About 2 weeks ago: why I’m bored with Uchouten Kazoku, the impact of alternative hairstyles in Monogatari Series Second Season, how Zoe’s character contrasts everyone and everything in Shingeki no Kyojin, and why the clothes are my favorite part of Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou.

Best episode of the week: Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!

Anime trending up this week: Servant x Service

Anime trending down this week: Uchouten Kazoku

Danganronpa the Animation (Episode 3)

I’ve always kinda wondered that if they made a Phoenix Wright anime, based off the franchise of popular videos games, if it would be better to follow the mechanics of the game when it came to the investigations and trials or if changed the structure to match a looser, more liberal approach to dramatic lawyer action.  Danganronpa provides us with a glimpse at what it’s like to take the mechanics of a detective/trial video game and put it into an anime which was the former of my two options.  The style comes across to me as having mixed opinions.  While it does capture the style of Dangranronpa and manages to work well within the context of the trial, the downside is that it feels almost too blatant and automatic, helping to ruin the fun and mystery of the trial by putting so much emphasis on the bullets and accusations.  I mean, having the wrong text just blow up on the screen before the audience has time to even read, let alone think or react, pretty much spoils to you what’s supposed to happen.  Nonetheless, it does hold that Danganronpa-style to it that helps keep the game’s charm in this anime and helps differentiate it from, say, a Phoenix Wright-style objection.  And speaking of that, if I were to reevaluate my opinion of a Phoenix Wright anime after witnessing a trial in Danganronpa that mirrors a ‘true to the video game approach’, I’d almost actually rather have it be a more liberal approach that doesn’t feel all video game-ish, but one that still captures the style and themes of Phoenix Wright (for clarification, having the objection come out after a witness is done speaking, then revisiting the fallacy rather than having GIANT TEXT appear on the screen and Makoto using a bullet).

Gatchaman Crowds (Episode 2)

3D-CGI has always turned me off, especially from an early age when the medium began to debut and the graphics and apperances were still in their primitive state.  The form of using 3D-CGI has developed greatly over the past couple of decades and, with its growth and maturity, I’ve warmed up to the style, though I still tend to dislike shows that are entirely in 3D (a reason why I’m such a fan of anime is its resilience to remain 2D and gorgeous).  That being said, I find the use of 3D models and animation in Gatchaman Crowds to be one that I can’t help but like.  The use of these 3D models, the appearance of these models and the animation used to seamlessly integrate them into a 2D world is nothing short of spectacular and a testament to what 3D-CGI has become and what it can do.  I think this is the first anime besides Tiger & Bunny that I actually like and enjoy the CGI in.  Perhaps now, with the technology reaching new levels and finding forms that keep fans (like myself) happy, that 3D-CGI will begin to find more applications in the field of anime.  It still doesn’t mean I prefer it over 2D animation but that it isn’t an eye sore or a reason to dislike an anime like with so many previous television shows and movies.

Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou (Episode 3)

Perhaps the greatest attribute and strength going for Gen’ei wo Kakeru Taiyou right now is the dazzling and magnificent selection of clothes the characters wear, particularly the magical-girl forms whose costumes tend to be more elegant and extravagant versions of their traditional everyday clothes.  Hell, even their pajamas are cute and stylized and you can only wonder what they’ll be wearing when the inevitable beach episode occurs around episode 7 or 8.  But compared to other shows with similar themes, stories and characters, you always get a mirage of school girl uniforms, either a serafuku or blazer and miniskirt, and then a skin-tight, sexy uniform or frilly, frilly, girly outfit for the magical girl transformation.  And while I still enjoy those styles for the most part, Gen’ei Taiyou has done a remarkable job at selecting the outfits for its cast of characters, making them all vastly different from the each other and helping distinguish and accent each character’s personality, color, and Tarot card-themes (like the little suns, stars and crescent moon motifs that dot their clothes).  I think, right now, that the design, variety and quality of clothing is my favorite part of Gen’ei wo Kakeru Taiyou.

