All the Stars in the Sky

Spring 2019 Anime Season:

archica — Mon, 20 May 2019 07:41:03 GMT

What I'm Watching:

Gunjou no Magmel is definitely my favorite new show of the season. It has a fun setup that lends itself well to lots of different stories: a mysterious new continent suddenly appears one day, full of new animal and plant life and inspiring people across the globe to explore it. Of course, the place is incredibly dangerous, which is why many people work as professional “rescuers” hired to go and retrieve those who have been lost or trapped in the new continent. The protagonists of the series are a pair of rescuers: the highly skilled and unflappable Inyou and his tech genius sidekick Zero (who doesn’t physically go to the continent but instead controls a drone). Right away the series provokes a feeling of adventure that reminded me somewhat of One Piece. The new continent, known as Magmel, is beautiful and teeming with life. The series wisely presents it in a neutral light. There are dangerous creatures there, definitely, with some seriously horrific body horror imagery (much of it veering into nightmare fuel territory), but the series is quite clear about the fact that these creatures are just behaving naturally. There’s no malice there. In fact, the only truly malicious and cruel actions are performed by the humans who go to Magmel to take advantage of the creatures there for their own profit. Inyou understands this, and is generally sympathetic to the animal and plant life, while still prioritizing the preservation of human life. It’s an interesting balance. It’s also interesting that a show with the above mentioned body horror and nightmare fuel is presented with bright, cheerful, cartoony art and peppy, upbeat music. This is an adventure series, not horror, and sometimes there’s even a degree of beauty in the terrors seen in the mostly standalone episodes. The two leads, Inyou and Zero, are entertaining and have a fun dynamic between them. They act more like family than anything else, with no romantic tension at all so far (and I hope it stays that way). Currently sitting at the top of my watch list.

Ace of the Diamond Act 2 is the sequel series I’ve been looking forward to. The original series was a favorite of mine, with a fairly realistic portrayal of baseball and a team of fun, quirky characters, including Miyuki, the only character that springs to mind when I think of the term, “husbando”. He’s a fan-favorite and incredibly popular for a reason. He’s sharp-witted, the most skilled player on the team, and also has a rather twisted sense of humor (he’s the kind of guy who, upon realizing a new member of the team doesn’t like him, is totally delighted and thinks of how fun that’s going to be). Miyuki gushing aside, the show has great art that rarely goes off-model and somewhat smooth animation. The music so far is okay, nothing special (the opening and ending themes were hit and miss in the original series as well). Main character Sawamura is still annoying (like Asta in Black Clover, he tends to scream rather than speak) but his underdog status and genuine love of the sport and his team make him endearing enough to overlook his negative traits. My only real gripe with the show is its tendency to recap that last several minutes of the previous episode in each new episode, making you wait quite a while to get to the new content. This would be a much bigger deal in marathon viewing, but on a weekly basis, I can deal with it.

Hitoribocchi no Marumaruseikatsu is a cute series about cute girls doing cute things. This is a genre I’m generally not fond of, mainly because the girls in these types of shows tend to be sexualized in a creepy way and their “cute antics” tend to be banal and annoying. In this show, however, neither of those two problems are present. In fact, if the show had a male love interest, it would feel very shoujo to me. The focus of the story is on a shy girl with severe social anxiety trying to make friends in her new school. She’s a bit awkward but cute and earnest, so watching her attempt to talk to strangers is funny but also heartwarming. The small circle of friends that begins to form around her is made up of equally cute and funny girls, each of whom have distinct personalities and character designs. Surprisingly, considering this is based on a manga aimed at adult male readers, none of the girls seem specifically designed to appeal to a male audience. They come across as genuine, well developed characters. The art and music are cute, but not very notable. My only complaint is the subplot involving a young teacher who takes one look at the blonde, tanned Nako and immediately judges her as a juvenile delinquent and is thus afraid of her. It’s meant to be funny, I suppose, but I find it annoying that a teacher would be so judgmental, especially considering Nako is a quiet, well-behaved student who gives absolutely no indication that she’s a delinquent. Ah well, it’s a relatively minor subplot so I can overlook it.

Bungo Stray Dogs Season 3 was hotly anticipated after a strong season two and the amazing Dead Apple movie. Following a group of supernaturally “gifted” members of a detective agency and their conflicts with other “gifted” groups (including the ruthless Port Mafia), this show is one of the best series of the past several years. It has a bit of Durarara!!’s cool vibe and style, but with a more straightforward story. This is a series that handles all of its various story elements very well, from the action scenes to the heartfelt moments to the comedy, and looks great doing it. I still prefer the comedy and characterization of season one, but only because they were done SO well. The more serious, plot-driven arcs of late are still fantastic. The music is great too, with my favorite opening theme of the season (and there were some outstanding ones this season, so that’s saying something).

Kimetsu no Yaiba might just be my second favorite new series. Every season has a new show that gets a lot of hype, and in my experience around half of those shows actually live up to that hype. This show is definitely in that good half. With fluid animation, excellent music, and an interesting setup (a young boy’s family is slaughtered by demons, leaving only one sister behind who has become a demon herself, so he trains to become a demon slayer and find a way to turn her back into a human), this series seems primed to become a hit. The protagonist, Tanjirou, is a fairly standard kind-hearted hero training to join a group and accomplish his goal. The series doesn’t tread a lot of new ground in that respect, but it does everything so well that it’s easy to forgive it for not being the most original story. The most interesting aspect is the sister, Nezuko, who instead of being a delicate young flower for him to constantly protect is a demon herself who, in an early scene, literally kicks another demon’s head clean off. She’s a powerful ally in battle, which is refreshing. The other characters haven’t had much screen time yet, but seem fun so far. Overall, it’s a very well-done, if somewhat unoriginal, show. Highly entertaining and high on my watch list.

Midnight Occult Civil Servants is much better than it seems at first glance. Protagonist Arata joins a particular group of civil servants that deal with mythological creatures called “Anothers”. They range from fairies to gods to Japanese-based creatures like Tengu (this mishmash of mythology actually reminds me of Shin Megami Tensei). Arata quickly realizes that he’s the only member of the team who can understand the languages used by the Anothers, and so he becomes a valuable tool when dealing with them. The show presents a variety of creatures with a variety of behaviors. Some Anothers are friendly to humans and mean no harm, while others are outright malicious. Others still are just indifferent. At first, it seems like the show is going to be about Arata clearing up misunderstandings that his fellow team members have about the Anothers, but then the show lets us know that not all Anothers are friendly, and being able to understand their words doesn’t mean Arata can understand their motivations or can do much to stop them from doing bad things. The episodes are often inspired by real life urban legends, and overall has an air of mystery. The art is fine, with interesting, varied character designs but animation that’s just okay. The music is above average though, with my favorite ending theme of the season. It’s not my favorite new show, but it has a secure spot on my watch list.

Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2 really doesn’t need much of a write-up, since it’s just a continuation of a season that was delayed (and that I already wrote about). I’ll just keep it brief and say it’s still great, is finally getting into one of my favorite arcs from the manga, and has a gorgeous opening theme.

Mobile Suit Gundam Origin is the tv series version of an OVA that details the origins of one of the Gundam franchise’s most popular characters (and one of my all-time favorites): Char Aznable. I never watched the OVA (despite intending to for the longest time) so this is all new content for me. What I find most interesting is the visual style, which looks very much like the classic Gundam art style of the original late 70‘s tv series but with more modern, smooth animation and some CGI mixed in. There’s a strange awkwardness to the art style that feels oddly natural. It was present in the old tv series and it’s present here. It’s kind of hard to explain if you haven’t seen it yourself though. Art aside, the story is definitely interesting. While Char’s basic history had already been revealed years ago, we didn’t really know the details. Char is a complicated character, which explains his popularity several decades after his debut. He was ruthless, cold, and calculating even as a child, but he loved his family very deeply and was surprisingly emotional. There are also badass lady characters to enjoy (who also appeared in the original series - I’ve always found it interesting that a show made in 1979 had more complex, strong, and generally well-written female characters than more modern Gundam series like Wing, Seed/Seed Destiny, and Iron Blooded Orphans). The music is fantastic here, and it’s overall a very solid show. Now I wish they’d remake the original series with this kind of animation (and cut out some of the filler).

Shoumetsu Toshi is, honestly, at the bottom of my list. The animation quality is just okay, with questionable character design choices (for the first few episodes, there were two unrelated female characters with such strikingly similar designs that it was very confusing). The story is a bit of a muddled mess. It mostly follows a young girl who survived a bizarre event where a whole city full of people suddenly vanished (later dubbed “The Lost”), and the young man who has been hired to help her return after she receives a message from her father, who was one of the people that vanished, telling her to come back. The setup is actually very interesting and mysterious. The problem is that the series throws too many concepts and ideas at us way too quickly, and explains none of it. It might be because the show is based on a video game, and the writers assumed people watching the anime would be familiar with the game and its various elements. Already in the show we have time travel, undefined magical powers, totally different powers that allow people to summon the souls of the vanished victims to fight for them like Persona, shadowy organizations doing human experiments, fancy artifacts that grant even more abilities, phantom thieves, idol groups, hackers, detective agencies, and double agents that have infiltrated the police. There’s just way too much going on, and as a result, the core plot that was actually interesting gets crowded out and choked. I’m still watching because the show is still entertaining in a strange way, but it’s a shame that it wasted a lot of its potential.

Carry Over Shows From Previous Seasons:
Black Clover

Best of Season:
Best New Show: Gunjou no Magmel
Best Opening Theme: Bungo Stray Dogs Season 3
Best Ending Theme: Midnight Occult Civil Servants
Best New Male Character: Inyou (Gunjou no Magmel)
Best New Female Character: Nako (Hitoribocchi no Marumaruseikatsu)

Winter 2019 Anime Season

archica — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 05:35:18 GMT

My Roommate is a Cat is easily the cutest series this season, possibly the cutest in the past several seasons. Your mileage may vary, depending on how much you like cats, but for me the show is a delight. Following a reclusive young author who recently lost his parents (the only people he interacted with on a regular basis) as he bonds with a stray cat he decided to take in on a whim, the show cleverly splits its time between the viewpoints of the human protagonist and the cat. The smartest thing the series does is show both viewpoints of the same events, first from the human, Subaru, and then from the cat, Haru. And somehow, even though we’re viewing the events for the second time, Haru’s view is more compelling. The show is by turns genuinely funny and genuinely touching. Subaru reminds me of a less extreme version of Handa (from Handa-kun and Barakamon) in that he’s socially inept and usually assumes the worst intentions from those around him. Haru is a somewhat feisty young cat who thinks she’s protecting her strange, hopeless human. Haru is a bit rough around the edges after spending much of her life as a stray, and her tough attitude keeps the show from getting too saccharine. As it stands, the show is just the right amount of cute, sweet, awkward, sad, and funny. Very high on my watch list.

Meiji Tokyo Renka is yet another historical otome series (seriously why do so many otome anime have historical settings?) featuring a high school girl being sent back in time to the Meiji period. This is, of course, one of my favorite time periods just for the clothing alone. The character designs are varied enough to make all the guys stand out from each other and the colors and backgrounds are lovely. The heroine, Mei, is much more comical than the standard otome heroine and is refreshingly proactive in her own story. She’s surprisingly independent in a time period when that was probably frowned upon. There’s a strong supernatural element to the story, not even counting the time travel aspect. There are spirits in this series that only certain people can see, Mei being one of them (and it’s nice that there are several others in the main cast who can as well, preventing her from seeming too conveniently special). It seems like these spirits can come in many forms, from cute animal spirits to literal ghosts to characters in novels springing to life and escaping the books to run amok. The show is certainly not dull. The romance is almost shoved to the background to make room for spirit shenanigans, but I’m not complaining. One of the more fun otome series in recent memory.

The Promised Neverland is easily my pick for best show of the season. It has a fantastic setup, with a first episode twist that I did not see coming (I knew something was going on, but my guess was way off the mark). It has a unique art style that makes it stand out, fluid animation, awesome opening and ending themes, a kickass heroine, and some heart-stopping cliff hangers. It’s the show I look forward to most each week. There’s only one minor quibble I have with this series, and that’s the weird way faces are drawn. The mouths seem too high on the faces, to the point that I kept thinking their mouths were their noses. I’ve gotten used to it as the episodes rolled by, but every now and then I still notice it. It’s just... irritating. Still, that’s a super nitpicky complaint for a show that’s otherwise excellent on every level with consistently high quality art and writing. At the very tippy top of my watch list.

Boogiepop and Others is a sequel (I guess?) to a much older series called Boogiepop Phantom that I watched many years ago. To be honest, it’s been so long that I don’t remember most of the details about the original anime. I just remember that it was a somewhat gloomy show that focused on supernatural mysteries and was episodic in nature. This newer series has an updated art style with more modern character designs. It’s also easier to follow, and has a stronger focus on action, whereas the original focused more on atmosphere. Special mention should go to Aoi Yuki’s phenomenal voice acting. She really brings Boogiepop to life and carries the show, much like she did as Kino in the recent Kino’s Journey anime. The show has great music, with my favorite ending theme of the season. Has a secure spot on my watch list.

B Project Season 2, an otome series about cute male idol groups, has seemingly decided to dial back the focus on the whole otome thing and instead showcase the borderline BL relationships between the boys. Seriously, there are several episodes in which the heroine, Tsubasa, is barely there at all, and even when she is, the series gives no real indication that any of the boys like her as more than a friend. Instead, the boys seem to be in love with each other (which is fine by me). This season adds a new boy band to the three we already had, which I felt was a little unnecessary. The new group really doesn’t add anything to the story. The music is nice, especially the ending theme, and the character designs are attractive. The series seems to have taken a page out of Tsukiuta’s book and now uses CG for the more elaborate dance numbers. The problem is that they don’t look nearly as good as Tsukiuta’s and definitely don’t blend well with the 2D animation around them. Overall, the series is cute but I still think of it as “less fun UtaPri”.

Fukigen no Mononokean Season 2 was a bit of a surprise for me, since I didn’t realize it was being made. I enjoyed season one very much with its pastel, candy-colored art and sweet, mostly light-hearted stories. And of course, the main draw of the series was the budding friendship between our two leads, Abeno and Ashiya. Season two keeps all of those elements and adds a very interesting mystery concerning Ashiya’s father, as well as an overarching plot and an actual recurring “villain” type character. The stakes are raised considerably, but the overall tone of the show is still fairly light and gentle. Seeing the cute mascot character Fuzzy (a white, furry youkai) makes me a little sad though, since it reminded me so very much of my cat (also a white furry creature named Fuzzy) while watching season one, and Fuzzy has since disappeared. Which reminds me, the youkai in this series are so adorable, varied, and charming. Very high on my watch list.

Kaguya-sama: Love is War is a comedy about two overachieving high school students who are secretly in love with each other but are too prideful to admit it, so they set traps for each other to try to force the other to confess first. It sounds like a dumb setup, to be honest, but it actually works surprisingly well. The two leads are likable despite being petty and stubborn. Even though they’re extremely talented, they have tons of quirks and they’re both completely clueless when it comes to love. There are a few fun side characters as well. The show is hilarious, with three skits per episode. There’s also a touch of sweetness as their affection for each other comes across as genuine. Anyone who’s ever been in love can relate to some of these moments, of going to great lengths just to increase your chances of being near the person you like, or making little changes to your appearance just to see if you get a reaction from them. Or, of course, the disappointment you feel when your carefully laid plans get ruined. The series uses humor and extreme reactions and hilarious facial expressions to convey these feelings, resulting in a highly entertaining show.

Carry Over Shows From Previous Seasons:
Black Clover
Run With the Wind
Hinomaru Sumo

Best of Season:
Best New Show: The Promised Neverland
Best Opening Theme: The Promised Neverland
Best Ending Theme: Boogiepop and Others
Best Male Character: Subaru (My Roommate is a Cat)
Best Female Character: Emma (The Promised Neverland)

Fall 2018 Anime:

archica — Fri, 30 Nov 2018 06:09:45 GMT

Fall 2018 Anime Season:

Golden Kamuy Season 2 is at the top of my watch list. Season one was my favorite show of the Spring season, and everything great about the show is still around. It still has some of the best characters around (protagonist Sugimoto being a personal favorite of mine) and the cast just keeps expanding to include more awesome characters, most of whom are incredibly charming even when they’re terrible people (like the simply adorable Edogai-kun, the obvious anime take on Ed Gein, who likes to hold flamboyant impromptu fashion shows to display the various outfits he’s made using human skin). The series has a weirdness to it that keeps things lively and unpredictable, but it’s all grounded by how very likable and down to earth all the characters are, even the antagonists who are capable of extreme cruelty. There’s also a subtle, poignant side to the story. The end of episode 17 had a powerful moment that left me in tears, and had some very thought-provoking things to say about soldiers returning from war. The animation isn’t the best around, and the art overall is a bit generic, but the story and characters carry the show with capable hands. The music is pretty neat too.

Tsurune is one of three sports anime I’m watching this season, all three of which feature sports I haven’t seen in anime yet and am completely unfamiliar with. This one is about archery, which is a much more formal and stuffy sport than I realized (or maybe that’s just Japanese archery). The show’s slow pace and soft color pallete make it this season’s “soothing feel good” show (there’s always at least one). There’s some lovely scenery, all of the characters are pretty (even the elderly teacher is adorable), and there’s not much in the way of hot blooded sports action. It’s still a pleasing show to watch though. There’s a trio of lady archers in the club who are just fabulous. I love their deadpan, snarky responses to the flirty guy’s attempts to get cute with them (when he mentions that seeing cute girls in their traditional archery outfits makes him want to do archery, one of them swiftly says, “We’re not here to motivate you to do archery.”). Episode two almost took a dramatic turn that had me excited, and would have given the show a unique, supernatural twist if it didn’t almost immediately turn again back to the standard plot line (the cool twist was actually just a misunderstanding, unfortunately). The core group of boys are cute but they have surprisingly little chemistry together, considering this is a series by KyoAni.

Run With the Wind is another sports anime, this one about track and field (I guess? I don’t really know anything about sports, I just know it’s about dudes running). The character designs remind me so much of Haikyuu!! that I had to check and see if it was by the same mangaka. Otherwise, this series is fairly different from most sports anime I’ve seen. For one thing, the characters are in college, not high school or middle school, so they have to balance the sport with things like seminars, job hunts, paying bills, and other responsibilities. This gives the show a very different vibe, in that these characters clearly have lives outside the sport. Another difference is that the majority of the team is made up of rank amateurs, many of them being basically blackmailed into joining. The point of the show ends up being about the experience of getting out there and running with your friends, rather than being focused on wins or losses. It’s a pretty refreshing take on the sports genre. The animation is fluid and the characters are surprisingly realistic. Definitely worth a watch.

Hinomaru Sumo is the last sports anime this season, and as the title suggests, it’s about sumo wrestling. It’s also the only one of the three that’s totally hot blooded and action-packed, with intense matches, crazy training sequences, and bitter rivalries. The art is suitable, with attractive, stocky male characters who hang out in those very revealing sumo belts. It’s interesting that the show portrays several different body types, all in positive ways. Some are more muscular while others look more fat. They’re all glorified in their own way, which is nice. Special mention should go to the music, particularly the energetic opening and ending themes. They’re unskippable. Of the three sports anime I’m watching this season, this one is the most fun and the one I look forward to watching the most each week. Even though it’s a more stereotypical sports anime, well, I like sports anime for a reason. I like the melodrama and the totally unrealistic moves and the numerous rival teams of quirky characters. So while it is refreshing to watch something different from time to time (like Run With the Wind), I’m still drawn to this sort of show. Near the top of my watch list.

Dakaretai (I’m not typing up that long ass title) is a guilty pleasure. It’s a yaoi anime that does very little to dispel the notion that yaoi anime is trashy fanservice for fujoshi and is insulting to actual gay men. Many of the worst tropes are here, including dubious consent, relationships that revolve around sex and nothing else, and gay men being portrayed in a predatory fashion. I know these are major problems in yaoi, but I can’t help enjoying the show. The art is great, with stylish character designs. The central relationship is probably very unhealthy, but I’ve seen a lot worse in yaoi and it’s at least entertaining to watch. The show also does comedy very well. Several scenes have cracked me up, with some of the best comic timing I’ve seen in anime in a long time. Yes, the show is problematic, but like with many other series in the past, I’m still enjoying it.

SSSS Gridman is apparently the anime adaptation of a 90‘s tokusatsu series. I don’t know the original, but I’ve watched enough Ultraman series to know that I enjoy tokusatsu and kaiju stuff, so this series should be right up my alley. Should be, but it’s honestly not as great as I hoped after watching the stellar first episode. If not for a couple of interesting characters, and some nifty monster designs, I would have dropped this series around episode four. The heroes are bland and have received practically no character development whatsoever, and the villain is insufferably annoying. She’s a type of character that’s inexplicably popular these days (a mean-spirited girl who talks and behaves in a cutesy way that’s supposed to make her cruel nature seem ironic, I guess), but I honestly find her scenes to be painful to sit through. The kaiju battles are nicely done, well-animated and exciting. The art in general looks great. I’m watching because I have a soft spot for tokusatsu and kaiju, but it’s near the bottom of my watch list.

Carry-Over Shows From Previous Seasons:
Black Clover
Banana Fish

Best of Season:
Best New Show: Hinomaru Sumo
Best Opening Theme: Hinomaru Sumo
Best Ending Theme: Hinomaru Sumo
Best Male Character: Ushio Hinomaru (Hinomaru Sumo)
Best Female Character: None (sadly)

Summer 2018 Anime:

archica — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 06:56:58 GMT

Phantoms in the Twilight is a fun otome series with a super spunky heroine and some interesting romantic options that come in the form of mythical creatures brought to life by the imaginations of humans. There’s Dracula, a werewolf, a zombie (the Chinese version, not the gross rotting version), and a ghost. She also has a best friend who is a big part of the plot and has her own romantic interest (another werewolf). The series stands out in a few ways (besides there effectively being two heroines). For one, it’s set in London, with a somewhat gothic vibe to the backgrounds. For another, the main heroine is one of the least passive otome heroines I’ve ever seen, which makes her a lot of fun. There’s also some pretty good world building here, with an interesting mythology. The mythical creatures must obey all the rules of their own lore. For example, Dracula can’t enter any place unless he’s invited. Silver bullets hurt werewolves. And the ghostly Wayne doesn’t have an actual body of his own, but can possess things (like a cute male mannequin). All in all, it’s a top tier otome anime.

Holmes of Kyoto is a very pretty detective anime with a nice hook: almost all of the “mysteries” revolve around artwork or antiques, and the “detective” is a highly skilled appraiser. The protagonist is actually Aoi, a girl who works in an antique shop with the appraiser nicknamed “Holmes”. She functions as a Watson type of character, in that she tags along and is there to ask questions in place of the audience. She’s also developing a rather keen eye herself, and there’s obvious romantic implications between her and Holmes. The series has a relaxed pace and generally low stakes, so it’s usually not that exciting. It’s still enjoyable though, because the art is lovely, with some gorgeous scenery and colors, and the cases are interesting even if there are no murders (so far). The dynamic between Homes and Aoi is very sweet as well. Not my favorite show this season, but still has a solid spot on my watch list.

Angolmois is one of the better new shows this season. The character designs have an old school look to them, like something from the 80‘s, but the animation, colors, and textures all use modern techniques, giving the show a unique feel. Telling the story of how the Japanese fought off the Mongol invasion, the series is often violent and bloody. The characters, a swiftly dwindling group of survivors trying to defend Japan’s most southern island, are easy to root for as they move from one tragedy to another, never quite safe. Every small victory is dwarfed by huge losses, with only the sheer determination and skill of the protagonists keeping the show from getting too dark. High on my watch list.

Free! Season Three is, of course, one of my favorites of the season. I absolutely loved the first two seasons, and I’m definitely loving this one too, with it’s attractive character designs, smooth animation, great music, and of course, dramatic scenes between handsome male characters (most of whom are now adults in college so we adult fans can feel a little less creepy about admiring them). But even though I’m enjoying this season very VERY much, I have to admit that it’s, so far, not my favorite season. Rei and Nagisa, two very popular and beloved characters, have been reduced to supporting roles. The cast has expanded to include all the characters from the previous two seasons and the movie, plus several new characters. While it’s kinda cool to see them all interacting, it can also be a little annoying when the show is focusing on characters you have less interest in and greatly reducing the screentime of characters you love. For example, I’m not a huge fan of Ikuya (who is so ridiculously melodramatic that he puts season one Rin to shame), and he’s getting the lion’s share of the story. I think he gets more screentime than even Haru. But that’s a minor complaint for a show that consistently entertains me. Near the top of my watch list.

Banana Fish is, hands down, my favorite new show this season. I had been aware of the manga for a very long time, but for whatever reason I’d never sat down and read it. So when I heard about the anime, I was pretty excited. For once, my excitement for a new show was well deserved. Banana Fish is an instant classic. Taking place in New York, it follows Ash Lynx, a gang leader with the most heart-wrenchingly traumatic past I’ve seen in anime. Into Ash’s dark and dangerous world of drugs, mob bosses, shootouts, and assassins, enters Eiji, a young Japanese man who traveled to New York with his journalist friend. Eiji is such a pure hearted soul, and almost immediately forms a bond with Ash. This bond is at the core of why this story works so well. Of course there are romantic (and sexual) undertones to their relationship, but it’s so much more than that. The fact that two people who come from completely different worlds can come together and help and support each other is just beautiful. There’s also the complex and always interesting plot revolving around a deadly drug called Banana Fish, and Ash’s attempts to first find out where it came from and then to stop it from being used. The character designs, more modern takes on the manga designs, look amazing. The animation is generally smooth and the music is awesome, with easily the best ending theme of the season. This is a show that’s so well done, even the straight guys who run at the slightest whiff of BL are loving it. It’s sitting at the tippy top of my watch list.

Angels of Death is the only series that can even come close to Banana Fish’s status as my favorite new show. Based on a video game I very badly want (someone please let me know the next time Steam is having a sale), Angels of Death is about a young girl named Rachel who wants to die and the psychotic serial killer named Zack who has promised to murder her if she’ll help him escape the crazy, multi-level, haunted house-like building they’re stuck in. You can definitely see the video game elements as Rachel and Zack solve puzzles and unlock doors. The story itself isn’t super complex or unique, but the bizarre relationship between Rachel and Zack is compelling. They’re both great characters. Rachel’s calm, deadpan demeanor is a striking contrast to Zack’s violent insanity. The art is fantastically creepy and the music is a perfect fit. The whole show has a dark and eerie vibe, but it’s also fast-paced and exciting. It sits right below Banana Fish on my watch list.

Hanebado! is a new sports anime, this time about a female badminton team (there are a couple of boys in the club but the show is really about the girls). The only other female sports anime I’ve watched is Princess Nine, which I enjoyed very much, so I had high hopes for this series. So far, it’s not a total disappointment but it hasn’t exactly lived up to my expectations either. There are only around three characters I feel invested in, despite a fairly large cast. The animation and character designs are nice and varied, though it’s a little disappointing that the show sometimes relies on fanservice (I’m guessing they thought it was the only way to draw in male viewers). Not enough to be obnoxious, but it’s still irritating when it pops up. The matches are well done, but so far the series is a little too dramatic and serious, especially during the games. I like some light hearted fun in my sports anime.

Shingeki no Kyojin Season Three is great so far. This is the arc I skipped when I read ahead in the manga, so I know the basics of what happened, but none of the details. It’s been nice to have those details filled in. The animation is fantastic as usual (the fight sequence in the streets between Levi and Kenny’s group was jaw-dropping). Also as usual, the story is tightly plotted. Watching this arc, after having read what comes later, makes me realize just how much work went into the plotting to make everything line up so well. The only weak spot is the opening theme. When I saw it, my first thought was, “Finally, an SnK opening I can skip”. I get that they were going for something different but I feel like it’s TOO different. On the plus side, the ending theme is great. SnK is a series that has earned its hype and its popularity, so I can’t help side-eyeing anyone who says they dislike it because it’s “too mainstream”. It’s a solid show that sits pretty high up on my watch list.

