri and her husband were on a trip. He unwillingly accepted the job but the plane Yuri took went missing. In order to prevent the daughters from being adopted separately by relatives, Yuta decided to take in all three girls.  A life of a strange family in a tiny apartment begins. (The elder two of the daughters are stepchildren of Yuri’s husband. The smallest one is Yuri’s child.) ” – MyAnimeList

First Impressions: It’s very pretty but slightly stupid. It’s kind of nice to see a show about a college student, since it seems that most shows these days are about high schoolers. I get that the market is there, but why can’t there be a market for overworked college students with no time to watch tv and no money to buy netflix… oh wait. That’s why. Anyway, the show is fluffy and filled with moments of big-boobed, cheek-blushed females talking to young, average men. That being said, I think that it has an endearing quality that can hold its own against some of the big players this season.  The animation is crisp, the script witty. I think that, despite some touchy taboo moments, this show has a lot of charm.

Choice: Screw

Inu x Boss SS

Air date: January 13th

Plot: “The Shirakiin house’s daughter, Shirakiin Riricho, who has a complex about being unable to live independently and unprotected, feels the need to move out and live on her own under the condition of residing in the mansion named “Ayakashi Kan.” In this mansion, only those who have cleared a very strict examination could reside in it, and for each resident, they are accompanied with one agent of the Secret Service (S.S.). Although Riricho has rejected the company of the S.S., while residing in the mansion she finds out that the agent dedicated to protecting her is actually the Fox Spirit whom she previously rescued.” – AnimeUltima

First Impressions: This show has an interesting balance of elements. The essence of the show is gag, but it’s done with a serious overtone, so the colors are darker and solid and the music bold. Then, at the climactic point to the episode, I realized that there was more to this show than what I had adapted to and I realized that it could actually go somewhere. It doesn’t seem like a series that will have a lot of forward motion, but then again, at the beginning Inu x Boku wasn’t what it seemed, so I won’t judge to hastily.

Choice: Marry

Gokujyo. ~Gokurakuin Joshi Koryo Monogatari~

Air date: January 24th

Plot: “Kuribayashi Minami returns to Japan after a long stay in Los Angeles. She enters an upper-class girl’s high school “Gokurakuin Jyoshi High School”, so called “Gokujyo”. She tries to dominate the school with her beauty but her plan is spoiled by the silly and pervert behaviors of her eccentric classmates.” – Anime Ultima

First Impressions: I’m not surprised to have found out in my search of the episodes that this series had a lot of trouble getting aired. The level of inappropriate behavior in any given episode made it unshowable. And given how loose Japan is with their restrictions, if there’s a problem, there’s a PROBLEM. 6 minutes of this stuff should have been perfectly harmless, but everything is just a little too over the top. Women literally strip each other. Nothing is actually shown, but it’s just… a lot. The thing is, though… that I actually found it really funny.  I guess I can deal with that sort of humor because I go to an all women’s college and some of the things that happen are maybe one degree removed from what I go through every day. Not sure I’d ever go near it again, though.

Choice: Screw

Black Rock Shooter

Air date: February 3rd

Plot: “It isn’t the world you know. There wanders a girl with jet-black hair, ebony clothes, and a strikingly blue, glowing eye. Her name is Black Rock Shooter. With a huge cannon in hand, she throws herself into a fierce battle… Meanwhile, in another world, middle-school student Mato Kuroi is drawn to Yomi Takanashi, her classmate with an unusual family name. Mato does her best to talk to Yomi, who just won’t open up. Yu Koutari mocks her best friend Mato’s efforts but at the same time, supports her. Mato also finds herself surrounded by other colorful characters at school, like the eccentric school counselor, Saya Irino, and the hot-blooded captain of her club club, Arata Kohata. Then, one day, the window of opportunity opens. After Mato sees that Yomi has her favorite picture book, “Li’l Birds At Play”, they strike up a conversation and Mato is invited to come over to Yomi’s house. There, they gradually break the ice, until a girl in a wheelchair appears. This is Yomi’s best friend, Kagari Izuriha… Two worlds. Mato and Black Rock Shooter. This is the story of their “pain”.” – AnimeUltima

First Impressions: I’m having a really hard time discerning what Black Rock Shooter is actually about. I remember when the OVA came out, everyone was really excited, but I couldn’t even get through the first 5 minutes and I’m still not so sure I understand this. And yet, the whole thing has a really interesting undertone. I’m wondering whether the initial confusion is going to transform into an overarching complexity, the likes of which have hooked me in the past. That being said, while I’m planning on watching it, this show is still really up in the air.

