Seasonal Reviews: Winter 2015 Pt.2
Apologies for the last installment, but all missing shows are now present and reviewed.
The wait was ultimately for nothing.
Never the less, here are our ongoing thoughts on the Winter premiers.
Absolute Duo
Walter Holleger
There's nothing wrong with sexual comedy, though it can be crude and a
little low-brow at times, as with good placement and timing, it can
still be plenty funny. I personally consider subtly to be pretty
important when pulling off such humor. Having a trained martial artist
trip on nothing into a boy's crotch, then tripping again with such force
that while laying belly down, she does a back flip, landing her crotch
in the boy's face isn't subtle, it's To-Love-Ru.
The best thing I can say about this show is that I enjoy the battle scenes, though most have been fairly short lived up to now. I still stand by what I said last part, about the show's good use of angles, but also there is a building variety of different wielded weapons. There are of course sword wielders a plenty, but some of the more unique weapons, like Tor's shield, or the newly introduced Tachibana's weighted chain are interesting to see in action.
Other than that, it's kind hard to really get into the series, and I blame it mostly on the characters and their lack thereof. Most of the cast is underdeveloped so far, with only a repeating flashback for our main protagonist Tor given thus far. Other than that, the rest of the cast can be described more with traits than anything else. Tachibana and Hotaka, a duo introduced in the recent episodes, can both be described with one word each; Tachibana's energetic and Hotaka's shy around men. I can't tell you anymore about them other than that. I do hope that in the coming episodes we get a bit more development on these characters, except for Tatsuno. His thing is to never speak and flex in response to anything asked of him, and he's hilarious for it. Never change Tatsuno.
Weak Recommendation
Assassination Classroom
David O'Neil
Due to certain circumstances surrounding the station airing Assassination Classroom in
Japan, there was only one episode of the show over the past two weeks,
leaving a bit less in terms of progress. But still, the one episode did
provide some interesting new insights into Korosensei along with a new
character, Karma Akabane.
Akabane throws an interesting new spin on the usual assassination routine not only by using more creative tactics than the other students, but also by taking a totally different approach in how he deals with Korosensei. While most students treat him simply as their teacher (who it just so happens they're tasked with killing) Akabane tries to break Korosensei's spirit and push him to the edge to see the lengths he'll go to order to stay a model teacher for his students. It gets some interesting results, both from Korosensei and Akabane. Akabane especially was a surprise, as he turned out to be a pretty interesting character. The show once again had some fun with the idea that, despite being a crazed monster set on destroying the world, Korosensei is actually a great teacher who cares about his students. Korosensei himself continues to prove himself as a likable and fun character who never ceases to be hilarious while also having an underlying sense of sincerity to his personality.
I almost find it bizarre that this show has left me adamantly against the main objective the protagonists are supposed to be working towards: Killing Korosensei. As he helps students and constantly proves himself to be a kind-hearted, upstanding teacher, I become more and more against the idea of him being assassinated. It's an unusual direction that I hadn't originally expected the show to go in, but so far it seems to be working. Assassination Classroom continues to be a surprisingly sweet and thoroughly entertaining show featuring one of the most memorable characters I've seen in this anime season thus far.
Strong Recommendation
Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!
Thom "Tama" Langley
I'm probably an odd kid in that I always really liked what little I
saw of the Sailor Moon villains, and the villains of Cute High Earth
Defense Club Love! are no exception. Whilst we saw their nefarious
background plotting late in episode 1, we begin episode 2 in their
company. And what a refined bunch they are, drinking green tea, talking
about etiquette, and...plotting to TAKE OVER THE EARTH. Oh, and they're
the student council, consisting of Hiroshi Kamiya voicing a white haired
pretty boy, a generic bishounen and...Utena?! One brief censored recap
later, and we're introduced to their advisor and team mascot...Lord
Zundar, who is an extremely deep voiced green hedgehog. Of course, being
a student council, they plan to bring order, and thus start their plan
to conquer the world, by turning the students against each other. So
far, so nefarious.
Meaaanwhile...chopsticks. Yup, much as chikuwabu was the topic of discussion last time, disposable chopsticks, and their merits and issues are to be the topic this time. (No prizes for guessing the theme of the monster this week), and Yumoto continues to be an adorable if terrifying protagonist, whilst Wombat denies that he may have killed Mr Tawarayama, and blames Yumoto. Cue much attempted hugging, followed by more ridiculing of transformation sequences, and "what sort of love are we talking about, again?" antics.
Back to Ka-I mean Kinshiro, Utena and Bishie, who plot to turn someone who deeply dislikes disorder (and by this, the anime means unevenly broken chopsticks), into an monster, who promptly wages war on symmetry. Chaos promptly ensues. Fortunately, our heroes are on their way, somewhat reluctantly-apparently members of magical boy teams aren't allowed days off. And the use of mangled English ("Battle Lovers" "Love Making") continues. Yup, chopstick monster really hates asymmetry, blasting the battle outside, where he is defeated by a mixture of logic, rhetoric and adorableness.
Episode 3, meanwhile, brings us an introduction to Kurotori Moteo, who will be...#1 Pretty boy. Or he hopes so, anyway Followed by nudity. Which apparently Yumoto likes seeing. Three episodes in, and Cute High Earth Defense Club Love! has reached for its jar of fabulousness, and accidentally dumped half of it over this episode. Apparently, the pretty boy contest is...monthly, in a all boys school? Uh...Cute High...I expected BL overtones, but this...is amazing! Oh, and Utena and Ryuu are in the same class, (with an unsurprising rivalry) whilst Kurotori...continues to fail to attract anyone to the ballet club. Yumoto, meanwhile points out (as many have said in the past) that monster of the week shows only work...when a monster shows up every week...Ah, rivalry...and more BL overtones, followed by yet more, with the gang putting their theory of popularity into practice. With mixed...results. Meanwhile, Kurotori falls into despair, with absolutely...no popularity, which the school council capitalize upon, transforming him into...a black swan, which demands love.
Lord Zundar's plan is revealled...he plans to make boys fall in love with boys so that humanity won't reproduce. The love feathers promptly make slaves of the Battle Lovers...except Yumoto, who promptly pep-talks Kurotori out of his despair, then hits him over the head with a magic wand. Realisation kicks in, and anothe episode is done, whilst our villains shrug and plot new schemes.
Another two decent episodes, and episode 3 in particular suggests good things going forward. Our three villains act as good foils to our heroes, Zundar's amusingly mis-matched voice made me laugh so hard I had to pause the episode twice. If there's one real issue with it, it's that it's at points a little too slavish to the material it's parodying, complete with overlong transformation sequences. Nonetheless, it's tongue in cheek fun, and a darned good homage to the magical girl genre.
Strong Recommendation
Death Parade
Joe Straatmann
I know some have cooled a little to this series since the second
episode, but I still feel it was fairly essential even as it recycled
many elements of the first. It showed why they needed the extended bar
staff instead of keeping Decim to himself, it actually carved out Decim
as more of a character than a simple, neutral judge, and opened up the
possibilities about how the judging process can be screwed up. But we've
already covered that. What's next? The story of a couple playing with
each other's hearts. Literally.
College-aged Miuru and a woman who can't remember her name are now patrons of the Quindecim following their death, and must roll out a few frames of bowling before completely passing on. The balls are encased versions of each other's hearts. Once the fingers are inside the ball holes, they can feel the pulsing and body heat of the other player. The detail work has gone down significantly since the initial episode, but the balls still manage to create the proper cringe-worthy effect. Taking a break from the pitch-black tone of the first episode, this one actually cruises on a light-hearted (pun not intended, I swear) affair for awhile. It plays like a romantic couple meeting for the first time, and there's a breezy jazz interlude on top of all of it. With stories like this, though, there is a catch, and this episode has a fairly good one up its sleeve. There are various layers of sweetness and tragedy that once peeled, left me not quite sure what to think, and that's probably a great complement to the writing.
In the latest episode, a reality star is paired up with an otaku who lived with his parents as they hash out their issues through an arcade fighting game. This is the first one I felt might've slipped a little. All of the elements are there. It's mainly an episode about abuse, either caused by other people or by the person themselves and a fighting game is a perfect extension to vent such issues. It works in parts more than it does a whole. The ending is a combination of a perfect moment and a muddled conclusion. Maybe that it's muddled and doesn't feel like a proper conclusion is the right message in trying to sort out these two, but the episode's elements don't feel like they congeal as properly as they should.
The serialized elements are coming along slowly, so it's difficult to gauge what they're planning on doing with them at this point in time. As for the individual stories themselves, they may not be top-notch anthological stories as they're a smidge simplistic and dabble in the melodramatic a bit too much, but the series creators have mostly a deft hand telling them and properly underlining the mood no matter how it may shift. My main question I had for this show is how the individual episodes would maintain writing quality, and right now, they're doing just fine.
Strong Recommendation
Fafner -EXODUS-
Joe Straatmann
After the island's first encounter with the Festum since the sequel
started, everything has calmed and much of the latest storylines involve
getting updated with the cast, old and new. Surprisingly, it's getting
much stronger without anything truly attention grabbing. The first
episode kind of stumbled out of the gate with introductions probably
because it needed have some fighting to assure audiences that yes, it
knows it's a mecha drama and it will feature massive battles. Now we can
actually get to know the next generation aside from "the girl with
manga and her friends." Usually, the problem with shows that pass the
baton to the next generation is the new generation is vastly inferior,
but I suppose since the characters in the first series weren't exactly
world shattering, it's ironically a strength now since the bar isn't
placed at too high of a level to succeed.
The younger pilots are Mimika, a star athlete, martial arts expert Reo, and tactical genius Sui. It's yet to be seen how they'll develop as characters, but they're already improving the first series' main cast by how everybody reacts to them. Kazuki, the former main hero, is now an instructor and role model, and I have to give Xebec a lot of credit for exploring the idea of what happens to the troubled, distant young mecha pilot when he matures and has to be an example to others. Similarly, Canon is now a technician and likes to be in her own world, but must now consider the desires and needs of the younger pilots when they're not exactly pleased with her Irish mythology naming scheme for the Fafners.
A few threads are being strung together for the overarching plot. Most pressing is Soushi's attempts to completely decommission Fafner Mark Nicht, a dangerous model that tries to absorb the pilot and take over the cores of other Fafners. These scenes have an especially creepy vibe since the Mark Nicht is buried in a cement coffin that has ghost-like beings floating around the structure. Mostly, though, the series is anchoring itself with the cost of the continuing warfare, and the fourth episode finds a touching emotional center as the parents of the new pilots are informed of their children passing all their tests, and the reactions is similar to when family is informed of military service members dying in battle. Simply becoming a Fafner pilot shortens their life by more than half and many don't live after their twenties, so the reaction is fitting. There's even a mighty shot at a shrine that effectively shows just how much is lost in these efforts.