Cells at Work is a series I have to admit that I don’t watch every week. I watch it sporadically, and there’s a good reason for that. Despite the show being adorable and charming and funny, following the various cells in the human body imagined as cute characters going about their daily tasks, I end up having bizarre nightmares every single time I watch the show before going to bed. And I tend to watch anime before bed, so... yeah. I really don’t understand why, because I’ve certainly watched some gruesome and disturbing anime before and have rarely been affected in any way. But along comes this sweet and educational little anime and for some reason it creeps me out on a subconscious level. Yes, it’s surprisingly bloody and violent (which a lot of teachers have cited as the only reason they won’t show it in class), but the violence is most often silly and cartoonish. I do enjoy the show when I watch it (particularly the badass White Blood Cell, this season’s favorite new husbando), and I’ve learned more about biology from a few episodes of this than I did from four years of high school. So there’s that. When I can think to watch it early in the day, it doesn’t cause the nightmares, so I’ll keep watching.

Carry-Over Shows From Previous Seasons:
Kakuriyo
Black Clover
My Hero Academia
Persona 5
Major 2nd
Gintama

Best of Season:
Best New Show: Banana Fish
Best Opening Theme: Black Clover
Best Ending Theme: Banana Fish
Best Male Character: Ash Lynx (Banana Fish)
Best Female Character: Rachel Gardner (Angels of Death)

Spring 2018 Anime

archica — Sat, 19 May 2018 07:52:48 GMT

Spring 2018 Anime Season:

This is a very busy season with so many good shows that I’ve had to flat out skip some that I know I would enjoy just because they’re not on Crunchyroll and I can’t be bothered to watch them elsewhere when I have a ton of shows to watch on a handy place like CR. I’m going to keep some of the write-ups brief this time because I can’t write 19 wordy reviews (naturally I’m gonna have longer write-ups for the shows I like best).

Golden Kamuy is my favorite this season. I’m very drawn to the main character, a badass former soldier who goes on ridiculously violent rampages when his life is endangered, to the point that he’s earned the nickname “Immortal Sugimoto”. He also happens to be very attractive and, somewhat surprisingly given the way he was gouging out eyeballs with his thumbs, a genuinely sweet guy who just wants to help out the widow of his long-time friend. The secondary protagonist is Asirpa, a young Ainu girl who is charmingly practical and a skilled hunter (and given the fact that wildlife, and survival in the wilderness, present just as many challenges as the human enemies, her skills are incredibly useful). The story is set in the early 1900‘s, mostly in and around Hokkaido. This means it has a snowy setting (something I’m a huge sucker for). The animation is good (it was pretty amazing in the first episode, but it’s dipped a bit in subsequent episodes, it’s still perfectly serviceable though) and the plot is an interesting treasure hunt. The main draw of the series is the relationship between Sugimoto and Asirpa. It’s not romantic (so far, and the age difference makes it unlikely to happen), but not quite father/daughter either. Instead, it feels more like a partnership, as both bring something unique to the table. The scenes of them cooking and eating together are very endearing. Overall, a solid show that’s very high on my watch list.

Kakuriyo is another favorite this season, making Monday my favorite anime day of the week. The show is a very pleasant fantasy romance that uses one of my favorite setups: a modern girl pulled into another world (or another time). I’ve been a fan of this trope since Fushigi Yuugi, and generally enjoy most anime or manga that use it. Kakuriyo differentiates itself in a few important ways. For one, the heroine is college-aged, instead of a high school girl. This gives her a refreshing maturity. For another, she’s not some random girl who stumbled into this world and everyone immediately falls in love with her. She’s somewhat familiar with many of the creatures in this world, and even some of their customs, through her grandfather, who regularly visited the “Hidden Realm”, as they call it. That being said, even with her impressive lineage, she still generally has to work to earn the respect of the other characters. The world building is a highlight of the series. The Hidden Realm feels large and lived in, with a variety of mythical creatures that are presented as both mundane and magical at the same time, which reminded me a bit of how such creatures are presented in the amazing Uchouten Kazoku. The animation isn’t super impressive, but the design work, backgrounds, lighting, and clothing are breathtaking. The show is enchanting, and is right up there with Golden Kamuy at the top of my list.

Magical Girl Ore is a show I really didn’t think I would enjoy. I planned to watch one episode and then dismiss it, comfortable that I had given it a fair shot. I expected it to be too much of a comedy for me. I’m generally not a fan of straight up comedies. I like comedy injected into other genres, but I’m not real into comedy as a genre itself. There have been exceptions to this, of course, and Magical Girl Ore is one of them. There’s just so much going on in this show that it immediately crushed my assumption that it would be a one-joke affair. That one joke is the fact that the heroine, Saki, transforms into a rather beefy dude when it’s time to fight evil. A beefy dude in a cute Magical Girl outfit who still very much identifies as a girl. On its own, the joke really isn’t that funny, and could perhaps even be seen as offensive. In context, and given the fact that the show plays around with gender roles and sexuality in unexpected ways, the joke becomes something much more. Saki doesn’t like being forced to have a male body, but soon gets used to the idea. Her best friend Sakuyo, on the other hand, seems to enjoy transforming. Sakuyo is also in love with Saki, and the series goes to great pains to make it very clear that she is in love with her “in a sexual way”. There’s also Saki’s male love interest, who pays little attention to Saki herself but is very clearly falling in love with “Ore”, the beefy dude version of Saki, which is very interesting. The show also pokes fun at Magical Girl tropes in hilarious ways that I haven’t seen done a thousand times already. When Saki asks her “cute mascot” (literally just a yakuza thug with some limited magical power) for weapons, he gives her real guns and grenades. When she asks for something more “Magical Girl-like”, he gives her a cutesy traditional Magical Girl wand. After waving it around uselessly, Saki asks how to use it. Cut to a shot of her surrounded by downed, blood-covered enemies, with blood dripping from her wand and splattered all over her, with Saki herself looking horrified and in shock. All this is played for laughs, and it works. What the series gets right is that it’s not JUST a parody. Saki’s crush feels genuine and you want to root for her. Sakuyo’s feelings for Saki aren’t a joke. There’s real emotion mixed in with the zany hijinks, which makes for a super fun and surprisingly heartfelt show.

Space Battleship Tiramisu is a hilarious mecha anime parody with shorter length episodes and impressive art/animation. It follows Subaru, a highly skilled mecha pilot who also has extreme social anxiety and spends most of his time in the cockpit of his mecha. He’s basically the butt of every joke in the series as he faces such problems as trying to keep a cute puppy he found in space, eating his meals in zero gravity while trying not to make a mess in the cockpit, and suddenly needing to pee in the middle of a battle because he had too many drinks before launching. The jokes work because they’re either crazy over the top (the puppy that rapidly grows in size) or they’re so hilarious because they’re realistic and you kinda wonder why they never happened in serious mecha shows (needing to pee in the middle of battle, realizing in battle that he put his tshirt on backwards and the collar is choking him). It’s Subaru’s rather extreme reactions to these problems that make up most of the comedy. If you’re a fan of mecha anime, you really need to watch this. It pokes fun at a genre that is generally a bit too serious, but is clearly made by fans of that very genre.

Crossing Time is something I’m only really watching because the episodes are a little over three minutes long so it’s not a big time investment. They’ve been hit or miss so far, focusing on different characters as they wait at a train crossing. They’re mostly comedic, with passable art/animation. Nothing special, but the good episodes outweigh the bad at this point, so I’m watching.

Rokuhoudou Yotsuiro Biyori is this season’s soothing feel-good show. It’s slow paced, focuses on beautiful scenery and characters, and has little tension. It’s very relaxing, to be honest. Following four attractive men who run a lovely little cafe, the series is somewhat episodic in nature so far. There are hints of an overarching plot, however. Has a solid spot on my watch list.

Butlers vs Battlers had a bland first episode but has picked up steam. It follows a couple of supernaturally powered “butlers” who were sent to the present day from a hundred years in the past after a tragic event made them enemies. One of them, the protagonist called “J”, attends a fancy private school where his popularity has made him the student council president and the other works as a waiter at a nearby cafe. The show is full of attractive men (the butlers plus the ever expanding cast of supporting characters) with an impressive list of voice actors. The art has a gothic vibe. The show is a little confusing and J is hard to root for, but it’s worth watching on a superficial level.

Megalo Box is an anniversary project connected to the Ashita no Joe series. It could be summed up fairly well with two words: sci-fi boxing. It has a futuristic setting where boxers wear metal, robotic-looking frames called “gear” on their arms/shoulders. The series has an old school, hand-drawn look to it. The animation looks great. The protagonist, Junk Dog, is just the sort of down-on-his-luck underdog we all love to cheer for in stories like these. The series has a hip hop vibe that makes it feel fresh and modern despite the retro look. Overall a quality show.

Dances with the Dragons, like Butlers vs. Battlers, had a bland first episode but has since picked up steam. It’s a “modern fantasy” type of series that’s so popular in anime these days (basically, it’s set in a vague time where there are fantasy elements like magic and dragons but also modern elements like cell phones and computers). It honestly felt a little generic at first, but has been getting more interesting as it goes. The lead characters are a pair of dudes who work (for the government? I think?) to slay dragons that stray into the territory of humans (I think?). One of the guys is a neurotic human who, surprisingly, has a hot girlfriend whom he clearly has a healthy sexual relationship with. It’s notable because it’s somewhat rare in anime for the protagonist of a fantasy series to be an adult in a committed relationship with an active sex life. I don’t know WHY that’s so rare, but it is. The other member of the duo is a badass warrior type who has a thing for furniture and spends all their money. It’s hard to tell whether they get along or not, but they certainly work well together. The plot is a bit complicated and, honestly, most of the exposition is presented in a way that doesn’t command my full attention. This leaves me a little fuzzy on all the details, but the fights sure are fun! The art and animation do their job. The main reason to watch is the pair of protagonists, with all their quirks and hang-ups, and the not-quite-antagonistic but not-quite-friendly relationship between them.

Gurazeni is a baseball anime that’s unique in that it’s not about a high school team but rather a pro baseball player who is a relief pitcher for his team. There’s something refreshing about the way it portrays professional baseball in a less than glamorous way. The protagonist isn’t particularly gifted, and in fact struggles to maintain stats good enough to stay on the team. There’s a focus on the salaries the various players earn and what players do after retirement. The show is not particularly dramatic or funny, but it’s got an easy-going charm to it. It’s not very high on my watch list, but my weakness for sports anime keeps it on the list.

My Sweet Tyrant is another short form series with episodes around three and a half minutes long. It’s a romantic comedy about an extreme tsundere boy and his super cheerful girlfriend. He’s rude to her and calls her ugly to her face, then secretly cries rivers over how wonderful she is and how unworthy he is to even be in her presence. Luckily, his girlfriend is aware of all this and finds his tsundere tendencies adorable. The concept hasn’t gotten too stale yet, and it looks like there’s going to be some focus on the side characters, so hopefully the setup won’t wear out its welcome.

Hinamatsuri had a fantastic first episode with an amusing (if not entirely original) premise: a yakuza thug (who happens to be very low key about it and collects antique vases) is sitting at home in his nice apartment one night when a mysterious object appears in his living room. The object contains an even more mysterious young girl who has crazy psychic powers. The series, at its core, is about the relationship between the yakuza dude, Nitta, and the psychic girl, Hina, and their daily life together. They have a very father/daughter like bond, challenged by the fact that Nitta was seemingly never interested in taking care of a kid and now suddenly has to care for one who comes with a lot of baggage. Hina’s deadpan demeanor does little to mask her desire for a normal, happy family life with Nitta, and it’s clear that they care about each other very much. The supporting cast includes another girl with psychic powers who comes from the same place Hina did (and thankfully she doesn’t move in, so the series avoids the whole “harem of cute little girls” mess). The show is definitely focused on humor rather than action, so while Hina hints about being forced to fight in whatever place she came from, and she does take out a rival yakuza gang in the first episode, don’t expect a lot of intense psychic battles. The show has a sort of relaxed, slice of life feel. The art is fine, and the music is fits the story well.

Spirit Pact Season Two technically started in the middle of last season, but since it started after I wrote about what shows I was watching, it got left off the list and I’m including it now. Spirit Pact was a nice surprise when the first season aired. It’s a Chinese supernatural drama that just happens to have gay male leads. It aired around the same time as Yuri on Ice (a show I love to no end), and it’s interesting that it didn’t shy away from displaying male-on-male kisses. Now we have season two, and everything has improved. The animation is noticeably better, the opening theme is great, and we get a kiss between our leads in the very first episode. They’re not messing around this season. So far the story has been compelling, mostly dealing with flashbacks that shed a lot of light on Ki’s past and even the origins of his relationship with Keika. One of the better shows this season.

Major 2nd is a baseball anime that’s actually a sequel to a long-running classic baseball series called Major. I’ve never watched or read the original series, but you can enjoy this one without knowledge of the earlier series (and now I’m interested in going back and watching the older stuff). Major 2nd revolves around Daigo and Hikaru, the sons of two of the main characters from Major. These characters are a bit younger than in most of the sports anime I’ve watched, so the sports action feels slightly dumbed down. There’s some decent drama and character development, so it has a solid spot on my watch list despite not being a favorite.

Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online might as well just be called “Proof Everything is Better Without Kirito”. This might be the series that redeems the SAO franchise for me, with its fun, pink-clad heroine who is badass but very much relatable (something Kirito could never pull off), its focus on actual gunplay in a gun-focused game (which SAO season 2 abandoned in favor of more swordplay, for some baffling reason), and a focus on competition rather than death games. So far it’s had almost zero fanservice and almost all of the toughest players have been ladies, with unusual amounts of female friendship and respectful female rivalry (in game). Now if the show can just keep this up and not decide to throw Kirito into the mix (please God no) or suddenly give it life-or-death stakes, it might finally give me something to point to and say, “Hey, SAO isn’t all bad!” (For the record, I watched both seasons of the original SAO and enjoyed both on some level, so I’m partially joking here. Partially.)

Persona 5 The Animation has been getting some flak, and even though I’m actually enjoying it, I can’t really argue with the negative comments. The series comes across as a bit lazy, with lackluster opening and ending themes and many shots and sequences that seem directly lifted from the game to the point that they either reused animation or just traced it. It can feel like a quick cash-grab. Unlike the much more fun Persona 4 anime, they kept the protagonist mostly silent, which is disappointing. I was looking forward to seeing what kind of personality they gave him after P4‘s Yu turned out to be so hilarious. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like “Ren” is going to be doing any pseudo-drunken stripping anytime soon. There’s also the issue of pacing, which is fine right now but will probably dissolve into a mess at some point as the series just doesn’t have time to pack in even the essentials from the game. With all of these issues, many people are asking, why not just play the game instead? Well, for me personally, I already played the game. I rarely replay games. And sometimes I just like a refresher on what happened or to revisit characters without having to dig out a disk and load up a game save. And the anime has some good points too. The animation is pretty good overall. The backgrounds and environments are perfect recreations from the game, and it’s been nice to see certain areas from different angles than we saw in the game. The music is mostly music from the game, but it’s all fantastic. And so far, it’s followed the story very closely. The anime is actually a decent substitute for reliving the game without the time investment required to replay it. That alone earns it a spot on my watch list.

Boku no Hero Academia Season 3 continues being a show I enjoy very much despite my many issues with it. Sure, the ladies are all still attractive and humanoid while the guys come in literally all shapes and sizes. Sure, all the most powerful characters are men/boys and we’ve yet to see a truly powerful female character even among the pro heroes. Sure, it sticks to the standard shounen fighting series formula like glue. And sure, it’s still irritating when so many people are raving about how amazing this show is without ever bringing these issues up. But damn it, the show is just so watchable. And Deku is just so charming. The story arcs are fun and tense in equal measures, the animation is great, and the music is a perfect match for the series. The show has an extremely high entertainment value, which makes it hard to stay mad at it for all the issues I listed above. So while I find all those things very annoying, they don’t stop me from looking forward to each new episode. Still, I can’t help wondering how much MORE fun this show would be if those issues were fixed.

Nil Admirari no Tenbin is a very pretty otome series about cursed books who cause people to kill themselves and the group of people who work to find and contain them. The heroine, Tsugumi, has the power to detect which books are cursed, and so she joins this group of mostly attractive men so that she can put her ability to good use. Tsugumi sits right around the middle of the otome heroine scale that ranges from “totally passive damsel” to “badass chick the boys can’t handle”. She has a useful ability and doesn’t back down from a challenge, but she’s still way too nice to people who don’t deserve it. Regardless, the show has a romantic, dramatic look to it and is set in one of my favorite periods: 1930‘s Japan. It also has my favorite ending theme of the season, a surprisingly sexy slide show of the male characters in various states of undress and a great song to go with it. It’s not my favorite otome series, but it’s definitely one of the better ones.

Caligula is based on a video game (with the much cooler name of “The Caligula Effect”). It feels like a cross between Vocaloid (a focus on music and a mysterious idol at the center of the plot) and Shin Megami Tensei Devil Survivor (a group of people trapped in a certain place awakening to special powers). Honestly I think I would love the game but my backlog is so huge that I decided to just go ahead and watch the anime. The character designs are interesting (I particularly love the little variations in their school uniforms which really speak to their personalities) and the art is overall stylish and cool. The music, a big part of the show, is fantastic. It has one of my favorite opening themes this season (only beat out by the new Yowamushi Pedal OP) and one of the better ending themes as well. The show can get a little muddled and hard to follow at times, a byproduct of being based on a game that no doubt had a lot more time to put into the story, but it’s still entertaining. The series isn’t as deep as it tries to be, but it’s a fun ride.

Carry-Over Shows From Previous Seasons:
Yowamushi Pedal
Black Clover
Darling in the Franxx

Best of Season:
Best New Show: Golden Kamuy
Best Opening Theme: Yomamushi Pedal
Best Ending Theme: Nil Admirari no Tenbin
Best Male Character: Sugimoto (Golden Kamuy)
Best Female Character: Llenn/Karen (Sword Art Online)

Winter 2018 Anime Season:

archica — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 07:31:43 GMT

Hakata Tonkatsu Ramens is easily my favorite new show of the season. I can’t think of anything else that even comes close. The show has very attractive character designs, cool music (that ending theme gives me Cowboy Bebop vibes), and an overall stylish, frenetic feel that puts me in mind of a less crazy Durarara!!. The show touches on some surprisingly dark topics but so far has never been exploitative and keeps a mostly lighthearted tone. The characters are a lot of fun, especially in the way they all connect and interact. It should also be noted that there is very obvious sexual tension between the two male leads, yet it doesn’t feel at all like fanservice or yaoi bait. Instead it feels like a natural part of their growing friendship. The whole cast is interesting. This has to be the nicest group of assassins, information brokers, and torturers I’ve ever seen. This is hands down the show I look forward to the most every week. At the top of my watch list.

Dagashi Kashi Season Two was a bit of a surprise. I didn’t realize season two was coming out now until it popped up on Crunchyroll. I was pretty excited too, because I really enjoyed season one and adored the heroine, Hotaru. I even have a figure of her. I was drawn to Hotaru because she was so entertaining. She’s beautiful, yes (easily one of the top five most beautiful anime ladies, in my opinion), but she’s funny, persistent, and big hearted. Okay, gushing about Hotaru aside, season two is a bit different. For one, the episodes are now half the length of regular anime episodes. This works okay, since season one typically had two self-contained stories per episode. Another difference is that the animation quality seems to have dropped a little. It’s not a huge deal, but it’s noticeable. The third thing is that the Hotaru fanservice has become a lot more overt, which is particularly disappointing for me as a fan of her character. Season one had some fanservice, yes (Hotaru has fairly large breasts), but it was more subtle and a lot funnier. Season two, inspired by the heaps and heaps of pervy Hotaru merchandise that’s come out since season one, has decided to focus a lot more attention on how bouncy her boobs can be. It’s annoying, but it doesn’t make the show unwatchable, so it still has a solid spot on my watch list.

Sanrio Boys is one of two cute, feel-good shows this season (I’ll get to the other one later). It’s basically a “cute boys doing cute things” show with BL undertones that is apparently sponsored by Sanrio, as each boy has a favorite Sanrio character that they’re associated with. The show could have gotten by on being cute and fluffy and I probably would have watched it that way just because I like cute things and have a fondness for Sanrio myself. Thankfully, the show puts in the extra effort to have likable, relatable characters with interesting back stories explaining their connections to their favorite Sanrio characters. A couple of these stories literally made me cry. The friendship between the five main characters is very sweet and comforting. I also have to wonder if some of the stuff in this show is meant to be one big metaphor for being a gay youth. The main character lives in shame and denial about his love of Sanrio because “boys shouldn’t like stuff like that”. He fears being rejected by his classmates, because he was made fun of and bullied in the past over his interests. He even tries to help another character avoid being “outed” as a Sanrio fan before realizing the other boy is open and unashamed about his hobbies. A big part of the series is about him growing to accept himself and the things he likes and gradually opening up to others about it. The theme of the show seems to be, “don’t try to deny who you are, be true to yourself even if that means some people will judge you and reject you”. That’s a very positive message cloaked in Sanrio product placement.

Darling in the Franx is this season’s garbage guilty pleasure show. It has attractive art, nice animation, excellent music (that ending theme is so. freaking, good.), an interesting setting, and some truly awesome mecha battle scenes. Which would all come together to make one of the top shows of the season, if the show didn’t have some seriously ridiculous and laughable fanservice that very badly distracts from all the cool stuff. Let me just describe the cockpit situation in these mechs. Each mech must be piloted by a pair of one boy and one girl (typical of shows like this, homosexuality doesn’t seem to exist in this world). The boy sits in the seat. The girl is positioned in front of him, facing forward, on her knees, with her ass in the air, practically shoved in the boy’s face. But it gets better! Weird metal handlebar-looking things are attached to the girl’s skin-tight outfit and spring up on either side of her ass for the boy to hold onto. All together, it literally creates the image of the boy riding the girl like a freaking motorcycle. Without even getting into how ridiculously impractical this setup is (wouldn’t the girl get extremely sore and uncomfortable while trying to stay on her knees on the hard metal cockpit floor during longer battles? Wouldn’t a hot girl’s barely-clothed ass in a teenage boy’s face be extremely distracting when he’s trying to fight monsters?), just the image alone is completely absurd. I could be extremely generous here and say the writers/animators were trying to create some sort of metaphor for how these kids are being exploited by the adults and how their budding sexuality relates to the mysterious process of becoming adults (the show strongly hints that they don’t simply grow naturally into adults). But... it looks like the boys are riding the girls like motorcycles, so nah, I’m not gonna be that generous. The show tries and fails to come across as a serious, thoughtful sci-fi story, which is a shame because it might have had more success in that area if not for the stupidity I’ve outlined above. For now, I’m still watching because it does actually have some good qualities that I enjoy. But it’s pretty much at the bottom of the list.

Killing Bites is another show with fanservice, but it does fanservice right. The chicks are badass (and none of them have the bodies of eleven year old girls, thank God) and, so far, all of them are totally okay with their skimpy clothes and actually seem to feel empowered by them. These ladies enjoy being sexy, and use it to their advantage. There was a problematic scene in episode five but it did reach a satisfying conclusion. The show is action-packed, with fun battles between (generally attractive) people who can transform into animal-human hybrids. The show has plenty of humor as well. It’s nothing too deep or tightly plotted, but it’s good brainless fun.

Dame X Prince Anime Caravan is a super cute and fun otome series, one of the most entertaining ones I’ve seen in a few years. This is primarily because the heroine is refreshingly practical and proactive. She’s not a simple audience-insert who gets passed around between the guys. Instead she’s a spunky, no-nonsense rural princess who is well aware of how absurd her situation is. The guys are such over-the-top caricatures that it’s hard to root for any of them to win her heart. What results is a rare otome series in which you’ll be much more interested in the heroine than any of her suitors. That’s not to say the guys are boring. They’re actually pretty fun characters, and their interactions with the princess are hilarious. The art is very pretty and the music is cute, making this a very watchable show.

School Babysitters is the other sweet, feel-good series I mentioned above. How you feel about this show will depend entirely on how you feel about children (or at least children in anime). The bulk of the series is about an orphaned teenage boy and his little brother, and the school where the older brother is allowed to attend for free if he works after school in the on-campus daycare room to help babysit the teachers’ children. It’s absolutely adorable and heartwarming and is designed to make you say, “Awww!” as often as possible. The show can be really funny at times, and can get surprisingly deep as well. One short scene was absolutely devastating to watch if you’ve ever lost a loved one (and probably even if you haven’t). It was just a quick, simple scene and yet it instantly had me crying my eyes out. Despite this, the general tone of the show is lighthearted and positive. A couple of the kids can get a little annoying (just like real kids...) but never to the point that you’ll want to turn it off. High on my watch list.

Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru Season Two is more enjoyable for me personally than season one. When writing about the first season, I mentioned that I wished the show had focused more on the sword battles and the action than on the cute slice of life stuff. Well, last year’s Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu must have quenched my thirst, because the sweet, funny antics of the sword boys in Hanamaru seem much more entertaining to me now. The art is of course very nice, as per usual. The backgrounds and outfits are still gorgeous. There’s still a healthy dose of poignant melancholy mixed in with the fluff (mostly dealing with the sword boys’ lingering loyalties to their former masters and their inability to change those masters’ fates despite being able to travel back in time). My favorite is Kiyomitsu, who paints his nails every day in an attempt to be cute, which would sound funny and a bit superficial if you didn’t know he was doing this because of his deep-seated fear of being rejected and abandoned by his new master. Despite these sad little moments, the show is by and large a sweet, comforting experience.

Fall 2017 Anime Season

archica — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 06:54:49 GMT

Fall 2017 Anime:

Juuni Taisen was the first new series I tried this season and it’s become one of my favorites. It’s an action show that pulls no punches and really enjoys messing with audience expectations. The ending of the first episode was a genuine surprise, and the following episodes have refused to fall neatly into overly familiar or tropey territory. Even when something tropey happens, it happens in a fresh and unexpected way. The art is great, with a nice variety in character designs. I was extremely amused by the fact that the most scantily-clad character is a man (a bunny man at that, wearing almost nothing). It’s little things like this that make the show fun. The opening and ending themes are very catchy (I especially like the art that goes along with the ending theme, showing all these crazy, violent characters in their normal, everyday lives and doing a nice job of humanizing them). High on my watch list.

Black Clover is something of a disappointment, if only because it had been hyped up so much in the fandom circles I’m part of. If I had gone into it with zero expectations (and, honestly, if this had been a slower season), I might have liked it a lot. But as it stands, I went in expecting something amazing and was underwhelmed. I’m still watching, don’t get me wrong. The show has its good points and I’ll get to that. But overall I’m not super impressed with it. So the good things are the art, the interesting take on a magic-based society, and Yuno. In that order. My main issue with this series, and this might sound petty to some people, is the fact that the main character, Asta, is so damned annoying. He never speaks. He screams. Constantly. Incessantly. It literally hurts my ears. It’s to the point that I keep the remote in my hand so I can push mute when he starts screaming. It’s that bad. To some people, it’s not that big of a deal and isn’t that bad. But for me personally, it’s a major pet peeve of mine. I just can’t stand the constant screaming. Maybe it’s because loud, abrasive noises trigger migraines for me. Anywho, I’m also a little disappointed that I’ve been able to accurately predict every single thing that has happened in the show. And it’s not that I’m particularly good at predicting things. The show is just that formulaic. Of COURSE Asta is going to be the underdog who can’t use magic. Of COURSE Yuno is going to be a magic prodigy. Of COURSE Asta is going to end up with a grimmoire that’s different from everyone else’s (and probably more powerful). Of COURSE he’s going to end up with the outcast squad of magic knights that no one wants to join. Of freaking COURSE. And oops, I spoiled some things there but not really because anyone with a brain would see these developments coming a mile away. I’m still watching, but it’s dangling from the bottom of my watch list.

Sengoku Nightblood is a very pretty otome series that basically takes all the famous warlords and soldiers from the Sengoku period and turns them into clans of vampires, werewolves (pretty boys with cute wolf ears!), and various other mythological creatures. Did I mention the show is pretty? Because it’s SUPER PRETTY. And that’s basically why I’m still watching. The series is a little low on plot and the heroine is bland as hell (to the point that she might as well not even be there) but dang, those vampires and werewolves and fox boys sure are pretty! Not to mention the gorgeous backgrounds and outfits. The show is basically a treat for your eyes, and not much else. But boy is it a tasty treat.