Monogatari Series Second Season (Episode 3)

Since the setting of Monogatari is a sparely populated metropolis that barely breaks double digits, one populated by a single teenage boy and a handful of horny teenage girls, you’d figure that there wouldn’t be salon or hair stylist to provide the characters with alternative hair styles for this new season.  So unless a traveling barber visited the two and gave all the girls special discounts, I’m kinda curious how all the girls got these new hairstyles.  Never mind that, the new hairstyles are easily the biggest difference between this and the previous seasons of Monogatari with many characters having improved hairdos (Tsubasa, Senjougahara, Karen), some characters having different styles (Kanbaru), and some just having an outrageous style hair that makes me miss their former (Tsukihi).  Because I am me and have a thing for short hair (who would’ve guessed), I have to admit that I am loving these alternative hairstyles and that, as a result of seeing them with this slightly altered appearances, I’m having to reevaluate how much I like and enjoy these characters now.  It’s really amazing how such a simple and mundane procedure it is, to change someone’s hairstyle like this, can have such a profound effect like it has had on me and other fans of the series.  And while I still enjoy seeing Senjougahara wearing her hair long or Karen wearing her ponytail, I find it refreshing and inspirational for this season of Monogatari to change the styles of just about every girl, to give this season something new.  I’ve got to say, I’m really enjoying the cast more with these different hairstyles, though I wonder how long this effect will last or how it varies from character to character.  Either way, I’m glad to see something like this happen in Monogatari and I’ve got to find and thank whoever did these wonderful haircuts.

Shingeki no Kyojin (Episode 15)

Even though Zoe’s character is portrayed in a comical, almost wacky manner, I absolutely love how she contrasts the rest of the cast in regards to Titans.  Hell, even her portrayal as a whimsical and humorous character helps reinforce that contrast since that itself is a distinction of her character, too.  Regardless, it’s refreshing and stimulating to see a character of her caliber being interested in the Titans to such an obsessive degree whereas the remainder of the cast would gladly trade anything they had to live another day without seeing a Titan.  And going one step further, Zoe is the only character to really show genuine compassion to the Titans though you could argue that her experiments are rather cruel and painful.  Still, you’d never see a character in Attack on Titan cry over the death of a Titan like Zoe did when she found her two ‘pets’ were murdered.  I can’t help but find her character to actually be my favorite as a result, finally seeing a character who breaks the common mold of the series over scared or fearless people who hunt or run from Titans.  Zoe is different.  And not only that, but she’s portrayed in a comic light that makes her character fun and amusing while also being intelligent, informative and able.  It’s great to have a character like Zoe in Titan, especially now after having the same or similar character archetypes through virtually every episode before.  My only hope from here moving forward is that she’s featured frequently, that her character grows along with the story and that she doesn’t find a premature end like so many other characters in this anime.

Silver Spoon (Episode 2)

Teachers in anime are kinda a neglected bunch of characters, often portrayed as comical or motherly background characters that really don’t do much in the way of inspiring or stimulating their students unless they’re one of the five members of a shitty harem anime.  That being said, I find the new equestrian teacher in Silver Spoon, Nakajima, to be just the opposite.  He’s a teacher first and foremost but he also assumes that mentor role with Yugo and his other students.  But especially with Yugo, who’s not really sure he wants to be in the equestrian club or even wants to be at a rural high school in general.  I have a feeling that considering his presence (alongside Mikage in the equestrian club), that Nakajima will have a substantial effect on Yugo’s character at various points throughout Silver Spoon.  He has that certain air, that certain quality to his character that hints that he’ll have a significant impact on the story of Silver Spoon and on Yugo’s character.  So with that, I’m looking forward to what Nakajima will do in Silver Spoon, especially considering that none of the other teachers have made a noteworthy impact to date.