Choice: Marry (with pre-nup)

Un-Go (2011)

15 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment

by aurajanuary in Anime Reviews Tags: , , , ,

Mysteries never really go out of style. In the wake revival of savant detectives, the media is able to give us shows like Sherlock on BBC and CBS’s the Mentalist. Studio Bones’ contribution is the series Un-Go, which was created by novelist Ango Sakaguchi and brought to life by dream duo director Seiji Mizushima and writer Sho Aikawa (of Fullmetal Alchemist fame). The plot follows the curious cases taken on by defective detective Shinjuro Yuki and his partner Inga. They are working in an alternative Japan to the one we know and love, where a combination of war and terrorist bombings have ravaged the city. Shinjuro has superior intellect and Inga turns into a buxom woman who can ask a person any question, which the subject is forced to answer honestly.

Together they fight crime.

The Story

Post-war cities always present plenty of intrigue and Inga’s presence allows for a fun and unique twist to an otherwise hashed up concept, but those two elements that make this show unique also lead to its downfall. Initially, Un-Go presents itself as an episodic mystery series, something out of the pages of CSI. This story-telling system maintains for 6 episodes, during which there are plenty of recurring characters, but the mystery is always new. There are a few reasons why this doesn’t end up working well, at least in the current method of execution: 1) While the rules of play for Inga makes sense, her presence does not, 2) While normally a post-war setting would need no explanation, because the mysteries are somehow related to said unexplained war, it can be very difficult to keep up with who did what when for what purpose, and 3) 20 minutes of air-time is not nearly long enough to allow for a fully fleshed out episode crime-solving plot.

Perhaps the writers figured these last points out because around episode 6, the history of the war and the essence of Inga’s existence start to get introduced into the dialogue and by episode 7, the audience is thrust into a continuous and extremely confusing series of related mysteries. Too little too late, however, because without a precedent that the previous episodes could have provided (but obviously didn’t), the reader is not prepared to accept any additional supernatural occurrences (Inga’s included). Un-Go had all the right elements to tell a really excellent story, but really fell short in its execution.

Story grade: B-

Music

A combination of really neat electronic beats and investigative acoustic percussion make up Un-Go’s soundtrack. “How to Go” by School Food Punishment is comprised of borderline haphazzard synthesizer sounds while the ending, “Fantasy” by LAMA, successfully soothes to the finish. As far as themes go, this show does it right, bringing in unique music that could be successful independent of whether or not is was associated with the memory of the series.

Now, the background tracks, while not epic in nature, to exactly what they need to. In solving a mystery, there is the pitter patter of the “there’s a murder” track, the upbeat  ”here comes the detective” track, and, my absolute favorite, the almost salsa-sounding “the mystery is about to be solved,” track. My heart didn’t flutter over the soundtrack, but I got into the rhythm of syncing my feelings with that of the music I was hearing, to the point where I was listening for the tune to know if we were at the climax.

Music grade: B +

Art

Excuse me while I geek out about the character designs, which were given to us courtesy of Pako and of Loveless and Earthian mangaka Yun Kouga, who is most recently known for her work in (my beloved) Gundam 00. Some of the eyes look a little evil at times, but overall, every single character in the show gave the impression of being super cool. Even the fashion looked well thought out to the point where I wondered if CLAMP had any involvement (Yun Koga used to do doujinshi of some CLAMP series, which explains that away).

In regards to the animation as a whole, the series really does succeed. The budget is there, so there was never a need to cut down on cells to save money. There were moments that could have been a little richer or more beautifully done, given that Inga eats souls and jumps around all over the place, but they didn’t implement anything that I would consider to be a bad choice in execution. In fact, I think the most notable thing is that the animators never got lazy. I’m always watching the proportions and faces and of the characters as they walk around, trying to see if there was every a time when the artist-on-duty just wasn’t in the mood to put all the parts where they’re supposed to go (it happens a lot) and I didn’t see it at all.