Evil or Live is a Japanese dubbed Chinese series that falls in line with previous Chinese series I’ve watched over the past several seasons: an interesting concept, a few cool characters, and subpar animation. This obviously doesn’t apply to all Chinese shows (the amazing Quan Zhi Gao Shou from the summer season is a notable exception), but it’s the trend I’ve noticed, especially among Tencent productions. This time we have a show that’s almost scary in how possible it is to actually happen. It’s about a super strict boarding school where teens are sent when their parents think they’re too addicted to the internet and/or their smart phones. And from the start, we’re not presented with a clear-cut, black and white situation. There’s a huge moral gray area, which is refreshing. The school, and the people who work there, are depicted as ruthless and oftentimes cruel. But at the same time, the students are shown to be no angels. Even the protagonist, whom we’re rooting for, was revealed to be a rude, ungrateful little asshole to his mother in flashbacks (though he does regret his behavior once he’s at the school and has time to reflect on why he’s there). Many of the other students are manipulative or just downright mean, and many do display clear signs of actual addiction, which makes it hard to totally condemn the school as evil. Overall, it’s a compelling setup that makes you think. Unfortunately, the show is marred by lackluster art/design and the typical low budget animation I expect from Tencent. The art isn’t bad. It’s just unremarkable and unmemorable. If you can look over that, however, the show is definitely worth watching.

Tsukipro is apparently a spinoff series to the very fun Tsukiuta from a few seasons back. I would have preferred an actual second season for Tsukiuta but oh well. This is better than nothing. Instead of two cute, well-developed boy bands, we get four not-quite-as-interesting boy bands. What I liked about Tsukiuta was that it took a fairly serious, realistic look at what it meant to be in a boy band while also throwing in some light supernatural elements that somehow fit (we had a ghost, aliens, and the fact that band leader Shu is an actual demon lord, albeit a very nice one). So far Tsukipro has had no supernatural elements and is a tad bland. I’m also finding it hard to connect with any of the characters because there’s just too many of them to keep up with and it’s very difficult to keep straight who is who. Some of them even look very similar to each other (and not just the band that has a set of twins). I’m hoping the characters get more development as the series continues, and I’ll be waiting for those quirky supernatural elements.

King’s Game was one of my early favorites and is still very high on my watch list. It has a great hook that puts a fresh (and supernatural) twist on the “group of teenagers forced into a deadly game” concept. Instead of being forced to kill each other, an external force does the killing if they fail to obey the orders that are sent to them via text. The series doesn’t shy away from violence or sex (several characters get sex-related orders, including one poor guy who is ordered to have sex before midnight, but the order comes in so late that he only has a few minutes to obey). The show is tense and dramatic, with nearly every single scene having dangerously high stakes. It puts you on edge in the best possible way. There’s also that mysterious, supernatural angle, as the characters try to figure out who the King actually is. The only drawback, so far, is that the art and animation are fairly generic. This is easy to overlook, considering how strong the story is. The music is great, particularly the ending theme. A major contender for favorite of the season (and almost definitely my favorite new show of the season).

Kino’s Journey is something I’ve heard a lot about, but I’ve never watched the older anime or read any of the manga/novels/whatever. Still, I’ve been in anime fandom circles long enough to know the basic concept so I decided to try this new series. I was surprised by how pleasant the show is, and also by how violent it is. The series does an excellent job of balancing the (mostly self-contained) stories of each episode between mild, sweet tales and action-packed gun battles. There’s also a very interesting mix of settings, with some “countries” Kino visits being quaint Victorian-esque towns while others are technologically advanced modern cities. I was also surprised by Kino herself. While a generally nice and pleasant person, she can be quite ruthless and often ignores the plights of others. She’s also badass to the point that fights involving her are almost boring. But the show really is about exploration and expanding horizons rather than who wins a shootout. Even the more violent episodes leave you with a sense of comfort and satisfaction. It’s enough to make anyone want to go out and travel the world.

Dies Irae is a series I’m conflicted about. It had an “episode zero” prologue that was awesome and made me think this was going to be a favorite, but the following episodes have yet to live up to the prologue’s promise. They’re not bad at all though, so I’m not sure how to judge the show. I’m a bit mad at it for getting my hopes up, but I’m still enjoying it. The art and design are awesome. The characters are cool. The back story for the villains (basically the prologue) is very interesting. The ending theme is badass. My main issue is that it seems to be taking forever for things to get going after episode zero. I don’t know how many episodes this show is going to have, but I’m guessing it’s 12-13, and at this rate, absolutely nothing is going to be resolved. It also occasionally creeps into harem territory (a byproduct of being based on a game, I suppose). So far it’s avoided being an outright harem series but there are a few too many lady characters being flirty with the protagonist for my taste. This is just a persona preference thing though. It still has a solid spot on my watch list.

Garo: Vanishing Line is something I was excited about. I’ve watched and enjoyed previous Garo anime (though I haven’t tried the live action shows, sadly). They took place in more historical settings, so in my mind, I tend to associate Garo with that type of story. That’s why Vanishing Line, with its futuristic, sci-fi setting, seemed so interesting to me. It’s a quality show, with some great action sequences and a memorable visual style. My only problem with the show is that I’m just not as into the characters as I was in previous Garo anime. I like the protagonist, Sword (gotta love that name), and it’s nice to have a more cheerful, upbeat hero in the Golden Armor, but I don’t know enough about him to really care about him as a character. We’re almost halfway through the season and I don’t know a single thing about him that I didn’t know at the end of the first episode. The supporting cast isn’t much better. They seem cool and they look awesome but with the exception of the plucky young girl sidekick, I don’t know anything about them. Still yet, the show is a fun, wild ride.

Net-juu no Susume is probably my second favorite new show this season behind King’s Game. It’s about a group of characters playing an MMO, but in this show it’s very clear that the game is a hobby that they enjoy, and not a death trap or any such nonsense. We also get a lot of scenes of the characters outside the game, which is nice. It’s basically a sweet and funny love story about a lady shut in (an adult! wow!) playing a young male character in the game and growing attached to a cute young girl in the game, who is secretly being played by a handsome but shy adult man. The show is adorable, and it’s so nice to see a romance anime involving an MMO that stars adult characters. The art is colorful and cute and the music is peppy and fun. It’s very much a feel-good show that’s highly entertaining. Super high on my watch list.

March Comes in Like a Lion Season Two was such a nice surprise. I hadn’t even heard that season two was airing this year, so I was really happy to see it pop up on Crunchyroll. This is the show I almost didn’t watch because I didn’t get the first half of episode one. Thankfully I kept watching and realized how amazing it was. This series would be a great example to use to explain how animation can be a powerful storytelling medium, and to demonstrate how animation can accomplish things that no other medium can. The way the show conveys emotions with various color schemes and simple imagery is just beautiful. If you can sit through a whole season of this series and not cry at least once, you might be dead inside. It handles a lot of complex feelings and relationships with care and tact. It’s slow paced and very introspective, so it’s definitely not for everyone. But if you like this sort of anime, you need to be watching it.

Code Realize is a steampunk otome series where famous fictional people like Victor Frankenstein and Van Helsing are reimagined as, you guessed it, romantic pretty boys! It’s actually not as stupid as it sounds, and there’s a sense of adventure flowing through the story. The character designs are great and there’s some lovely steampunk scenery. The heroine is actually interesting this time, with a mysterious past you’ll likely want to find out more about and a strange “curse” that makes everything she touches dissolve as if dipped in acid. I also liked that she is taught some basic self defense moves so that she won’t be completely helpless in a fight, something I wish more otome heroines could do, since they tend to get attacked/kidnapped/harassed a lot. It happened in a fairly realistic way too, since it didn’t automatically make her a badass, but she can provide support in a pinch. The guys are a mixed bag, covering some of the usual types but none of them being reduced to JUST their stereotypes. One of the better otome series I’ve watched in the past few seasons.

Kekkai Sensen Season Two, or as the much more awesome English title calls it, “Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond”, is currently at the top of my watch list (King’s Game is my favorite new show, but overall BBB&B is the best). I absolutely loved season one with its over the top craziness. It had violence and humor and outlandish settings and characters, all grounded by a likable, down-to-earth lead and a fun, casual vibe. Season two has all of that as well. So far this season seems to be avoiding an overarching plot in favor of fleshing out some of the characters who didn’t get enough development in season one (I was so happy to finally get a Chain-centric episode and to find out how awesome she really is). I kind of miss the moments of poignancy that were scattered through season one, but we’ve still got time for some of that to show up in season two. I was also wondering how they were going to top the season one ending theme, which is still one of my all-time favorites. The new theme isn’t as good (though that’s an extremely high standard to meet), but it’s definitely fun and quirky and probably my favorite of the season. And this is something I said about the first season, that still holds true: this show is FUN. It radiates FUN. Even when things get relatively serious or dangerous, it’s FUN. And all that fun is infectious.

Gintama is on... what season now? It all gets a bit muddled when the show has been going for this long. There’s not a lot to say about the Gintama series as a whole that I haven’t said before. All I can do is strongly, firmly, with all of my being, recommend it to everyone who likes anime. Gintama is one of those shows that will change your life. It’s a show you’ll wonder how you lived without. That being said, this season is more of the same. I think it could have opened on stronger episodes, but this is a series in which even the weaker episodes are extremely entertaining. My one real complaint is that the stories being animated now apparently came before the major story lines of the last season in the manga, as there are characters in this season that died last season. It was a little confusing, to be honest. I’m not sure what they could do to fix this problem, and I guess most viewers in Japan are familiar with the manga and so it’s not an issue for them. It’s not a huge issue but it was a little jarring. Despite this, the show as a whole is still one of my all-time favorites.

Summer 2017 Anime Season

archica — Wed, 23 Aug 2017 20:34:04 GMT

Here's what I'm watching:

Konbini Kareshi is a slice of life high school romance that seems to focus more on the male perspective. It prominently features two couples but it looks like it might touch on more couples as well. The show is cute and sweet and has a “feel good” vibe. The drama never gets too serious (so far) but there’s enough conflict to keep you interested. The art and music are pleasant enough. It’s not my favorite of the season, but it’s just cute enough to stay on my watch list.

Dive!! is a show I had high hopes for. Another swimming anime animated by a studio with a great track record? It sounds like a guaranteed hit. But Dive!! is no Free! and that becomes clear by the end of the first episode. Dive!! looks great, has interesting character designs, and decent animation. The problem is that it seemingly fails to realize what makes sports anime so fun. We don’t watch sports anime for the actual sports. We watch it because we become invested in the characters and we want to see them win. And we become invested in the characters through watching their lives, in and out of the sport. Dive!! takes itself way too seriously, focusing almost entirely on the sport of diving and spending very little time developing the characters. I’ve watched every episode so far and I honestly can’t name a single character in the show. I don’t feel like I know any of them. They barely interact with each other at all, so we don’t get the usual team dynamics of sports anime. There’s very little humor as well. Despite all this, I’m still watching the show because I feel like it has potential. The last couple of episodes have tried to throw in some drama for the protagonist outside the sport, and at least one character has a very interesting back story that would be great if it were fleshed out. Dive!! can still be a good show, if the writers can just figure out how to let the audience connect with these characters.

Chronos Rulers is a fairly generic action fantasy anime. There’s nothing new to see here as we follow two attractive male protagonists as they travel around fighting enemies while searching for something important to them. Already sounds familiar, right? But being familiar isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and Chronos Rulers is an entertaining series with a few interesting ideas (the relationship between the two male leads, as revealed at the end of episode one, is genuinely surprising and the concept of using time as a weapon is, if not completely original, at least presented in a fun and fresh way). The character designs are sleek and stylish and the battle scenes are fantastic. It’s pretty clear that they decided to use the whole animation budget on the action scenes because the non-action scenes look pretty shabby by comparison. Still, given the genre of the series, this was probably a good decision. Chronos Rulers will never be a favorite, but it’s definitely a fun watch.

Shoukoku no Altair is like a more realistic and serious Magi. It’s set in and around a fictional desert nation with vague Arabian undertones and inexplicably stars a young blonde man. But instead of well-timed comedy and magic, we get political intrigue and a hero who relies on his wits much more than his physical capabilities. It’s an interesting setup, as the hero legitimately wants to avoid conflict at all cost and his goal in nearly every situation is de-escalation. The political aspects are made compelling by the way the show zeroes in on individual characters and how the various shifts in power affect them personally. The series also looks great and has good music. I can’t spell or pronounce any of the main characters’ names, but it’s still a solid show.

Vatican Kiseki Chousakan is one of my favorites this season, for one primary reason: the show neither glorifies nor vilifies the Catholic religion which features so prominently in the story. The series takes a fairly neutral stance on religion itself, which is refreshing. The two main characters are priests, and present a positive view of Catholicism, but at the same time, the show doesn’t shy away from portraying negative aspects as well. For example, there’s probably one major negative thing that comes to mind when you think of Catholic priests, right? Yes, this series goes there. It also makes the concept of miracles, and whether they exist or not, the defining plot point of the show. It’s all very interesting stuff, helped by the gorgeous art (the backgrounds are amazing) and the likable leads, Roberto and Hiraga. I also admired the guts it took to start the series with a multi-episode arc in an age where most anime open with a self-contained episode to introduce us to the setting and characters. At its core, this show is a mystery/thriller, and has enough creepy moments to make it good Halloween viewing, so keep that in mind for this fall. It also seems like it would lend itself well to marathon watching. High on my watch list.

Ballroom e Youkoso is very entertaining, in spite of or perhaps because of some flat-out weirdness. I have to say this first: The intense looks on the characters’ faces while they’re dancing are absolutely hilarious. They’re bizarre as hell, but still hilarious. It’s also hilarious that some of these characters look like they’re in their late 20‘s but are apparently fifteen. The female lead honestly looks waaaay too old for her supposed age. The exaggerated long-limbed and lanky figures add to this problem. Much of the anatomy and posing are downright impossible, but all this strangeness somehow adds to the show’s charm. The protagonist is, as per usual in shows like this, a likable, relatable underdog. Watching him grow through ballroom dancing is very satisfying. I honestly didn’t know ballroom dancing could be so much fun to watch, but I’ve learned that anime can make anything interesting if it’s done with the right mix of humor and tension. And this show has nailed that mix. Also, just gotta add, I would watch this show for the dresses alone. They're absolutely gorgeous and make me wanna cry rivers over the fact that I can't wear them.

Hitorijime My Hero is a BL series that caught my attention mainly by the fact that the protagonist is not the usual doe-eyed uke we see in shows like this (though there is an actual doe-eyed uke in the show, he’s a side character). Protagonist Setagawa is a pierced, bleached blonde delinquent trying to get his life back on track after separating from a bad group of guys, which automatically makes him a refreshing lead. He’s not naive. When the show’s lead seme (who does seem more like a traditional seme) toys with him, Seta is fully aware of it, and his reactions are more believable. This makes their relationship as a whole very interesting. The secondary relationship, between Seta’s best friend and a classmate, is more in line with the usual BL setup, and is unfortunately steeped in some of the worst BL tropes (manipulation and emotional blackmail galore). At least these negative tropes are presented in a more honest way in the main relationship, where the seme’s problematic tendencies are called out as being just that: problematic. Aside from that, the art is very nice, with very attractive character designs (Seta’s eyes are drawn in an usual way for a bishounen style but they give him personality). The music is also peppy and fun. Overall, it’s one of my favorites of the season.

Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu is basically a dream come true. A few seasons back, there was another Touken Ranbu anime and I talked about the fact that, after the first episode, I thought it was going to be my favorite of the season. The art was gorgeous (those outfits! those backgrounds! that generally fluid animation!) and the characters were likable. And the basic concept was really cool. Then the series went from an action fantasy series with awesome sword fights to a fluffy slice-of-life series about cute sword-boys doing laundry and opening butler cafes and going shopping. Like I said back then, it was cute and all, but I really wish it had stayed focused on the action elements because they were much more interesting. And now we have this anime, Katsugeki, and it’s pretty much everything I wanted from the first Touken Ranbu anime. The focus is squarely on the sword battles and the missions the characters go on to protect history from monstrous creatures. Yes, we get some humor and some silly hijinks but they are scattered lightly amongst the bloody battles. Katsugeki is awesome, and it’s at the very top of my watch list.

Cleanliness Boy Aoyama-kun is a comedy/parody series lightly disguised as a sports anime. You’d be forgiven for watching the first episode and dropping it, assuming it was a one-note series with not much to offer. But continue and watch episode two. I dare you watch the second half of the episode without cracking up. Aoyama-kun gives similar vibes to last year’s Handa-kun, as both feature a quiet protagonist seemingly obvlivious to the fact that he is surrounded by admirers who will sometimes go to extreme (and hilarious) lengths to help him. The major difference is that Handa wasn’t anywhere near as cool as everyone thought he was and assumed everyone hated him, whereas Aoyama is actually cool (even if he doesn’t know it) and is only vaguely aware that people like him. I think Handa-kun’s setup was more funny, but Aoyama-kun is still pretty good. The art is fine, with some nice comedic facial expressions, and the music is a good fit for the show. At its core, Aoyama-kun is a silly little show that is surprisingly entertaining if you give it a chance.

Spring 2017 Anime

archica — Wed, 07 Jun 2017 20:02:17 GMT

Fukumenkei Noise is one of my favorites this season. We need more shoujo romances like this, with cool, stylish art and awesome music and heroines who actually, you know, do stuff besides pine after guys (and to be clear, the heroine here does pine after a guy, but it’s definitely not the only thing she does, and she’s a refreshingly proactive heroine). The love triangle is particularly interesting because both male love interests seem to have an equal shot at ending up with heroine Nino. My favorite is Yuzu, and his attempts to support Nino and her crush on Momo while also being in love with her himself, and his conflicted feelings between wanting her to be happy and wanting her love for Momo to fail, are the highlights of the series. There’s also the “secretly in an alternative rock band” angle, which provides for some great costume changes and even better songs. Overall, it’s one of the better shoujo anime of the past few seasons.

Royal Tutor Haine is a cute and quirky little comedy about a no nonsense tutor called in to teach four difficult princes how to best prepare to be king (in the event their older brother dies or something, I guess). The charm really comes from the tutor himself, Haine. He looks like he’s twelve, but he’s actually a full-grown adult with appropriately adult-like voice and mannerisms. We see this often with female characters (to justify sexualizing characters that look like little girls, usually) but it’s a bit more uncommon to see it like this. His genuine affection for the princes while remaining somewhat stern in his teachings is surprisingly sweet to watch. The princes themselves are a collection of bishounen stereotypes (the tsundere who’s secretly shy and insecure, the formal and stiff one in glasses, the strong, rough one who’s actually a big softie, and the flamboyant one always surrounded by ladies). I wish they had been as interesting as Haine, but they are at least cute and fun, even as they march down very familiar character arcs. The character designs are, of course, very beautiful (even the castle guards are good looking!) and the music is fine (I can take or leave the opening theme, but the ending theme is extremely catchy - especially in the alternate version with the boy band performing the song in full cosplay of the characters).

Kenka Banchou Otome is a cute little otome series with a silly premise that benefits from the short episode runtime (the episodes usually run under eight minutes each). This effectively trims out all the fat and leaves us with a strong focus on what makes the series fun: attractive male characters getting their asses handed to them by a cute, pink haired heroine who happens to be a badass martial artist (and is posing as a guy), and then said male characters falling for her (or him, from their perspective, I guess). The heroine is great because she’s kind and sweet but she will still mess these guys up if they attack or challenge her. I also have a soft spot for the guy she traded places with, who is supposed to be a rough and tough delinquent but is all too happy to put on a skirt and pose as the heroine at her all girls school (and he has a room full of posters of a certain hot male idol...). This series is basically short, quick bursts of fun.

Tsuki ga Kirei is a sweet, subtle romance that, refreshingly. spends equal time from the perspectives of both parties in the romance. I was a little iffy on the show at first, because it was slow-burning and, if I’m being totally honest, a bit boring. Both leads are so shy and quiet that it’s literally frustrating to watch them in the beginning. You’ll find yourself wanting to scream, “Somebody say something for God’s sake!” But their collective insecurities also make them painfully relatable at times. We’ve all had those awkward moments where we have no idea what to say or, worse, say the wrong thing and have no idea how to fix it. As the episodes roll by, you find yourself rooting for this cute young couple. The art has a somewhat subdued style, with lots of natural colors (hilariously, a side character is the only person with strange-colored hair, which is a fun inverse of the usual trope). Speaking of the side characters, they’re fairly interesting and get some much needed development in the brief, after credits skits that are actually really funny (which is odd since the main story has little humor). I was a little put off by the fact that, despite the characters being in middle school, it’s heavily implied that a side couple is sexually active and it’s also implied that their teacher is in love with one of her students. These aspects are mostly left to the aforementioned skits and are used for comedy, but I found them just a little bit disturbing. Overall, the show is worth a watch if you don’t mind a lot of quiet reflection in your gentle romance anime.

Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul is the second season of Rage of Bahamut and it’s one of the shows I’m enjoying most this season. I enjoyed season one quite a lot, but season two has been much better, with an awesome new heroine in Nina, a cute and silly young girl who is super strong, falls in love with every handsome guy who walks into her line of sight, and oh yeah, turns into a giant, fire-breathing dragon. Like in the first season, the show does an excellent job of balancing the humorous nature of its lead characters against the dark and violent world they live in. There are some truly horrific things going on, as the world is wrapped up in a three-way conflict between demons, gods, and the humans who are using a new sort of magic (or technology?) to reign supreme. It’s also interesting that one of the main antagonists from season one (Azazel) is now one of the main protagonists (second only to Nina), and even though I didn’t like him much before (and he’s still not a very nice person at all), the story paints his situation in a such a sympathetic light that I’m rooting for him. The animation, design work, and music are all amazing (go watch the stylish black, white, and red opening theme - you won’t regret it).

Kabukibu is another quirky show, this time about a high schooler starting his own Kabuki club and putting on amateur Kabuki performances. I don’t know anything about Kabuki besides the brief mentions I’ve seen of it in anime, so this was pretty interesting for me. The series follows familiar beats to other “characters trying to start a club so they have to recruit people” stories, complete with characters who continually refuse to join but you know they’re going to end up joining anyway. Despite this, the show is fun and very informative. It makes me want to watch an actual Kabuki play. I also like that the main character isn’t the star of the club. He can’t act to save his life. He plays a behind-the-scenes role (he writes scripts, helps with sound effects and staging, etc.). This was a nice twist on the usual formula. My only real gripe with the show is the fact that a particular female character is consistently referred to as fat or “round” by the other characters as well as herself, yet she looks just as skinny as the rest of the girls in the show. It’s just bizarre, to be honest. Another character does privately think that she’s “not as fat as she thinks”, but that still implies she’s some degree of fat and none of the other characters seem to share this sentiment. It’s basically another example of animators being so adverse to drawing fat girls that they just said “screw it" and drew another thin girl. Still, it’s a rather minor complaint in an otherwise fun show.

Quan Zhi Gao Shou (I hope I spelled that right) is a Chinese series that’s been making waves lately for two primary reasons: It draws a lot of comparisons to Sword Art Online (both feature a player with God-like gaming skills playing an MMO that seems way too important) and secondly, it’s one of the best looking animated tv series I’ve seen from any country, in a very long time. This is significant because pretty much all of the Chinese shows I’ve watched over the past few seasons have had noticeably lower animation quality than your average Japanese anime. Quan Zhi, however, is gorgeous. Everything from the backgrounds to the character models looks fantastic. So what about those SAO comparisons? It’d be easy to write off Quan Zhi as boring, because, at first glance, it’s nowhere near as exciting as SAO. No one is trapped in the game. Whatever happens in the game has no direct physical effect on the players, and even though action scenes in the game are animated as if the players are directly in the game world, it’s made clear that the players are simply sitting at computers and all the dialogue we’re hearing is either voice or text chatting in-game. It’s not even virtual reality! But depending on your age bracket, you might find the first episode of Quan Zhi to be far scarier than the first episode of SAO. This is because there are definitely high stakes for these players, even if their physical bodies are not at risk. What they could very possibly lose are their sponsorship deals and team positions, and losing those means losing their income and livelihood. The first episode is frightening for the adults in the audience, because suddenly losing your only source of income is TERRIFYING. The way the series ties itself to themes of job security and economics gives it an air of realism that’s been sorely lacking in gaming-based anime lately. High on my watch list.

Shingeki no Kyojin Season Two has been great. Everyone can say what they want about SnK being “too mainstream” or whatever but the fact is it’s a quality show and it’s brought in a lot of new anime fans. There’s usually a reason a series becomes massively popular, and in this case, it’s beautiful animation, great music, and a tightly plotted story that doesn’t always follow familiar action anime beats. Combine that with a general lack of tired romantic subplots and the fact that the show doesn’t distinguish any difference of strength between genders (if anything, it’s the ladies who are the strongest), and you have a show devoid of most of the stuff people complain about when it comes to anime. The show is not perfect, of course. Some scenes can drag on a little too long and occasionally characters do things in service of the plot that defy logic. But these are rare enough to not be a problem. I was tempted to say I’m enjoying season two more than season one (because I am enjoying it a LOT), but it’s been so long that I honestly can’t remember exactly how I felt while watching the first season. I just know it was one of my favorites in a season full of great shows. If you’re one of those people who are avoiding SnK because it’s “too popular”, you need to reevaluate why you do or do not watch a series.

Boku no Hero Academia Season Two continues to be enjoyable. This is because the series has enough charm to distract me from my issues with it (namely, that it’s faithfully marching down the standard shounen fighting anime path with practically no deviations - the show is basically Naruto with super heroes instead of ninjas and with slightly less angst). The best thing about the show by far is the protagonist Midoriya. He’s just a genuinely nice person that you’ll relate to and root for. Another highlight is his relationship with his mentor, All-Might. It’s just such a sweet, positive relationship, and it’s nice to see that there’s pretty much zero negativity here (I don’t even remembering seeing any good natured ribbing). All-Might takes a very fatherly role here (to the point that another character suspects Midoriya of being All-Might’s secret love child!), which works well for the fatherless Midoriya. In fact, there’s a general sense of positivity permeating the whole show. This is because all of the main characters, regardless of their general attitudes and behaviors, want to be heroes so they can help people. I would also commend the show for it’s variety in character designs, IF that variety extended to its female characters. Seriously, look at all the crazy or weird looking male characters, many of which don’t even look human, then look at the lady characters, all of which, without exception, are human-shaped (and they’re pretty much all the same human shape: large breasts, narrow waist, and curvy thighs). There’s only one that looks the slightest bit strange, and it’s only because of her unique coloring. It’s just a little irritating that even in a show filled with guys with literal crow heads or multiple arms and come in tons of different shapes and sizes, all the ladies are in the default “conventionally attractive” setting. Still yet, the show is a lot of fun and definitely worth watching.

Gin no Guardian is another Chinese series, albeit one that doesn’t look anywhere near as polished as Quan Zhi Gao Shou. The episodes run at around twelve minutes each, which is more common for Chinese shows. Ironically, it actually lends itself much more to SAO comparisons than Quan Zhi does, as it features an online game that characters actually go into and can presumably be hurt or possibly killed in (it’s never specifically said that but it seems to be implied, or at the very least, there are real world consequences for things that happen in the game). The first few episodes were very good, focusing on a couple who come from vastly different backgrounds (a rich heiress and a poor boy doing menial tasks on the school grounds to cover his tuition) playing a game together and connecting in that virtual world in a way they never could in reality. It was actually very well done, and a few scenes tugged on my heartstrings. But then we get a predictable plot twist that effectively shuts down that whole dynamic and turns the show into a more generic action anime with MMO elements. The show is still okay but I have to admit I’ve found myself zoning out while watching the more recent episodes.