Right now, this is some good stuff. Even if you don't have any attachment or memory to the first series, by the fourth episode, there's a good enough structure to understand everything going on. It still looks great, with lots of depth, detail, and in certain scenes, vividly rich colors. The music is still mostly recycled from the first series, but it's hardly distracting. They are certainly making this a full-blown anniversary effort rather than simply another job, and even if Fafner is not an elite franchise, if they can keep making the sections that were kind of a drag in its predecessor enjoyable, the sequel may turn out to be a vast improvement.
Solid Recommendation
Gourmet Girl Graffiti
Megan R
Ryou has a problem. She's a brilliant cook for her age, thanks to
the many lessons from her late grandmother. The only problem is that
now that she's on her own, her food doesn't quite taste right no matter
how much care she takes with it. In grand anime tradition, it turns out
what her food was missing was friendship. Once Ryou starts hanging out
and cooking for her cousin Kirin, Ryou not only rediscovers her love of
cooking, but also a new friend.
Something tells me that SHAFT misunderstood what the term "food porn" means. It's meant to be a term applied to food photographed in a way that's so sensuous and good-looking that it's almost akin to pornography. They seemed to take it to mean they should turn the act of eating into something almost akin to pornography. Almost every bite turns into a soft-focus montage of parted lips, blushing cheeks, glittering eyes, and sensuous moans as shoujo sparkles shine about them, turning the everyday act of eating into an act of foreplay. Sometimes the show doesn't even try to be subtle on the manner, as the screencap above demonstrates. The writers even try to be oh-so-clever and metatextual about it, as Kirin comments more than once about Ryou's "kinda sexy" manner of eating. The notion of food or eating as an analogue to sex is hardly an original idea, but seeing it here feels oddly exploitative. It feels like the audience isn't meant to enjoy the process of making these dishes or savor the sight of such loving assembled dishes, but instead to ogle the girls as they moan in delight. That also probably explains why Kirin's attachment to Ryou is sometimes painted more like the jealousy of a crush instead of a burgeoning, platonic friendship.
As much as this show loves to crow about the deliciousness of Ryou's food, it doesn't really give the viewer any sense of connection Ryou feels to these dishes. We rarely see any glimpses of the work that goes into making these dishes look and taste good. It just simply jumps ahead to the finished dish as Kirin proclaims it to be the best [insert dish here] EVER. Speaking as someone with a deep and longstanding love of cooking, this approach is missing half of the joy of cooking. Often there's just as much pride in watching a good recipe come together as their is in others enjoying it, or specific memories and feelings tied to particular dishes. The show at least attempts the former, but it tends to be more about Ryou imitating what her grandmother made in certain situations instead of her connecting that to particular times or feelings in the past or present. It's definitely not helped by the fact that Ryou doesn't seem to have any sense of personality about her. The rest of the cast tend to fall under some given moe archetype (the little sister, the drunken/immature parent figure, etc), but at least they have a quirk or two to define them. Ryou seems content to placidly drift through life. Even her seiyuu seems to be drifting through the performance like she took a handful of Quaaludes before each take, rarely modulating or raising her voice for anything.
It's hard to believe that this is yet another show from Akiyuki Shinbo, considering how blasé this show looks. The first episode in particular could easily be mistaken for the output of any given mid-level animation studio where it not for the occasional odd quirk in the cinematography and the signature SHAFT head tilt. It's in the second episode that Shinbo cuts loose and starts sprinkling his usual brand of quick cuts, odd perspectives, and lingering takes on odd body parts over the show like so much seasoning. Still, all the visual quirks in the world can't make up for the generic, candy-colored character designs and the pianos that seem to be constantly noodling away aimlessly in the background. Not even the giddy, Alice In Wonderland-themed opening does much to elevate it, especially since the ending is literally nothing but clips and stills from the episode. I came into this show hoping for a flashy celebration of good food, but instead got Moe Slice-Of-Life Show #436 that puts more emphasis on fanservice than food, one that makes for an odd, ponderous match to SHAFT's signature style.
No Recommendation
THE IDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls
Jonathan Kaharl
Hooray, my only good show of the season! Please never drop in quality! Now that the main three idols are introduced, the series has given a few moments with the rest of the characters to cement their personalities, and it's a solid cast. It's not quite as strong as the bursting madness that was the last IDOLM@STER's cast, due to the more downplayed style of this series, but there's still plenty of ridiculous characters hanging around. Miku, the girl who always wears cat ears, is a weird dark horse, equal parts insecurity and envy that plays off the cast better than I was expecting. Anzu, the loli character, is basically a do nothing hermit that wants to make money doing absolutely nothing, and she's way funnier than you'd expect. My favorites of the group so far, however, are Anastasia and Kirari, a half-Russian girl who barely speaks Japanese and a nut with a sunny personality that's main role so far is being Anzu's wrangler (or else she would never do any actual work). Anastasia is simply adorable, while Kirari is so weird that I can't help but enjoy her presence on screen.
While those proper introductions were nice (especially the scenes with the goth and rock idols), the show also had to deal with Uzuki, Rin, and Mio's first job on stage. The concert in episode three was great, really showing off where the animation budget and staff really got focused. The dancing was great, as was the choreography, and the build up to the big moment was perfect. I like that the series remember all three are green and show they starting to break under the pressure, it just made that performance at the end all the more exciting. The show seems to be spending more time on the three (along with Minami and Anastasia) as they make a CD debut, which has my attention. That was something the last series never really covered, just shoe-horning in songs from the source game without showing the creative process behind them.
I don't have too much else to say, other than I really love Cinderella Girls ...though that might be because of the three other shows I have to watch alongside it.
Solid Recommendation
ISUCA
Jonathan Kaharl
Editor's Note: That screencap is from the very first scene of the show. Like, ten seconds in. Do not watch this show.
I did not come out on top this season. IDOLM@STER is officially the only truly good show I have to review, as Military! is absolute trash, Testament is a light novel ecchi series, and now ISUCA turned out to be a type of bad that caught me completely off guard. I actually shouted "WHAT" while laughing on five separate occasions while watching this show, yet I came out of the first episode feeling nothing but pity for the people who worked on this doomed project. What's amazing about ISUCA is that it somehow fails to be anything, despite being so close to being so many things. If anything, it just appears to be some weird artifact from the early 2000s that somehow appeared (through unknown demonic magic) in the present day.
I am honestly baffled how something like this even happens in 2015. ISUCA is a cheap action show about some personality devoid sad sack helping a priestess tsundere (because OF COURSE she's a tsundere who constantly beats the poor guy for things completely out of his control). They first meet when a demon centipede woman ghost flashes the guy and threatens to murder him. Very first scene. The show goes to opening right after, and it's a generic shonen action OP with completely unfitting idol pop music. How did that happen. The show eventually finds a groove of boring, as average everyday normal guy and literally every bad tsundere character in anime ever team up to hunt down a monster, where the soundtrack suddenly switches to downbeat horror mode. I swear, it's almost like they stole entire tracks out of a Hollywood horror flick. The sound effects, however, did not get the memo. They're downright bizarre at times, especially the part where they outright stole the home run bat sound effect from Smash Bros. when a monster knocks the guy away.
The series can't decide if it wants to be actions, horror, or porn. Yes, there is cheesecake and panty shots here, but I'll be damned if I could find a single reason to care. The smut isn't dirty enough, the action is barely present, and there is absolutely no tension anywhere in this show, mainly because only four characters got any definition in the first episode (one of them was the pervert comedic relief, and the less said about him, the better). It's like an average level anime from around 2004, but with added weirdness that puts it right in outright bad territory. The only reason I'm not dropping is because I want to see if this is more painful than Military!, so expect a judgement next week.
Also, Yasuomi Umetsu totally directed the ending credits. It's the only part of the show that actually looks like it was done by people who give a shit.
No Recommendation
KanColle
David O'Neil
Last time I covered Kancolle it was off to a really, really
slow start. And while I'd be hard-pressed to say the show is worth
watching now, I will give it credit for improving. The first two
episodes were like a blur, characters felt soulless, not much of
anything even resembling interesting conflict happened, and overall
there was a lack of energy. Kancolle still isn't very good, but now there's at the least some effort here.
For the first time watching the show I felt like there were at least a few good things I had to say about it. For one thing, some of the characters are finally starting to form something resembling personalities (obnoxious as some of them can be), the pacing has gotten better, and it's actually taken a swing at its first big emotional twist. I won't outright spoil the twist, but you'd have to be pretty out of it to not see it coming from a mile away. Let's just say the only way the show could've been more blatantly obvious in its delivery of a set up was if they introduced an old, kindly cop who kept repeating how he had just one week left until retirement. Even with the moronic diversion of any surprise put aside, the twist itself really doesn't work all that well unfortunately. The problem is that the show pretty much pulls the relationship that's supposed to give the twist its emotional weight completely out of its ass near the last minute. It's almost as if they hadn't decided to implement this twist until a later time, considering how they didn't work to build it up very well in the first two episodes.
Still though, the big moment at the end of the fourth episode was actually just shy of being pretty effective. But again, the show ran into an issue, in that episode four was absolutely littered with obnoxious comedy and over the top wackiness (and not even very fun wackiness at that) and it wasn't able to balance the tone well at all. It created a real dissonance between the crazy antics and the heartfelt moments that kept either from actually working. The wacky scenes were dampened by an underlying feeling of "didn't something really serious just happen we're ignoring" while the serious scenes by a feeling of "I can't take this seriously after the wacky stuff that just happened". For the first time I feel like Kancolle is actually trying, which is worth something, but not much when it's still not succeeding. There's still not much of anything here for anyone other than die hard fans of the game, even if I'm feeling a bit more optimistic than I did going in.
No Recommendation
Maria the Virgin Witch
Joe Straatmann
Last year, one of the series I reviewed was Sabagebu, and
occasionally, I had serious issues with some of its jokes. This year,
I'm having the exact opposite problem. I'm having way too much fun with
something I realize is kind of terrible when I think about it. At this
juncture, Maria has discovered she can't pacify all the soldiers in war
with her succubus Artemis because some of them don't swing that way.
They figure this out by Artemis entering a tent and finding a priest
with a younger fellow. So, she uses her magic to create an incubus from
an owl named Priapus who appears the same mid-teen age range Maria is
and lacking a certain essential part because Maria has never actually
seen one. Now here's where it gets a little dicey: Without that part,
Priapus can theoretically only work with more aggressive homosexual men,
so for his first job, Maria and Artemis lock him in a room with a man
he has no interest in having sex with trying to drag him away. While the
scene plays out to where no permanent damage is done, the punchline to
all of this is pretty much a gay rape joke nonetheless.
I personally found a whole bunch of it to be hilarious. Most of the humor works on the level that Maria finds everything about sex extremely awkward, yet is surrounded by it and may be permanently defined by her lack of it since the Archangel Michael brings it upon himself so make it so her powers go poof if she ever does the deed. However, even if I could argue that Maria thought they were going too far and it was Artemis pushing the issue because she just wants a co-worker to do his damn job, I wouldn't blame you if you felt this was just a bit wrong. And unlike a lot of the Internet, I do not discount the possibility that I may just be a horrible person.