Art grade: B+

Overall view

Un-Go has all the components to produce a great series, but falling short right where it counts – uncontrolled and ultimately confusing plot, appropriate but not amazing music, good but not gorgeous animation – in every venue makes for a less than satisfying resolution to this short series. What might save the show is Episode 0: Inga-Ron, a 45 minute short film which will, in theory, fill the plot holes that the war and Inga’s presence threw into the series.

Final grade: B

Kimi to Boku (2011)

12 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment

by aurajanuary in Anime Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Every once in a while, a show comes out that tries to document what it means to be in the prime of one’s youth. Sure, there are plenty of romance stories, but what about the essence of just being in high school? It’s commonly overlooked because it is not that interesting of a subject matter (people care more about the love-y dove-y stuff than the average goings-on), but J.C. Staff tried it once before with Azumanga Daioh, and now takes a stab at it again in the short series Kimi to Boku. Kimi to Boku follows the lives of four friends who have known each other since kindergarten – Shun, Kaname, and the Asaba twins Yuki and Yuta – in the day-to-day  happenings of their average high school. It’s all about making new friends, going through puberty, wasting vacation days, and suffering through homework.

The Story

The premise is not all that interesting, anyone can see that. It does not have the loud bangs and booms of the aforementioned Azumanga Daioh but is instead quiet, subtle, almost peaceful. As I said in my review of the first episode at the beginning of the season, Kimi to Boku takes a little time to ramp up. As a viewer, I needed to settle myself into the idea that this show was not going to be pulling any tricks to get me excited. I needed to meet the characters and get to know them so I could find it funny.

Yet, like the American comedy series Parks and Recreation, Community, or the Office, each episode can also stand on its own, even in the face of the episodes having a chronological sequence. Plots from previous episodes are referenced on occasion but rarely reoccur, making it easy to jump around or take a nice long break between episodes if you feel, like I did, that the monotony of the lives of the Kimi to Boku characters needed the intermittent distraction of a seriously action-packed show for me to maintain my interest.

But the show is funny (like, funny for both boys and girls funny). Most of the scenes are based around young boys’ humor and while there are some life lessons, some deep moments, and romantic twists (we all know the drill), the essence of the show is pure and realistic hilarity. I’m not sure Kimi to Boku could have survived trying to fill 25 episodes, since it doesn’t have the over-the-top, borderline unrealistic style of Azumanga Daioh, but 13 episodes was enough to keep the plot light, the moments true, and the laughs coming. Maybe it could have a second season, but 25 episodes straight through would have been too much.

Grade: B+

Music

The soundtrack, courtesy of Elements Garden, is soft and filled with plenty of guitar-picking and light melodies, as would be expected of any comedy. It alternates between the background music in a cafe and in an elevator, but such is the life of a slice-of-life anime soundtrack, I suppose. Elements Garden, despite the number of pop stars they have composed for, is new as a group to the anime world. They’re currently making a name for themselves, having done two series prior to this one. You can see their most recent work in the music of the Winter 2011-12 series Moretsu Uchuu Kaizoku, which just premiered the other day.

Overall, the soundtrack isn’t meant to leave an impression, so it doesn’t (but OH how I wish it did). However, the show is littered with pop tracks, meaningful inserts sandwiched by well-chosen theme songs. “Bye Bye” by 7!!, the opening theme, is something I would imagine hearing on the radio with its upbeat tempo and enjoyable melody. Admittedly, the ending, “Nakimushi” (by Miku Sawai) is a little too easy listening for my taste, but it is well-chosen for Kimi to Boku’s genre. The members of the team who worked on the music knew what they were doing to assemble a soundtrack that is a little better than the average slice-of-life comedy’s.

Grade: B

Art

Here’s where things get a little tricky. This show is based off a manga by Keiichi Hota (that’s still ongoing and published by Square Enix for anyone who is interested). The animators, as per the tradition of anime adaptations, stayed true to Hota’s work. The colored images from that series are usually done in a very light pastel and the character designs are less detailed than the average artist’s. These sorts of designs leave very few opportunities for the animators to dazzle the audience, since it is their sole purpose is to bring the pages of the manga to life in a meaningful way. Because the show requires no action scenes and the story is meant to be average in setting, everything about the execution of the show feels understated. I’m grateful for the way the simple style allows the audience to focus on the script, but unremarkable is unremarkable, and there’s not much more to say.