Tamayura ~more aggressive~ (Episode 3)

How quickly do my opinions change.  I remember enjoying the Tamayura OVA, struggling and disappointed with Tamayura ~hitotose~ and considering not even picking up Tamayura ~more aggressive~ after remembering how discouraged I was after the 12-episode TV run.  But with just three episodes into Tamayura ~more aggressive~ and I find myself in love with the franchise like never before.  Perhaps it’s because the new characters, Kanae and Shimokamiyama, provide refreshing roles in the series in how they assist and develop Fu’s character and that the two biggest problems for me (Ko and Komachi) have had minimal screentime.  Or maybe because the series is focusing on the newfound Photography Club and on photography in general as compared to previous episodes of ~hitotose~ which alternated between charming stories and boring snorefests.  But with this new season of ~more aggressive~, Tamayura has taken a more aggressive approach to its characters, its story, its themes and its presentation and the sequel to this franchise is off to a fascinating start.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sequel score more than one point higher than an original, especially since Tamayura ~hitotose~ places last in Autumn 2011, but this has been the biggest surprise of the season, especially since I was considering skipping the series after my disappointment two years ago.  Thank goodness I gave this anime a shot and have felt rewarded ever since.

Uchouten Kazoku (Episode 3)

Despite being the most popular anime of the season according to anime bloggers, I can’t help but find myself bored with Uchouten Kazoku and I think I know why.  My main issue with the series is that it deals too much with politics.  Between the Shimogamo family’s internal struggles and those with the other Tanuki clans of Kyoto to the internal rumblings between the Tengu clans to the ‘Friday Club’ to Incident A and Incident B and just everything that everyone talks about… it’s all political and it’s all a bit peculiar at this point.  It’s a little hard to develop connections with these characters and these events when they all happened in the past and all are interwoven to create the complex and extravagant setting that is Uchouten Kazoku, but it’s all that every really happens.  Everyone is focused on the past and virtually every dialogue is tied to one of these prior events or are political in nature.  And, as a result, I can’t help but find myself uninterested when characters are talking about some event that happened in the past, especially when it’s all that ever happens in an episode.  So while I do appreciate the level of detail and complexity in Uchouten Kazoku, I have to question its relevance and purpose to the story and to question to what degree does it necessitate, especially since it’s reached the point where it’s begun to negatively affect the story and the characters.  But then again, maybe that’s only the case for me seeing how it has unrivaled popularity among other bloggers to date.

And before I forgot, while I’m on the subject of the past in this post, doesn’t Yasaburou’s male human look kinda remind you of Ted “Theodore” Logan’s look from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure?  I mean, that black vest on that white T-shirt and that mullet-style haircut with tight jeans… doesn’t it just scream 80’s fashion whenever you see Yasaburou?  I think he needs to go back to being a trap with that serafuku like we saw in the first episode.

This post reviews: Gingitsune, Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta, and Non Non Biyori.

Looks like there will only be one more of these previews with the last few remaining anime covered there and then moving onto my Weekly Anime after this.  All that’ll be left after this is to decide which anime to write about each week.

Watching:

Gingitsune

The first episode of Gingitsune was a mix of positives and negatives, but the negatives were more along the lines of worrisome problems than the anime being bad.  It’s more that I have a sinking feeling that this anime will deteriorate as it continues than anything else.  The main reason why I feel this way is that there was very little excitement or energy from the cast and no real foresight on problems or conflicts to build on.  Sure, the setting is cheery with a school-age shrine maiden who can see and communicate with a messenger of the gods named Gintarou.  I like that.  And I enjoyed the honest, genuine feel of the characters and their interactions with each other.  It isn’t over-the-top or unbelievable but realistic problems where a girl gets mad at Makoto because she was hurt by her advice.  That’s great, too, brilliant even.  But it didn’t really set up anything for the long term, such a goal for Makoto or a struggle that both are needed to solve.  Instead, I wonder how long the anime will be an episodic slice of life anime like this one.  Sure, the anime might be fine, but episodic anime are largely hit-or-miss and I can see a number of misses if it’s tame or dry.  That being said, I am sufficiently intrigued by Gintarou’s character and his relationship with Makoto.  The fact that none of the previous shrine maidens had personal relationships with Gintarou is sure to set up for some wonderful development with his character and his blunt yet honest personality makes for a fantastic pairing with a stereotypical moe girl lead (thank heavens it’s not another angsty teenager or perverted idiot).  I’m looking forward to that and I’m also looking forward to how Gintarou will influence Makoto’s character, too.  The art style is lovely though the execution is somewhat sloppy at times, especially with some of the insignificant animation.  I know that’s being nitpicky but there were times when it looked off.  And that’s really the final negative I had with this anime.  Everything else was pleasant and I’m looking forward to more episodes soon.

Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta

First and foremost, did anyone else notice the seamless and fluid transitions between 2D and 3D animation in Yozakura Quartet?  The animation director (Satonobu Kikuchi) and anime studio (Nomad) turned out a marvelous performance with this episode, making the switches between 3D models and 2D drawings almost unnoticeable.  The two styles complement each other, with simple 2D character designs that parallel the 3D models and 3D characters with cel-shaded expressions that reflect appropriate anime facial expressions and movement.  I mean, if it weren’t this great, I don’t know if I’d want to keep the anime or not given how I dislike 3D modeling but this first episode really left a positive impression on me.  As for the actual content of the anime: it’s good but not great.  The setting is pretty much wonderful, an enjoyable mix of magic and monsters, chaos and action and features a mysterious cast of villains who are quite a bit more vibrant and interesting than the trio of school kids and an adorable blue-haired catgirl.  I appreciated the use of superpowers as a means of combat and the action sequences were fun, but I can’t say the same about the rest of the first episode which was best summarized as ‘meh’.  It was pretty slow at times but you figure that’d happen with the content was focused on introductions rather than fighting giant runaway goldfish.  There were frequent pantyshots spread throughout the first episode, but none where shoved in your face leading me to believe they wanted to include some panties but not to go too overboard and devolve it into a shitty ecchi anime.  It would do fine without it but I imagine there will be fanservice throughout this series because why not?  I’m excited to see where this story will go and what the characters will do but I’m not expecting anything profound to be explored here nor do I expect the characters to mature or develop into fascinating characters with sophisticated personalities or elaborate details.  In fact, I’m just hoping this anime is fun and not much else.  If it’s able to deliver that, then I know picking up Yozakura Quartet for this season will be worth my time.

Undecided:

Non Non Biyori

Non Non Biyori isn’t the comedy I expected it to be, so I need to adjust my expectations for this series to see whether I want to keep it or not.  And while Non Non Biyori had plenty of comedy moments, the jokes were just spread way too thinly throughout to keep me sufficiently entertained and the focus was entirely more slice of life than comedy, so that set me up for a bit of disappointment with this episode.  That being said, knowing this is a slice of life anime, if I adjust my expectations and what I want from this series, then I’ll have a better idea if I want to keep it or not.  That being said, I did enjoy the comedy and the slife aspects but I also found myself bored through parts the middle parts of the episode.  I just wish more happened in each episode since certain jokes had lots of dead space and dragged on longer than they should have.  At least the comedy was all based on the oddities of rural versus urban life rather than a single straight man YELLING AT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS.  It was a rather pleasant, relaxing episode to watch and it might fill the void left by Tamayura ~more aggressive~.  I’ve always loved the rural Japanese setting and this anime is no exception.  The art style is basic but fits the bill for what the anime wants to be which is simple and fun.  And I like simple and fun, just that I was expecting a little less simple and a little more fun.  All in all, Non Non Biyori is a decent anime, just not what I expected and not what I wanted it to be.  If it continues to be enjoyable or amusing in the next couple of episodes, I’ll continue through to the end.  Otherwise, I wouldn’t lose sleep over dropping it and focusing on some other anime instead.

Dropped:

Nothing dropped from these three but I’ve scanned through pretty much everything that hasn’t been reviewed yet and given them a simple ‘no’.  It’s been pretty easy this season.