Notes on sexual humor aside, this show is surprisingly quality work. The animation and music may have taken a step down from the first episode as productions tend to do, but it's still at a fairly high level. The world building is opening up some fascinating possibilities. It seems to suggest that much of the human mythologies are real with Maria summoning the Cyclops in the middle of a battle Valkyrie and the Archangel Michael are watching over. On top of that, the characters seem to be dealing with the issues it brings up in a more ambiguous way.
Essentially, Maria's work disrupting the war has torqued off Michael as she's "disrupting the natural order of the world," and their arguments aren't as clearcut as one might think. There are many travesties happening around the world, so why doesn't Maria stop them, or is she simply doing this out of selfishness rather than the good of her heart? Plus, disrupting the war makes the mercenaries in her town starve because they can't make money if they can't kill anybody. Is Maria truly helping them? Of course, Maria has her own arguments against a heavenly body that relies on followers making a whole lot of prayers without answers. It's more thoughtful than you'd expect of something half made up of sex jokes, and it manages an odd amount of harmony with material with disparate themes at times.
Strong Recommendation (Weak Recommendation if its humor hits you at the wrong angles)
Military!
Jonathan Kaharl
As I said in the ISUCA review, I'm not tossing Military! right now, simply because I want to see which one of the two I hate watching more. Make no mistake, though; Military! is far worse. The second episode really cements this, introducing a terrible looking and unfunny assassin character and throwing in a ton more gross jokes, including one where the main guy finds one of the girls in the bathroom while she's taking care of her business, thinks completely illogically over his situation, and then gags her. Because misunderstanding a situation that looks incredibly rapey is hilarious!
Episode three was just a mixture of dull and obnoxious. Gross humor was replaced with pathetic attempts at slapstick, ending with a terribly confused gag that forgot how punchlines work. The rest is just noise that grates at the ears, especially the end of episode thing that has one of the loudest characters I've ever had my misfortune to hear screaming about a bunch of stuff I couldn't possibly care less about, as she is want to do every episode. But hey, I guess inept is better than offensive.
No Recommendation
Rolling Girls
Stephanie Getchell
NOW we finally get to see this plot move forward, AND I have more
than one episode to work with. YES!! Ok, so the amusement park incident
gets settled once with both Masami and Shigyou out of commission from
their fight. With her sister in the hospital recovering, Nozomi gets the
idea to answer Macha Green's requests in her sister's place, and set
off on her way. Yukina tags along with her as well as Ai Hibiki, a girl
who used to be a part of Shigyou's group until the amusement park
incident got her thrown out (she punched a non champion in the face,
though originally aiming for Nozomi). Before getting too far, they take
their first request from the mysterious masked girl, Chiaya to find and
collect all of the Moonlight Stones. The four of them travel to Tokyo in
order to obtain the first one, however a lot of mishaps and
misunderstandings happen, causing Chiaya's stone to be taken from her
and our four girl's mistaken for a bombing group. But it looks like
Chiaya won't get her stone back anytime soon since Tokyo's Champion, Aki
has given both her and Chiaya's stones in order to get money for some
life sized figure.... thing....
I'm very glad I have more to work with this week, but I think the excitement of Rolling Girls also died a little this time around. It probably has something to do with me being rather bored and waiting for classes to start these past couple of weeks or cabin fever because of the snow, but I'll try and explain why the excitement has died down a little bit here. What I believe is that there's a lot going on, but very little explanation. The story was trying to go quickly so we can get our main group of characters together in order to get them on the road, but before and after this, very little is explained. Some of it, I know, will end up revealed as part of the story later on, however there are pieces that could have been explained or executed better than it was and it kinda bugged me. What makes this even worse is that the seasonal show I was watching before this was Cute High Earth Defense Club, and I was having so much fun with that one. But when going into Rolling Girls not long after, I kinda lost that excitement. It's weird since people have fallen for Rolling Girls more than the magical girl parody anime, so maybe I'm just being weird? I don't know.
Rolling Girls isn't doing badly, but it's not as strong for me as it was a couple weeks ago. I'm trying really hard to stay away from the Kill La Kill comparisons since I've established them last time, but I'm finding very little to write about this time around. I really don't want to drop this series because I know it's good despite it's fast pace causing a few problems with the story. I'm pretty sure it's cabin fever I've been feeling this week that's causing not only this, but some other weird opinions on shows I've been watching (you'll see why in a minute). I think I need another week or two to figure this out. Maybe once I actually kick the cabin fever to the curb, I'll actually be able to give a better opinion on this show.... Winter sucks.
Solid Recommendation
Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend
David O'Neil
As Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend has progressed, I
feel as though I've gotten a clearer idea of what exactly the show is
going for, and while it's certainly not for everyone I'm not sure I'd go
so far as to call it bad. The surface level plot itself can be
infuriating at times, the story itself is the kind of otaku fantasy that
usually makes me avoid a series entirely, as cute girl after cute girl
signs on to join a socially awkward nerd make his dream visual novel. In
addition, the more I see of the central premise the more put off by it I
get. The idea that the main female character of the series, Katou, is a
boring and uninteresting person and the very fabric of her identity and
personality must be changed to be more like a VN protagonist is almost
bizarre in how mean spirited it can often feel.
It's especially strange as, despite being described as boring, Katou is probably the most likable character in the series thus far. The three other main characters leave me feeling very mixed, all of them can be fun a lot of the time, but other times they border on just being obnoxious, or even flat out jerks. It also doesn't help that both the girls feel more and more like bland, uninspired interpretations of cliched character archetypes the more I see of them. Like it or not, constantly pointing out that Sumawara acts like a typical "tsundere" character doesn't make her any less of a typical tsundere character. Despite all that the characters are still funny a majority of the time, the show isn't exactly a laugh out loud funny kind of show for the most part but one with plenty of subtly clever bits and fun character interactions. It also helps that fanservice has been nowhere to be seen in the last two episodes, a nice surprise after worrying I was in for frequent ecchi after that shameless first episode.
Part of me really wants to hate Saekano, it constantly flaunts what an uninspired, trashy, pandering show it is in my face and the characters walk a fine line between being eccentric and being mean spirited. At the same time though, there's still some stuff I like. The humor is very solid, the fourth episode especially being incredibly funny, and the visual style and animation still haven't ceased to impress me. There still isn't much going on in Saekano below the surface for now, the plot itself is mostly a vehicle to drive the humor (which may be for the best as the main premise itself is a bit iffy), but for now the humor is enough to make it a harmless, entertaining watch for someone looking for a mindless good time.
Solid Recommendation
Samurai Warriors
David O'Neil
Not since Jinsei has a series made me, to such an extent, never want to watch it again right out of the gate as Samurai Warriors.
To be frank, it's just boring. Despite the promising set up of near
super human samurai (very) loosely based of real people and events
duking it out in large scale battles, Samurai Warriors is a
complete and utter slog. Every character feels as if they were written
as a vessel for exposition to move the plot forward rather than actual
characters with personalities or interesting motivations. Too much time
is spent talking with no significant character motion or emotion, as
everyone stands around a table and discusses drab and uninteresting
battle tactics. And even when the battle does come around it's bland and
lifeless, damn near the absolute bare minimum an action scene can be
with no energy or flair to it whatsoever. The show just drags on, and
on. I've encountered other shows this season that can be slow, or
somewhat boring this season, but none compare to the absolute wasteland
of effort or interesting ideas that is Samurai Warriors. I hope to never watch it again.
No Recommendation, dropped at episode one
The Testament of Sister New Devil
Jonathan Kaharl
Damn it, Sister New Devil! You were on the path to horrible greatness! Light novel adaptations seem to have a reoccurring trend in them, especially when the initial material is on the weaker side. They're usually paced terrible and move so fast that nothing breathes properly, character writing is trite (despite obvious attempts at depth and layers), and mythology is a poorly conceived mess that was more style over substance. The problem is that a writer, not an artist, came up with the concepts, and artists don't seem to know how to make these ideas seem logical additions to the world they're in visually. Sister New Devil falls into each of these pitfalls at some point, and it's really holding it back from being the terrible glory it was meant to be.
Out of the four person main cast, only Maria manages to work. Basura is too generic and nice to really give two craps about, especially when the show can't decide if he's a shy virgin or a pervert. It's classic porn writing in a series that doesn't fully commit to that type of writing, thus it constantly feels out of place. Mio is a dull tsundere, and her attraction to Basura is poorly built up. Her own identity revolves entirely around Basura, when by all accounts her actual story is infinitely more interesting. Yuki, Basura's hero tribe friend, is a very stupid yandere who comes up with one of the dumbest logic arguments ever to justify her basically doing the exact things Basura doesn't want her to do for her own selfish reasons. She even says she doesn't regret it ...and then instantly regrets it when Basura finds her trying to fight Mio. They're just all so lame and poorly conceived, and everything else about them is just trite. Maria works because at least the show is up front about her being a perverted liar. Her constant attempts to get Mio and Basura in adult situations works just fine for an ecchi, because somebody in the cast isn't pussy footing around or pretending that the main story is far more interesting than it actually is.
You can have plot in porn and make it work, but the plot and mythology built around it needs to be thought out. Seikon no Qwaser works because characters actually have arcs and distinct personalities, well paced out as well, and given properly established world building and plots that don't instantly demand all attention away from said character building. It's awful filth, but the writer knew what they were doing. Sister New Devil drops the ball in that regard, making the actual important scenes grating. Some of the smut is also weak, sadly. The second episode ritual is kind of amusing in how its built up and paced, but the third episode drops the ball with a very lame bath scene that's trying way too hard to pander. A good smut scene needs to develop naturally, or else its just obnoxious.
I have strong opinions on smut, you see.
No Recommendation (Weak Recommendation for trash loving perverts)
Unlimited Fafnir
Joe Straatmann
These are the worst kinds of series to review. After a hysterically
bad opening episode, it's all stereotypical action harem with no budget
mode. The animation is stiff, the story elements are all taken from a
well that should've dried out by now, and it's extremely difficult to
form an attachment to anything. It's almost a relief to see the ocean
seemingly having a seizure in the background or the dragon Leviathan
being such a completely botched 3D CG creation on the level of Pilot
Candidate because at least they're going all the way with failure. The
rest is tired and bland, the blandest of all being the main character
Yuu. He's the typical self-insertion nice guy, and those used to have
some character beyond that. But not Yuu. He makes every proper response
he can to every lady in the facility and every good guy response to his
boss Loki (Who is obviously villainous and obviously a bishounen).
Connecting the monster-of-the-week with the "Yuu gets closer to another
girl on campus" plots just only makes the suffering less prolonged.