Uchouten Kazoku Season Two is, like the first season, a unique and quirky little show full of charm. The show does a great job of developing its own world with its own rules and its own version of reality, to such a degree that even the strangest things seem normal and commonplace here. You won’t question seeing a frog playing shogi, or the most powerful being in the series methodically ironing all his shirts on the roof of a building. And all the strange things aren’t done just for the sake of being strange. There’s nothing pretentious about this show. Everything is presented with an air of gentle amusement. And even though the show has rare moments of violence and death (and they’re also presented in a natural manner - not at all for shock value or to milk some melodrama from the story), the series is overall positive and good natured. It’s helped by the interesting art style, a somewhat cartoonish design combined with rich colors and gorgeous backgrounds. The animation quality isn’t always perfect, but the overall look of the show makes up for any stumbles. And then there’s Benten, hands-down one of the best female characters to come along in years (if a figure of her existed I would buy it in an instant). Beautiful, supremely powerful, and utterly fearless, Benten is a somewhat neutral force in the story (she both helps and hurts the protagonists, at various points), and her only real goal seems to be seeking amusement. This means sometimes she’s flying around the world (literally flying, as she convinced a Tengu to give her his power) and sometimes she’s going down to hell to wrestle Oni for fun. Because why not? I would watch this show for Benten alone, but fortunately, it’s a great series even without her.

Kyoukai no Rinne Season Three is fun and all, because the world of the series and the setup are fun, but so far it seems to be limiting itself to short, one-shot stories (three per episode), which means there’s no overarching plot for this season. One or two episodes like this would have been fine, welcomed even, as they flesh out various characters are are genuinely entertaining for the most part. But several episodes? In a row? And no end in sight? I know the series has a relaxed pace, and I’ve enjoyed that aspect of it, but this is getting a little too relaxed. I really want the series to go back to actual story arcs, or even full-episode stand alone stories, since they at least have a little more development. There’s an important arc that should be coming up soon, as a new character involved in it is seen in the new opening theme, and it’s one I’m looking forward to a lot so it’s a little frustrating every week when I’m met with yet another collection of mini stories. Oh well. Like I said, the show is still fun and entertaining. It could just be a lot better.

Winter 2017 Anime Season:

archica — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 09:10:04 GMT

This is literally the dryest season I’ve seen. Almost all of the shows I’m watching are carry-overs from last season (All-Out!, March Comes in Like a Lion, Iron-Blooded Orphans, Trickster, Twin Star Exorcists). And even among the “new” shows, all but one are simply new seasons of shows I already liked (Gintama, Yowamushi Pedal, Super Lovers). The only totally new show here is Spirit Pact. So here’s what I think about them.

Spirit Pact is another series from the studio that brought us The Outcast and Bloodivores, which means it’s based on a Chinese comic and the Japanese version is actually dubbed over the original Chinese voices. It also means the animation quality is subpar and the story is a bit muddled but has a lot of interesting ideas and doesn’t fall neatly into the usual anime tropes. Spirit Pact is notable in that there is very obvious homosexual attraction between the two male leads (they even kiss, sort of). And not just in a, “fangirls’ imaginations running wild” sort of way. This is deliberate and factors into the plot. I’ve seen people calling it a yaoi or shounen ai series, but I hesitate to label it that way. The show is, first and foremost, an action/fantasy/supernatural series. While the relationship that is growing between the two male leads is compelling, it’s definitely not the main focus of the story. The show has likable characters, a rich mythology, and some lovely design work that negates some of the shoddy animation (the outfits and backgrounds are really nice-looking). High on my watch list.

Gintama’s new season began airing in January, and it was such a welcome return. It wastes no time at all diving into the next major story arc, which makes for some exciting and fast-paced episodes, but leaves little time for the series’ trademark comedy. As much as I love the more serious storylines, it was the silly comedy that hooked me on this show, and we’ve had three back-to-back serious story arcs with practically nothing in between. I wish the serious arcs had been spaced just a little farther apart. But this is a minor complaint, since every single episode has been incredibly entertaining, and even at its worst, Gintama is still head and shoulders above 90% of everything else out there.

Yowamushi Pedal is on its third season now, and this really feels like a new season, as opposed to a continuation. It’s a new school year. The third years have graduated and new first years are joining the bicycling club. It’s a pretty exciting time in the series, with new rivals and, of course, returning favorites. The show hasn’t lost any of its goofy, bizarre charm (there’s a character who has named his own pectoral muscles Andy and Frank and he even talks to them! This show is approaching Prince of Tennis levels of batshit crazy I swear), and it’s all still held together by a super likable protagonist who keeps the show grounded even at its weirdest.

Super Lovers season two is getting dangerous. Back when I talked about the first season, I said I would keep watching until it goes from “cute but slightly uncomfortable” to “downright disturbing”. Well, season two is definitely walking that line, sometimes stumbling across it but then catching itself before it goes too far. There have been moments that made me cringe, but at this point I’m really attached to the characters so I can’t imagine just dropping the show outright. If Ren didn’t look so young compared to Haru (on his own, he looks like an average anime high school student, but next to the tall, manly Haru, he looks like a kid), and if the series didn’t keep hammering us over the head with the family aspect, the show wouldn’t be giving its audience a moral dilemma every time they watch. Still, the show has its sweet and funny moments, and a very enjoyable cast, so I’ll keep watching for now.

Fall 2016 Anime Season:

archica — Mon, 12 Dec 2016 07:12:41 GMT

Here's what I'm watching!

Yuri On Ice!! is, in a word, a gift. I’m sure most everyone has heard of it by now if not watched every available episode with rabid glee. So I’m not going to talk about its premise or anything like that. Here’s what I will talk about: This is the first show, in a very long time, that I have enjoyed so thoroughly. Back when Sailor Moon first started airing on Cartoon Network, I would record episodes on my VCR and, as soon as I finished watching a new episode, I would watch it again. I’d probably watch each episode around five or six times before the next day, when another episode would air. Yuri On Ice!! is literally the first anime since Sailor Moon that has provoked this behavior in me. There have been shows I’ve rewatched certain episodes or scenes from, of course. But no other show has made me want to immediately rewatch an episode as soon as I finish it. From beginning to end. And every. single. episode. has been like this. Now, I’m not going to go much more deeply into WHY this show is so good. Some of the best things about it are definitely spoilers (i.e. one of the biggest criticisms of the show was beautifully debunked in a recent episode, but explaining this would ruin an incredible surprise). I will say that the art is gorgeous, the production values are sky-high, the opening and ending themes are, hands-down, the best of the season, and the relationships between the characters are wonderfully genuine and touching. Oh, and there is real, natural character growth. Yuri On Ice!! consistently makes me smile, even when I’ve been depressed or had an otherwise shitty day. For that, I will always be grateful. This show is at the very tippy top of my watch list.

All Out! is another new sports anime, this time for rugby (a sport I’m entirely unfamiliar with). This show is at once more pandering than the usual sports anime (large teams of handsome, muscular guys in tight shirts and short shorts slamming into each other on the field) and more earnest than the usual sports anime (unlike in most shows where the team we follow is already a “powerhouse school” or at least a former “powerhouse school” looking to reclaim their glory, this team is fairly new and weak when we meet them, with no proper coach and only a couple of players that have any actual skill in the game). This makes for an amusing watch. On one hand, you can’t help rooting for this underdog team who have their “training camp” at their own school because they can’t afford to go anywhere else, but on the other, it’s sometimes hard to take the show seriously when most of the characters are bara-esque buff dudes with delicate, pretty boy faces and great hair. It’s a fun show though, with a firm spot on my watch list.

Lostorage incited WIXOSS is another series in the “Selector Wixoss” franchise. I’ve never been super into these shows, but they’ve always been just interesting enough for me to follow. I liked that they largely dealt with friendships and relationships between girls, as acted out through dramatic card battles. There was a lot of mystery, but most of that was cleared up by the second series. This is sort of a reboot, with a totally new cast and with the game having completely new rules. One of those changes to the game, and probably the most surprising, is that for the first time, boys can be Selectors and participate in the battles to get their wishes granted. I’m a little uneasy about this new rule. One of the things I liked about the earlier versions of the show was that it was basically a girls club that boys were excluded from. Boys could play the basic game, but not be Selectors. They could be aware of the Selector battles and, if memory serves, even observe them, but they couldn’t participate. In a world where usually the opposite is true, this was sort of refreshing. Anyway, Lostorage has so far disappointed me because it hasn’t really done anything to warrant this change. If they’re going to let boys play, then there should be something interesting in the plot that makes it worthwhile, or at the very least, there should be some interesting boy Selectors to shake things up. So far we’ve only seen three, and only one of them is the least bit memorable. Even he is kinda boring. To make matters worse, the girls aren’t much better. One of the leads is sweet but could be changed out with any other sweet anime heroine, and the other is selfish, manipulative, and cruel, which is supposed to be a change in her character. The problem is that we didn’t see enough of her before the change, or enough reason to justify her behavior, for us to care about her at all. As it stands, I’m literally rooting for something terrible to happen to her, and I’m fairly certain that’s not what the writers intended. The show is at the lowest point on my watch list, but it’s still hanging on.

Drifters is based on a manga by the guy who made Hellsing, so that should give you a basic idea of what you’re in for with this show: Lots of blood, violence, badass dudes, chicks with huge boobs, and questionably-timed comedy. The premise is interesting, hinging on the idea of particularly strong or skillful historical figures being transported to a fantasy world at their time of death, so they can fight on one of two sides in a major war. It’s pretty cool to see characters from different cultures, and different time periods, interacting. It’s even somewhat heartbreaking when a character who “died” decades before another character asks what happened to his children, only to learn things didn’t turn out at all well for his offspring. Drifters relies on a similar entertainment formula to Hellsing, in that it goes to great pains to make you despise the villains for their cruelty and wickedness just so their eventual extreme punishment will be that much more satisfying to watch. I’m not gonna lie, watching a bunch of gang-rapists get their bodies shot full of arrows as they cry and beg to be spared was pretty fun (bonus: their victims got to watch!). The only major gripe I have with the show is that so far, powerful lady characters are few and far between (and almost exclusively on the “villain” team). Which is surprising, considering that Hellsing gave us such badass women as Seras Victoria and Integra Hellsing, both of which were major characters on the “good” side. The main protagonist of Drifters also refuses to kill women, even villains he’s in battle with, and doesn’t like to fight them, saying there’s no glory in taking a woman’s head and even telling a lady enemy to “go home and act like a woman”. I’m willing to overlook it because he’s from the Sengoku era and it’s natural that he’s going to have outdated views, but it’s still annoying as hell to hear bullshit like that from a main character. I’m still watching because it’s a fun idea and the art is good.

Bungou Stray Dogs Season Two is so far much darker and more serious than season one. It’s almost easy to forget how funny and light-hearted this show used to be. Season two opened with a mini-arc featuring events from a main character’s past. This was sort of a strange way to open the season, because there are few recognizable characters in this arc and the viewpoint character is entirely new to us. The first couple of episodes were a little boring, for me. By the end of this story arc, however, I was really into it (and it has one of the most heart-stopping moments of the season). When we return to the current storyline, things get serious very fast as a three-way war begins between the groups of super powered characters. As with season one, the art is fantastic and the music is great. The darker story is immediately gripping, though the show is currently so focused on plowing through the plot that it hasn’t had time for all the great character moments that season one was full of. Overall season two feels very different from season one. Both have their good points, but I think I preferred the humor and character development of season one to the edge-of-your-seat action and plotting of season two. Still very high on my watch list.

Haikyuu!! Season Three seems to be entirely comprised of a single game (the title of the match up is even the subtitle of the season). It’s a major game, to be sure, but I’m not sure devoting an entire 12-13 episode cour to it is the best approach. The charm of sports anime primarily lies in the balance between games/matches and non-game moments, such as training exercises or more casual “hanging out” scenes. I usually end up enjoying these non-game moments more, so it’s been a little sad to not have those outside of some flashbacks. Still, the game this cour is centered on is tense and entertaining, so I can’t complain much. I’m definitely enjoying the show.

BBK/BRNK Season Two picks up a short time after season one ended. This season gives us a more clearly defined villain and also gives a lot more screentime to the various other Bubuki teams. It introduces several new teams as well, including one that is temporarily led by Kaoruko, the twin sister of the protagonist (Azuma) who only briefly appeared as a child at the beginning of season one. To be honest, I was expecting her to be a little cooler, and was annoyed by her treatment in the story. Even though she displays very obvious skill at a young age and is clearly far more talented than her twin brother, their father decides to leave her alone in a foreign country (when she’s just a child!) so that he can take Azuma on a training adventure around the world. The reason being to “keep Kaoruko safe” because she’s a girl. And yeah, she finds this ridiculous and says it’s an outdated way of thinking, but it doesn’t change the fact that such bullshit happened and the father and brother are seen as noble protectors while she’s characterized as a spoiled brat. This sort of blatant sexism wasn’t in season one (where the two most powerful figures in the series were both women), but season two is full of it. From those two powerful figures being basically depowered to a sharp increase in fanservice, to a repeated theme of girls needing to be rescued by boys, to the fact that male characters are far more important to the narrative than female characters are, season two seems to be written by completely new writers. I’m still watching because I’m invested in the characters at this point, but it’s dangling low on my watch list.

Bloodivores is animated by the same studio that did The Outcast from last season, so I was a little worried that I would end up with another muddled, nonsensical plot held together by a couple of cool characters and a handful of interesting ideas. Luckily, Bloodivores doesn’t suffer from the same problems as The Outcast (on the downside, it also doesn’t have a supremely badass lady character either). The overall plot is more straightforward. There’s some mystery, of course, but it’s actually well-placed and fits with the story. It also has several cool characters, as opposed to two. I wish more of them were ladies, but there have been hints dropped about a couple of female characters that indicate they might end up being pretty awesome later on. It’s also worth noting that while the main female character has hilariously gigantic boobs that don’t seem to fit her body at all, it’s the male characters who are far more likely to come out of their clothes at various points in the show. Equal opportunity fanservice is fun. And oh yeah, it’s based on a Chinese comic (and is actually a Chinese/Japanese co-production, which explains why all the characters have Chinese names), so the story has a slightly different feel to it than your average anime. It’s action-packed and has some great fight scenes. Surprisingly high on my watch list.

March Comes in Like a Lion is a great example of why you should always watch at least one full episode before dropping a show, unless you see something grossly offensive or blatantly awful. The first half of episode one was a total turn off for me. It was quiet, with practically no dialogue, and was full of the sort of artsy, abstract imagery I usually just don’t like in anime. The whole thing seemed to scream, “I’m trying too hard to be artistic and symbolic! Look how artistic and symbolic I am!” I had honestly decided to drop the show, but on a whim, gave the show a few more minutes. When the second half kicked in, it was like a completely different show, and the contrast between these two halves carries throughout the series. When the protagonist is alone or at one of his shogi matches, we get the artsy, abstract stuff with hardly any dialogue (besides his occasional narration). When he goes to visit a nearby family who have collectively taken him under their wings, the whole show changes. Suddenly it’s all warm colors and earthy, urban imagery. There’s comedy and tons of dialogue and a sweet, fuzzy feeling that’s hard to describe. This duality is very striking, and makes total sense in the context of the show (and later revelations give clarity to the somewhat cold and “empty” first half of episode one). The protagonist feels very authentic to me. He’s been through some truly traumatic experiences, and instead of the usual melodramatic tripe we see, his behavior actually fits. At times he seems numb, a deliberate reaction he’s forced onto himself to make it through daily life. Sometimes he gets overwhelmed by his pent up emotions and cries. Sometimes lets himself have fun. And sometimes he genuinely wants to comfort someone who is suffering through similar pain to his, but his own refusal to deal with his past leaves him paralyzed. I appreciated the fact that, rather than being stone-faced and unfeeling, he goes through a range of emotions. A subtle but beautiful and heart wrenching show.

Izetta: The Last Witch is a show i have a major love/hate relationship with. On one hand, the animation is fantastic and the two most important characters are strong ladies (and there’s a faint implication that they might be in love, which would be nice if it wasn’t seen exclusively through the male gaze). The music is good, and the battles, featuring a literal flying witch doing magical warfare with WW2 era militaries, are breathtaking. There’s something, well, magical, about watching Izetta fly around (on a giant rifle instead of a broom) a battlefield, taking out tanks with her magic-infused spears and lances. The fact that this takes place in what are otherwise realistically portrayed military battles is just awesome. But on the other hand, the show is way too interested in fanservice and the scenes outside of battle, with the lady characters (the two leads plus their guards and servants) just hanging around are literally painful to watch. They could have been charming and sweet and heart warming. Instead, they seem to be on a mission to cover every annoying “cute girl anime” stereotype and trope they can think of. Girls groping and undressing each other for no reason? Check. Girls comparing their breast sizes as if that’s the single most important aspect of their beings? Check. Girls eating sweets and making vaguely orgasmic sounds? Check. Girls blushing when they’re sharing a bed and having sort-of-but-not-quite lesbian scenes that will never go anywhere because the boys watching this show like to imagine they can somehow score with them? Check. And don’t even get me started on the impracticality of some of the outfits for the ladies (I will NEVER understand the whole “belt straps above and beneath the breasts” thing on anime military uniforms for chicks - what the hell are they for besides emphasizing their boobs?). But I’m still watching because damn, those battles are a visual feast.

Uta no Prince Sama Season Four is mostly more of the same. The show is cute and fun and endlessly silly. The only exception is two of the most recent episodes, the first of which spent a grueling twenty minutes “breaking the cutie”. The show went quite a bit darker than it ever had at this point and I was honestly surprised. Other than that, there’s not much to say that I didn’t already say numerous times before about the previous seasons. It’s nice to get to know the Heavens members, I guess?

Kiss Him, Not Me is going to require a bit of unpacking. It’s one of the shows I’m enjoying most this season, despite the fact that its setup and basic premise are almost horrifically offensive to fat people (a group I am definitely part of). I’m going to be spoiling the first episode (which is mostly just setup, but anywho). Okay, so the basic premise is this: Kae is a somewhat average fat girl who happens to be a major fujoshi (yaoi fan, basically). There are also four main male characters. Two of them are outright rude and dismissive of her. One of them is nice but clearly has zero interest in her, and the last one, my darling Mutsumi, is heavily implied to like her from the very beginning (and is the only guy with any business being near her, to be honest). Now here’s where things get pretty gross. Kae’s favorite character from her favorite show is killed off, and she spends a week huddled in her room, mourning him. She doesn’t eat during this week, and so, after seven days of literally starving herself, she wakes up to find herself suddenly thin and beautiful. She just so happens to lose weight in ONLY the right places, so she has a perfect figure! An apparently losing weight cured her vision problems, because she wore glasses while fat but doesn’t have to while thin! And her hair is suddenly glossy! And her skin is perfect! And her eyes, that had been tiny before, are now huge! And strangest of all, her voice went from a weird, manly-sounding deep tone to a light and airy feminine tone after losing weight! Wow! Look at all the ways starving for seven days will improve your looks! With no exercise! What a great message to send to the young girls watching this show! An even better message: When you suddenly lose weight and get hot, it’s a great idea to befriend and go out with guys who found you disgusting before! I mean, it’s not like they’re totally shallow creeps who don’t give a shit about your personality, right?

And so that’s the basic idea behind the show. I was literally angry after watching that first episode. Because it was so completely insulting. But I kept watching. And kept watching. And damn it if the show isn’t extremely entertaining. If I just try to pretend that whole weight loss bullshit never happened, I can enjoy the show very much. It does a lot of things right. For one, we get a lady in the reverse harem! So there’s a possible lesbian route that’s actually really interesting. For another, Kae’s fujoshi ways are hilarious. She really would rather these guys hook up with each other than hook up with her. And their tolerance for it, despite their general discomfort with the idea, is pretty admirable. They don’t judge her for her (by their standards) weird hobbies, and actually do make an effort to share in her interests, which is nice. And the only thing about the whole weight loss debacle that was not awful? Kae’s happiness is never tied to her weight or, for that matter, her appearance in general. She was happy and well-liked by her friends before the weight loss, and after. She’s probably the character least impressed by the weight loss, because she really doesn’t seem to care what size she is. This mostly stems from the fact that she honestly doesn’t care if these hot guys are attracted to her. She’d much rather they be attracted to each other. I did appreciate that she wasn’t portrayed as a lonely, miserable person while fat, even if that’s literally the only thing they did right. The show is funny, the art is cute, and it’s just overall enjoyable to watch. I guess you could say it’s my “problematic fave”.

Magic-Kyun! is a cute and sweet otome series. It could honestly be swapped out for any other musically themed otome series, but it’s still enjoyable. The focus isn’t on music alone, but other forms of art as well, which makes things interesting. It’s legitimately nice to see the characters bonding through their artwork as opposed to falling for each other for no real reason. I also like the way the series connects magic to art to give the show a fantasy vibe. The idea that magic is a result of your hard work and artistic talent, rather than used as a tool, is interesting. The art is pretty and the music is fine. A nice “feel-good” series.

Touken Ranbu is another “feel-good” series, for the most part. The problem is that the easy-going, relaxed episodes are kinda boring in contrast to the sword battles that are awesome but sparsely used. It’s based on a game and is basically about famous swords taking human form in order to battle villains that are trying to alter history. This sometimes results in the sword-boys being at the exact place and time when their original owners were killed, but being forbidden from interfering. This makes for some fascinating scenes. Unfortunately, moments like these are few and far between, as we mostly watch the sword boys being cute, cooking for each other, doing laundry, etc. It’s all sweet and fluffy, and in another show it might have been nice. But since we do get glimpses of what the show is capable of, it makes the “down time” episodes all the more unsatisfying. Honestly, after episode one I thought this was going to be one of my favorites of the season. Sadly, that’s not the case at all. It does have lovely character designs (the outfits in particular are amazing) and pleasant music. And it does usually make me smile. It just could have been so much better.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Season Two is doing a few things right. For one, they’ve wisely decided to focus a lot less on the “love triangle” of Mikazuki, Atra, and Kudelia (I might be murdering those spellings but I can’t be bothered to google them). In fact, it’s sometimes easy to forget the love triangle ever existed. Kudelia has seemingly been demoted from heroine to side character, which is honestly okay for me, since I was never wild about her in the first place. Mikazuki/Atra seems to be where this is going, and I think that’s definitely for the best. We’ve met another badass lady mobile suit pilot, and I think it’s interesting that all these chicks can go toe-to-toe with Mikazuki despite the fact that he’s had three surgeries to alter his body so that he can better pilot these machines AND he has an over-powered mobile suit, yet they’ve had no surgeries and are in weaker machines. Also, I like the fact that some of the younger members of the group are getting more development. The story of two particular characters had me in tears despite the fact that you could tell from the beginning that it was heading for tragedy. It was like watching a child getting ready to knock over a glass of juice and you keep saying, “Don’t do it, don’t do it” and they do it anyway. The only thing that bothers me is that Orga has been shoved into more of an administrative position and we get less scenes of him and Mika working directly together to tear shit up. Over all, season two is more enjoyable for me than season one. Keep it up, Gundam!

Trickster is supposed to be a detective series, but it comes across more as an action crime drama with super powers. The characters technically do some detective work, but it’s never really focused on and the audience is never expected to try to solve any cases. It’s all about the action for this show. The art is really colorful and fun. The music is peppy and energetic. The characters are great, including one team member in a wheelchair who is still an active, valuable member who goes on “cases” with the rest of them. The series has some darker, more dramatic moments balanced out by more light-hearted scenes. There’s nothing ground-breaking or especially unique here if you’ve watched any other action anime with crime/detective elements, but it’s still a fun, entertaining show.

archica — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 20:03:43 GMT

Summer 2016 Anime Season:

Orange is easily my favorite of the summer season. I’d been hearing about the manga for a long time now, and it was always on my list of “manga I need to read someday”. Then I heard they were making an anime so I decided to just wait for that. I know I can’t make an educated judgment on the show as an adaptation, since I didn’t read the manga, but as a fan of shoujo anime, I can confidently say it’s fantastic. The premise instantly hooks you: a young girl begins receiving letters from her future self, outlining all her regrets and pleading with her to change them, especially when it comes to the handsome new transfer student, Kakeru, whom the letters inform her is “no longer with us”. This whole concept of dealing with the regrets of your past is a powerful one. Pretty much everyone alive has at least one major regret in their lives, and the fear of regretting something so strongly that it still haunts you ten years into the future is a universal terror. It’s why I still think the episode of The Twilight Zone called “Spur of the Moment” is one of the most frightening stories in the series. Instead of taking the horror approach, Orange takes the dramatic, heart-wrenching route. And it works. I’ve already lost count of how many times this show has made me cry. There’s a quiet, subtle beauty to it. Everything feels so natural, even though the core concept of the series is supernatural. It helps to ground the whole thing firmly in reality. And even though the protagonist, Naho, could practically be subbed out with any other generic shoujo heroine (she doesn’t actually have that much personality), it’s her story that will move you. Her attempts to erase the regrets that plague her future self make her admirable and easy to root for, not to mention relatable. The show touches me on an emotional level that few other stories, of any medium, manage to reach.

Morose Mononokean has such nice, clean art and beautiful colors that it instantly drew me in. I often find myself drawn to shows that feature the friendship and/or rivalry between a blonde boy and a dark-haired boy. The leads here are Abeno and Ashiya, and the chemistry between them makes for a fun show as they help various youkai and visit the Underworld. There’s a rather rich mythology here, which begins to take shape around episode four. The series is episodic in nature, at least for now, with the overarching plot mostly centered on the growing friendship between the two boys. It’s fairly light-hearted, making for a charming, easy-to-watch series. It’s pretty high on my watch list and an early favorite this season, behind Orange.

Active Raid Season Two is, so far, a little more interesting than season one was at this point. Probably because I’m already familiar with the colorful cast and I can reasonably predict the levels of fanservice I’m going to be subjected to (quite mild in this show, in case you’re wondering). I find the opening and ending themes as boring as I did season one’s, but the animation is fairly consistent and the action scenes are well done. I’m a little disappointed that the heroine from season one, Asami, has seemingly been relegated to a supporting role (in the narrative, not in terms of her role in the team - she’s actually been given command of her own unit). I liked her a lot, so it’s not quite as fun when she’s not around (and the new characters aren’t as interesting). Hopefully she’ll play a bigger role in future episodes. For now, the series is solidly watchable.

Lightning & Sugar is just a big ball of heartwarming fluff. Featuring a single father trying to raise his adorable young daughter and learn to cook meals for her instead of just feeding her boxed lunches from the convenience store, this series is designed to make you sigh and say, “Awwww” every few seconds. And it works incredibly well. There’s also a “food porn” angle, as the series spends a lot of screen time on the loving preparation of meals and then displaying the results in such a way that you’ll definitely feel hungry while watching. Get yourself a snack and sit down to try this sweet, endearing show.

Cheer Danshi is one of the shows I was most looking forward to this season. Over the years I’ve come to love sports anime, and this season there were two sports I hadn’t experienced in anime: Soccer (in DAYS, and yes, I’m aware there have been other anime about soccer but I haven’t watched them), and mens’ cheerleading in Cheer Danshi (and I’m fairly sure there hasn’t already been an anime about this sport). There’s a certain novelty to the idea of an all boys cheerleading team, but the show takes its sport seriously enough to make you root for the characters but not so seriously that it forgets to have fun with it. I also like that the characters are in college, meaning they’re adults. Adults simply have different priorities and values, so it’s interesting to see a sports anime that’s not about teenagers. The art is great, with nice, varied character designs (we even have a positively portrayed fat character!) and the music is upbeat and fitting. Very high on my watch list.

Servamp is a series I was a little iffy on before watching the first episode. After watching the first episode, I was hooked. The art and animation are very attractive. I love the design work and the lighting. It all looks great. The characters are a lot of fun, and despite some serious moments and truly tragic back stories, the series has so far avoided being bogged down with angst. It has a fairly original take on vampires (and that’s an accomplishment these days). The opening and ending themes are energetic and exciting. Overall, it’s a quality show. My only minor gripe is the lack of lady characters, but I’m guessing that will be addressed as more characters are introduced. High on my list.