Grade: C+

Overall view

Kimi to Boku is light, funny, and real. There is nothing about it that is set to amaze the audience and it certainly will not go down in history books as the hallmark of comedy or high school slice-of-life genres in anime, but it’s amusing and sincere in a way that will reach just about anyone who remembers what it was like to be at that age.

Final grade: B

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (2011)

02 Jan 2012 1 Comment

by aurajanuary in Anime Reviews Tags: , ,

In the face of the new year, I’m going to experiment with a much more thorough style of review, starting with the first show I finished from the Fall 2011 season: Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai

Many people have difficulties fitting in, but Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (also known as Haganai) takes it to a whole new low as it chronicles the adventures of a club that gathers for the sole purpose of making friends. The main character, Kodaka Hasegawa, transfers to St. Chronica’s and is immediately outcast because of the blond hair he inherited from his English mother and his mean-looking face (basically, everyone assumes he’s in a gang). He quickly meets Yozora Mikazuki, a girl with such a bad attitude that the only friend she has is an imaginary one. Yozora gets the brilliant idea to start a club, and the harem group accumulates from there.

As some of you may remember, I put this show down as one to keep an eye on, but Haganai proves to be a lesson in relatively misleading first impressions.

Story

As I said, the plot follows this club of high school students as they try and make friends and do what normal groups of friends would do. At first, I wondered if this was a parody, given how sarcastic the Kodaka is and how bizarre and unappealing Yozora (and her imaginary friend Tomo) are by comparison. As more females get tacked on, each is more unappealing than the next: Sena Kashiwazaki is gorgeous but has an addiction to datings sims; Kobato Hasegawa, Kadoka’s younger sister, pretends to be a vampire from a gothic anime; Rika Shiguma is a scientific genius and nymphomaniac; Yukimura Kusunoki is either a trap or a very confused young girl who wants to be a samurai; and Maria Takayama, the adviser of the club, is an obnoxious ten-year-old nun.

Seriously, who could think of any of these girls as fantasy material?

So I dove into this show assuming that it would make fun of itself on occasion. The show was relatively episodic, so each adventure kind of has its own “what shenanigans will they get up to next” kind of thrill. The first three episodes even get to the point of being almost laugh-out-loud hilarious. Yet as the show goes on, the shenanigans seem less like they’re trying to make you laugh and more like they’re trying to make you jack-off. The opportunities for jokes are replaced by awkward sexual tension with no real plot to back it up. By the last episode, the romantic storyline which had been sneaking through as a continuous but unnecessary side-story makes itself the focal point of the resolution, leading to very little satisfaction at all. While it starts off strong, this finish left me feeling a bit betrayed by screenwriters that had started off trying so hard to be the funniest guys in the room.

Story grade: C+

Music

Needless to say, the music is not the highlight of the show. The opening (Zannenkei Rijinbu – Hoshi Futatsu Han/The Regrettable Neighbors Club – Two and a Half Stars) and ending themes (Watashi no Kimochi/My Feelings) are recorded by the voice actresses, with the opening being most of the club and the ending done solely by Marina Inoue, the voice of Yozora. Neither is all that exciting to listen to since they were written as high-energy music, the type of which you hear in… well… a harem anime. Let’s not kid ourselves, this wasn’t a big project worthy of a thought-provoking score. The soundtrack is nothing like the more action-packed harems of Mai-Hime, nor is it subtle like something out of a shoujo. Instead, it’s standard, nothing to make it stand out from any other show of its ilk.

Music grade: C

Art

The art starts out a little above average. The one thing I can say is that unlike its predecessors in the harem anime industry, Haganai avoids falling into the pit of actual mediocrity. The animation is smooth and the color remains rich. I don’t believe that it ever looks like they cut down on the number of cells or took the cheap route in animating a scene. As far as the character designs go, they’re… cute. The rounder faces and frequently-blushed cheeks are not something that I’m used to and, at first, I wasn’t sure how to react. For me, it was a little off-putting, but I am not their target audience. I think the difference in character design, however, allows the show to get a foot in the door with perspective viewers who are within that target audience.

Art grade: B

Overall view

I can’t say I 100% regret watching Haganai, but I sincerely wish it had lived up to its first impression of being a quirky and funny show. It didn’t throw much new and exciting into the mix and I could have watched the first and the last episode without feeling like I lost out on much. Instead, I spent 12 episodes watching the same sort of hijinx occur over and over without anything new or exciting to back it up. I’m glad that I watched it as it was airing, though, because I never would want to marathon this.