So, where were we in the story? The dragon Leviathan is coming to attack the school and take his "mate," Iris. If Iris comes into contact with it, she will become a dragon herself and will need to be destroyed. So while the rest of the campus heads off to fight Leviathan, Yuu swears to protect Iris and he tries to support her while she has a moe response to just about everything. Meanwhile, Yuu's sister Mitsuki is standing by to kill Iris since she "already has blood on her hands" from the last time this happened two years ago, and Loki is secretly sending troops to infiltrate the school during the chaos and kill Iris so nobody else has to. It all sound like so much is going on, but really, it blends into a large clump of "seemingly invincible monster attacks, heroes find the weakness to destroy it at the last minute" stuff you've seen a million times before.
I do have a few nice things to say about this series. The occasional background looks good. When Yuu has a squabble with his sister, the conclusion is fairly cute. There's also a flashback nestled into the first attack explaining how Yuu gained abilities that only females have in this universe. He essentially makes a prid pro quo deal with the eldest dragon, the Yggdrasil, exchanging memories and promising to kill dragons for his powers. Why Yggdrasil would want to kill its fellow dragons is still a mystery. Also, why Yggdrasil is considered a dragon since it's the world TREE and is depicted as such in the series is also a mystery, but it's something interesting happening, so beggars can't be choosers. Still nothing near fascinating enough to do anything but completely ignore the show, though.
No Recommendation
World Break: Aria of Curse for a Holy Swordsman
Stephanie Getchell
Well, everyone. I finally get to talk about the series I was least
looking forward to this season (granted New Sister Devil had that title
before we started the season, but Jonathan took it off my hands.
Something I am grateful for). Since this is the first time I'm talking
about World Break, here's what we have so far. Moroha has started
attending high school where the students have powers from their
ancestors and use them to fight against monsters known as Metaphysicals.
However, Moroha is a little bit special. While most students have the
powers of one past life, Moroha has had two past lives and can channel
their abilities. But, this series is also a bit of a harem so, this also
leads him to find the two women from his past life. Satsuki, a warrior
who was Moroha's younger sister, and lover, in one of his past lives;
and Urushibara who was.... Well, we don't know that quite yet. We do
know that she was a netherworld witch in her past life, but we just
don't know the connection to Moroha as of right now. All we've really
gotten from these two episodes is just some establishment as to the
world as well as our trio of characters joining the Strikers, a group of
students that combat Metaphysicals.
Where do I even begin with this one? How about the fact that the story is a mix of interesting and boring at the same time? World Break had moments where it really dragged on and became stale and boring. At the same time, some of the world building and intricacies of it did peak my interest a bit. It kind of reminded me of Irregular at Magic High School except not as bad. Yeah, I just went there and I haven't even seen all of Magic High School. I actually got more interested in World Break than Magic High School. For the three people who actually liked that show, come at me bro! Something else that I can draw a major comparison between the two is the possible incest both involve. Again, I only watched two episodes of Magic High School and despised how it treated this subject. Though, it doesn't help that the female character involved was flat as a board. With World Break, they have an excuse to help bypass the incest in the series but it still let's us have it, regardless, thanks to the memories of Moroha and Sastuki's past lives. It's almost like they have a present day loop hole for a possible romance plot line, but it also isn't ashamed to pull out the blunt incest. Then again, it could also be a kind of reminder of "HEY! They were like this in their past life, but they aren't related now so it's all cool!" Honestly, I'm working on figuring out which one that is. Otherwise than these two larger things, the characters aren't that bad, but that aren't stand outs either while the story is also rather mixed to me seeing as how it's only been two episodes thus.
Do you wanna know the weirdest part? I honestly thought I was going to despise this series, but, for some reason, I don't hate it that much right now. It's odd, I know. Maybe I'm overdue for something trashy and World Break is what I'm looking for. I totally believed that I would drop this series today after seeing it's first couple of episodes, but I'm actually willing to give it a bit more time and hold my drop to my chest, tightly. Doesn't mean I still won't use it when completely necessary, cause I will. For now, World Break has my interest even though it isn't the best thing in the world this season has to offer.
Weak Recommendation
Yatterman Night
Stephanie Getchell
First episodes are always hard. Sometimes you can tell what a show is
after a single episode, but there are others where you need more time
to figure that out. This is the case for me and Yatterman Night because,
when I talked about the first episode a couple weeks ago, I wasn't sure
what to make of it. But, now, I think I do. Now that Leopard and
friends have taken up the mantle of Doronbow, they set off to fight
Yatterman. However, trying to be the hero isn't always easy, as our
masked friends soon learn. While on the run from Yatterman, the stumble
into an empty home; one that belongs to a young blind woman, Alouette
who mistakes the group as angels. Oh, and she also resembles Leopard's
mother. We also meet Ally's childhood friend, Galina, as he helps
Doronbow keep hidden from Yatterman for the night. The next day, as way
of thanking them for getting Ally to smile, Galina gives the group some
new clothes he made (when Yatterman searched the house, and Doronbow
hid, Galina burned their old costumes in order to keep suspicion off
them) and Doronbow sets off. However they return when Ally and Galina
are threatened by Yatterman, and Doronbow manages to escape, taking Ally
and Galina along for the ride.
Having watched more of this series makes me feel a bit better. What also makes me feel a little better is knowing that Yatterman Night is a part of an even larger franchise. Luckily, you don't really have to know about the franchise in order to understand this one fully, but there are little things here and there that fans of the franchise would be able to appreciate much more such as the pelican mecha that Yatterman uses in these two episodes. It's still a very interesting take on the idea of superheroes and what happens if the hero you love so much can be tainted due to corruption. That's really the basic idea here and, thus far, I think it's being executed wonderfully! Similar to Garo from last season, it has it's maturity but also it's rather silly and fun moments. But Yatterman has characters that are even more likable than those from Garo. It may be a product of super sentai-esque shows, whether live action or animated, but having Leopard, Voltkatze, and Elephantus as our leading group makes for some fun humor because they are that likable.
Now that I've finally had more time with Yatterman Night, I can see why others have fallen in love with it. It may have started out a little weird, to me, but these last couple of episodes show how much fun and how much heart it can have when it really wants to. Not only that, but it has a rather interesting theme at it's core just waiting to be explored even more through our rag tag group of heroes as well as the people they meet along the way. I certainly feel much more at ease with Yatterman Night, and I am excited to see where it plans to take me next!
Strong Recommendation
Yurikuma Arashi
Thomas Zoth
The first two episodes of Ikuhara's latest series felt a little
underwhelming, especially compared to the unbeatable beginnings of Utena
and Penguindrum. While Ikuhara's sense of aesthetics and theme were
present, all of the characters felt incredibly flat and there really
wasn't any emotional hook to latch on to. School bullies and disease are
things we're familiar with. How are you supposed to empathize with
someone whose dear friends were eaten by cute bears? Especially when
said bear victims have only been seen for half an episode at most? Episodes
three and four of Yurikuma, however, do a great deal to correct the
course of the series. People talk up Ikuhara as a master of ideas and
symbolism, but he's not often credited for what may be his true genius:
Hilarious, revealing character moments. These were sorely lacking in the
first two episodes of Yurikuma, but finally arrive by episode three.
Ginko and Lulu play with toys in the background, and lean with their
ears up against the classroom door. A cruel bully mocks Kureha's beloved
Sumika by toying with her glasses and brushing her hair behind her
ears, just the way Sumika did. Yurikuma has always been pretty, but now
it's finally fun!
And something must be said about how incredible episode four is. With the first three episodes, Ikuhara sets up a formula with a plot structure and use of stock footage. But with no time to waste in Yurikuma, episode four breaks the formula by having the Judgmens narrate a story about when Lulu was princess of a bear kingdom. She was loved by all, until a younger brother arrives and steals everyone's affections away from her. Her frantic attempts to rid herself of her brother are hilarious, though they end with quite a tragic twist. Both hilarious and heartbreaking in turn, episode four cements Yurikuma in the Ikuhara canon, even if it never reaches the heights of his masterworks (though it may yet).
The main plot of the series is still largely unknown, though revelations in each episode make events in the preceding episodes a little clearer. The "invisible storm" seems to be the class consensus in choosing which students are to be banished from the group, in an elaborate "Exclusion Ceremony." Ginko and Lulu's motivations become a little clearer when they state their motivation to protect Kureha from enemy bears. And themes of loss are reinforced with the revelation that teacher Yurika was once the friend and lover of Kureha's mother, who was also eaten by a bear. But what does being "eaten" really mean? Yurikuma may also be Ikuhara's attempt to construct a series entirely out of ringtones. Noticing the popularity of "fabulous max" and "seizon senryaku," Ikuhara apparently decided to go full bore on catchy sound effects, from KUMA SHOCK! and YURI AMOUR to SHABADOO. It would be ridiculous and overdone, if people weren't sampling the sounds to use for alerts on their smartphones. The grand purpose of Yurikuma is still anyone's guess, but in the meantime, it's a tremendous amount of fun to watch. Desire max!
Solid Recommendation
Second Opinions
Assassination Classroom
Jonathan: I'm getting worried that the series won't reach the drill instructor arc and that makes me sad. But hey, the principal had an early appearance, and he's already being built up as a monster! As long as I get to see the principal, I'm happy. I love the weird contrast thing the series is doing, and I have high hopes for it as an adaptation. Strong Recommendation
Stephanie: I think I found my new favorite character and his name is Karma because holy mother of god that boy has issues and is also wonderfully nutty! Even though there was only one episode to watch this time around (cause Japan has special days and they delayed episode 3 by a week), there's not much to go on aside from our newest class member Karma. It still the same business as usual which isn't a bad thing. However, thanks to the addition of Karma to the E Class, this puts Koro-sensei in a tricky spot with some wonderful polishing gags as the result. Yup, this week was a good one for A-Class! Strong Recommendation
Walt: With these past two episode, I feel we really get to see what Assassination Classroom is all about. This show can be a very light-hearted slice of life with Korosensei helping these kids with their many insecurities, while also balancing the dark notion that these children are being trained to be killers, to assassinate their teacher. The introduction of Karma in episode 3 was pretty powerful in itself, not only in showing us this new student and rival for Korosensei, but also showcasing the awful mindset of the main building to be built upon later. Strong Recommendation
Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!