Tsukiuta is one of two series airing this season about male idol groups. To be perfectly, totally honest, I’m having just a bit of trouble keeping the lineups of characters separate. I suspect this problem will get easier to deal with as more episodes roll by and I get more into the casts. For now, I think of Tsukiuta as “the slightly more realistic one” while the other, B-Project, is “less crazy UtaPri”. Both series follow a large group of male idols that are divided into smaller groups, and are basically about the efforts of these young idols to move up in the entertainment world by taking on jobs like acting in plays, shooting commercials, etc. The main difference is that B-Project is an otome series, so we get a lone heroine for the boys to fawn over, while Tsukiuta is pretty much all about the boys, and provides a lot more BL undertones. There’s also a slight difference in tone. Tsukiuta is a bit more serious (even with an actual ghost episode), with the idols themselves being less overblown caricatures and a little more like actual people. This makes them easier to relate to and root for, but also a little more boring. Tsukiuta also employs CG for the elaborate dance numbers. It doesn’t look as horrible as you might expect. In fact, the CG models are extremely close to the 2D models. The songs are good, and we get a new ending song every week, so that’s nice. It’s a charming, easy-going show.

91 Days is set in the Prohibition era, which gives it a unique vibe (reminding me of Baccano!, at least in the setting/clothing). It’s a mafia revenge story following a young man named Angelo tracking down the men who slaughtered his family when he was a child. The story feels very American (and not just because it’s set here). It’d be easy to assume the people behind this series were huge fans of the Godfather movies. That being said, the show looks fantastic, has great music, and has genuinely surprised me numerous times. It’s definitely not your average anime series, and it’s so refreshing to see shows like this that don’t follow the usual anime tropes. My only complaint is the lack of significant ladies, but like with Servamp, I’m banking on the hope that this problem will be addressed as more characters are introduced.

Handa-kun is the prequel to Barakamon, which aired a few seasons back. It’s important to note that while Barakamon definitely had humor, it also had some serious moments that allowed its characters to grow and develop, even having some rather sad and poignant moments sprinkled lightly throughout. This prequel series is a straight up comedy that has no interest in anything remotely serious, so if you enjoyed Barakamon and are looking for more of the same, you’re out of luck. But if you’re looking for a genuinely funny comedy, pull up a chair. Other than the boring first half of episode one (what were they thinking with that overplayed sketch that wasn’t even funny?), the jokes work most of the time. Handa’s extremely neurotic nature makes for some truly funny moments, and his constant misunderstanding of the intentions of everyone around him never gets old. Likewise, his admirers constantly misunderstanding Handa’s awkwardness as cool rebellion also never gets old. The animation is fine for a comedy and the music fits the show.

Alderamin on the Sky has become one of my favorites of the season, despite having a somewhat meh first episode. There’s something to be said for a show that gets progressively better with each episode, because those are the shows that usually end up being fantastic overall experiences. I was talking with a friend and fellow Alderamin watcher the other day and we both remarked that we had grown attached to these characters unusually fast. I was genuinely invested in them as of episode two, which is rare in anime (especially in fantasy anime based on light novels, which have a stigma of being generic harem trash). The protagonist, Ikta, is actually interesting, as opposed to being a bland viewer stand-in. And then we have Yatori, probably my favorite lady character of the season. She’s so badass that her ferocity is legitimately frightening. I’m so used to other anime or manga where I’m constantly told a female character is strong and capable and yet, we either never see her in action or, (even worse), when faced with a chance to prove her strength, she ends up easily defeated or needing to be rescued by a male hero. I won’t name any characters, but I’m sure everyone can think of a few. So I was truly surprised and delighted that Yatori’s strength was not nerfed, and instead we’re finding out more and more how truly awesome she is. Great characters aside, the show is gorgeous to look at, with some eye-popping uses of lighting and color. I wasn’t particularly impressed with the music, but that’s such a subjective thing. Probably the only show that could end up edging out Orange as my favorite of the season.

B-Project is the other show about male idols I mentioned above. Since it’s an otome series, of course it’s going to remind me of Uta no Prince-sama. It’s less ridiculous than UtaPri though, which means it’s also a little less fun. Still, the music is good and the art is serviceable. The characters are fairly interesting so far, though it’s been a little hard for me to remember which members are in which of the three sub-groups. The heroine is, as per usual, pretty generic, but she’s likable enough. The show doesn’t really bring anything new to the genre, but it’s entertaining and worth a watch, especially if you’re an UtaPri fan who’s had a void in your life since it stopped airing.

Hitori no Shita: The Outcast is, well, different. It’s a bit muddled and weird but I’m watching primarily for two reasons: 1) a badass heroine who isn’t at all sexualized or glamorous (yet) and 2) copious night-time scenes that usually include zombies or well-executed battles. It also has great opening and ending themes. I wish the show would spend a little more time developing the characters aside from the protagonist, because many of them are interesting but a bit... blank. Like the female lead, whom I really enjoy but would like to know more about. I know a sense of mystery is important, but pretty much every single character besides the protagonist is a mystery. As much as I like some of the ideas behind the show, I sometimes find myself “tuning out” while watching. Which is not a good thing. I really hope it picks up more in the last half.

First Love Monster is one of those shows with such a ludicrous premise that telling someone about it will either immediately hook them or immediately turn them off. It’s basically, “cute petite high school girl falls in love with tall, handsome dude and they agree to start dating before she finds out he’s in elementary school”. Just by reading that, you’ve probably already decided whether or not this show is for you. It’s pretty much what you’d expect from that setup. Lots of bawdy (but not too bawdy) humor, cute doki doki moments, and a sprinkling of angst. The charm of the show lies in the fact that it simply can’t follow all the standard shoujo romance tropes, because they just don’t make any sense when the love interest is a fifth grader. This means the show isn’t totally predictable, which is nice. It’s also hilarious. It takes a joke that should have been overplayed by the end of the second episode and somehow keeps it funny the whole way through. This is helped by the fact that the love interest, Kanade, has two friends his age who also look like college students. The absurdity of these tall, lanky fifth graders with their deep, manly voices never fails to crack me up. Especially when they genuinely act like fifth graders (and dress like them...), playing silly games and talking way too much about their private parts. The show also has a fantastic cast of supporting characters who are each interesting enough to have their own series. And even though the show is primarily a comedy, it has some legitimately touching scenes as well.

DAYS is the soccer anime I mentioned above. While there have certainly been soccer anime before this, DAYS is my first soccer anime, and so far it’s a great one. Like with Yowamushi Pedal before it, the true charm of this series comes from its extremely likable underdog protagonist. You want to see him succeed, no matter what. There’s also the usual assortment of quirky, handsome teammates and the obligatory female character who works as the team manager (which seems to basically be a gopher). This manager is pretty fierce though, so it’s fun to watch her interact with the team. The art is fine and the music is good. I wish we saw more actual soccer being played, instead of essentially showing us the highlights. But I suppose the games will get more intense and more detailed later on, when they play against tougher teams. Overall, I’m enjoying it very much. High on my watch list.

archica — Thu, 19 May 2016 07:15:48 GMT

Spring Anime Season 2016: Here’s what I’m watching

The Lost Village is at the top of my watch list this season (though to be totally fair, this is one of the weakest seasons I’ve seen since I started watching anime as it aired). It’s mysterious enough to keep you hooked and handles having a huge cast (thirty+ characters) fairly well. You won’t exactly love or grow attached to all of them, but you will at least remember who they are within the story (even if you can’t remember their names). The series also relies on flashbacks as it gets further in, making it feel a lot like an anime version of Lost (a group of strangers stuck in a remote place with vague supernatural occurrences and character development dished out via flashbacks). The art is nice but the opening and ending songs didn’t really leave an impression on me, so I usually skip them. The protagonist has an interesting back story and it’s rather strongly implied that every single character has some sort of painful past they’re trying to escape from (though I doubt we’ll get to see everyone’s). It’s not the typical anime you see every season, and it’s not based on anything, so no one knows what’s going to happen next.

Rinne Season 2 is a nice, fun, comfortable series. The drama never gets too serious but at the same time, it’s more than just a comedy. I haven’t read the manga so I have no idea how things go, but I like the fact that the show has a more relaxed pace. I like that the closest thing we have to a “big bad” villain is the hero’s deadbeat dad who is admittedly a shitty father who steals from his own son, but most often works as comic relief. I like that the romantic hijinks are rather lowkey (and both the hero and heroine have other people in love with them, so it’s more balanced than the usual love triangle stuff we see). So you keep doing you, Rinne. And please never turn into a generic shounen fighting series.

My Hero Academia was hyped up quite a bit. I saw people talking about it on Tumblr and Facebook that usually don’t talk that much about anime (especially upcoming series). So I went into it with pretty high expectations. I’ll be honest: It’s not as great as I expected. But it’s still a charming, quality show. The art style is cartoony but cute, and so far I haven’t noticed any drastic dips in animation quality (unlike several others I could name from this season). The music is good, and the protagonist is lovable. The only real problem for me is that it doesn’t really tread any new ground (and for something so hyped up, I expected it to). It’s your typical shounen formula of an underdog protagonist pursuing his dream armed only with potential and his strong will to make his dream come true, meeting friends and enemies-turned-allies along the way. You have your typical “school of whatever the protagonist wants to do” (in this case a school for super heroes). Your typical classes that end up being competitions/tournaments and your typical teachers that dislike the protagonist at first but end up supporting him after seeing his undying determination. You also get your typical hotheaded rival and your typical female love interest/teammate with powers that don’t easily lend themselves to violence and kicking ass but instead to being useful in other ways. Just... *sigh* I would really like this show if I hadn’t already watched it over a dozen times. I mean, as far as generic shounen fighting anime goes, this is one of the better ones, to be sure. But it doesn’t change the fact that it’s still a generic shounen fighting anime.

Joker Game is as unique as My Hero Academia is generic, but it’s only half as fun. I honestly found the first episode so boring that I fell asleep, twice. But I kept watching because I adore the setting (1930‘s Japan). I’ve seen other anime and even played games (the Raidou Kuzunoha SMT games) that are set roughly in the same period, and I just love the visuals of the two starkly different worlds (Eastern and Western) colliding. The imagery of streets filled with people wearing kimono walking beside people in Western-style suits is just lovely. The show has excellent art and music, with catchy opening and ending themes. It’s also full of handsome male characters in dapper suits (and a slow pan across one of them with his shirt unbuttoned in episode two is basically what convinced me to give the show another shot), all of whom have sexy voices (and I have a weakness for sexy male voice actors). The series as a whole really picks up starting with episode three, when it begins focusing on stand-alone stories that are, so far, a lot more interesting than the overarching plot/setup. The show would be near the top of my watch list if only it had some cool lady characters. We’ve had a few ladies here and there, and while so far none of them have been annoyingly weak or used for fanservice, they’re also not very memorable. It’s a fairly minor complaint, since I can’t imagine this series was made without considering their female audience (just watch the ending theme for proof - it features each of the men in states of distress, with their hair wet and falling across their faces).

Twin Star Exorcists has a really cool-looking color pallette and one of the more badass ladies this season (Benio is a rare lady ass kicker who so far hasn’t been demoted to sidekick or fanservice-bait while having her strength slowly diminished). The central plot is a little tiresome (the whole “forced engagement” idea is TIRED) but it’s had some interesting moments. Benio makes up for a rather annoying male lead (he’s not unbearable, but I find him hard to root for in general). The animation was great at first, but it’s been dipping in noticeable ways, which is a shame since it has such awesome colors and fun character designs. It’s not high on my watch list, and in a better season, I might have dropped it, but for now it’s worth the twenty minutes a week to keep up with Benio being a badass.

Bungo Stray Dogs is very high on my list. It has fantastic art (with no noticeable dips in quality so far), great music, a wide range of quirky and likable characters, and an intimidating villain. The show can be hilarious at times, but also thrilling, with violent, exciting battles. It reminds me quite a bit of shows like Karneval and Hakkenden, so I was surprised to find out it’s seinen. It feels so much like a Zero Sum title, it’s ridiculous. Lots of good looking guys who are very close and/or preoccupied with each other plus a small number of cool lady characters who aren’t used for fanservice and don’t seem to be positioned as love interests (so far). A slightly older black haired guy taking a special interest in a younger white haired guy. Cool but vaguely defined special powers. It just screams Zero Sum. Regardless, it’s highly entertaining and a fun watch.

Super Lovers has been stirring up a bit of controversy, and I can definitely understand why. I myself have some conflicting feelings about it. On one hand, I’m always happy to see more Boys Love series get animated. It seems like we’ve been seeing more and more over the past couple of years and that’s great. Super Lovers certainly has some good points. The art and character designs are gorgeous (though a couple of episodes have had questionable animation quality). The opening and ending themes are great and the characters are charming. The problem is the setup, which actually would have been extremely heartwarming if not for the BL elements (which is ironic). It’s not really the age gap between the two leads that’s the problem. We see pretty wide age gaps in fictional romances (not to mention real life!) all the time. And the youngest character is supposedly 16 according to the manga (I don’t remember them mentioning his age in the anime, if they did and he’s younger, well... I hope they didn’t). Which, yeah, is still pretty young but at least he’s not a little kid. The problem is in the setup and the roles the characters fit into. The younger character, Rin, was adopted into the family of the older character, Haru, and thus goes to live with him. Haru insists that they live together as brothers, but since this is a BL series, there’s obviously romantic and sexual tension. Haru is way too physically affectionate, like when he kisses Rin on the lips every morning before sending him off to school. Since Rin is okay with this, and clearly likes him back, it’s not as gross as it could’ve been. But it’s still a little unnerving, just because they’re supposed to be brothers (even if they’re adopted brothers) and Haru is in the position of taking care of Rin and sometimes even seems like a father figure. If they had just met at a cafe and started dating, it would have been perhaps a little racy because of the age difference, but not nearly as troubling without the whole brothers/family angle. I’ll keep watching until it goes from “cute but slightly uncomfortable” to “downright disturbing”.

Big Order is this season’s trainwreck, because let’s face it, every season has one. The first two episodes were fantastic, and I was ready to knock The Lost Village down a peg to make room for this series at the top of my watch list. But then the rest of the episodes happened. To paint you a picture of what this show is like, allow me to quote some random comments about it that I stumbled upon online: “Quickly climbing my worst anime list, but at least it’s a fun sort of worst” and “i’m just going to accept that this is a nonsensical dumpster fire but a fucking awesome one and stop trying to figure it out”. I think those two comments sum the series up pretty well. It’s a terrible show with a mess of a plot but it still manages to be entertaining, against all odds. It has so many facepalm-inducing moments of non-logic that at some point you just give up hope of the series making any kind of sense and just go with the crazy flow. The art is fine and the music is awesome. That story though....

archica — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 08:22:11 GMT

I just realized that I haven't posted here in forever about gaming and my progress in the Tales series, which is ironic since I started working through that series because some of you were such big fans of it.

Anyway, the last time I posted, I'd finished Legendia (and it's still my favorite). After that, I kinda got away from the Tales series for a while. Actually I got away from gaming in general for a while (a lot of things happened in the spring of 2014 and things were pretty crazy all through summer and fall too; someday I'll tell you guys all about it but honestly I have not had the energy for it). When I did go back to gaming, I started with Tales of the Abyss. Since then, I've played Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology, Tales of Vespiria, and Tales of Hearts R. I'm currently playing Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World.

So here's what I thought of them (SPOILERS for these games):

Abyss was a lot of fun. I enjoyed Luke's evolution and, honestly, even when he was a whiny asshole, he was at least funny. After his character development, I liked him a lot. Loved his haircut. Anise was my favorite character. It hit me when she was acting all sweet and innocent in front of Luke and Ion pops up to tell about how, when she got knocked from a ship during a battle, she was screaming, "I'll kill you bastards!" all the way down. Of course I loved Jade too. And Guy. And Natalia. And even Tear (I would've loved Tear a lot more if her English voice wasn't so robotic).

Radiant Mythology was a lot better than I expected, and I wish more of these games had been localized. I loved making my own character and gathering up a dream team party of characters from previous Tales games. The party I ended up using most was Rutee, Senel, and Tear. It was kinda surreal to have them in a party together, but I loved it.

Vespiria is my second favorite Tales game, after Legendia, so far. It's also the one I breezed through the fastest (I beat it in less than three weeks, compared to the usual month+ it usually takes me to beat JRPG's, and Tales games usually take a little longer than that for me). Like with Legendia, I felt like there was something special about the combination of characters and how they fit together and interacted. Yuri is my favorite protagonist in the series (so far). It was refreshing and fun to play as a guy that smooth. I liked that he was a little older than your average Tales hero, and I loved the whole vigilante justice angle (I just wish they had gone a little farther with it). It really made him stand out as a hero. Also, I can't imagine any other Tales hero (of the games I've played) having the mental fortitude it took to be the Don's second during his seppuku. And then there was Rita, whom I loved from the minute she appeared. I think I have a thing for feisty mages (Norma and Arche are also favorites). Rita's design, her attitude, her obvious crush on Estelle (I shipped them like mad, by the way), all of it was just perfect. I loved all of the characters though (Judith and Raven were also favorites). It was just a great game overall.

Hearts was more of a "traditional anime story". There were a lot more stereotypes in the characters (energetic young hero, the beautiful love interest who needs rescuing, the creepily possessive big brother, the loli chick with the irritatingly cutesy voice, the cool old dude, the big breasted "older" beauty, etc.). But despite all this, I really did end up liking all the characters. I still think Beryl's voice is the single most annoying sound in the universe, but personality-wise, I enjoyed her a lot. I was also kinda surprised by the amount of canon romance in this game. I guess "Tales of Hearts" was a pretty fitting title. I loved the romance of Chal and the Empress. It was so adorable. Shingu/Kohaku was cute. But then we get to Hisui/Lithia. I just couldn't help being squicked out just a little by the fact that Lithia had been possessing Hisui's mother when she gave birth to him. I mean, I know Lithia is in no way his mother or even related to him, but still... just the idea of her being there in spirit through the pregnancy, the birth, his infant/toddler years. Yeah. I just can't handle a romance there. Anywho, I actually liked Creed, but mostly because he's voiced by Shinichiro Miki and he kept doing the hilariously inappropriate Sakamoto laugh. Oh, and I also wrote a walkthrough for this game because I couldn't find a full one anywhere. It's on Gamefaqs if anyone is curious.

Now I'm working on Symphonia 2 but I'm so early in the game that I can't really say much about it. It's cute and fun, and I like the characters so far. That's about all I can say. I'll post again when I finish it.

archica — Mon, 22 Feb 2016 08:18:13 GMT

Winter Anime Season 2016:

BBK/BRNK is an interesting series that I hesitate to call mecha. It involves giant robots, yes, but the series plays out a bit more like a kaiju story (the giant robots seem to be sentient and they tend to go on destructive rampages until stopped by other giant robots being controlled by people). But that’s a small part of the show. There’s also fancy sentient weapons (actually the limbs of giant robots that take the forms of more standard weapons such as swords or guns, but also as more crazy stuff like pens or rings) and duels and humans with supernatural powers and a mystical floating island and... yeah. There’s a lot going on in this show. Thankfully it stays coherent, if a little rushed. The art is completely CG, even the characters. This works overall, as the backgrounds, weapons, and robots look fantastic. But some of the character art is a little stiff. I can look over that though, since the show has several badass lady characters who aren’t (generally) used for fanservice. The series doesn’t break much new ground, but it’s entertaining and fast-paced.

Durarara!! x2 Ketsu is the third part of what’s collectively called the second season of Durarara!!, and the first part that I’ve went into without reading the complete novels it’s based on (at the time I was reading the Drrr!! novels, these only had random chapters and scenes translated), so some of this is new territory for me. It’s interesting because it reminds me of how I felt watching the first season and not knowing what was coming next. It definitely adds some excitement. Beyond that, there’s not a lot to say about it that I didn’t say about the previous two parts. The show remains stylish and quirky and at times surprisingly deep.

Dagashi Kashi is one of the funnier shows this season (probably the funniest), and one of the most appealing lady characters in Hotaru, a crazy chick obsessed with dagashi (cheap Japanese snacks). The show revolves around Hotaru’s visits to a dagashi shop and her interaction with Kokonatsu (who’s name sounds like “Coconuts” and his friends even call him such), the son of the shop’s owner. Every episode focuses on one or two specific dagashi and will make you crave them even if you’ve never heard of them, much less tried them. These little skits are hilarious and a ton of fun, and Kokonatsu is likable enough, but the real start of the show is Hotaru. She’s a joy to watch (and she’s edged to the top of my list of “anime characters I would most want to look like”). She’s clearly a potential love interest for Kokonatsu, and I appreciated that instead of making her a rival to another female character who has a crush on him, the series was wise enough to make the two girls good friends instead. This is a trend I’ve noticed in some other shows lately too, and makes the whole “two girls in love with a clueless guy” trope a lot more bearable. But even with these lowkey relationship hijinks in the background, Dagashi Kashi remains solidly about the snacks. High on my watch list.

Akagami no Shirayuki-hime season two is actually a lot better than season one, which I enjoyed but felt was a little too... safe. It seemed like nothing truly dangerous or dramatic happened. Season two changed things up by putting the characters in real danger, and it’s been a lot more exciting. The show has always had gorgeous art and likable characters (particularly it’s practical and intelligent heroine Shirayuki), but now it actually has an engaging plot too. It climbs higher and higher on my watch list every week.

Prince of Stride is a sports otome series. I don’t know anything about this sport (is it even a real sport? Seems like numerous injury lawsuits waiting to happen) except that it’s a lot like free running? I think? Regardless, it has the usual markers of a good sports anime: teams full of attractive male characters with complicated relationships, friendly rivals, not-so-friendly rivals, exciting sports action, and training sequences that are arguably more interesting than the actual matches/games/races/whatever. But since this is an otome series, it’s all seen from the perspective of a sole female character (whereas in most sports anime not about female teams, there’s one or two girls who generally drift to the background). Refreshingly for an otome series, none of the guys have tried to romance her yet and just see her as a friend and part of the team. I kinda hope they keep it that way, or else just have one of the guys fall for her, because I think having the whole team going after her would just screw up the team dynamics, and they’re great right now. The only other thing worth noting is the art and its color scheme, which have a sort of bleached out look that’s heavy on whites and bright blues. It’s not especially appealing to me, and honestly at times it kinda hurts my eyes. But it’s not so bad that it prevents me from enjoying the show.

HaruChika is making a lot of waves now because it has an openly gay male protagonist in a shounen series. Cue butthurt fanboys dropping the show left and right and crying because they were “tricked” into watching “yaoi”. Never mind the fact that having a gay male character in no way means a show is yaoi (it’s not even shoujo, it’s freakin shounen). The gayness of the character in question, Haruta, has so little to do with the story and is so downplayed that, beyond the first episode’s reveal, you have to look long and hard for any signs of it. But that in and of itself is an accomplishment. The fact that Haruta acts like a totally normal person and his sexuality isn’t a huge sign over his head means that he’s not treated as a joke. His sexuality is not treated as a joke. He’s consistently portrayed in a positive light. But let’s face it, he has a crush on his teacher, so the odds of anything actually happening between them are pretty much zero. We’re not going to see any gay romance here, so all the idiots rage-quitting the show because of “that gross yaoi stuff” should feel pretty stupid (of course it doesn’t look like we’re going to see much in the way of any sort of romance, and that’s okay). That being said, the show is charming and has very attractive art (the way they color the eyes is just lovely). It’s not the greatest show ever, and I think there are people who are loving and adoring the show simply because of Haruta and not because of its actual entertainment value. It’s definitely worth watching though, and has had a couple of outstanding episodes. Watch it if you like slice of life anime and don’t recoil in terror from a young boy mentioning once in an offhand comment that he likes dudes.

Erased is, in my opinion, the best show of the season. Maybe the best show in the past several seasons. It’s a mature and sometimes dark story, with none of the dumb anime cliche’s we’ve come to know and hate. This is the series you show to people who think anime is childish and immature. People tend to want to show them gory horror anime, but no. Show them a nuanced, intelligent story with mature themes. Show them Erased. Because this anime has excellent art, the best opening and ending themes of the season, and an engrossing story. At several points while watching I found myself holding my breath without realizing it. Almost every episode ends with a moment that leaves you stunned and desperate for more. It actually reminds me a lot of Shin Sekai Yori, just in terms of how the story is beautifully told and often leaves me breathless (they’re animated by the same studio, so maybe that’s why). Erased is at the very top of my watch list.

Active Raid is a fun action series about a police unit that uses “Willwear”, basically fancy mechanical suits that are reminiscent of the ones in Gatchaman Crowds or Sacred Seven. They solve crimes and have adventures and sometimes go out drinking together. There’s some good looking guys and cute girls (and all of them are capable of using Willwear, apparently). The action is well choreographed and there’s just enough variety in the cases to keep things from getting repetitive. It’s a charming show that’s worth watching, but at the same time, nothing about it is especially surprising or amazing. Still, there are far worse ways to spend 20 minutes every Thursday.

Norn9 is a sci-fi/fantasy otome series based on a game that’s available in English and has been on both my birthday and Christmas wishlists (but no one has bought it for me yet - thanks a lot, family!). What sounded interesting about the game, and is definitely one of the strong points of the anime, is that there are three heroines instead of the usual one. This means instead of a group of guys all chasing the same girl (and, at least in the anime adaptations, knowing that most of these guys are going to end up heartbroken), there’s a much smaller group of guys interested in each girl. And we also get three very different heroines with distinct personalities. If Koharu’s passive, traditional-otome-heroine ways annoy you, there’s two other ladies who are quite a bit more feisty. The guys are all gorgeous, of course, as is the art (some of the backgrounds are breathtaking). The series has a unique setting and backstory, with a strong enough plot to keep even people who dislike otome series watching.

Divine Gate is... different. It’s an action series with an art style focusing on high contrast colors and lighting. It has some interesting ideas and appealing characters, but its all a bit muddled and confused. The series tends to slow down for an episode then suddenly move so fast in the next episode that you have no idea what’s going on. There are some serious pacing issues here. Aside from that, there’s a lot of voiced narration that is laughably angsty and melodramatic. It’s supposed to set the mood and introduce the characters, but it comes out sounding like a thirteen year old goth kid’s poetry (I want to go back and write some of it down and share because it’s hilarious). It’s a shame, because the show looks great and has awesome music, and I’m happy that it’s extremely low on fanservice but high on strong ladies. It just needed someone to sort out the pacing and cut out the narration. I’m still watching, because at this point I’m kinda invested in the characters, but it’s low on my watch list.

archica — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 09:26:12 GMT

So here’s what I’m watching in the fall anime season:

Kindaichi Case Files Season 2 is, so far, very good. I ended up enjoying the first season quite a bit more than I initially thought. I still don’t like the cast nearly as much as the cast of Detective Conan, but dang, the cases in Kindaichi are fantastic. They’re almost always multi-episode affairs and often have horror undertones. They also seem to be willing to go a bit darker than Conan’s cases (for example, I don’t remember ever seeing a case that involved sexual assault in Conan, but a major case in Kindaichi season one very strongly implied that sexual assault had occured, and in fact it was modeled after the disturbing real life case in Japan referred to as the “School girl in Cement” case). Not that I want to see Conan solving a lot of rape cases, but when we have 800 episodes of him solving every other kind of crime imaginable, it starts to feel a little like erasure. Anyway, Kindaichi is a series I enjoy immensely, even if I find Kindaichi the character to be a bit of an asshole (I’m still annoyed by his tendency to flirt with every girl he sees and then get upset when his love interest so much as glances at another dude). There are some interesting side characters and villains, but it’s still the cases that keep me watching.

Haikyuu!! season 2 is probably the show I was looking forward to the most this season. I’ve become a bit of a sports anime fanatic these past few years (apparently it’s a slippery slope after Prince of Tennis) and Haikyuu!! is one of the more visually interesting shows in this genre. The character designs don’t generally fall into the standard bishounen look of most sports anime, and the characters have some great facial expressions (Kageyama’s rare smiles are hilariously, and unintentionally, creepy). The volleyball games are exciting to watch and the protagonist, Hinata, is someone you can’t help rooting for. I’m also happy that season two introduced a new female character who seems like she’s going to be much more important to the plot than the lone female presence in season one.

Diabolik Lovers season 2 continues the tradition of rape fantasies mixed with beautiful gothic art and sexy male voice actors. To be clear, no actual rape occurs, but the scenes of the vampires biting the heroine while she squirms and tries to get away are obvious metaphors. This time we get four new abusive vampire brothers (because six just wasn’t enough!). I had hope that these four would be a little nicer because, unlike the original guys in season one, these brothers were originally human (so... maybe they should, I don’t know, understand human feelings? Maybe?). No such luck, as the only thing any of them have done for her that could be argued as being “nice” is that one of them bothered to put her on the couch and cover her with a blanket after forcibly drinking her blood (whereas the rest of them just leave her on the floor/ground/wherever). But the show has always been meant for a very specific audience: girls who are interested in exploring some dark fantasies in the safety of fiction, and there’s nothing inherently wrong with that.

Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans is another show I was greatly looking forward to. It’s Gundam, of course I’m going to watch it. I’m a fairly hardcore Gundam fan, and spent a whole year working my way through the whole franchise in production order several years ago. Despite this, the last Gundam series I watched was 00. I know there’s been a few since then but I just didn’t have easy access to them and I’ve been occupied with seasonal anime these past few years. But since Iron-Blooded Orphans is airing on Hulu, I’m able to keep up with it as it airs. Unfortunately, I already have a love-hate relationship with it. It has so many great points, which makes it so disappointing that it fails miserably in one very important area: female characters. For the first several episodes, the only two major female characters are little more than fawning love interests for the protagonist, Mika. They also comfortably slip into traditional female roles (cooking and teaching), which is fine in and of itself, but annoying when that’s all female characters are allowed to do. I was also annoyed that the female lead, Kudelia, could not possibly be any more “stereotypical princess” than she already is (beautiful and kind yet totally naive and clueless about social interactions with people of lesser social standing than herself). She’s supposed to be a political leader who is fighting for the rights of her people, but we’ve yet to see her in action and her personality and behavior don’t seem to line up with that. When we finally get to see some kickass female mecha pilots (and they are indeed awesome at what they do; one of them was the first opponent Mika couldn’t take down and their battle ended in a draw, with his fancy Gundam taking heavy damage), I was so excited. All at once we had several strong ladies. Then the next episode comes along and reveals that those ladies, as well as an entire ship full of women (with a disturbing variety of ages), are literally the harem of one male character. He literally refers to them as his harem and “his women”. And, lest we think he was joking, the series makes a point of revealing that these women are indeed all his wives and he has many children, all with different mothers. In fact there are five infants on the ship! So my cool, badass team of female mecha pilots turned out to be a literal harem full of chicks who basically pump out babies and follow the commands of one dude. It was beyond disappointing. The whole show seems to paint women as frivolous, naive, and dependent upon men. A young male character even says outright, “Women are weak and just get in the way”. The lady mecha pilot nearby (who was cooking in the kitchen, of course) called him down on it and it was supposed to be a funny scene, but I feel like it sums up the show’s view of women pretty well. Which is completely mind-boggling since the series is apparently written by a woman! Oh well. Internalized misogyny is a thing after all.

Complicating matters is that the show actually has a lot of things going for it, and has enough good points to keep me watching. The mecha designs are fantastic and the battles in space are exciting. Aside from that, the opening and ending themes are amazing (especially that ending theme that very much evokes the vibe of old school Gundam series). The protagonist Mika is growing into an interesting character. I absolutely loved that, unlike most characters of his type (child soldiers like Heero Yuy or Setsuna before him), he actually has goals and dreams of a life beyond being a soldier (he wants to have his own farm and grow vegetables). I love the dynamic between him and Orga, the leader of the group. They depend on each other and act like brothers. I adore the theme of making a family and home for yourself, despite overwhelming odds stacked against you. The show is high on my watch list just by virtue of being a Gundam series. Now if they could just do something about the female characters...

Tantei Team KZ is clearly aimed at a much younger audience than myself, but it’s such a cute, feel-good show that I can’t help watching it. And at nine minutes per episode, it’s not a huge time investment. It’s basically my weekly “calm down and smile” anime. It’s very sweet, and I appreciate that the focus is on the friendships the heroine is forming with the five male characters in her life, rather than romance (though it’s entirely possible that romance will rear its head, it’s nice that the show is at least taking its time). It as has a pretty fabulous ending theme too.

Sakurako-san (I’m so not typing out that huge title) is getting better and better. I started watching because it was nice to see an adult female detective in a detective anime, and also because the hook that her skillset revolves around is bizarre and morbid enough to catch my attention (she’s an expert on bones, and so she uses her knowledge of bones to solve all sorts of mysteries). The first episode was kinda mediocre, but it’s improved quite a bit since then, as the cases become more interesting and the cast of supporting characters expands (I particularly like the snarky teacher voiced by Ishida Akira). The humor in this show generally falls a bit flat for me (they still seem to think Sakurako trying to steal skulls from crime scenes is funny) but it has beautiful art and a badass heroine, so I’ll keep watching.

Noragami season 2 has been a blast so far. I enjoyed season one very much and season two has done a great job of jumping right into the action while also fleshing out some characters that didn’t get enough attention in season one. Bishamon’s story in particular was interesting and well-done, and there were moments that actually made me cry. Yato remains one of the more charming anime protagonists around and I’m still in love with the show’s use of color. The opening theme is great (it’s the first one of the season that I had to go download). The only complaint I have is that, so far, Hiyori has been sort of damseled. She’s still not a weak character at all, but I’m a little tired of her having to be rescued. Regardless, it’s a fantastic show (Hiyori is generally tough and there are other strong ladies as well). Very high on my watch list.

Heavy Object is a new mecha series that is slowly becoming a favorite. I’m more interested and invested in it than I am in the new Gundam series, so that should tell you something. The show has an excellent hook: two foot soldiers are tasked with bringing down huge mecha. Without mecha of their own. It’s a cool concept that could have gone wrong, but the series does a lot of things right. For one, the two foot soldiers in question have such a great bromance that even their more skeevy tendencies can be forgiven. They genuinely seem like a couple of ordinary dudes who are constantly thrown into life-or-death, in-over-their-heads situations. For another, the only two mecha pilots we’ve been introduced to so far are girls. Even though these two bros are ultimately responsible for bringing the enemy mecha down, the young lady who pilots the mecha on their side generally aids them and is a useful member of the team. And third, the fanservice beyond episode one is actually funny instead of being nasty. The one female character that the guys directly ogle and talk to in what seems like an inappropriate way actually seems to enjoy the attention and actively encourages them in a joking way, making it seem like a humorous, consensual exchange rather than them just leering at her at making her uncomfortable. Overall the show is charming and fun, but it also doesn’t shy away from how horrible war really is. People die. Even innocent civilian children get shot and murdered. Even though our heroes will shoot enemies in the head or blow them up, and have seen some terrible things, they haven’t turned “hard” to it. In that way, they seem more human.

Seraph of the End season 2 is very good. I’m actually liking this season better than season one. Maybe it’s because we were able to skip the whole “getting to know the characters” stage and were able to jump right into the story. The current arc is going great, and I’m enjoying the new characters. I’m also learning to like Guren, even though I didn’t care for him at all in season one. I don’t really have a lot to say about the show that I didn’t say about the first season.

K season 2 is another show I was looking forward to a lot. If you’ve never tried the show, I think it could best be described as “style over substance” but that style is really freaking fantastic. The show is a joy to watch, just on a purely aesthetic level. The colors, the scenery, the character designs... all of it is gorgeous. And don’t even get me started on how beautifully the fights are choreographed. The music and voice acting are a pleasure as well. When it comes to the story, things get a little tricky. The plot and backstory are interesting, but they’re somewhat confusing. Season one was a bit of a mess as the series tried (and often failed) to introduce us to numerous concepts and vague ideas and strange terminology that was supposed to make sense. Season two, thankfully, spends less time trying to explain all this and just gets down to what season one did right: exciting fights and really great character interactions. It should also be mentioned that this show is one of the few that truly has equal opportunity fanservice. The attractive female characters are often spilling out of their clothes, but there’s a crazy high number of gorgeous male characters who are all super duper close with each other and pretty much exist to be shipped. Overall, it’s one of my favorites of the season.

archica — Sun, 30 Aug 2015 22:45:47 GMT

So here’s what I’m watching in the Summer 2015 season:

Durarara!! x2 enters its second part this season. So far it’s great, capturing a lot of moments I was really looking forward to (Izaya’s hospital scenes, Vorona’s budding relationship with Shizuo, Akabayashi just being himself, and a certain Mikado scene that should finally silence all the people who keep saying he’s a typical goody-goody wimpy protagonist). The only real downer is the lack of Orihara twins. They get a few moments but not nearly enough (I could seriously watch an entire series that just follows their day to day activities; these girls are so freaking entertaining). The new opening theme is awesome and the show is pretty much perfect. It’s number one on my watch list.

Aoharu x Machinegun is surprisingly good. The characters are extremely likable and the art is very appealing to me. I can’t help thinking of Stella Women’s Academy when I watch this show, since it’s another series that focused on a cute, spunky female protagonist learning to play survival games and discovering that she has a talent for it. I can say that I’m enjoying the characters and the relationships more in Aoharu x Machinegun, but I enjoyed the actual survival game sequences much more in Stella, so it’s hard to say which one I prefer. Aoharu’s biggest strength is its heroine, Tachibana. I love that she’s athletic and strong, with a hero complex that gets her in trouble as often as it helps her out, but her strength doesn’t come across as a joke or an exaggeration, and she’s not perfect (she screws up enough times that even her biggest supporters sometimes wonder if she really has a talent for survival games or not). And above all, she’s never used for fanservice (she dresses, looks, and acts like a boy, to the point that I sometimes forget she’s a girl until I’m reminded), despite many opportunities for the show to do so (since she’s hiding her gender, there were numerous occasions where we could have seen her changing clothes, but the show so far hasn’t stooped to that). It’s high on my list.

Rokka no Yuusha is a fantasy series that’s getting more interesting as it goes along. I began watching because of the attractive art and charming protagonist, but I overall expected a very predictable show. The past couple of episodes have surprised me, and I was especially impressed with the restraint the writers showed in revealing the hero’s tragic past (it was suggested rather than shown, in a very effective sequence that was so much more powerful because it didn’t explicitly show the whole thing and left a lot to our imaginations). A couple of female characters have rather ridiculous outfits considering they’re warriors (and make no mistake, these ladies are badass), and one in particular was bothering me (Flamie’s) until I realized that one of the male characters has basically the same outfit as her. Doesn’t make the outfit any less ridiculous, but at least they’re being fair about it. It’s not my favorite of the season but it has enough good points to keep me watching, and so far it’s done nothing but improve.

Gatchaman Crowds: Insight is the second season of a show I really enjoyed a lot a few seasons back. While Insight still has the stylish, interesting art and great music, it made a misstep by introducing a new heroine. One of the best things about the first season was Hajime, the infinitely cheerful yet sharply perceptive heroine who happily marched to the beat of her own drum and both frustrated and endeared her teammates with her refusal to conform to what they thought she should be. The new heroine, Tsubasa, is more in line with what you would expect from a show like this: an eager and spunky young girl who wants to help others but is insecure, lacks confidence, and will probably learn some important lessons about herself and about justice as the story rolls along. That’s fine and all, but she’s just not that interesting. If she was just a new side character, I’d probably like her, but as it is, Tsubasa and Gel-chan (another new character who will end up being a decent villain if the writers know what they’re doing) are taking up valuable screentime that would be much better spent on characters like Hajime or Rui or OD (or anyone from season one, really). I can only hope that as the show enters its second half, the characters that are actually interesting are given the spotlight again. I’ll keep watching because my favorite characters are still there, and getting a glimpse of them is better than not seeing them at all.

Dragon Ball Super is something I was curious about but not all that excited for until I started watching it and realized how badly I missed DBZ. I didn’t watch the new DBZ movies that this series is apparently revisiting and (I’m assuming) expanding upon, so the story is fresh for me. The art and animation generally look the same as they did in the 90‘s, which is definitely a good thing for this particular show, which banks on nostalgia and familiarity. The new villains are quirky and fun in the traditional DBZ way. I also can’t avoid mentioning the Vegeta/Bulma moments, which were so amazing for me because I’ve been a diehard shipper of them since the 90‘s and it was incredibly rewarding to finally see a definitive moment of Vegeta displaying his love for Bulma (mostly because fans have debated for all these years on whether or not he really cares about her or just saw her as a way to live in a nice house and use her gravity training room). Very high on my watch list.

Akagami no Shirayuki-hime is another historical fantasy shoujo series, which seems to be a popular subgenre lately (following Akatsuki no Yona and Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii before it). Shirayuki falls somewhere between those two in terms of how much I’m enjoying it (not quite as much as Yona but definitely more than Soredemo Sekai). The art is lovely and the story is pleasant, but the best part of the show is the slowly budding romance between the practical and intelligent heroine Shirayuki and the handsome prince, Zen, who immediately stands out from most shoujo romantic leads because he’s a genuinely nice guy who is respectful and openly kind. I love the way their relationship is growing in an organic way that doesn’t feel too rushed or too slow. The only downside to the series so far is that is a little slow in the plot department. I think it could benefit from a little more drama or some higher stakes, but I guess I’ll have to wait and see how it develops.

Gakou Gurashi is a tricky series to talk about. It’s one of the best, most creative, and most touching shows I’ve seen in a while, but to explain why would do a huge disservice to anyone who hasn’t watched the first episode yet (because it’s so much more entertaining to find out why for yourself). I will say that the art is cute and moe, but it’s very much an important aspect of the series, and the music is fun and catchy (the opening theme will wiggle its way into your ear and never leave). So if you haven’t tried to show yet, please do. Just be sure to watch the first episode to the end, no matter what, even if you think the show is definitely not for you. Trust me.

Ushio and Tora surprised me by crawling steadily up my watch list to become one of shows I enjoy the most each week. After watching the first episode, I remember telling a friend that it has a very 90‘s shounen vibe (which was fine by me since many of my favorite shows are 90‘s shounen series like Yu Yu Hakusho and Flame of Recca). So I wasn’t all that surprised to find out it’s based on, you guessed it, a 90‘s shounen manga. The show has a rock n’ roll vibe (with badass opening and ending theme songs), a hero who is actually fun to watch and root for (he has some mild jerk tendencies but, unlike most jerky heroes, his good points are much more obvious early on), exciting battle sequences, and a compelling mythology/backstory. The show has a knack for setting the action in various interesting places (an abandoned school building, the roof of a skyscraper, inside the body of a sea monster, on an airplane, etc.), which keeps things fresh. An unexpected favorite this season.

Prison School is a series I almost didn’t try, because I kept seeing pictures of a particularly fanservicey character with a ridiculous outfit and I assumed the worst. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve reached a point in my life that I just don’t have time for this fanservice crap. I tolerated it for a long time because my anime options were much more limited, but now things are different. Now we can all watch any new show we want, every season. So now I have to pick and choose which shows I want to invest my time in, because there are so many each season and I just don’t have time to watch them all. That’s not to say I don’t watch any shows with fanservice. I’m just far more picky about it. So I honestly had no intention of even giving Prison School a shot. But then I found myself on a rare day where I had little to do and some free time, and I’d already caught up on all the shows I was watching, so out of morbid curiosity, I tried Prison School. And I loved it. I laughed my ass off through the whole first episode. Yes, that one character is basically walking, talking fanservice, but she’s actually the source of 90% of the fanservice, so the other female characters are rarely used for it. And she really comes across as a woman who enjoys dressing provocatively and using her sexiness to her advantage. It’s also interesting that even though she’s used in this way, she’s very much in charge of her own body and the male characters are usually reduced to simpering fools in her presence. The female characters in general clearly hold all the power in this series, with the boys literally being prisoners and treated almost like slaves, and they put up with it all because they don’t want to be kicked out of the (otherwise all-girl) school. They literally submit to abuse and hard labor just to get to be around attractive girls, which makes them seem quite pathetic. And while they might look at and ogle the girls, they are generally polite and timid and much too terrified to ever touch, much less harass, the female characters. I just find the power dynamics of the show interesting, since so often shows with fanservice and sexy ladies tend to give all the power and authority to a male protagonist (if the show has one), even if it’s just the power to choose which girl he wants while they all fight for his affection. Anyway, did I mention the show is hilarious?

Junjou Romantica season 3 is more of the same. I actually hadn’t watched the first two seasons until a few weeks ago (I had watched and loved Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi and so had planned to watch JR at some point, so when I heard a third season was coming soon, I rushed to Youtube to catch up before the summer season started). It has attractive art and lovable characters, with relationships you can get behind. And while the main couple falls into the typical seme/uke archetypes of boys love anime/manga, the other couples in the series are a little more refreshing. And even if the main couple feels a little stereotypical, they’re still cute and fun to root for (in particular, Usagi’s obsession with stuffed animals is adorable and always makes me smile). Season three introduces a new rival/antagonist to keep things fresh, but I would have preferred to actually see some peaceful/happy time for the couple. Still yet, it’s a fun ride and boys love anime is rare enough that I’m definitely going to support it whenever possible.

archica — Tue, 26 May 2015 09:14:06 GMT

So the spring anime season started and there aren’t a lot of shows I’m following, but here they are:

Uta no Prince-sama Season 3 is more of the same. The series has always been charmingly ridiculous, the kind of show you smile and giggle through but would be intensely embarrassed if a family member walked in and caught a few minutes of it. It’s silly but it’s good, harmless fun, full of catchy songs and pretty art.

Seraph of the End is something I was looking forward to. I never read the manga but I’d heard a lot about it, so I went into it with a general idea of what it was about. A lot of people are comparing it to Attack on Titan, and it certainly fits that mold (and will naturally draw in a similar audience), but it’s a little less sophisticated than AoT (mainly in that it relies more on generic shounen action manga tropes than AoT did - though there’s a sector of mostly newish anime fans who will blast AoT for being “too mainstream” and “only for newbie fans” OH THE IRONY but will eat up Seraph of the End and sing its praises until it becomes popular enough to hate because it’s too popular). Comparisons aside, Seraph is a solid action series with nice (though generic) art, fun battles, great music, and perfectly serviceable characters. It doesn’t break any new ground, but not all shows necessarily need to do that. It’s entertaining, and that’s all it really needs to be.

Blood Blockade Battlefront is easily my favorite new show of the season. From the creator of Trigun, the show is like the crazy bastard child of Baccano!, Cowboy Bebop, Futurama, and Gintama. It hits all my favorite sweet spots: a wide range of quirky characters, a lively and fantastic setting, interesting art, and amazing music (I dare you to watch the ending theme and not fall in love with this show). If there’s one word that repeatedly comes to mind when watching this show, it’s “fun”. You get the impression that the characters are almost always having fun, and that feeling is infectious. The show is hilarious, but it has moments of poignancy that surprised me, as well as some truly dangerous and tense battles. It’s smartly written even though it comes across as light-hearted, breezy fun. This is what anime needs more of.

Kyoukai no Rinne is by Rumiko Takahashi, and it so far has all of the charm and wonder of her usual work, with a hero who isn’t quite as obnoxious as Inuyasha but a heroine who isn’t quite as spunky as Kagome. The cast is still likable, and the series is full of mythology and Takahashi’s trademark supernatural flair. The art is nice and the music is okay. The show has a comforting vibe. It’s not too dramatic but there’s always plenty going on so it’s never boring. The humor sometimes falls a little flat, but most of the jokes work. It’s not at the top of my watch list, but it’s definitely got a firm spot on the list.

Gintama got another new season, and I have to admire the balls it takes for a series that’s had an episode banned because it made fun of a politician to open its new season with a lengthy sequence making fun of a politician. This is the kind of fearless and reckless approach to entertaining that made me a diehard fan of the show. Gintama just does not care. And I respect that. In a medium that’s so often bogged down by trying too hard to appeal to the core otaku market and avoid offending or upsetting viewers, Gintama will spit in your face and kick you in the crotch, but then it’ll offer you a drink and tell you to sit down and forget all your troubles, inviting you to commiserate with its troubled yet ultimately fun-loving characters. If you don’t watch Gintama, there’s something missing from your life.

My Love Story is one of the sweetest series I’ve ever seen, a shoujo high school romance that sidesteps most of the angst and melodrama associated with the genre and simply tells a heartfelt story. It also completely avoids the tired asshole-as-a-love-interest trope. The show is unique among shoujo romances in that the protagonist is male (not unheard of, but definitely rare). It’s also unique in that said protagonist is the opposite of the usual pretty boy bishounen character type we almost always see in shoujo. Gouda is a large, hulking dude with muscles, big lips, and a very tightly trimmed haircut (no wispy bangs! oh no!). In short, he’s not conventionally attractive. He does, however, have a huge heart, a respectful attitude, and an undying sense of loyalty to those he cares about (which makes him worth a thousand angsty bishounen assholes). At first, it seems like the central message of the series is that Gouda makes up for his appearance by being such a good person, and that Yamato, the girl who falls for him, is able to look past his physical traits to see the kind-hearted man he truly is. While this is all good and well, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Yamato doesn’t have to look past anything. The show makes it very clear that she finds Gouda very attractive, even getting all flustered while thinking about how sexy he is. This is awesome because 1.) it doesn’t reinforce the tired idea that women should look past appearances and date guys they find unattractive or else they’re a bitch who just won’t give the guy a chance and 2.) the central message of “you don’t have to fit the conventional mold of beauty to be sexy and attractive” is so much more fresh and interesting than “it’s what’s inside that counts”, because the grim reality is that it’s NOT always what’s inside that matters to most people. Now I’m waiting for a romance involving a conventionally good-looking male character falling for a conventionally unattractive girl. Let’s be fair, anime!

And that’s it! Well, aside from a couple of shows that carried over from last season (Kuroko no Basuke season 3 and World Trigger, respectively, both of which are doing great), and the second season of the adorable “I Can’t Understand What My Husband is Saying”, with it’s under-five-minute-long episodes. I already talked about it back when season one aired and I don’t have anything to add. Overall, it’s a pretty dry season, and it looks like the summer season isn’t going to be much better for me. Guess it gives me time to catch up on some older series or non-anime shows.

archica — Sat, 21 Mar 2015 02:23:25 GMT

I almost forgot to write about the anime I’m watching for the Winter 2015 season! And it’s almost over, so, here goes:

Durarara!! x2 is the show I was most excited about, because I’m a huge fan of the series and because most of us thought we’d never get a season two. I’ve read all the novels that have been translated, so I already know all the plot points, but it’s great to see it animated and they’re doing a fantastic job. The character designs are a little closer to the novel than they were in season one. Everything about the show is great, and it’s definitely the show I look forward to the most every week.

Kuroko no Basuke Season 3 is the show I was second most excited about. I don’t have much to say about it because I’ve already talked about it twice before. I’ll just say season three is as good as the previous two seasons.

Aldnoah Zero Season 2 is another show I was looking forward to a lot. I loved the first season and thought it was the best mecha series I’d seen in years. Season two is very good, though I’m a little iffy on some of the character development (my poor sweet Slaine). It still has the most creative and original mecha battles ever and some phenomenal music.

Yurikuma Arashi is the best show no one is watching. Well, no one in my online circles is watching, anyway. It’s a bizarre series about lesbian bears that can take human form and love eating lesbian school girls. Or something. It’s by the director of Utena, so the shows definitely share a similar visual style and atmosphere. It’s all pinks and reds and contrasts and shadows and strange architecture and haunting music. The show is gorgeous and, thankfully, the relationships between the girls are interesting and well-written. There’s a bit of fanservice, but it’s done in a tasteful and lovely way and not at all skeevy.

Tokyo Ghoul Season 2 was sort of hit and miss. It started out interesting, even though it broke away from the manga in a way that didn’t make much sense, then it sort of flailed around in the middle where the quality dropped, then it picked up quite a bit toward the end (which is where it’s at now). I watched it because I liked the characters and the basic premise, but I wish the quality had been more even.

Death Parade is pretty awesome. It’s beautiful, with some amazing lighting and scenery, and has an interesting premise that’s instantly compelling. It’s definitely one of the highlights of the season and I can only pray it gets a second season. I’m fairly hopeful, since it seems popular. I haven’t actually run across anyone who doesn’t like it yet, which is a good sign.

And that’s it. This season has the least new shows I’m following in a long time, but it also has the most shows I’m following that carried over from a previous season, so I’m still watching a lot. Here’s hoping this years Spring season is better than last year’s.

archica — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 06:20:22 GMT

It’s pretty late into the fall season, but I didn’t want to let it end without writing about what I’m watching.

Yowamushi Pedal is back for a new season. It literally picks up right where the last season left off, and since it was only gone for the summer season, it almost feels like it never stopped. Since I already talked about it back when it began airing, and it’s still basically the same thing, I’ll just repeat that the show is fun and charming and most of that charm rests on the shoulders of its adorably sweet and nerdy protagonist, Onoda. The only thing I can add is that antagonist Midousuji is just a joy to watch.

Akatsuki no Yona is a historical adventure type shoujo series (one of my favorite kinds of shoujo). It reminds me somewhat of Fushigi Yuugi, just in terms of the setting, clothing, and the “travel around and gather handsome male companions” theme. The story is definitely interesting (though so far nothing has matched the excitement of the first two episodes) and the art is lovely. The music is a little “meh” for me though. The heroine is great, even if her character arc isn’t all that original (pampered princess forced to toughen up and learn how the common people live). From the opening, and from recent developments, it seems like she’s going to be a strong physical fighter at some point as well, which is always nice. Recommended to anyone who likes a little action in their period-piece shoujo.

Rage of Bahamut is one of two medieval fantasy series I’m watching this season. I watch them both on Hulu and I started them on the same day, so to be honest I got a few of the minor plot points confused between them in the early episodes. However, they distinguished themselves primarily in their protagonists. Rage of Bahamut’s trio of lead characters are very fun to watch because they’re fairly light-hearted (and all of them could accurately be called idiots at one point or another), even though they’re tossed into the midst of a terrible war between angels and demons. It’s kind of like what would happen if you had a couple of bumbling fools (who are really only good at fighting) as the stars of Game of Thrones. The contrast between the characters and what’s going on around them is pretty stark, but it’s certainly entertaining. The show also has one of the best opening themes of the season and an attractive art style.

Chaika: Coffin Princess is also back for a new season after only being absent for the summer season (there are several of these, actually). This is a show I came close to dropping a few times during its first season because of a few problematic scenes (to recap, there was a scene where the heroes tied up and stripped an underaged girl to nearly nothing, for example). I also wasn’t very keen on what appeared to be a harem setup forming. I kept watching for two main reasons: I love the art and I love the new ideas about magic and fantasy that the show brought to the table. Also, the harem thing never really happened (there are at least three girls who have feelings for the protagonist, but one of them is rarely seen and the story pays little attention to the romantic feelings of the other two and wisely focuses on the actual plot instead, plus there are several other female characters who have zero romantic interest in him). This new season is more exciting, as it’s had to spend less time on setting up the world and characters of the story and can now spend more time on well-done action scenes and genuinely surprising plot twists. Much improved since last season.

Parasyte is a series I was somewhat familiar with, since I read the first few volumes of the manga. It’s a very interesting and unique sci-fi/horror series with some great animation and music. Protagonist Shinichi is easy to root for and care about (though I remember him looking quite a bit different in the manga, his personality is the same). The story can be violent and brutal, and definitely has some body horror elements, but it also has its share of understated humor and some surprisingly touching emotional moments. Definitely worth watching if you can handle some gruesome imagery.

Psycho Pass 2 is something I was looking forward to very much, more than anything else airing this season. The first season of Psycho Pass was one of my favorite anime of the past ten years, and so far season two is keeping up the quality. Protagonist Akane is a fantastic heroine because she relies on her wits. She’s not a physical power house (though give her a sturdy helmet and piss her off enough and she will take you DOWN). She’s intelligent, cool-headed, and knows how to take charge of a situation. While she was a little green in the first season, she’s really grown into her job in season two. We also get a new villain. Season one’s Makishima left some huge shoes to fill (he became one of my all-time favorite villains) but Kamui is doing a good job of stirring things up. I still think Makishima was much more interesting (and far more threatening) but Kamui has a creepiness all his own. The other new characters are great. I even like the bratty and entitled new Inspector, just because she has such great reactions to everything and makes some hilarious (yet borderline disturbing) facial expressions. The opening and ending themes are of course amazing and the art is a perfect fit for the story. Definitely one of the highlights of the season.