Final grade: C+

Whisper of the Heart (1995)

01 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment

by aurajanuary in Anime Reviews Tags: , , ,

Happy New Year to one and all!

I took a brief interlude from trying to catch up on shows to see some of the Miyazaki films that had passed me by, which included today’s feature, Whisper of the Heart. The story starts off following the life of Shizuku Tsukushima, an extremely ordinary girl who is at the crossroads between middle and high school. Her parents want her to study for entrance exams but she is more caught up in finding adventures like the ones in her books. Around the same time, she realizes that all the books she is taking out of the library have been borrowed by a Seiji Amasawa, a cat she follows on the way to visiting her dad leads her to an antique store where, as she puts it, stories begin, and she meets a boy who nosily reads one of her poems. These three things start her on her own adventure of self discovery, living, and loving.

Before I start on the critique, this film deserves a little history. I consider this a Miyazaki film because he wrote this script, but this was actually the first and only film that Yoshifumi Kondo ever directed. It looks as though Miyazaki and Takahata, the brilliant directors of studio Ghibli, were hoping that one day he would take up the reigns. This was his starter film, the one meant to be his first step into Ghibli greatness, but he passed away before we could see how he grew.

Most Americans haven’t heard of this movie. Disney licensed it and released it straight to DVD in a quiet way. They acquired it during their starting partnership with Studio Ghibli, which occurred as a result of Spirited Away. Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli are far more well known for the adventure films like Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle, so the idea that an older film in a very normal setting, directed by someone who had nothing to his name wouldn’t spark much interest wasn’t far off the mark.

And yet, the film is gorgeous. Following the tradition of quality art and animation, Whisper of the Heart does not leave the viewer disappointed. There are breathtaking landscapes and wonderful colors to accompany the plot. The settings are very carefully planned and there is clearly a lot of spirit behind this story. There’s even a flying scene, a true mark of a Miyazaki film. The music is fun as we hear three different versions of the song “Country Road,” and a whole lot of Yuuji Nomi’s compositional skill (he also wrote the music for the Cat Returns, a sort of sequel to this film which I highly recommend).

The plot, though, is a little too quiet for my taste. I can see how this film fell under the radar. There is no real build-up, no climax, no catharsis. It starts off like any fantastical story would, the characters are introduced in a traditional sense to the point where I don’t feel there are that many holes. Once the plot actually gets going however, a lot of that careful structure seems to get lost. At first, we think that the story is just about Shizuku and her desire for fantasy. Then it seems to be about her relationship to Seiji. Then it goes back to being about Shizuku and Seiji is once again lost. Then back to Shizuku and Seiji and then a little bit of the antique shop. I’m not sure that Miyazaki in writing this script could make up his mind about what the focus on, so he just went wherever he thought the story needed to go. It was almost irresponsible and the director did very little to reign that in.

Yet, I think I am only being harsh because this is a Miyazaki script and I expected more. He’s had a hand in some really amazing works like Totoro and Castle in the Sky, so what happened? Whisper of the Heart is pretty to watch and has it’s moving moments, but not so much so that it changes the way I think. It pleased but it didn’t inspire, and Ghibli moves are supposed to INSPIRE! Instead, like many first-time Ghibli directors after him (the most recent being Goro Miyazaki with Tales of Earthsea), Whisper in the Heart falls into the category of simply okay. It’s a cute tale and it might be one I watch during a Ghibli marathon, but it’s not one I plan watching on repeat.

Art: A

Music: B+

Script: B

Final Grade: B+

Sekaiichi Hatsukoi (2011)

06 Dec 2011 1 Comment

by aurajanuary in Anime Reviews Tags: , , , ,

Ah, the things we do for love. Or, perhaps, the things we do to avoid it. Love is complicated, it’s weird, it’s frustrating, and it’s something everyone encounters at least once in their lifetime. Sekaiichi Hatsukoi, translated as “World’s Number One First Love” tries to document that. Tries being operative here.