Stephanie: Is this a weird series? Yes. Is it a funny series? Yes. Is it a clever series? I think so. Although it uses classic magical girl troupes for parody purposes, it actually takes some of those same troupes and makes them even more witty. One that sticks out to me is how out Battle Lovers can hide their identity thanks to some alien technology that blurs their faces and changes their voices to sound more high pitched. Kind of giving off the sense that it's girl's fighting rather than boys, which is the joke here. Cute High Earth Defense Club is a nice change of pace from the typical magical girl series, with some rather clever writing to boot! It's actually the first series of the year that has me wondering who would make it a good english dub.... And there goes my brain for several hours. Please excuse me. Strong Recommendation
Death Parade
Stephanie: So.... Death Parade has become the first series, this season, to make me cry after watching an episode. You gotta admit that bowling one was so sweet and such a sad one. As for the other episode we get to play with, we have the first set of strangers coming in since the series began and both parties have some rather hard times that we get to see. The series has been keeping me guessing as to our players's stories and has now taken on some interesting areas. The third episode, in particular, has become my favorite thus far, but the fourth is still really good! And, soon, we'll finally be meeting some new recurring characters as well as a child player..... Wait! What?! Strong Recommendation
Gourmet Girl Graffiti
Stephanie: I did not realize that you can eat food so.... erotically I think is the best word here. Then again, Toriko exists and can be the same way from what I've heard. Anyways, when you get past that part, the show actually has some cute charm about it that I do enjoy with a premise that others can understand because we've all felt loneliness at some point in our lives and enjoying something together like a meal can make it taste even better. At least, it's something we learn about as kids. I have got to say, I think it's off to a good start and I am interested to see where this little oddball of a series plans to go next. Solid Recommendation
Maria the Virgin Witch
Jonathan: This is very much my humor. Maria should be awful, all things considered (there's even a really tasteless rape joke in the second episode), but its dirty comedy actually works by how absurd the entire show concept is. The 100 Years War is being put on hold because witches, succubi and incubuses are going around and having sex with high ranking officers. I am amazed that concept has never happened before. There's a ton of great jabs at religion and warfare, but it never lets the severity of these situations be downplayed by the crass gags. The second episode manages some surprisingly strong dramatic moments, meaning this is one of those few shows that knows how to have its cake and eat it too. Strong Recommendation
Stephanie: We've finally gotten to the big plot element of the show, and I also sense a possible romance in the future. Honestly, there's a lot to like about Maria right now in terms of story and characters. It kind of gives off similar vibes to Le Chevalier D'Eon in more ways than one (which is probably why FUNi also recommends it if you like Maria). My feelings for Maria are the same as I feel about D'Eon, I like it, but nothing spectacular has come out of it yet. Solid Recommendation
Rolling Girls
Joe: I have yet to succumb to the charms of this one. After being being confused and overloaded trying to parse out the first episode with two viewings, the next two episodes fare a little better. It still feels like they're throwing a bunch of stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. The second episode is an all madcap action comedy that makes up the rules as it goes along, and then the third goes and turns a series that was essentially a cute, female-driven anime getting its hands on The Warriors into a more subdued road trip with some occasional wacky happenings. Which is fine. But then they go to Tokyo where everybody has to cosplay, except why does everybody cosplay in black sorcerer's robes or top hats? And why is Tokyo outside of the packed city centers styled with water colors? I'm probably overthinking this show way too much, but a little order in this chaos would do a lot of good. Weak Recommendation
Jonathan: Rolling Girls is like if you took Kill la Kill, but then replaced the style and plot beats of a Go Nagai manga with that of a psychedelic ascetic with a coming of age yarn. It's utterly ridiculous in the best ways, with all sorts of exploding globs of color with each punch and hit and the bizarre character beats, but also has some higher ambitions than just to be entertaining. The one problem it may have is that the main story of a young girl trying to find her way in the world isn't terribly interesting right now. However, that doesn't take away from just how visually stunning it whole thing is. Solid Recommendation
Yatterman Night
Jonathan: This is an absolute must for anyone who has a taste for really classic anime. Unlike Gatchaman Crowds and Casshern Sins, Yatterman Night has nothing but reverence for its source material, choosing to embrace its childish lunacy instead of criticize it. However, the clever part is how it puts all this in a far darker frame and manages to make it feel natural, creating some truly likable characters and an almost fairy tale like mythology. I mean old fairy tales, where things get violent or grim before its all over. This is very much a show for the kids, but it does not hold back at all, and I have nothing but respect for that. The first episode even nearly got me to cry, and that's not something I was ever expecting to say about a part of the Yatterman franchise. Strong Recommendation
Tom: I'd be happy to say I called this one, but even I am frankly amazed at how solid this show has been. I knew the writer behind Milky Holmes and the director of Muromi-san would deliver solid entertainment, but I never expected solid dramatic chops from either. Yatterman Nights is kind of a wonder in this regard. The show will deliver some heartbreaking character development, insert scenes in tribute to Mamoru Oshii, and then make a potty joke, all in the space of five minutes. Though I've never liked the criticisms that Gatchaman Crowds and Fujiko Mine were "too different" from the source material to be canonical, I am impressed by how well Yatterman manages to combine a heartbreaking story with honest-to-goodness 1970s style caper comedy. If it can keep up this level of quality, it will be a certain contender for anime of the year. Solid Recommendation
Yurikuma Arashi
Joe: CONFESSION. I'm a little late to this one simply because I have to prepare for a Kunihiko Ikuhara series. The guy is absolutely an auteur, I appreciate his unique voice, and I do like his work overall, but... CONFESSION.... some of his style quirks irk me. CONFESSION. Mostly, his repetition. Yurikama Arashi is everything Ikuhara for better and (for me, at least), worse. CONFESSION. How many times has a girl got to run up a spiral staircase to an ornate rooftop before you're good, Ikuhara? On the positive side of the things, the series is a delirious cluster bomb of lesbianism, deliberately outrageous melodrama, woman-eating bears, cultural allegory on Japan's hive mindset, transforming girls, and as many metaphors-sexual and otherwise-that will fit into a 24-minute show. It's a stream of unapologetic strangeness you won't get anywhere else in the world, and it's at times an absolute joy. CONFESSION. Just if you're going to put 20 flashbacks in an episode, maybe you shouldn't have a title card that reads "Flashback" in ALL of them. CONFESSION. These text inserts with the word confession aren't annoying at all, are they? Solid Recommendation
Jonathan: I have now realized that this entire show seems to be a giant criticism against modern yuri works. In other words, no show has ever spoken my language as much as this one has. Strong Recommendation
Stephanie: Well, well. Things are getting interesting with this one. Not does Kureha have at least a little more understanding as to what's going on, but we get Lulu's backstory and time with the Sexy, Cool, and Beauty during it. This all really helps move the story along, and tells us why Lulu is even there in the first place because it would have made less sense if it wasn't explained. I like where this series has been progressing and I'm sure it'll keep moving forward in this direction in the weeks to come! Strong Recommendation
The wait was ultimately for nothing.
Never the less, here are our ongoing thoughts on the Winter premiers.
Absolute Duo
Walter Holleger
The best thing I can say about this show is that I enjoy the battle scenes, though most have been fairly short lived up to now. I still stand by what I said last part, about the show's good use of angles, but also there is a building variety of different wielded weapons. There are of course sword wielders a plenty, but some of the more unique weapons, like Tor's shield, or the newly introduced Tachibana's weighted chain are interesting to see in action.
Other than that, it's kind hard to really get into the series, and I blame it mostly on the characters and their lack thereof. Most of the cast is underdeveloped so far, with only a repeating flashback for our main protagonist Tor given thus far. Other than that, the rest of the cast can be described more with traits than anything else. Tachibana and Hotaka, a duo introduced in the recent episodes, can both be described with one word each; Tachibana's energetic and Hotaka's shy around men. I can't tell you anymore about them other than that. I do hope that in the coming episodes we get a bit more development on these characters, except for Tatsuno. His thing is to never speak and flex in response to anything asked of him, and he's hilarious for it. Never change Tatsuno.
Weak Recommendation
Assassination Classroom
David O'Neil
Akabane throws an interesting new spin on the usual assassination routine not only by using more creative tactics than the other students, but also by taking a totally different approach in how he deals with Korosensei. While most students treat him simply as their teacher (who it just so happens they're tasked with killing) Akabane tries to break Korosensei's spirit and push him to the edge to see the lengths he'll go to order to stay a model teacher for his students. It gets some interesting results, both from Korosensei and Akabane. Akabane especially was a surprise, as he turned out to be a pretty interesting character. The show once again had some fun with the idea that, despite being a crazed monster set on destroying the world, Korosensei is actually a great teacher who cares about his students. Korosensei himself continues to prove himself as a likable and fun character who never ceases to be hilarious while also having an underlying sense of sincerity to his personality.
I almost find it bizarre that this show has left me adamantly against the main objective the protagonists are supposed to be working towards: Killing Korosensei. As he helps students and constantly proves himself to be a kind-hearted, upstanding teacher, I become more and more against the idea of him being assassinated. It's an unusual direction that I hadn't originally expected the show to go in, but so far it seems to be working. Assassination Classroom continues to be a surprisingly sweet and thoroughly entertaining show featuring one of the most memorable characters I've seen in this anime season thus far.
Strong Recommendation
Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!
Thom "Tama" Langley
Meaaanwhile...chopsticks. Yup, much as chikuwabu was the topic of discussion last time, disposable chopsticks, and their merits and issues are to be the topic this time. (No prizes for guessing the theme of the monster this week), and Yumoto continues to be an adorable if terrifying protagonist, whilst Wombat denies that he may have killed Mr Tawarayama, and blames Yumoto. Cue much attempted hugging, followed by more ridiculing of transformation sequences, and "what sort of love are we talking about, again?" antics.
Back to Ka-I mean Kinshiro, Utena and Bishie, who plot to turn someone who deeply dislikes disorder (and by this, the anime means unevenly broken chopsticks), into an monster, who promptly wages war on symmetry. Chaos promptly ensues. Fortunately, our heroes are on their way, somewhat reluctantly-apparently members of magical boy teams aren't allowed days off. And the use of mangled English ("Battle Lovers" "Love Making") continues. Yup, chopstick monster really hates asymmetry, blasting the battle outside, where he is defeated by a mixture of logic, rhetoric and adorableness.
Episode 3, meanwhile, brings us an introduction to Kurotori Moteo, who will be...#1 Pretty boy. Or he hopes so, anyway Followed by nudity. Which apparently Yumoto likes seeing. Three episodes in, and Cute High Earth Defense Club Love! has reached for its jar of fabulousness, and accidentally dumped half of it over this episode. Apparently, the pretty boy contest is...monthly, in a all boys school? Uh...Cute High...I expected BL overtones, but this...is amazing! Oh, and Utena and Ryuu are in the same class, (with an unsurprising rivalry) whilst Kurotori...continues to fail to attract anyone to the ballet club. Yumoto, meanwhile points out (as many have said in the past) that monster of the week shows only work...when a monster shows up every week...Ah, rivalry...and more BL overtones, followed by yet more, with the gang putting their theory of popularity into practice. With mixed...results. Meanwhile, Kurotori falls into despair, with absolutely...no popularity, which the school council capitalize upon, transforming him into...a black swan, which demands love.
Lord Zundar's plan is revealled...he plans to make boys fall in love with boys so that humanity won't reproduce. The love feathers promptly make slaves of the Battle Lovers...except Yumoto, who promptly pep-talks Kurotori out of his despair, then hits him over the head with a magic wand. Realisation kicks in, and anothe episode is done, whilst our villains shrug and plot new schemes.