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso (Your Lie in April) was being talked about as being possibly similar to last season’s Glasslip, in that it’s a very pretty series about a small group of young friends who inevitably develop crushes on each other. Since I dropped Glasslip out of sheer boredom, I was a little wary of this show. Thankfully, Shigatsu is not boring at all (though it does take a few episodes to really hook you). Though I wouldn’t call it exciting, it’s engaging and heartfelt enough to make you care about these characters and their interactions. The main focus of the show is on young pianist Arima, and without spoiling anything, I will only say that his backstory (when revealed in all its horror) really hit home for me and was almost painful to watch. The main female character, Kaori, comes across as a bit of a Mary Sue (she’s beautiful, talented, free-spirited, and all signs point to her being totally tragic in the most melodramatic of ways), but she’s not nearly as annoying as she could have been. My only complaint is that the show hasn’t given much attention to the other two main characters, Tsubaki and Watari, who seem like they would be very interesting if they got a little more development.

I Can’t Understand What My Husband is Saying is one of three series I’m watching this season that have very short (around five minutes each) episodes. This show is very cute and endearing, focusing on a young married couple, the wife being what appears to be a normal office lady type (with a wild, perverted side that appears when she’s drunk) and the husband being an anti-social otaku who struggles to find work that doesn’t involve him leaving the house. The show works because the couple is so adorable and sweet. The wife is endlessly patient with her husband’s supreme geekiness and tendency to throw countless anime and video game references into their conversations. On the flip side, the husband is devoted and dedicated to her, doting on her when she collapses at work and seemingly cooking all their meals. It’s a humorous, light-hearted look at a sweet and healthy relationship between adults. We need more of this in anime.

Selector Spread Wixoss is yet another series that aired in the spring season and was gone for the summer (it was called “Selector Infected Wixoss” back then though). Not much is different about the show, except that it’s far less mysterious as this season keeps dropping one reveal after another about the nature of the game these girls are playing. It’s fairly interesting stuff, though it does sort of feel like they’re doing a big information dump every other episode or so, and I wish they’d paced things a little differently. Akira is still a fantastic villain (and this season has given definite reason to find her threatening) and the actual Selector battles are still fun but sadly underused. A couple of interesting subplots from the first season have been all but forgotten so that the series can focus on the main plot, which is kinda sad. Overall, it’s still worth a watch.

Garo The Animation is something I was not familiar with at all. Apparently there’s a popular live-action Garo series in Japan but I’d never even heard of it before now. Anywho, just judging it on this anime series alone, it’s pretty good. It’s the other medieval fantasy series I’m watching this season, this time with Ishinomori-esque character designs and a father-son duo as the lead characters. It definitely has an old-school vibe to it, from the design work to the concept of the characters transforming into magical armored knights (something that was very popular in anime in the 70‘s and 80‘s). The series would feel pretty bland, however, if not for the relationship between German and Leon (the father and son respectively). They compliment each other well and lend the series some desperately needed humor, despite the story being serious and at times cruel.

Donten ni Warau reminds me of shows like Hakkenden and Karneval in that it’s an action-oriented show about attractive guys that’s aimed at a female audience and isn’t yaoi (though there is some subtext, as is usual in series like this). The show has a nice look to it, with the three main characters (who are brothers) having a very striking image due to their black and red clothing and black hair with red tips. It’s interesting how color plays a role in the character designs. The Yamainu group all sport earthy tones while the Fuuma ninja are all in purple/white/black. Little touches like this make the show very interesting, visually. This, combined with the constant cloudy/rainy weather (which is a plot element) makes for some great imagery. The show also has fantastic opening and ending themes and what’s shaping up to be a twisty plot (though it looks like it’s only getting twelve episodes, I’m gonna go ahead and predict a season two). All in all, it’s one of the better shows this season.

Orenchi no Furo Jijō is the second series I’m watching with mini-episodes. It’s primarily a comedy series following a young man with a merman living in his bathtub. It has some pretty strong BL subtext (when the man, Tatsumi, takes a bath, he has to climb in with the merman), but so far nothing serious has happened. The show is very cute and humorous. Each episode is basically centered on a specific joke or situation, and the short length works well here. The characters are attractive and the opening theme is nice (though it’s rather grim and serious, which makes for an odd fit with the light-hearted and silly show).

Log Horizon is back after being gone for a few seasons, and it’s better than ever. While the first season was all about world building and setup (which were necessary and entertaining in their own right), this season has the main characters divided into two parallel plotlines, both of which are very exciting. It’s already answered some questions (like what actually happens when the characters die in the game - the answer is breathtaking) and some characters that were only seen briefly in season one have been given much more development. The result is one of the best shows to come out in years, easily topping Sword Art Online (which feels like a popcorn flick compared to Log Horizon’s surprising depth).

World Trigger has a very simple art style that works well for it, a super catchy opening theme, and an earnest but unlucky protagonist. It also has a unique take on the alien invasion story and some fun battle sequences. And that’s the most accurate way I can sum the show up: fun. It’s not too serious (yet) but not too silly. The lack of angst so far is very refreshing, and the frank way characters speak about things from their past seems more realistic to me. The show could stand to have a few more female characters, but it’s trying at least (the two major female characters so far are pretty neat, and there are more in the opening theme). I don’t know how long this show is supposed to run, but it’s building up for something that could last a while.

Bonjour♪Koiaji Pâtisserie is the third series I’m watching this season with mini-episodes. It’s an otome series focusing on a young girl attending a special culinary school that happens to employ some incredibly handsome instructors. Though I wasn’t sure how the mini-episode format would work for an otome series, it actually turned out well. The crunched time and quick pace effectively trimmed out all boring buildup and let’s the show get straight to the good stuff. We get a crash course on each guy, getting to know them very quickly and then moving on to them flirting with the heroine (who is cute but a little bland). The art style is very pretty. It looks a lot like Diabolik Lovers (I haven’t read up on the series so I don’t know if it’s by the same artist or same creators or whatever). The music is a little generic but overall the show is cute and sweet, just like the desserts the characters are so fond of making.

Mushishi is yet another returnee from the spring season. Since I’ve written about it twice before, there’s not much more to say about it. Mushishi relies on subtlety, beautiful scenery, and a handsome yet practical protagonist. It’s a gorgeous and haunting episodic story. If I had one criticism to throw at the show, it would be that it doesn’t lend itself well to marathon viewing. I found this out when I was a little behind on starting the new season and had to watch an extended-length special plus two episodes in one night to catch up. The show’s incredibly slow pace (to the point that at times it almost looks like the character are moving in slow motion) can make you a little drowsy if you try to watch too many episodes in one sitting. But on a weekly basis? This series is a dream.

Wolf Girl and Black Prince (I’m too lazy to look up the Japanese title right now) is the only high school shoujo series I know of airing this season. It’s in the same vein as shows like Ao Haru Ride and My Little Monster before it, though with less rape-attempts-are-romantic hijinks, which automatically makes it better than the previous two. Still, the love interest is tsundere to the extreme, and often comes across as a huge asshole. What makes it easier to stomach is that his “sadistic” antics are so exaggerated that it comes across as silly. Also, the heroine actually calls him out on his bullshit (after he did something particularly awful, she threw her drink in his face in front of an entire restaurant, told him to go die, and stormed out, then refused to contact him until he came crawling back to her - behavior that is sadly rare in shoujo heroines). Anywho, the art is nice (it reminds me of the Peach Girl manga, not really in terms of style, but in how effortless and natural the poses and clothes look). It’s a fun show that I’m enjoying a lot this season.

archica — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 04:26:42 GMT

So the summer anime season is going strong. This is hands-down my favorite season since I started following new anime as they air. It seems like this is the most lady-friendly season we’ve had in a long time, with well-done shoujo (Ao Haru Ride, Sailor Moon), yaoi/BL (Love Stage!!, Dramatical Murder), shows chock full of gorgeous guys clearly designed to appeal to girls (Free!, Samurai Jam, Kuroshitsuji Book of Circus), shows with kickass female characters who regularly outshine the boys (Akame ga Kill, Tokyo ESP), and just all-around great and interesting narratives that so far don’t treat the female characters like sexualized garbage (Tokyo Ghoul, Zankyou no Terror, Aldnoah Zero). But since I like to talk about the shows individually, here we go~

Akame ga Kill is an action-fantasy series that went a lot darker than I expected it to in the very first episode. It has likable characters, particularly the plucky young protagonist who is made infinitely more enjoyable by the fact that he quickly defied many of the tropes that are usually attached to characters like him (explaining this would spoil one of the best surprises in the first episode). There’s also Akame, who is a total badass, and a group of powerful assassins with more female members than male. One of the males happens to be a gay man who is just as badass and awesome as the rest of them and so far portrayed in a positive light. While there are a few mild gay jokes, it’s nice that the character is not reduced to a joke himself. The action scenes are rather fluid and exciting. While the art is a little generic overall, the colors and the backgrounds are very nice. There are lots of nighttime scenes, and they all look great. High on my watch list.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun is a genuinely funny comedy. I was a little worried that a shounen series about a male shoujo mangaka would end up mocking shoujo manga itself, but thankfully that’s not the case here. The series is hilarious, with a cast of quirky characters who compliment each other well. Most of the humor is derived from situations that could be familiar to many viewers. There’s a romance angle that kicks off the main story, but it’s not the primary focus of the series and is thankfully sweet and funny when it does pop up. This is one of those rare series where the comedy works almost 100% of the time without resorting to slapstick or the more ridiculous anime humor cliches. I’ve laughed all the way through every episode so far, and I’m not much of a laugher.

Dramatical Murder, like Mekakucity Actors last season, is something I was vaguely familiar with just by virtue of being on Tumblr. I’d seen tons of art, knew most of the character’s names, etc. without ever playing the game. However, I knew pretty much nothing about the plot (I was aware of a futuristic setting and that the game featured explicit yaoi, and that’s about it). That being said, as someone who never touched the game, I’m enjoying it. The character designs are attractive (though I have issues with Aoba’s boots) and the backgrounds are nice. The music fits the story very well. It seemed like there was some debate on whether or not the anime would include yaoi, but judging from recent episodes (which included a kiss on the lips between guys), it looks like they’re not outright avoiding yaoi, which is a good sign. I made the (terrible awful horrible) mistake of googling pictures from my favorite character’s route in the game and discovered that the game’s bad ends are extremely dark and disturbing, which surprised me given the anime’s fairly light-hearted nature so far. It certainly gave me a new perspective on the story.

Ao Haru Ride is a shoujo series that I’ve been looking forward to since it was announced. I never read the manga, but I did read and greatly enjoy a series by the same mangaka a while back (Strobe Edge), so I figured I would like this. The art is pretty, with a more subtle color palette than we often see in shoujo. The initial hook of the story is interesting. I was a little disappointed that romantic lead Kou is of the mildly asshole-ish variety (especially after Strobe Edge’s remarkably sweet romantic lead Ren), but he’s far from the worst I’ve seen in shoujo (very far, in fact) and at least he’s not aggressive. The heroine is cute and relatable but there’s not much to distinguish her from past shoujo heroines. Despite this, the series is very entertaining and the episodes seem to fly by. There’s a gentleness to the show that makes it feel soothing, but it’s got enough drama to keep it from being boring.

Tokyo ESP definitely started with a bang. While some people found the first episode confusing or messy, I rather liked being dropped directly into the plot with just enough explanation to follow the action. Episode two, however, was a little boring by contrast simply because it was made up entirely of a flashback (which even included a flashback-within-a-flashback). Regardless, the show is a lot of fun and has nice art and animation. The snowy nighttime setting of the first episode looked fantastic. Something should be said for the badass female characters who seem to dominate the action. I was a little let down by episode two’s fanservice, but it was fairly mild and brief. The ending theme has a great song, but the entirety of it features a nude female character who is clearly nude just for the sake of being nude. It’s a minor quibble, but it’s annoying nonetheless. Judging from episode three, it looks like it might take a while to get back to the action we saw in episode one. That’s disappointing, but the series is still very watchable.

Nobunaga Concerto has the most unique visual style among the shows I’m watching this season. At first glance, it seems a little cheap, with rather flat character designs and less than fluid movement. But take a closer look at the lighting, coloring, and backgrounds and you’ll see that the art is anything but lazy. Everything about the environments is absolutely stunning. Every sunset is gorgeous. Every starry night is breathtaking. Combining this with the somewhat static characters makes for a strange look that’s impossible to look away from. The story is compelling, with enough situational humor to work as a comedy and enough drama to keep you hooked. Credit has to be given to Mamoru Miyano, who’s voice work does an amazing job of keeping the protagonist, Saburo, down to earth and likable. A surprising gem of a series with excellent music. Highly recommended.

Free! season two is one of the series I was looking forward to most this season. The previous season of Free! consistently made me smile with it’s lovable, sexy guys and rather easy-going pace. Season two is so far following suit. One of my main concerns going into season two was how it would top the amazing ending theme of season one (Splash Free). Both the animation and the song of the first ending theme were absolutely perfect for the show. Happily, the season two ending theme (Future Fish) is just as good, if not better. Seeing the guys dressed as different things (Rin as a police officer and Makoto as a fire fighter are my favorites) was a lot of fun. New character Sousuke feels a little tacked on, as if he was just thrown in to make drama, but I guess they had to have drama from somewhere or there wouldn’t be a show. I was really happy to see a Nagisa-centric episode, since he’s probably the character we knew the least about in the main cast. It was great to see another side of him besides super genki cutie pie. Overall, season two has been a blast and I can’t wait to see what else happens.

Samurai Jam Bakumatsu Rock is this season’s totally ridiculous show that’s so goofy that you can’t hate it. It’s silly and kinda dumb, but it has vibrant colors and seems to be challenging Free! for the title of “show with the most shirtless guys per episode”. To be honest, the main reason I’m watching is because I have a thing for the Shinsengumi and love seeing all the various portrayals of them in anime and games. Gotta say, casting the Shinsengumi as a group of idol singers sponsored by the government is one of the strangest portrayals I’ve seen. There’s a novelty to it that hasn’t quite worn off yet (and dammit every time Souji starts coughing in ANY anime portrayal, I feel like crying).

Love Stage!! is a BL series (with the popularity of BL, why are there so few BL anime series?) with cute, colorful art and the most catchy ending theme of the season (with the possible exception of Free!’s “Future Fish”). It’s hilarious at times and the characters are charming for the most part. I like that the main couple isn’t (thus far) following the stereotypical seme/uke dynamic. It’s usually the seme who is either bisexual (has had a history of sleeping with women) or is straight up until he meets and falls in love with the uke. Here, the uke (Izumi) is implied to be straight (he has a crush on a female anime heroine to the point of sleeping while cuddled up to a body pillow featuring her, and he doesn’t have the usual doki doki reaction when the seme confesses to him). Although the seme was also implied to be straight, it still makes for an interesting dynamic. There was an uncomfortable moment in episode three that featured a near rape (which is, sadly, a common trope in yaoi), but it was handled with a certain degree of seriousness and realism that we rarely see in BL/yaoi. The victim was appropriately traumatized and the perpetrator felt extreme guilt and shame, which erased what would have been a gross situation when they inevitably get together. Overall, the show is adorable and one of my favorites this season.

Zankyou no Terror handles its terrorism plotline fairly well. It presents its two teenaged terrorists in a relatively neutral light. They’re not overly glorified or overly vilified, but they are interesting characters that you want to know more about. Some viewers have said the art style took some getting used to, but I thought it was great from the beginning. The show has a powerful ending theme with a song that grabs you and builds in intensity as it goes along. It feels epic. This is one of the more serious shows this season, with almost no humor. Still, it’s very enjoyable and often exciting. I’m particularly interested in how the lone major female character, Lisa, will factor into the plot as it moves forward. I like her, and find her very relatable (particularly with her family-related issues). I’m just waiting for her to become more involved in the story, and it looks like she certainly will.

Glasslip is being compared to Nagi no Asukara, with its focus on beautiful scenery, cute characters of both genders, and a group of young people who all have crushes on each other and can’t seem to sort out their relationships. Nagi no Asukara, however, had a much more engaging setting and overall plot, with strong fantasy elements meshed with the slice-of-life relationship hijinks. So far Glasslip feels a little, well, boring. It’s moving at a very slow pace, and the supernatural elements are miniscule at this point (not to mention extremely vague). I’m also having a hard time getting into the relationships because I can’t seem to connect with any of the characters, making it hard to care. I felt this way in the early parts of Nagi no Asukara, but the overall fantasy plot kept me interested (and the relationship dynamics changed dramatically halfway through - I ended up being super into them). I’m still watching because the show is so darned pretty, and because it has the potential to be very dramatic and engaging depending on how the story goes (the “glimpsing the future” thing has been grossly underused so far, but it could be a game-changer if used right).

Argevollen is one of two mecha series I’m following this season (the other being Aldnoah Zero, which I’ll talk about later in the list). Unfortunately, it’s the weaker of the two. My main issue with the series is that the central conflict is so vague. When the protagonists are fighting their enemies, I find myself wondering, “Who are they even fighting? Why are they even fighting?”. We’ve seen so little of the enemies that I don’t even remember any of them at all. I’m sure the series explained who’s fighting and why, but it must have done so in a pretty boring way because I honestly can’t remember it. Everything about the show feels mediocre to me. The character designs are generic. The mecha designs don’t strike me as particularly interesting. The music is unmemorable. And I can’t help feeling a little irritated by the fact that the male mecha pilots are always shown from the chest up but the only female pilot is constantly given crotch shots (and they all wear skintight suits, which would make much more sense if they were fighting in space, but they’re not). I’m still watching for two reasons: I’m a sucker for mecha anime and it airs on Thursdays, which is a fairly slow day for anime this season. Also, I’m optimistic that the show could get better if we got to know the enemies a little better so we could understand the main conflict. Low on my watch list.

Tokyo Ghoul is one of the most popular new shows this season, and probably the most anticipated behind Sailor Moon and Free!. I’d heard of the manga but never tried it, but I’d seen enough art from it on Tumblr to know it was something I would like. The anime so far hasn’t disappointed. The story is an interesting mesh of zombie and vampire tropes (featuring creatures who eat the flesh of humans yet have their own personalities and can blend in with normal humans when they want). The main selling point of the series is the infinitely likable protagonist, Kaneki. He’s adorable without being a shiny bishounen, and he manages to be relatable even when dealing with some bizarre problems. He’s a character you want to root for, which really grounds the story (which would have been a little too grim otherwise). There’s a great contrast in the show between the sweet and good-natured Kaneki and the mask he wears to protect his identity. The mask itself is an amazingly creepy visual that can be downright frightening when combined with his one red eye. The horror imagery is one of the show’s strong points, and the music is a good fit. High on my watch list.

Kuroshitsuji Book of Circus is a series I decided to watch at the last minute. I watched the first season of the Kuroshitsuji anime (and had read the first several chapters of the manga) but I skipped season two. When I found out season two (not to mention a large portion of season one) was completely filler and had nothing to do with the manga, I figured I hadn’t missed anything important so why not watch Book of Circus? I’ve also always had a thing for circuses and carnivals, so this is right up my alley. So far I’m enjoying it a lot. It has one of the best opening themes of the season and the art looks great. The new characters are immediately interesting and it’s fun to see them interact with Sebastian and Ciel. I don’t know much about what happens because I’ve tried to avoid spoilers from the manga, but I do hope Grell shows up at some point. For now, the series is doing very well and continuing the mash up of gothic horror, sarcastic humor, and beautiful characters (mostly of the male variety) that made the first half of season one so fun.

Sailor Moon Crystal is hard to talk about, because it has so many expectations and memories and feelings attached to it and it will forever be impossible for it to cut away from those things. I made a post on my LJ about my thoughts on the first episode. My main complaint was the lack of facial expression in the female characters (particularly Usagi). I’m happy to say that this issue has improved somewhat in episodes two and three (though it still hasn’t improved as much as I would like, it was nice to see more than two or three expressions). However, as many people have had fun pointing out, the facial anatomy is still, well, not so great. The story seems to be following the manga very closely, so the true test of how good this anime is will come when it diverges more sharply from the original anime and becomes more if it’s own thing. At this point, it’s still following the same basic beats of the original anime (which is necessary because it’s following the manga) so it’s very hard not to compare them. And when you compare them? Well, given a choice between the two, I find it hard to imagine anyone who would honestly say Crystal is more entertaining than the original at this point. Still yet, I’m interested in seeing how things go when it gets deeper into the manga’s plot.

Sword Art Online’s new season has been good so far, but it’s given me cause for concern. The animation quality and music meet the high standard the first season set, and the plot is really interesting so far. The new game, Gun Gale Online, is a pretty sharp departure from the fantasy games in the first season, so it makes for a pretty cool setting. It was also nice to see Kirito with an avatar that doesn’t look so much like his normal self (his GGO avatar is so feminine that almost everyone in the game assumes he’s female, even after interacting with him for a long time). The new female character, Sinon, is a welcome addition. She has a cool design, is a badass player in the game, and has a compelling backstory. But she’s also where the concern comes in. The overall SAO series seems to falling into a pattern of introducing a new cute female sidekick for Kirito with each new story arc, and each of them inevitably falls in love with him (I’m not certain this will be the case with Sinon, but all signs point to this happening). It’s a little annoying, for two main reasons: 1.) The first story arc went to great pains to set up the epic romance between Kirito and Asuna, so every new girl who comes into the picture will always provoke some feelings of “stop intruding!” among diehard Kirito/Asuna fans (and let’s face it, the series worked very hard to make sure we’re all Kirito/Asuna fans). And 2.) The fact that Kirito is in a committed relationship with Asuna and will never return the romantic affections of any of these other girls makes the whole thing feel kind of pointless. What’s the point of having every new chick fall in love with him if it’s never going to go anywhere? From a storytelling standpoint, why bother? I could understand it happening once or twice, to provide some drama. But every time? There’s something of a double-edged sword at work here. On one hand, I’m always in favor of more badass, well-written female characters in any story. On the other, I’m sad that all these girls ultimately play into the male fantasy Kirito represents. However, it’s important to note that SAO so far hasn’t fallen into harem territory (there’s almost never more than one girl around him at a time and the girls that do like him are friends, so there’s none of the annoying cat fighting or competing for his attention, plus he fell in love with one girl early on and stuck with her, and makes it clear to everyone that he has no intention of ever being unfaithful to her). Nothing could keep me from continuing to watch, because I am a fan of the series, but it’s definitely not perfect.

Aldnoah Zero is the other mecha series I mentioned earlier, and is by far the superior of the two. The first thing that struck me about the show was the music. Sometimes music fits a series. Sometimes you don’t even notice the music. And sometimes the music makes every scene exciting and memorable, and really gets you hyped up. This is the kind of music Aldnoah Zero has. It also has excellent animation and character designs, and an engaging central conflict that doesn’t feel like it’s been done to death. One of the things I really like is that, so far, the protagonist actually relies on skill and intelligence to win battles, rather than a shiny new mecha. He uses the same standard mecha that every other character uses. He just fights smarter, and isn’t afraid to seek the help of his friends and fellow mecha pilots to pull off some pretty cool operations. If this guy does end up getting some kind of fancy new mobile suit, he’ll be unstoppable. There’s also another protagonist, Slaine, who is technically with the enemies, but he’s probably the most sympathetic character in the show. The series also has a handful of interesting, strong female characters. Very high on my watch list.

Barakamon was the last series I added to my watch list. It doesn’t have the most original plot (uptight city person moves to the country and learns to loosen up while interacting with the lively locals) but it has enough unique touches to keep it from getting stale. The calligraphy angle is interesting and the complete lack of romance (so far) is refreshing. I was also pleased that the main female character, a seven year old girl, is allowed to simply be a child. She’s never sexualized or fetishized (and how sad is it that this is a rare enough thing to be worth noting?). The art is simple but nice. The series gives me some of the same soothing, comforting vibes that Gin no Saji (Silver Spoon) did, though not to the same degree. The show has a relaxed pace, but it’s never boring, and most of the humor works well. Definitely worth watching.

archica — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 05:57:47 GMT

Soooo the new Sailor Moon anime. I have to get my thoughts in order here.

First of all, I'm gonna admit right here that I'm probably biased. I'm a hardcore fan of the original anime, and I'm in the minority among SM fans in that I much prefer the anime to the manga (I did love the manga, and I thought there were definitely aspects that were better in the manga, but overall the anime was my favorite). So of course these facts are gonna color my perception of the new series. However, I'm pretty open-minded when it comes to remakes in general (I'm a horror movie fan, and they're remade all the time, plus I read American superhero comics, which are constantly being rebooted). Anywho, here we go:

Things I Liked:

The backgrounds are lovely. They're similar to the original series in that they're sort of painterly and colorful. The night time scenes are especially beautiful.

The male characters look much more attractive. Mamoru in particular is actually the heartthrob he was meant to be. Also, I was pretty excited to see him in glasses in the opening theme.

The episode title and commercial break eye catches are gorgeous. I would seriously love to have all of them as posters for my wall.

Things I Didn't Like:

My main issue with the series so far (and something tons of other people have already pointed out) is the facial anatomy and expressions (or lack thereof). What made Usagi such a fun, easy to relate to character in the original was that she was basically a lazy, immature, klutzy otaku. She was cute, but never glamorous or beautiful (until she was in her Princess Serenity form). In the new series, Usagi so far has displayed none of the usual funny, goofy expressions that were such a big part of her charm. In fact, 90% of the time she's onscreen, her face is in one specific expression: eyes widened, eyebrows raised, and her mouth a tiny little circle. On the occasions when she would have been wearing silly expressions or making funny faces in the original, we only see her from behind. Either the animators aren't good at making funny expressions, or they don't want to show her not being super pretty. Either explanation is pretty sad. And that's not even addressing the facial anatomy itself, which is kind of a train wreck (I don't care if the anime style is known for "big eyes, small mouth", those eyes are way too ginormous and the mouths are just tiny specks; it looks bizarre and distracting). The fact that every single female character so far has the exact same face (and also prone to having that same expression most of the time) just makes the situation worse.

My only other major gripe is the hideous cg used in the opening and in the transformation sequence, but I think that horse has already been beat into hamburger.

Other than that, there's just minor little things like the bland and generic opening/ending themes (the background music is nice though!) and the fact that they didn't modernize anything. I know it's supposed to be sticking to the manga, but I was kinda hoping that if they went to the trouble of remaking it, they would have modernized it a bit (the fashions and the technology seen in the series, for example). But oh well. Not a big deal.

Overall, it's hard to judge this remake based on one episode. The first episode of the original anime is somewhat unique in that it followed the manga almost exactly, so this first episode is naturally gonna be extremely similar to the original first episode. It looks like they're going to be sticking to the manga though, since we saw Ami at the end of the episode. Kinda sad that Usagi probably won't be getting any solo adventures this time around (I think I'm also in the minority in that I enjoyed them in the original anime - I think they helped to define her as a heroine before she had anyone to help her out). On the plus side, her relationship with Mamoru won't go down the drain after the first season if it follows the manga (their romance in the manga was actually steamy and had chemistry and was actually, you know, romantic, as opposed to him basically turning into a bland perfect guy who acts like her dad, as he did after season one in the anime). And the downside to that is that we probably won't get snarky dork Mamoru (seen in season one of the original anime). Tradeoffs and all that.

I'll definitely keep watching. If they would start giving Usagi (and the rest of the cast) more than two or three facial expressions, it would make the show 100% better. And since tons of people have noticed and harped on this? It's a safe bet that the Japanese fandom has commented on it too. And if so, maybe things will change. We can only hope.

archica — Sat, 24 May 2014 06:52:21 GMT

Spring anime season is about halfway through, so here’s what I’m watching:

Majin Bone is obviously a kids’ anime, kind of like a Saturday morning cartoon, and the kind I usually don’t care for, but it’s actually pretty fun and the fights are well done. The characters are annoying but overall likable (which is honestly baffling) and there’s enough mystery surrounding the enemies to keep me interested in how things turn out. Nothing amazing, but watchable and makes me feel like I should be eating a bowl of Fruity Pebbles while it’s on.

Hitsugi no Chaika began as one of my favorites, because I love the character designs and a lot of the ideas the show brings to the table about magic and battles and things like that. Even Chaika’s weird, childish way of speaking didn’t annoy me because it really fit her character. But as the episodes roll by, I find myself less and less excited for new episodes. This is probably because there is a growing number of female love interests for the main male character (so far there are three who seem to have an interest in him, and I have a sinking feeling that there’s going to be more) while he remains seemingly oblivious despite being an otherwise intelligent character. There was also a bit of rather uncomfortable fanservice in a recent episode, involving the protagonists, whom we’re supposed to be rooting for, tying up an underage girl and stripping her down to a tiny scrap of clothing that barely covered her while she blushed, squirmed, and clearly felt violated. And the scene was played for laughs. It left me unable to root for them anymore, and if I can’t root for the protagonists, I have a hard time enjoying a story.