The show, similar to its counterpart, Junjou Romantica, chronicles the stories of three gay couples, all of whom are associated with the Emerald Shoujo Manga publishing division.  The first (and main) couple is made up of Ritsu Onodera and Masamune Takano. Onodera and Takano fell in love in high school and accidentally broke each other’s hearts. Now, Takano is trying to win Onodera back and Onodera is doing his darned best not to give in. The problem is that the two now work at Emerald together and Takano is Onodera’s boss. Then we have the second pairing – Chiaki Yoshino and Yoshiyuki Hatori. The two are childhood friends; Yoshino writes the manga and the Hatori is his editor. Hatori has been in love with Yoshino since they were infants and Yoshino is about as clueless as it gets. The third and final pairing is Shota Kisa and Ko Yukina. Kisa works for Emerald and Yukina works in a bookstore. Kisa is obsessed with Yukina’s good looks and stalks him for it.

And that’s all of them. I know, it’s a lot to keep track of.

These stories each occur over different time spans and it takes quite a few episodes to figure out where it is that each pairing’s milestones occur in the others’ time line. That being said, it’s not entirely necessary to know how they interconnect, just that they do. That is because when the plot of an episode belongs to one pairing, the other plots don’t sneak in. There are very few episodes that end in a cliff-hanger, so it’s easy to jump around or, even better, to watch just one pairing’s episodes and then go on to another’s.

It might be best to start by addressing the elephant in the room: The art sucks. I know people who refuse to watch this show because of how bad it is. The color palate is all pastel, the animation feels cheap and sometimes stilted, and, most obviously, the character designs are crap. Let’s face it, the faces are weird, the bodies stretched, the ways in which they move are awkward, and it’s hard at times to tell characters apart. It’s exactly how the manga-ka designed it and the design was… unique at best. A manga-ka, however, can get away with that kind of art since their characters aren’t in motion. An anime can’t.

The music is not much better. The opening and ending themes are annoying. I can’t even designate much more commentary than that because it was barely worth anything. The soundtrack was 100% unmemorable – something out of an 80′s drama. It reeks of shounen-ai’s cheap budget stereotype.

And if we’re trying to call this a realistic portrayal of true love in the face of homosexual adversity, we’re going to be extremely disappointed. Even examing the basics (the seme/uke stereotype, the presence of sexual abuse, the lack of caring about societal implications), this show trips and falls right into the mistakes that make most shounen-ai series continue to run right into: If this series were about heterosexual couples, it would still feel wrong. Therefore, I’d like to think of as “Otome-service.” Men get women who are 90% boobs making out with each other, women get men having serious romantic emotional issues. And it’s always stupid.

And yet, why did I watch Sekaiichi Katsukoi? I normally don’t waste my time on a show that looks this bad. Yet, I finished it with some sadness, wishing I had more to watch. This is because the script, for all that it sometimes lags and has moments that make me wonder whether “consent” is even a requirement in Japan, is actually very witty. The characters have so much playful banter that I found myself excited to see how they would interact next. It’s far from the best dialogue I’ve ever seen and the characters are not as fleshed out as I would like them to be, but if I’m only watching this show for the comedy, it’s worth it.

The end of this season did not seem to carry in it any sense of finality, nor did the show itself have a real rise-and-fall plot.  Instead, it follows an episodic structure. In many ways, this makes the show run dry because what should be climactic moments fall short in the hop from character plot to character plot, and in the end it results in both wanting more and feeling like there’s nothing left for them to give.  I suppose I could attribute this feeling to the currently airing second season (that’s right folks, it wasn’t done!), so I’ll have to withhold my judgment on this season’s conclusion until this second season ends.

Art: D

Music: C

Script: B

Final Grade: C

What’s Going On: December 2011

01 Dec 2011 1 Comment

by aurajanuary in News and Updates Tags: ,

Hello everyone!

As many of you have probably noticed, I’ve switched gears to focus primarily on watching and reviewing anime. My current lifestyle doesn’t allow for much dubbing or convention time, but I’m doing my best to stay involved how I can.

To that end, I want to open the comments in this post to suggestions for future the future direction. Would anyone be interested in me branching out to reviewing manga, J-Pop, AMVs, etc.? Is there any information in the reviews that you feel is lacking? Do you want it spoiler free or spoiler rich? Do you like pancakes?