Another two decent episodes, and episode 3 in particular suggests good things going forward. Our three villains act as good foils to our heroes, Zundar's amusingly mis-matched voice made me laugh so hard I had to pause the episode twice. If there's one real issue with it, it's that it's at points a little too slavish to the material it's parodying, complete with overlong transformation sequences. Nonetheless, it's tongue in cheek fun, and a darned good homage to the magical girl genre.
Strong Recommendation
Death Parade
Joe Straatmann
College-aged Miuru and a woman who can't remember her name are now patrons of the Quindecim following their death, and must roll out a few frames of bowling before completely passing on. The balls are encased versions of each other's hearts. Once the fingers are inside the ball holes, they can feel the pulsing and body heat of the other player. The detail work has gone down significantly since the initial episode, but the balls still manage to create the proper cringe-worthy effect. Taking a break from the pitch-black tone of the first episode, this one actually cruises on a light-hearted (pun not intended, I swear) affair for awhile. It plays like a romantic couple meeting for the first time, and there's a breezy jazz interlude on top of all of it. With stories like this, though, there is a catch, and this episode has a fairly good one up its sleeve. There are various layers of sweetness and tragedy that once peeled, left me not quite sure what to think, and that's probably a great complement to the writing.
In the latest episode, a reality star is paired up with an otaku who lived with his parents as they hash out their issues through an arcade fighting game. This is the first one I felt might've slipped a little. All of the elements are there. It's mainly an episode about abuse, either caused by other people or by the person themselves and a fighting game is a perfect extension to vent such issues. It works in parts more than it does a whole. The ending is a combination of a perfect moment and a muddled conclusion. Maybe that it's muddled and doesn't feel like a proper conclusion is the right message in trying to sort out these two, but the episode's elements don't feel like they congeal as properly as they should.
The serialized elements are coming along slowly, so it's difficult to gauge what they're planning on doing with them at this point in time. As for the individual stories themselves, they may not be top-notch anthological stories as they're a smidge simplistic and dabble in the melodramatic a bit too much, but the series creators have mostly a deft hand telling them and properly underlining the mood no matter how it may shift. My main question I had for this show is how the individual episodes would maintain writing quality, and right now, they're doing just fine.
Strong Recommendation
Fafner -EXODUS-
Joe Straatmann
The younger pilots are Mimika, a star athlete, martial arts expert Reo, and tactical genius Sui. It's yet to be seen how they'll develop as characters, but they're already improving the first series' main cast by how everybody reacts to them. Kazuki, the former main hero, is now an instructor and role model, and I have to give Xebec a lot of credit for exploring the idea of what happens to the troubled, distant young mecha pilot when he matures and has to be an example to others. Similarly, Canon is now a technician and likes to be in her own world, but must now consider the desires and needs of the younger pilots when they're not exactly pleased with her Irish mythology naming scheme for the Fafners.
A few threads are being strung together for the overarching plot. Most pressing is Soushi's attempts to completely decommission Fafner Mark Nicht, a dangerous model that tries to absorb the pilot and take over the cores of other Fafners. These scenes have an especially creepy vibe since the Mark Nicht is buried in a cement coffin that has ghost-like beings floating around the structure. Mostly, though, the series is anchoring itself with the cost of the continuing warfare, and the fourth episode finds a touching emotional center as the parents of the new pilots are informed of their children passing all their tests, and the reactions is similar to when family is informed of military service members dying in battle. Simply becoming a Fafner pilot shortens their life by more than half and many don't live after their twenties, so the reaction is fitting. There's even a mighty shot at a shrine that effectively shows just how much is lost in these efforts.
Right now, this is some good stuff. Even if you don't have any attachment or memory to the first series, by the fourth episode, there's a good enough structure to understand everything going on. It still looks great, with lots of depth, detail, and in certain scenes, vividly rich colors. The music is still mostly recycled from the first series, but it's hardly distracting. They are certainly making this a full-blown anniversary effort rather than simply another job, and even if Fafner is not an elite franchise, if they can keep making the sections that were kind of a drag in its predecessor enjoyable, the sequel may turn out to be a vast improvement.
Solid Recommendation
Gourmet Girl Graffiti
Megan R
Something tells me that SHAFT misunderstood what the term "food porn" means. It's meant to be a term applied to food photographed in a way that's so sensuous and good-looking that it's almost akin to pornography. They seemed to take it to mean they should turn the act of eating into something almost akin to pornography. Almost every bite turns into a soft-focus montage of parted lips, blushing cheeks, glittering eyes, and sensuous moans as shoujo sparkles shine about them, turning the everyday act of eating into an act of foreplay. Sometimes the show doesn't even try to be subtle on the manner, as the screencap above demonstrates. The writers even try to be oh-so-clever and metatextual about it, as Kirin comments more than once about Ryou's "kinda sexy" manner of eating. The notion of food or eating as an analogue to sex is hardly an original idea, but seeing it here feels oddly exploitative. It feels like the audience isn't meant to enjoy the process of making these dishes or savor the sight of such loving assembled dishes, but instead to ogle the girls as they moan in delight. That also probably explains why Kirin's attachment to Ryou is sometimes painted more like the jealousy of a crush instead of a burgeoning, platonic friendship.
As much as this show loves to crow about the deliciousness of Ryou's food, it doesn't really give the viewer any sense of connection Ryou feels to these dishes. We rarely see any glimpses of the work that goes into making these dishes look and taste good. It just simply jumps ahead to the finished dish as Kirin proclaims it to be the best [insert dish here] EVER. Speaking as someone with a deep and longstanding love of cooking, this approach is missing half of the joy of cooking. Often there's just as much pride in watching a good recipe come together as their is in others enjoying it, or specific memories and feelings tied to particular dishes. The show at least attempts the former, but it tends to be more about Ryou imitating what her grandmother made in certain situations instead of her connecting that to particular times or feelings in the past or present. It's definitely not helped by the fact that Ryou doesn't seem to have any sense of personality about her. The rest of the cast tend to fall under some given moe archetype (the little sister, the drunken/immature parent figure, etc), but at least they have a quirk or two to define them. Ryou seems content to placidly drift through life. Even her seiyuu seems to be drifting through the performance like she took a handful of Quaaludes before each take, rarely modulating or raising her voice for anything.
It's hard to believe that this is yet another show from Akiyuki Shinbo, considering how blasé this show looks. The first episode in particular could easily be mistaken for the output of any given mid-level animation studio where it not for the occasional odd quirk in the cinematography and the signature SHAFT head tilt. It's in the second episode that Shinbo cuts loose and starts sprinkling his usual brand of quick cuts, odd perspectives, and lingering takes on odd body parts over the show like so much seasoning. Still, all the visual quirks in the world can't make up for the generic, candy-colored character designs and the pianos that seem to be constantly noodling away aimlessly in the background. Not even the giddy, Alice In Wonderland-themed opening does much to elevate it, especially since the ending is literally nothing but clips and stills from the episode. I came into this show hoping for a flashy celebration of good food, but instead got Moe Slice-Of-Life Show #436 that puts more emphasis on fanservice than food, one that makes for an odd, ponderous match to SHAFT's signature style.
No Recommendation
THE IDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls
Jonathan Kaharl
While those proper introductions were nice (especially the scenes with the goth and rock idols), the show also had to deal with Uzuki, Rin, and Mio's first job on stage. The concert in episode three was great, really showing off where the animation budget and staff really got focused. The dancing was great, as was the choreography, and the build up to the big moment was perfect. I like that the series remember all three are green and show they starting to break under the pressure, it just made that performance at the end all the more exciting. The show seems to be spending more time on the three (along with Minami and Anastasia) as they make a CD debut, which has my attention. That was something the last series never really covered, just shoe-horning in songs from the source game without showing the creative process behind them.
I don't have too much else to say, other than I really love Cinderella Girls ...though that might be because of the three other shows I have to watch alongside it.
Solid Recommendation
ISUCA
Jonathan Kaharl
I did not come out on top this season. IDOLM@STER is officially the only truly good show I have to review, as Military! is absolute trash, Testament is a light novel ecchi series, and now ISUCA turned out to be a type of bad that caught me completely off guard. I actually shouted "WHAT" while laughing on five separate occasions while watching this show, yet I came out of the first episode feeling nothing but pity for the people who worked on this doomed project. What's amazing about ISUCA is that it somehow fails to be anything, despite being so close to being so many things. If anything, it just appears to be some weird artifact from the early 2000s that somehow appeared (through unknown demonic magic) in the present day.
I am honestly baffled how something like this even happens in 2015. ISUCA is a cheap action show about some personality devoid sad sack helping a priestess tsundere (because OF COURSE she's a tsundere who constantly beats the poor guy for things completely out of his control). They first meet when a demon centipede woman ghost flashes the guy and threatens to murder him. Very first scene. The show goes to opening right after, and it's a generic shonen action OP with completely unfitting idol pop music. How did that happen. The show eventually finds a groove of boring, as average everyday normal guy and literally every bad tsundere character in anime ever team up to hunt down a monster, where the soundtrack suddenly switches to downbeat horror mode. I swear, it's almost like they stole entire tracks out of a Hollywood horror flick. The sound effects, however, did not get the memo. They're downright bizarre at times, especially the part where they outright stole the home run bat sound effect from Smash Bros. when a monster knocks the guy away.
The series can't decide if it wants to be actions, horror, or porn. Yes, there is cheesecake and panty shots here, but I'll be damned if I could find a single reason to care. The smut isn't dirty enough, the action is barely present, and there is absolutely no tension anywhere in this show, mainly because only four characters got any definition in the first episode (one of them was the pervert comedic relief, and the less said about him, the better). It's like an average level anime from around 2004, but with added weirdness that puts it right in outright bad territory. The only reason I'm not dropping is because I want to see if this is more painful than Military!, so expect a judgement next week.
Also, Yasuomi Umetsu totally directed the ending credits. It's the only part of the show that actually looks like it was done by people who give a shit.
No Recommendation
KanColle
David O'Neil
For the first time watching the show I felt like there were at least a few good things I had to say about it. For one thing, some of the characters are finally starting to form something resembling personalities (obnoxious as some of them can be), the pacing has gotten better, and it's actually taken a swing at its first big emotional twist. I won't outright spoil the twist, but you'd have to be pretty out of it to not see it coming from a mile away. Let's just say the only way the show could've been more blatantly obvious in its delivery of a set up was if they introduced an old, kindly cop who kept repeating how he had just one week left until retirement. Even with the moronic diversion of any surprise put aside, the twist itself really doesn't work all that well unfortunately. The problem is that the show pretty much pulls the relationship that's supposed to give the twist its emotional weight completely out of its ass near the last minute. It's almost as if they hadn't decided to implement this twist until a later time, considering how they didn't work to build it up very well in the first two episodes.