No Game No Life is a (very) guilty pleasure and something that’s teetered on the edge of being dropped from episode one. The only real reason to watch is the stunning art, with its gorgeous colors and setting. It’s basically a male fantasy, with a protagonist who is a master of all games and never loses and somehow manages to attract women despite being a total asshole to them. He also has an adoring little sister (also a master of games, but so far she hasn’t done anything as impressive as what he’s done and has already cried because she was losing a game and big brother had to step in and finish it for her). The sister is your standard jailbait loli chick in a school uniform (which is bizarre because she doesn’t go to school) which she often leaves unzipped and draping off her shoulders and provides lots of panty shots. She talks in a very slow, quiet, super-cutesy voice that annoys the piss out of me and always looks/sounds like she’s half asleep. Despite all this, I kind of like her, if only because she’s the only person so far who can cut her brother down with just a few words and reveal the total loser he actually is. What makes Sora (the protagonist) bearable for me is that all of his skill and assholery and arrogance can’t completely cover up the fact that he’s totally pathetic, and every so often we get glimpses of his true nature when he’s crying in a corner, saying he’s sorry over and over again for accidentally grabbing a girl’s boobs, saying, “I’m so sorry! I thought I’d never touch a boob in my entire life!” It’s also interesting that he adores Shiro (his sister) as much if not more than she adores him, which is kind of rare, and they really do function as a team (to the point that if they get too far away from each other, they both basically have mental breakdowns until they’re reunited). And while they are uncomfortably close, the series points out that there’s nothing sexual or romantic going on between them, which I appreciated. Sora even lampshades the idea by exclaiming, “I can’t go after my own sister! Besides, she’s eleven years old!” For her part, Shiro seems eager to get Sora laid by another female character, so she’s not the jealous little sister type, which is nice. Still yet, the show is full of fanservice and looks primed to turn into a harem, so I could drop it at any time. Also, the abuse dished out to the ditzy character Steph is more uncomfortable than funny, mostly because the series relies on degrading and humiliating her for comic effect, and it just comes across as cruel and mean-spirited. The show is holding on, but just barely.

Mushishi Season 2 is just more of the same, but that’s okay because the first season was amazing. For those not familiar, the Mushishi series focuses on subtle, quiet drama with vague supernatural elements. The colors are muted and there’s only one major recurring character (Ginko, who is basically there to connect the stories and be effortlessly sexy). It’s a collection of stories that are touching and occasionally downright frightening, but also incredibly simple. Definitely high on my “to watch” list this season, and will probably end up being my favorite of the spring season.

Akuma no Riddle is a show that could have gone so wrong in so many ways, but has defied all my expectations and somehow managed to be a series worth watching and one of the shows I’m enjoying most this season. Seeing art from the series and reading the description (a class full of high school girl assassins all trying to kill one girl), I assumed it would be full of fanservice, male gaze-fueled lesbian antics, and characters that all fit neatly into the standard tropes. What I got was a surprisingly entertaining series full of strong (in multiple ways) female characters who are well-written, female relationships that feel genuine, and so little fanservice that I’m still shocked by its general absence. High on my watch list.

Captain Earth is the only mecha anime I’m watching this season (is there another one?). It reminds me a lot of Valvrave in that I already have a love-hate relationship with it. I love that the art is pretty (though it’s a generic sort of pretty), approximately half the characters are fun and interesting, the mecha is cool, the villains are basically Team Rocket if Team Rocket were a little more effective, and I can appreciate how ludicrous the plot is (though after Valvrave, mecha anime plots never quite seem that ludicrous anymore). However, I hate that the show so far seems to have little regard for the personal space boundaries of its female characters, has a rather bland protagonist, and is trying way too hard to be deep and artistic but is failing miserably at it. The good things outweigh the bad, however, so I’ll probably watch til the end.

Haikyuu!! is right up my alley, seeing as how I hate sports but love sports anime. It has all the elements I love to see: a spunky underdog protagonist with potential, a snarky rival, and a team full of good looking, charming-in-their-own-ways guys. Oh, and there’s some volley ball being played too I guess. The art took a little getting used to, because it definitely has its own style, but once it grew on me, the unique style became part of the show’s charm. It’s no Prince of Tennis or Kuroko’s Basketball, but it’s fun and cute.

Kamigami no Asobi is an otome series with possibly the most ridiculous setup yet: various gods from various religions must live as bishounen human boys in a magical school with one human girl so they can learn about humans. The show is, well, very dumb. The guy who is probably supposed to be the main love interest says, upon meeting the heroine, “Your name is Yui? That’s so pretty and exotic! I’ll just call you Fairy!” And it just gets dumber from there. But the thing is, this show knows it’s dumb and ridiculous, and it revels in it. The series is so silly that it’s impossible to stay mad at it. Also helps that the guys are pretty and just love coming out of their clothes or doing fabulous magical boy transformations that can outdo Sailor Moon anyday. For all its faults, the show puts a smile on my face, and I can’t ask for much more than that.

Mekaku City Actors is a show I went into without any prior knowledge of Kagerou Project or Vocoloid or anything related to it. Of course I’d heard of these things or seen art on Tumblr, but I just never took an interest. So I’m judging it based on the anime alone. That being said, I like the idea of the series. I like the characters introduced so far, and I especially love the stylish character designs. The songs can be kinda hit or miss, but most of them are good. What I don’t like, so far, is the animation style. I’ve seen it before and I didn’t like it then either. I guess it’s supposed to be super stylish or whatever, but it’s not something I personally like. Anywho, it’s still an interesting show and definitely worth watching for now.

Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii is a series I really want to like more than I do. There’s nothing specifically wrong with it (except maybe that I’m not into shoutas so the male romantic lead doesn’t really appeal to me). It has a great, fun heroine who can usually get herself out of trouble (and when the guy does help her, it comes across as a team effort rather than him rescuing her). It has nice art, music, and some pretty scenery. But for some reason, I just can’t get excited about it. Maybe it’s because I’m not feeling the romance angle at all (even though it’s not bad per se, it’s just not something I’m interested in), and there’s little else to keep me invested. It’s hard when a show does nothing wrong and actually does a lot of things right, but you just can’t get into it. Will keep watching until I go from “not excited” to “bored”.

Selector is a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. I was expecting a shoujo version of Yugioh and thankfully, that’s not what I got. Instead, it gives some pretty strong PMMM vibes (specially chosen young girls battling each other, each having a wish that’s very important to them, the main character being talented but unable to come up with a wish for the first half of the series). The show drags just a bit though, and I would have preferred to see more card battles and less... other stuff. The battles are all-too brief and none of the rules of the game are explained so they’re kinda hard to follow (maybe it’s based on a real card game in Japan and they expect people to know the rules already? I don’t know). I’m guessing the action will pick up in the later episodes. For now, the series is solidly watchable and worth investing some time in. The characters are well-written (especially the so-terrible-you’ll-want-to-punch-her Akira, who makes a rather effective villain) and the plot so far has enough mystery to keep you watching.

One Week Friends is incredibly sweet and easy to watch. The premise is just a little too convenient for the sake of the plot, but it’s easy to forgive the show for that when it’s so heart-warming. The art has a cute, almost sketchy look to it with light warm colors (lots of browns and beiges and creams). It’s a fairly gentle drama, though there’s room for some angst later on should the series choose to go that route. I really hope it sticks to the warm sweetness with a tinge of sorrow rather than going for all out melodrama, but we’ll see. For now, it’s kind of a feel-good series.

Kindaichi Case Files Returns is no Detective Conan, and that’s the first thought that came to my mind upon watching the first episode. I know this is just a new anime for a long-running series (I think the manga started just a few months after Conan did), and maybe being more familiar with the characters would help, but I wasn’t familiar with the Conan characters when I watched the first episode of it, and I fell in love immediately. However, Kindaichi isn’t a bad show by any means. For a detective/mystery series to work for me, it has to have either a compelling cast of characters that I feel emotionally invested in and want to see what happens to them, or it has to have interesting cases/mysteries that keep me guessing and that I need to see the conclusion to. Conan had both these things. Kindaichi has the latter. So far the cases in Kindaichi are great fun. The downside is that I have little to no interest in the core cast of characters. Kindaichi’s love interest was kidnapped and basically became a damsel in distress in the very first episode, effectively taking her out of the story and making her an object to be rescued throughout the entirety of the first story arc. Contrast this with Conan’s Ran, a genuine karate master who can beat the shit out of literally anyone who pisses her off enough and is always an active and vital presence in the story. Kindaichi also has a secondary love interest, a pop idol whom he flirts with openly in front of the other girl, and the series seems to find it really amusing that the girls are jealous of each other and don’t get along (and it’s super annoying that Kindaichi flirts like crazy with the idol chick and acts like the childhood friend chick is being unreasonably jealous, then gets all jealous and acts like a petty child when he sees childhood friend chick simply having an innocent, polite conversation with another male character). Overall, it comes across as Kindaichi having his cake and eating it too. He has both the beautiful famous girl and the cute girl next door, and then acts as if he’s somehow a victim when they get jealous or upset. This aspect of the show annoys the crap out of me, which is why the show is low on my watch list. But, since the cases are generally exciting and overshadow the useless love triangle bullshit, I’m still watching.

Overall, this season is okay, but none of the shows really grabbed me the way certain series of other seasons have. Maybe this is just a warm-up for the summer season, which is supposed to be pretty awesome.

archica — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 10:51:53 GMT

New anime season! Here's what I'm watching:

Noragami is one of my favorites of the new shows. It's very easy to watch, with cute humor, attractive art, and a seriously charming cast headed up by one of the best protagonists of the season, Yato, a minor god who dreams of having huge shrines and millions of followers, but in reality is broke, homeless, and on the verge of being forgotten. Yato gives me major Vash the Stampede vibes, since he’s an adorable goofball with an implied very-dark-past. Of the new shows, Noragami is probably the one I’m most excited to see a new episode of each week.

Nobunagun is probably the show I’m second most excited to see each week. It started out strong and has so far kept up the quality. The art has a cartoony vibe that somehow works with the ludicrous premise and over-the-top action scenes. It lets you know that the series doesn’t take itself too seriously, which makes the show a lot of fun. Nobunagun has a great heroine who is spunky, strong, and takes no shit, but is also cute and relatable and kinda dorky. The rest of the cast is made up of attractive guys and badass chicks. Definitely my kind of show.

The Pilot’s Love Song reminds me a lot of Last Exile, in that it’s a steampunk anime about a young boy and his sister-ish childhood friend being pilots and getting involved in major conflicts. But as the title suggests, this series focuses a little more on romance. Thankfully, the romance angle is cute and handled well, with an interesting twist that is sure to provide a ton of drama and angst down the road. There’s an element of mystery and exploration, but I think it’s a little underdeveloped right now. I’m sure this will change as the series moves along though. The art is a tiny bit generic but overall pretty. There are some impressive backgrounds and a few scenes have amazing colors, but everything else is standard anime design work. Oh, and it has the best ending theme of the season, hands down.

Silver Spoon season two was a nice surprise, since I didn’t even know it was coming. I enjoyed the first season a lot, and so far season two is doing great. There’s not a lot to say that I didn’t say about season one. The show is funny, charming, and comforting, with an easy-going pace and likable characters. Even though protagonist Hachiken is sometimes a bundle of nerves, the show remains relaxing, and even though the series has a simple fish-out-of-water plot, it has moments of surprising depth and pathos.

Buddy Complex could have been a Gundam series. Seriously, if it had been called Gundam: Buddy Complex, I don’t think anyone would have complained. Aside from a time travel angle, so far it seems fairly grounded in near-future reality. The mecha battles are cool and you have your standard crew of soldiers and officers and cute angsty mecha pilots. I like that the protagonist, Aoba, is easy-going and takes everything in stride. There’s also a middle-aged captain who is awesome and is quickly becoming my favorite character in the show. He's kind of the opposite of Bright Noa in that he's very laid back, but he still gets the job done.

Inari Konkon surprised me when I found out it was a seinen series instead of a shoujo series. It reminds me a lot of last season’s Gingitsune (they both heavily focus on a rural shrine as a setting, feature a young heroine who has a rare ability to see and interact with a god-like entity that lives at the shrine, have a fairly relaxed pace, and both are inexplicably seinen despite seeming very shoujo-ish). Inari Konkon, however, has much more romance, with the story focusing on the heroine’s crush on her classmate, as well as the budding relationship between the heroine’s older brother and the goddess who lives at the shrine (who sits around playing otome games all day). As such, it’s a little more dramatic than Gigitsune. Regardless, it’s a cute show that I’m enjoying a lot.

Wizard Barristers is a unique show about magical lawyers who defend magic-using criminals in magic court. It sounds silly, but the mostly standalone episodes play out a lot like more serious police procedural shows, with the lawyers gathering evidence, interviewing witnesses, etc. Of course there are occasional flashy magical battles when things get out of hand. Whether or not you’ll like the series will depend totally on how you react to the heroine, Cecil. I like her okay, but I can see how a lot of people would find her annoying. She’s cute and energetic, very moe, very earnest and, actually, very Mary Sue-ish (she’s the youngest Wizard Barrister ever, has amazing hidden powers that pop up conveniently whenever she needs them, and generally gets away with breaking all sorts of rules and laws with pretty much zero consequences). There is a character who frequently calls Cecil out on all this, but the character is portrayed as being bitter and jealous, which is disappointing (and of course Cecil eventually wins even her over). I happen to have a strong tolerance for Mary Sue-ish characters, so I don’t mind Cecil that much. The supporting cast (made up of mostly females who work at the law firm with Cecil, many of which are interesting characters on their own) makes the show more fun, and the art is really nice and colorful. It has some interesting ideas and it feels pretty fresh, so I’m keeping up with it.

That's all for the new shows. As for the shows that carried over from last season, not much has changed except I dropped Strike the Blood (the harem elements began to overpower everything else). Nagi no Asukara, which I complained about having annoying characters and relationships, went through a drastic change at the beginning of the second half that immediately shook up all the character dynamics. It worked wonders for the show and now it's one of my favorites that are currently airing. On the other hand, Samurai Flamenco has devolved into a ridiculous mess that couldn't be farther from the simple, funny show it started out as. I'm still watching partly because I still really like the characters (and none of them have been ruined so far) and partly out of morbid curiosity as to where this train wreck in progress will finally crash.

It's also interesting that this season had the most shows I tried and dropped within the first three episodes. Magical Warfare was about three characters (two guys and one girl) being given magical powers. One of the guys gets the ability to predict his opponent's attacks in battle, the other one gets the ability to wield fire. And the girl? Her cool new magical ability is to make her boobs magically bigger. DROPPED. Witchcraft Works sells itself as a show that challengers gender roles by featuring a powerful girl protecting a bland, helpless dude whom she calls "Princess" (complete with plenty of shots of her carrying him from danger, bridal style). However, it's just another series with the "magical girlfriend" trope, as the girl is relentlessly sexualized by the camera angles and is meek and submissive to the boy. And if the opening/ending themes are any indication, there are plenty more hot chicks on the way to chase after the "Princess". DROPPED. Nobunaga the Fool seemed cool at first with its Warring States Period with Mecha premise but the protagonist is a total asshole to everyone, especially the beautiful, overly sweet busty blonde who is supposed to be Jeanne D'Arc. I just couldn't get over the fact that they decided to take one of the few women in history who was known for being strong, courageous, capable of fighting, and non-glamorous, and re-imagine her as a meek and almost helpless princess who has no idea how to even use a knife. DROPPED. Hamatora had nice art and a couple of interesting characters, but the protagonist (ironically named "Nice") just came across as a jerk to me and I couldn't stomach the rampant victim-blaming he dished out in the second episode. DROPPED.

Overall, this is probably the fewest new shows I've decided to follow in a quite a while, if you don't count the shows that carried over from last season. This season was chock full of moe harem comedies. SIGH.

archica — Sun, 08 Dec 2013 08:44:38 GMT

New anime season started a while back (and it's almost over oops). Here's what I'm watching:

Diabolik Lovers is this season's massive train wreck, but just try to look away. There's been a lot of discussion about the fact that the show is basically watching a cute girl be abused (in every possible way) by a gang of six vampire brothers who are beautiful and disturbingly cruel and sadistic. And no, these guys aren't sweet underneath it all or good guys deep down. They're monsters who genuinely enjoy making her cry. The show is very strange and sometimes hard to watch. In any other show of this nature (based on an otome game), the heroine eventually gets some relief. The guys may tease her or even strongly come onto her, but they always back off when they realize how upset she's getting. Or alternately, someone else shows up to rescue her from unwanted advances. Diabolik Lovers is unique in that no one ever comes to rescue the heroine, because none of these guys give a shit about her beyond feeding on her. And they definitely don't care to keep going even when it's clear that she wants them to stop. In fact, they enjoy her distress. It's just episode after episode of Yui (the heroine) being abused and treated like garbage. But that's the point. It's a rape fantasy pure and simple. But it's gorgeous to look at and has one hell of a voice cast, so I'm still watching (if only to hear the incredibly sexy male voice actors saying such ridiculously dirty things).

Yowamushi Pedal is a very cute and funny sports anime about a bicycle racing club. The strength of this show hinges completely on how adorably nerdy and sweet the protagonist is, and how strongly the series makes you want to root for him. So far it's been a fun ride, with some hot guys in biker shorts and a pretty cool female character who's like an expert on bicycles (nice to see a chick in a shounen sports anime who actually, you know, does stuff).

Coppelion might as well be called "Scenery Porn: The Series". The show would be worth watching for the drop dead gorgeous scenery alone, but it had to throw in three awesome female leads (with a focus on their friendship and camaraderie), a fascinating premise that leads into all sorts of different stories, and great opening/ending themes (in a season that is sorely lacking in great opening/ending themes). This show is very likely going to be my favorite of the season and I would recommend it to literally everyone. It's another great example of what anime is capable of in terms of art and storytelling.

Kyoukai no Kanata (Beyond the Boundary) is the new series from KyoAni, the studio that gave us Free! (also a studio that tends to focus on slice of life shows, so there's been some buzz over the fact that this is a supernatural/action series). As expected of KyoAni, the production values are sky high for a tv anime but the character designs are definitely moe (a little too moe for me, to be honest, but I can forgive that). So far it's doing well. There are some interesting ideas and the characters are cute and fun. The fights are very well choreographed. Unless it screws up pretty badly in the end game, I think it's going to be one of my favorites this season.

Nagi no Asukara has an intriguing setting, mostly taking place in an undersea village populated by humans who can breathe underwater. The series is beautiful to look at, has probably the best ending theme of the season, and has some compelling plot threads that deal with racism, bullying, tradition, and forbidden love. The only problem is that most of the characters are initially bland at best and very annoying at worst, making the first couple of episodes less enjoyable than they should have been. The only two major female characters are both of the gentle, submissive, and innocent variety. Since the personalities of the male characters are quite different from each other, it would have been nice to have at least one girl who doesn't come across as a doormat (Note: there is a female character who is not part of the core group who doesn’t fall into this category, and the two gentle female leads are at least likable). The protagonist, Hikari, is loud, obnoxious, and strangely abusive to one of the girls, Manaka, whom he has a crush on. While he improves somewhat by the third episode, his actions in the first two left a sour taste in my mouth and it's been difficult for me to like him. To be fair, he does improve episode by episode as he grows and matures.

Golden Time is a series I was initially on the fence about, but decided to keep on my watch list after a very entertaining third episode. I'm not crazy about some of the character dynamics, but these dynamics change a lot over the course of the series (namely, one of the major female characters was entirely too dependent on a male character who doesn't even return her affections, saying things like, "I'm nothing without him", though this does change and she grows as a person; I was also annoyed by how a certain couple got together, as it gave strong ”Nice Guy got friendzoned, poor him” vibes and shifted too much blame onto the girl who really didn’t do anything wrong). The protagonist is reasonably likable most of the time and the show is funny at times and touching at others. Recent episodes have been pretty heavy on the kind of drama that rips your heart out, so be prepared.

Samurai Flamenco is basically a much kinder, softer, light hearted version of "Kick-Ass" (Note: there are exceptions to the whole “kinder, softer” thing). The two male leads are adorable and their unlikely friendship is the major draw to the series. The show takes a fairly sudden turn around episode seven, and I’m still not sure if I like the direction it took, but it’s fun regardless (though I do give the show props for having a total “WTF?!” moment at the end of episode seven that had the entire fandom freaking the hell out, and with good reason, as it was one of the best shocks I’ve seen in anime if only because of the sudden tone shift). It’s pretty hard to explain much about the series without giving anything away, but anyone who likes sentai or takusatsu should enjoy it immensely.

Galilei Donna is giving Coppelion a run for it’s money to take the spot as my favorite of the season. This is the kind of show I wish we saw more of. It’s pretty much awesome ladies doing awesome things, as we follow four strong female characters (strong in various ways, which is so refreshing) on an adventure to save the world. And they’re traveling in a giant goldfish mech that one of them built herself. And there’s a charmingly goofy yet handsome (and surprisingly capable) sky pirate who is in love with one of them. And three of them are sisters. And they’re all sassy and independent and talented yet sometimes vulnerable and weak and clumsy. And it takes place in a future where the world is going through another ice age, so there’s tons of snowy scenery (I am obsessed with snowy scenery, guys). It’s basically a perfect show and everyone should drop everything and go watch it.

Strike the Blood is probably my least favorite of the shows I’m following and the closest to falling off my watch list. The exciting fight scenes and catchy ending theme are all that’s saving it at this point. I’m just not crazy about shows where every new female character introduced ends up in love with the male protagonist, and then we end up with scenes of him falling and accidentally grabbing their boobs or accidentally getting water on them resulting in their clothes becoming see-through and it’s just soooo funny (not really, not after a gazillion other shows use the same gags a gazillion other times). To the show’s credit, the protagonist is not the standard boring, bland guy you see in most other stories like this (he actually has a personality, and he’s fairly likable) and there’s enough other stuff going on to distract you from the lame harem hijinks for a while, but when every badass female character that comes along turns into a blushing moe girl around the protagonist, it just gets tiring.

Valvrave season two is, thus far, an improvement over season one. I have a love-hate relationship with Valvrave and it’s pretty much the cheating, lying, potentially abusive boyfriend you just can’t bring yourself to break up with because he’s really hot and every now and then he does something really sweet for you. Valvrave is an overly melodramatic space opera mecha series that combines supernatural elements (vampire-like creatures, grim religious imagery, body-switching) with a Gundam Seed/Seed Destiny-like plot and mecha battles. To be honest, this shit is right up my alley. It’s ridiculous but it’s fun, and as long as you don’t take the series half as seriously as it takes itself, you’ll get a lot of entertainment out of it. It has glorious opening and ending themes (go listen to them, like right now) and one of the most absurdly badass characters you’ll ever see in any form of fiction, the hilariously named L-Elf, a silver-haired pretty boy who can take out a room full of heavily armed, highly trained guards while he’s completely unarmed and tied to a freaking chair. In fact, I was about to call this series “perfect according to my ridiculous tastes” until it introduced an insulting, offensive, just outright terrible subplot that practically ruined the first season for me (mostly because of how damned unnecessary it turned out to be). So far season two seems to have come up with a fabulous solution to the issue this subplot presented, so I’m willing to give it another chance. I mean, the series is still basically “space vampires having mecha battles”, and that’s what really matters.

Tokyo Ravens is what I wish Strike the Blood had been: a modern supernatural action series with an interesting mythology, focusing on high schoolers, but (unlike with Strike the Blood), there’s been pretty much no harem elements at all (not even a love triangle so far, which is surprising). The characters are all pretty fun, with a nice mix of personalities and nice character designs. It has my favorite opening theme of the season too. This is another type of anime I wish we saw more of: exciting action series with no harem elements and characters you’d actually like to hang out with.

Diamond no Ace is another sports anime I’m following this season, this time about baseball. The protagonist is kind of annoying but he’s relatable and easy to root for. The show has more drama than it has any right to, with a couple of scenes actually making me tear up. It also has my favorite male character of the season, Miyuki, who is just the most perfect dude ever omg. So far the series does a great job of juggling a lot of characters and even though some of them are hard to tell apart visually (pretty much all the male characters have the same face, so when they have similar hair or their hair is covered by a helmet or something, I get confused), they’re all very distinct in terms of personality.

Kuroko’s Basketball season 2 is a joy to watch. I enjoyed the first season a lot and this is just more of that. The new opening and ending themes are great, the new characters are interesting, and a couple of pre-existing characters have been given some much-needed character development. And of course it’s always fun to hear Japanese voice actors speaking in English (two characters spent time in America). The basketball games are ridiculous but exciting, and the series has a knack for effective humor. If you have any tolerance for sports anime whatsoever, you should be watching this.

Log Horizon has consistently surprised me by how awesome it is. I was a little wary of it at first, since it’s based on a series of light novels that were written by the same author as Maoyu, a series I dropped several episodes in a few seasons back. I dropped Maoyu because the “love triangle” became so moronic and so insulting to the female characters involved that I literally could not bear to watch any more. It amounted to two independent, intelligent women being reduced to screeching girls cat-fighting over a bland, non-committal dude who seemed to be enjoying keeping them both available and waiting for him. It culminated (for me, anyway, since it was the last episode I watched) in a scene where the ladies fight over who gets to climb into his bed with him while wearing sheer nightgowns, and they end up both getting in bed with him and... yeah. I stopped right there. However, I had enjoyed other parts of Maoyu very much (which made it so frustrating to have to drop it). The plot was great, and the world building was especially amazing, with a unique focus on politics and economics. It just so happens that Log Horizon has the same amazing world building (with the same focus on politics and economics) and a great plot, but none of the insulting love triangle garbage (yet; crossing my fingers that it stays that way). The male protagonist is tons more interesting than Maoyu’s, and so far there’s only one love interest and their relationship is very subtle. And oh yeah, people have called it “another Sword Art Online” because it’s about people trapped in a game-like world but that’s about as accurate as calling Sword Art Online “another Tron”.

Gingitsune is a cute, easy-going slice of life series that features some light supernatural elements. The show is like a pleasant nap on a sunny afternoon, not terribly exciting but enjoyable regardless. It’s funny but not hilarious, and has light drama rather than angst or melodrama. Some reviewers have called it boring, but I don’t think that fits (at least not for me). It is interesting, and most episodes are fairly self-contained, so you’ll want to finish the episode to find out how this week’s story ends. The characters are all likable and the series has some nice, pretty scenery.

Meganebu isn’t what I thought it would be, considering people were calling it “Free! with glasses” before it began airing. That description doesn’t fit, since Meganebu is a straight-up comedy while Free! was a sports anime with 100% more fanservice for the ladies. The only real similarity is that Meganebu also features a cast of attractive male characters who were clearly designed to appeal to a female audience. Oh, and both series had some BL undertones as well. To be honest, I was disappointed with Meganebu at first, because I’m not a huge fan of comedies (I like comedy in my other genres, but I’m not so crazy about comedy as a primary genre). But since I’m such a fan of glasses, it was hard for me to resist smiling while watching this silly little show about cute boys in glasses who are obsessed with their own glasses. And that’s pretty much the gist of the whole show: Cute boys in glasses having glasses-related adventures. Another reason to keep watching is the show’s eye-popping use of color, which has to be seen to be believed.

Magi season two is doing well, seeming to recover from the stupid season one finale that was so heavily altered from the manga that it might as well have been an anime original storyline (I don’t even read the manga myself, but the Tumblr tag was pissed off about it and the quality of the storytelling plummeted in the last three episodes). The story seems to be back in good shape, highlighting the things that made most of the first season so good: amazing fight sequences, incredibly badass female characters, humor that has me actually laughing out loud (mostly coming from protagonist Alibaba who has the best facial expressions in the history of anime), and surprisingly serious moments that can catch you off guard. There’s some fanservice (of the equal opportunity variety, as the girls sometimes have revealing outfits but the guys occasionally get naked), but it all comes across more as funny than skeevy (maybe because the mangaka is a woman).