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai (2011)

29 Nov 2011 1 Comment

by aurajanuary in Anime Reviews Tags: , , , , , , ,

There’s something about death that haunts us, despite its inevitability. This is especially true when the person taken from our lives was taken before their time. It sneaks into our thoughts and makes the world a little less bright. In AnoHana, Jintan is experiencing this. His beast of summer, what he believes to be a manifestation of his trauma, is an aged version of his childhood friend Menma. He, Menma, and their four other friends spent their summers playing together until Menma died in a tragic accident, leaving her friends to try and pick up the pieces. Jintan has been skipping classes, avoiding neighbors, and hiding in his room. Now he’s seeing the hallucination of his dead friend. And what does Menma want? For Jintan to grant her a wish – a wish that he cannot fulfill alone. But bringing the gang back together is difficult, especially when they’re each still coping on their own with the trauma of that summer.

AnoHana is a delicate show that starts off as a seemingly moe premise but gradually develops into a story of the ways in which people face tragedy and how even in the most unlikely circumstances, they can come together. The animation, while subtle, rarely lacks and the atmosphere created by the setting, music, and animation gives you this inconsolable feeling of nostalgia. Starting with the opening theme, the audience is shipped back to childhood – running around the neighborhood and not knowing the true meaning of sadness – and then brought into reality by the careful script. I have a lot of respect for a show that addresses these issues without becoming too melancholic.

Admittedly, the show itself isn’t that revolutionary in its execution. While I praise the script, there are many places in which it falls short of the expectations that it builds up in its viewers in the first three episodes. The animation, while good, is nothing groundbreaking. Even the soundtrack isn’t that memorable. AnoHana only has 11 episodes and sometimes it can feel like too many; the fun whimsical side-tracks can cause some frustration and the last two episodes felt both too fast and unnecessary.  Where this show is successful is the way in which it tampers with the feelings of the viewer. It carefully balances slapstick, serious, and tear-jerker moments and, although overused (thereby deadening the impact), the insertion of the ending them into the climax of the episode certainly directed me toward needing a hug and a chocolate bar.

While AnoHana makes itself out to be a quiet mystery adventure about a dead girl’s wish, expecting this to be the case can leave very low expectations. It isn’t about Menma’s wish. It isn’t even really about Menma as a ghost. It’s about these six friends as people, all struggling. Ignore the music, the animation, the art – accept them for what they are – and you can appreciate the core of the show – feelings. That is where AnoHana makes it’s mark. That is why so many viewers considered this show one of the better ones of the summer.

Art: B+

Music: B+

Script: A

Final Grade: A-/B+

Hanasaku Iroha (2011)

18 Nov 2011 1 Comment

by aurajanuary in Anime Reviews Tags: , , , ,

Poor Ohana was forced to raise herself as a pragmatist. At the age of 16, she has only one friend, Koichi, and her mother alternates between being physically present and emotionally absent, or absent altogether.  One day her mother sits her down and tells her that she going to elope with her boyfriend and that she’s sending Ohana to live with her grandmother. Ohana has been told very little about this woman – her mother doesn’t like to talk about her childhood – and all she knows is that she will be living in her grandmother’s inn, Kissuiso. And living there is no picnic either – her grandmother isn’t looking for a granddaughter, and instead puts her to work to pay for her room and board. Hanasaku Iroha, which means “The Fundamentals of Blooming,” is the story of Ohana and her interactions with the people in this place she calls home as she learns to grow into the woman she’ll become.

HanaIroha presents itself using sophisticated coloring – lush sunsets, pastel characters, deep evenings. The animators didn’t need a lot of fancy tricks to satisfy what little action appeared, but the consistency from beginning to end made me feel like with every scene, the artist responsible for the cell or the backdrop was trying their damned best.  I never felt like the budget was weak or the character-design slacking. The last episode was just as well-executed as the first, and each scene was designed and colored to complement the script. This show was balanced.

In addition to the art, the story-line provides and number of characters and situations to sink your teeth into. From the first episode, we are presented with the difficulties of customer service, family relationships, romantic relationships, and just plain growing up. While many of the people watching can certainly say that they’ve never had to fill the role of working in a traditional in, there are many elements of the plot that they can identify as analogous to their own. When I was discussing this show with my friend Suki, however, she exclaimed in a fit of annoyance, “This show doesn’t know what it wants to be. There’s just too much!” And perhaps she is right.