Still though, the big moment at the end of the fourth episode was actually just shy of being pretty effective. But again, the show ran into an issue, in that episode four was absolutely littered with obnoxious comedy and over the top wackiness (and not even very fun wackiness at that) and it wasn't able to balance the tone well at all. It created a real dissonance between the crazy antics and the heartfelt moments that kept either from actually working. The wacky scenes were dampened by an underlying feeling of "didn't something really serious just happen we're ignoring" while the serious scenes by a feeling of "I can't take this seriously after the wacky stuff that just happened". For the first time I feel like Kancolle is actually trying, which is worth something, but not much when it's still not succeeding. There's still not much of anything here for anyone other than die hard fans of the game, even if I'm feeling a bit more optimistic than I did going in.
No Recommendation
Maria the Virgin Witch
Joe Straatmann
I personally found a whole bunch of it to be hilarious. Most of the humor works on the level that Maria finds everything about sex extremely awkward, yet is surrounded by it and may be permanently defined by her lack of it since the Archangel Michael brings it upon himself so make it so her powers go poof if she ever does the deed. However, even if I could argue that Maria thought they were going too far and it was Artemis pushing the issue because she just wants a co-worker to do his damn job, I wouldn't blame you if you felt this was just a bit wrong. And unlike a lot of the Internet, I do not discount the possibility that I may just be a horrible person.
Notes on sexual humor aside, this show is surprisingly quality work. The animation and music may have taken a step down from the first episode as productions tend to do, but it's still at a fairly high level. The world building is opening up some fascinating possibilities. It seems to suggest that much of the human mythologies are real with Maria summoning the Cyclops in the middle of a battle Valkyrie and the Archangel Michael are watching over. On top of that, the characters seem to be dealing with the issues it brings up in a more ambiguous way.
Essentially, Maria's work disrupting the war has torqued off Michael as she's "disrupting the natural order of the world," and their arguments aren't as clearcut as one might think. There are many travesties happening around the world, so why doesn't Maria stop them, or is she simply doing this out of selfishness rather than the good of her heart? Plus, disrupting the war makes the mercenaries in her town starve because they can't make money if they can't kill anybody. Is Maria truly helping them? Of course, Maria has her own arguments against a heavenly body that relies on followers making a whole lot of prayers without answers. It's more thoughtful than you'd expect of something half made up of sex jokes, and it manages an odd amount of harmony with material with disparate themes at times.
Strong Recommendation (Weak Recommendation if its humor hits you at the wrong angles)
Military!
Jonathan Kaharl
Episode three was just a mixture of dull and obnoxious. Gross humor was replaced with pathetic attempts at slapstick, ending with a terribly confused gag that forgot how punchlines work. The rest is just noise that grates at the ears, especially the end of episode thing that has one of the loudest characters I've ever had my misfortune to hear screaming about a bunch of stuff I couldn't possibly care less about, as she is want to do every episode. But hey, I guess inept is better than offensive.
No Recommendation
Rolling Girls
Stephanie Getchell
I'm very glad I have more to work with this week, but I think the excitement of Rolling Girls also died a little this time around. It probably has something to do with me being rather bored and waiting for classes to start these past couple of weeks or cabin fever because of the snow, but I'll try and explain why the excitement has died down a little bit here. What I believe is that there's a lot going on, but very little explanation. The story was trying to go quickly so we can get our main group of characters together in order to get them on the road, but before and after this, very little is explained. Some of it, I know, will end up revealed as part of the story later on, however there are pieces that could have been explained or executed better than it was and it kinda bugged me. What makes this even worse is that the seasonal show I was watching before this was Cute High Earth Defense Club, and I was having so much fun with that one. But when going into Rolling Girls not long after, I kinda lost that excitement. It's weird since people have fallen for Rolling Girls more than the magical girl parody anime, so maybe I'm just being weird? I don't know.
Rolling Girls isn't doing badly, but it's not as strong for me as it was a couple weeks ago. I'm trying really hard to stay away from the Kill La Kill comparisons since I've established them last time, but I'm finding very little to write about this time around. I really don't want to drop this series because I know it's good despite it's fast pace causing a few problems with the story. I'm pretty sure it's cabin fever I've been feeling this week that's causing not only this, but some other weird opinions on shows I've been watching (you'll see why in a minute). I think I need another week or two to figure this out. Maybe once I actually kick the cabin fever to the curb, I'll actually be able to give a better opinion on this show.... Winter sucks.
Solid Recommendation
Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend
David O'Neil
It's especially strange as, despite being described as boring, Katou is probably the most likable character in the series thus far. The three other main characters leave me feeling very mixed, all of them can be fun a lot of the time, but other times they border on just being obnoxious, or even flat out jerks. It also doesn't help that both the girls feel more and more like bland, uninspired interpretations of cliched character archetypes the more I see of them. Like it or not, constantly pointing out that Sumawara acts like a typical "tsundere" character doesn't make her any less of a typical tsundere character. Despite all that the characters are still funny a majority of the time, the show isn't exactly a laugh out loud funny kind of show for the most part but one with plenty of subtly clever bits and fun character interactions. It also helps that fanservice has been nowhere to be seen in the last two episodes, a nice surprise after worrying I was in for frequent ecchi after that shameless first episode.
Part of me really wants to hate Saekano, it constantly flaunts what an uninspired, trashy, pandering show it is in my face and the characters walk a fine line between being eccentric and being mean spirited. At the same time though, there's still some stuff I like. The humor is very solid, the fourth episode especially being incredibly funny, and the visual style and animation still haven't ceased to impress me. There still isn't much going on in Saekano below the surface for now, the plot itself is mostly a vehicle to drive the humor (which may be for the best as the main premise itself is a bit iffy), but for now the humor is enough to make it a harmless, entertaining watch for someone looking for a mindless good time.
Solid Recommendation
Samurai Warriors
David O'Neil
No Recommendation, dropped at episode one
The Testament of Sister New Devil
Jonathan Kaharl
Out of the four person main cast, only Maria manages to work. Basura is too generic and nice to really give two craps about, especially when the show can't decide if he's a shy virgin or a pervert. It's classic porn writing in a series that doesn't fully commit to that type of writing, thus it constantly feels out of place. Mio is a dull tsundere, and her attraction to Basura is poorly built up. Her own identity revolves entirely around Basura, when by all accounts her actual story is infinitely more interesting. Yuki, Basura's hero tribe friend, is a very stupid yandere who comes up with one of the dumbest logic arguments ever to justify her basically doing the exact things Basura doesn't want her to do for her own selfish reasons. She even says she doesn't regret it ...and then instantly regrets it when Basura finds her trying to fight Mio. They're just all so lame and poorly conceived, and everything else about them is just trite. Maria works because at least the show is up front about her being a perverted liar. Her constant attempts to get Mio and Basura in adult situations works just fine for an ecchi, because somebody in the cast isn't pussy footing around or pretending that the main story is far more interesting than it actually is.
You can have plot in porn and make it work, but the plot and mythology built around it needs to be thought out. Seikon no Qwaser works because characters actually have arcs and distinct personalities, well paced out as well, and given properly established world building and plots that don't instantly demand all attention away from said character building. It's awful filth, but the writer knew what they were doing. Sister New Devil drops the ball in that regard, making the actual important scenes grating. Some of the smut is also weak, sadly. The second episode ritual is kind of amusing in how its built up and paced, but the third episode drops the ball with a very lame bath scene that's trying way too hard to pander. A good smut scene needs to develop naturally, or else its just obnoxious.
I have strong opinions on smut, you see.
No Recommendation (Weak Recommendation for trash loving perverts)
Unlimited Fafnir
Joe Straatmann
So, where were we in the story? The dragon Leviathan is coming to attack the school and take his "mate," Iris. If Iris comes into contact with it, she will become a dragon herself and will need to be destroyed. So while the rest of the campus heads off to fight Leviathan, Yuu swears to protect Iris and he tries to support her while she has a moe response to just about everything. Meanwhile, Yuu's sister Mitsuki is standing by to kill Iris since she "already has blood on her hands" from the last time this happened two years ago, and Loki is secretly sending troops to infiltrate the school during the chaos and kill Iris so nobody else has to. It all sound like so much is going on, but really, it blends into a large clump of "seemingly invincible monster attacks, heroes find the weakness to destroy it at the last minute" stuff you've seen a million times before.
I do have a few nice things to say about this series. The occasional background looks good. When Yuu has a squabble with his sister, the conclusion is fairly cute. There's also a flashback nestled into the first attack explaining how Yuu gained abilities that only females have in this universe. He essentially makes a prid pro quo deal with the eldest dragon, the Yggdrasil, exchanging memories and promising to kill dragons for his powers. Why Yggdrasil would want to kill its fellow dragons is still a mystery. Also, why Yggdrasil is considered a dragon since it's the world TREE and is depicted as such in the series is also a mystery, but it's something interesting happening, so beggars can't be choosers. Still nothing near fascinating enough to do anything but completely ignore the show, though.
No Recommendation
World Break: Aria of Curse for a Holy Swordsman
Stephanie Getchell
Where do I even begin with this one? How about the fact that the story is a mix of interesting and boring at the same time? World Break had moments where it really dragged on and became stale and boring. At the same time, some of the world building and intricacies of it did peak my interest a bit. It kind of reminded me of Irregular at Magic High School except not as bad. Yeah, I just went there and I haven't even seen all of Magic High School. I actually got more interested in World Break than Magic High School. For the three people who actually liked that show, come at me bro! Something else that I can draw a major comparison between the two is the possible incest both involve. Again, I only watched two episodes of Magic High School and despised how it treated this subject. Though, it doesn't help that the female character involved was flat as a board. With World Break, they have an excuse to help bypass the incest in the series but it still let's us have it, regardless, thanks to the memories of Moroha and Sastuki's past lives. It's almost like they have a present day loop hole for a possible romance plot line, but it also isn't ashamed to pull out the blunt incest. Then again, it could also be a kind of reminder of "HEY! They were like this in their past life, but they aren't related now so it's all cool!" Honestly, I'm working on figuring out which one that is. Otherwise than these two larger things, the characters aren't that bad, but that aren't stand outs either while the story is also rather mixed to me seeing as how it's only been two episodes thus.
Do you wanna know the weirdest part? I honestly thought I was going to despise this series, but, for some reason, I don't hate it that much right now. It's odd, I know. Maybe I'm overdue for something trashy and World Break is what I'm looking for. I totally believed that I would drop this series today after seeing it's first couple of episodes, but I'm actually willing to give it a bit more time and hold my drop to my chest, tightly. Doesn't mean I still won't use it when completely necessary, cause I will. For now, World Break has my interest even though it isn't the best thing in the world this season has to offer.