HanaIroha, for all that I fell in love with some of the characters, had trouble keeping its story together. I’m not saying there were consistency problems – more like the tone of one episode would not always directly relate to the tone of another. In the episode where we meet Tarou, the show seems to want to be fanservice-based, when we’re interacting with the tsundere Minko, it’s moe-centric. If Koichi comes into the picture, it’s a flower-ridden shojou-esque series. On the frequent occasion where we see the grandmother blazing the trail, it borderlines josei. HanaIroha does not blend these genres, it flip-flops between them, which can lead to a certain level of confusion for the viewer. If you don’t know what kind of show you’re watching, you won’t know how to sit, how to react, what snack to pick. Normally I say that shows could use more episodes, but I think that HanaIroha suffered because it had too many. 11 to 13 episodes would have been just enough to tell the core story while still giving a nod to the other characters. Visits around town did not require a two-episode plot line, and the episodic nature of the show could have been retained, thereby allowing a bit of fluctuation between genres. 26 episodes is two times longer than it needed to be (and perhaps with a better opening theme – the singers’ voices were absolutely grating).

Ultimately, though, despite its flaws, it’s a fun show. It has its subtle moments and while all the characters feel a little exaggerated and type-cast, the general feel is relatively real.

Art: B+

Music: C-

Storyline: B

Final Grade: B-

 

Blue Exorcist (2011)

14 Nov 2011 2 Comments

by aurajanuary in Anime Reviews Tags: , , , ,

On the list of things that you don’t want to happen to you in your life, I’m pretty sure that finding out you’re half-demon and the offspring of Satan would take the top spot. Although, I’m also pretty sure you never considered a possibility. Well, Rin Okumura was one of you until one day, the innate demon in him could not be suppressed any longer and the blue flames of Satan emerged. He and his entirely human twin brother Yukio were born on Blue Night – the evening when Satan came to the human world (Assiah) from the demon world (Gehenna) and killed prominent exorcists. Their adoptive father, a top exorcist, has been keeping their identity a secret from both them and the world for years. But there’s no hiding it anymore.

My experience in this show was a lot like entering into a relationship.

It started off with a great first-impression and honeymoon phase. Needless to say, the pilot episode is an intense ride of religion, violence, gorgeous animation, and death. The moment-to-moment action is complemented by a careful and strong introduction to the three most important characters of the show (well, four if you include the villain). There clearly was a lot riding on this show – excellent quality pilot, big-name opening and ending theme artists, and a whole lot of advertising.  When I looked at the anticipatory comments, all I could think was “shounen-fest,” but any judgment one could impart upon the show is immediately silenced after episode one.

And then the flaws and quirks started to surface. The honeymoon period was over.

I’m not quite sure when the budget started to run out, but I couldn’t help but notice that as the show continued, the animation devalued from spectacular to about average. Maybe once they figured there was no one else to impress, they got lazy. Maybe the popularity didn’t keep up. I don’t have an answer, but by the end of it, I found myself wondering what I was so excited about. The deep, emotional resonance was only resurfacing once every few episodes and it took until the end to get past all the filler to the real core of the show.

What’s important to know is that Blue Exorcist fell into the manga-copying trap that many shows fall into, where the manga hasn’t ended before production has begun. Some series, like Air Gear, choose to simply cut it off at the end of the season. Others, like Nana, stop and wait for the series to end before making another season. And then there is the Fullmetal Alchemist approach, which is what we have here – the series is rewritten from where the manga was during production. In Blue Exorcist, the switch comes at episode 17.  The difference between Fullmetal Alchemist and Blue Exorcist is that Fullmetal Had 51 episodes to make it work, while Blue Exorcist only had 25. The filler stops and the plot starts going somewhere, but it doesn’t seem like what the series was building up to. My kingdom for a foreshadow!

The reason why I’m bashing the show is because the reception from the fans of the manga has been generally negative. I don’t blame them – the manga sounds like it could be infinitely better. That being said, I enjoyed the show. I’m not sure I agreed with the choices that the writers made, especially in regards to handling the introduction of Satan as an actual character and his follow-up behavior, but ultimately I walked away semi-satisfied. I loved the characters despite all their annoying quirks and I made a marathon of the last five episodes because I couldn’t walk away. All-in-all, it’s not a game changer by any stretch – it will break your heart as soon as you fall in love – but you may walk out of the relationship friends.

Art: B+

Music: B+

Storyline: B

Final Grade: B/B+

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