Weak Recommendation
Yatterman Night
Stephanie Getchell
Having watched more of this series makes me feel a bit better. What also makes me feel a little better is knowing that Yatterman Night is a part of an even larger franchise. Luckily, you don't really have to know about the franchise in order to understand this one fully, but there are little things here and there that fans of the franchise would be able to appreciate much more such as the pelican mecha that Yatterman uses in these two episodes. It's still a very interesting take on the idea of superheroes and what happens if the hero you love so much can be tainted due to corruption. That's really the basic idea here and, thus far, I think it's being executed wonderfully! Similar to Garo from last season, it has it's maturity but also it's rather silly and fun moments. But Yatterman has characters that are even more likable than those from Garo. It may be a product of super sentai-esque shows, whether live action or animated, but having Leopard, Voltkatze, and Elephantus as our leading group makes for some fun humor because they are that likable.
Now that I've finally had more time with Yatterman Night, I can see why others have fallen in love with it. It may have started out a little weird, to me, but these last couple of episodes show how much fun and how much heart it can have when it really wants to. Not only that, but it has a rather interesting theme at it's core just waiting to be explored even more through our rag tag group of heroes as well as the people they meet along the way. I certainly feel much more at ease with Yatterman Night, and I am excited to see where it plans to take me next!
Strong Recommendation
Yurikuma Arashi
Thomas Zoth
And something must be said about how incredible episode four is. With the first three episodes, Ikuhara sets up a formula with a plot structure and use of stock footage. But with no time to waste in Yurikuma, episode four breaks the formula by having the Judgmens narrate a story about when Lulu was princess of a bear kingdom. She was loved by all, until a younger brother arrives and steals everyone's affections away from her. Her frantic attempts to rid herself of her brother are hilarious, though they end with quite a tragic twist. Both hilarious and heartbreaking in turn, episode four cements Yurikuma in the Ikuhara canon, even if it never reaches the heights of his masterworks (though it may yet).
The main plot of the series is still largely unknown, though revelations in each episode make events in the preceding episodes a little clearer. The "invisible storm" seems to be the class consensus in choosing which students are to be banished from the group, in an elaborate "Exclusion Ceremony." Ginko and Lulu's motivations become a little clearer when they state their motivation to protect Kureha from enemy bears. And themes of loss are reinforced with the revelation that teacher Yurika was once the friend and lover of Kureha's mother, who was also eaten by a bear. But what does being "eaten" really mean? Yurikuma may also be Ikuhara's attempt to construct a series entirely out of ringtones. Noticing the popularity of "fabulous max" and "seizon senryaku," Ikuhara apparently decided to go full bore on catchy sound effects, from KUMA SHOCK! and YURI AMOUR to SHABADOO. It would be ridiculous and overdone, if people weren't sampling the sounds to use for alerts on their smartphones. The grand purpose of Yurikuma is still anyone's guess, but in the meantime, it's a tremendous amount of fun to watch. Desire max!
Solid Recommendation
Second Opinions
Assassination Classroom
Jonathan: I'm getting worried that the series won't reach the drill instructor arc and that makes me sad. But hey, the principal had an early appearance, and he's already being built up as a monster! As long as I get to see the principal, I'm happy. I love the weird contrast thing the series is doing, and I have high hopes for it as an adaptation. Strong Recommendation
Stephanie: I think I found my new favorite character and his name is Karma because holy mother of god that boy has issues and is also wonderfully nutty! Even though there was only one episode to watch this time around (cause Japan has special days and they delayed episode 3 by a week), there's not much to go on aside from our newest class member Karma. It still the same business as usual which isn't a bad thing. However, thanks to the addition of Karma to the E Class, this puts Koro-sensei in a tricky spot with some wonderful polishing gags as the result. Yup, this week was a good one for A-Class! Strong Recommendation
Walt: With these past two episode, I feel we really get to see what Assassination Classroom is all about. This show can be a very light-hearted slice of life with Korosensei helping these kids with their many insecurities, while also balancing the dark notion that these children are being trained to be killers, to assassinate their teacher. The introduction of Karma in episode 3 was pretty powerful in itself, not only in showing us this new student and rival for Korosensei, but also showcasing the awful mindset of the main building to be built upon later. Strong Recommendation
Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!
Stephanie: Is this a weird series? Yes. Is it a funny series? Yes. Is it a clever series? I think so. Although it uses classic magical girl troupes for parody purposes, it actually takes some of those same troupes and makes them even more witty. One that sticks out to me is how out Battle Lovers can hide their identity thanks to some alien technology that blurs their faces and changes their voices to sound more high pitched. Kind of giving off the sense that it's girl's fighting rather than boys, which is the joke here. Cute High Earth Defense Club is a nice change of pace from the typical magical girl series, with some rather clever writing to boot! It's actually the first series of the year that has me wondering who would make it a good english dub.... And there goes my brain for several hours. Please excuse me. Strong Recommendation
Death Parade
Stephanie: So.... Death Parade has become the first series, this season, to make me cry after watching an episode. You gotta admit that bowling one was so sweet and such a sad one. As for the other episode we get to play with, we have the first set of strangers coming in since the series began and both parties have some rather hard times that we get to see. The series has been keeping me guessing as to our players's stories and has now taken on some interesting areas. The third episode, in particular, has become my favorite thus far, but the fourth is still really good! And, soon, we'll finally be meeting some new recurring characters as well as a child player..... Wait! What?! Strong Recommendation
Gourmet Girl Graffiti
Stephanie: I did not realize that you can eat food so.... erotically I think is the best word here. Then again, Toriko exists and can be the same way from what I've heard. Anyways, when you get past that part, the show actually has some cute charm about it that I do enjoy with a premise that others can understand because we've all felt loneliness at some point in our lives and enjoying something together like a meal can make it taste even better. At least, it's something we learn about as kids. I have got to say, I think it's off to a good start and I am interested to see where this little oddball of a series plans to go next. Solid Recommendation
Maria the Virgin Witch
Jonathan: This is very much my humor. Maria should be awful, all things considered (there's even a really tasteless rape joke in the second episode), but its dirty comedy actually works by how absurd the entire show concept is. The 100 Years War is being put on hold because witches, succubi and incubuses are going around and having sex with high ranking officers. I am amazed that concept has never happened before. There's a ton of great jabs at religion and warfare, but it never lets the severity of these situations be downplayed by the crass gags. The second episode manages some surprisingly strong dramatic moments, meaning this is one of those few shows that knows how to have its cake and eat it too. Strong Recommendation
Stephanie: We've finally gotten to the big plot element of the show, and I also sense a possible romance in the future. Honestly, there's a lot to like about Maria right now in terms of story and characters. It kind of gives off similar vibes to Le Chevalier D'Eon in more ways than one (which is probably why FUNi also recommends it if you like Maria). My feelings for Maria are the same as I feel about D'Eon, I like it, but nothing spectacular has come out of it yet. Solid Recommendation
Rolling Girls
Joe: I have yet to succumb to the charms of this one. After being being confused and overloaded trying to parse out the first episode with two viewings, the next two episodes fare a little better. It still feels like they're throwing a bunch of stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. The second episode is an all madcap action comedy that makes up the rules as it goes along, and then the third goes and turns a series that was essentially a cute, female-driven anime getting its hands on The Warriors into a more subdued road trip with some occasional wacky happenings. Which is fine. But then they go to Tokyo where everybody has to cosplay, except why does everybody cosplay in black sorcerer's robes or top hats? And why is Tokyo outside of the packed city centers styled with water colors? I'm probably overthinking this show way too much, but a little order in this chaos would do a lot of good. Weak Recommendation
Jonathan: Rolling Girls is like if you took Kill la Kill, but then replaced the style and plot beats of a Go Nagai manga with that of a psychedelic ascetic with a coming of age yarn. It's utterly ridiculous in the best ways, with all sorts of exploding globs of color with each punch and hit and the bizarre character beats, but also has some higher ambitions than just to be entertaining. The one problem it may have is that the main story of a young girl trying to find her way in the world isn't terribly interesting right now. However, that doesn't take away from just how visually stunning it whole thing is. Solid Recommendation
Yatterman Night
Jonathan: This is an absolute must for anyone who has a taste for really classic anime. Unlike Gatchaman Crowds and Casshern Sins, Yatterman Night has nothing but reverence for its source material, choosing to embrace its childish lunacy instead of criticize it. However, the clever part is how it puts all this in a far darker frame and manages to make it feel natural, creating some truly likable characters and an almost fairy tale like mythology. I mean old fairy tales, where things get violent or grim before its all over. This is very much a show for the kids, but it does not hold back at all, and I have nothing but respect for that. The first episode even nearly got me to cry, and that's not something I was ever expecting to say about a part of the Yatterman franchise. Strong Recommendation
Tom: I'd be happy to say I called this one, but even I am frankly amazed at how solid this show has been. I knew the writer behind Milky Holmes and the director of Muromi-san would deliver solid entertainment, but I never expected solid dramatic chops from either. Yatterman Nights is kind of a wonder in this regard. The show will deliver some heartbreaking character development, insert scenes in tribute to Mamoru Oshii, and then make a potty joke, all in the space of five minutes. Though I've never liked the criticisms that Gatchaman Crowds and Fujiko Mine were "too different" from the source material to be canonical, I am impressed by how well Yatterman manages to combine a heartbreaking story with honest-to-goodness 1970s style caper comedy. If it can keep up this level of quality, it will be a certain contender for anime of the year. Solid Recommendation
Yurikuma Arashi
Joe: CONFESSION. I'm a little late to this one simply because I have to prepare for a Kunihiko Ikuhara series. The guy is absolutely an auteur, I appreciate his unique voice, and I do like his work overall, but... CONFESSION.... some of his style quirks irk me. CONFESSION. Mostly, his repetition. Yurikama Arashi is everything Ikuhara for better and (for me, at least), worse. CONFESSION. How many times has a girl got to run up a spiral staircase to an ornate rooftop before you're good, Ikuhara? On the positive side of the things, the series is a delirious cluster bomb of lesbianism, deliberately outrageous melodrama, woman-eating bears, cultural allegory on Japan's hive mindset, transforming girls, and as many metaphors-sexual and otherwise-that will fit into a 24-minute show. It's a stream of unapologetic strangeness you won't get anywhere else in the world, and it's at times an absolute joy. CONFESSION. Just if you're going to put 20 flashbacks in an episode, maybe you shouldn't have a title card that reads "Flashback" in ALL of them. CONFESSION. These text inserts with the word confession aren't annoying at all, are they? Solid Recommendation
Jonathan: I have now realized that this entire show seems to be a giant criticism against modern yuri works. In other words, no show has ever spoken my language as much as this one has. Strong Recommendation
Stephanie: Well, well. Things are getting interesting with this one. Not does Kureha have at least a little more understanding as to what's going on, but we get Lulu's backstory and time with the Sexy, Cool, and Beauty during it. This all really helps move the story along, and tells us why Lulu is even there in the first place because it would have made less sense if it wasn't explained. I like where this series has been progressing and I'm sure it'll keep moving forward in this direction in the weeks to come! Strong Recommendation
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