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

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

Watching:

Ping Pong the Animation

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

Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin

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

Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka?

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

Undecided:

Knights of Sindoria

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

Escha & Logy no Atelier: Tasogare no Sora no Renkinjutsushi

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

Dropped:

Mekaku City Actors

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

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

This post reviews: Parasyte (Kiseijuu), Garo: Honoo no Kokuin, Shirobako, Ore Twintail ni Narimasu and Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso.

One anime that won’t be appearing in these First Impressions posts is Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru. The first episode will air on October 17 making it the one of the last anime to premiere this season (the other being Mushishi Zoku Shou 2). I don’t want to wait another week just to fit that anime into this First Impressions post, so I will forego it for now and see whether I want to keep it or not this season. I doubt I will write about it weekly, unless it provides interesting or valuable content each week, so you probably won’t hear much about Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru here… especially if I end up dropping it.

Watching:

Parasyte (Kiseijuu)

I am conflicted with Parasyte. The downside of the anime thus far is that it strongly resembles Tokyo Ghoul, an anime from last season that failed to impress me outside some sequences of exquisite visuals. The two share similarities in its main character developing some strange mutant powers and fighting others for survival. In that regard, I am not enthusiastic with Parasyte. However, there are a handful of substantial variances between the two that easily puts Parasyte above Tokyo Ghoul. The most noteworthy is that it is already delivering in its coherent focus on the paranormal and psychological horror of Shinichi’s life… as aspect that I yearned for in Tokyo Ghoul that never materialized. Parasyte’s story revolves around Shinichi’s character and how he’s dealing with Migi living in his hand instead of focusing on the fight with the other alien inside the dog. It exemplifies that the battle was not the story, but that it part of the story expressing the ruthlessness of these aliens. And it did a pretty damn good job of expressing that in that scene, too. There is also a sense of horror and psychological distress present in Parasyte that makes the anime attractive, too. Again, I don’t want to continue comparing this to Tokyo Ghoul, but that aspect quickly disappeared and devolved into senseless, mindless action and violence and nothing more in Ghoul. The same might happen here in Parasyte, but at least there was an effort to the horror that makes me feel more confident in Parasyte. And the disconnect between Shinichi and Migi will help emphasize the horror more, since his little hand alien is largely out of his control. Really, there remains a lot to be seen in this anime, but for now, I am positive with this anime based on what was shown in this first episode. I can’t say I am fond of Shinichi’s character thus far, but I am fond of the situation he’s in, how it will test his character and how he will impact the story moving forward. I have no qualms with the art or animation, especially since this is one of the better ones this season, but I do have uncertainties elsewhere. However, my reservations with the rest of the cast, the other aliens and future fights are questions for the future and not of my initial impressions with this anime. For now, I have a positive outlook for Parasyte and am picking it up as an anime to keep this autumn.

Shirobako

Shirobako had a solid first episode thanks essentially due to the contrast in Aoi’s character then and now. When she was a member in the animation club in high school, we saw an idealistic and enthusiastic young girl who loved anime and wanted to fulfill her passion by creating anime. She and her four other friends in the animation club felt the same way, speaking about their dreams of working in the anime industry and even producing their own short anime for their cultural fair. We were able to witness the untainted love and energy of anime fans who want to work in the anime industry. Fast-forward to the present, and Aoi is an animation runner (much like Animation Runner Kuromi) for Musashino Animation, a small studio that earned its first anime as a prime contractor in seven years. Yeah… the real world can be quite a bit different than our fantasies. However, the subdued reality of her situation hasn’t dented Aoi’s enthusiasm or passion for anime, so it’s enjoyable to see how her character manages in such an unappealing situation. And the realistic problems that occurred in the first episode fascinated to me as a viewer, especially since the first episode was highly educational without succumbing to teaching us lessons or giving us lectures; it thought through example and practice. And, as always with the anime I keep, the art and animation are pluses. I am curious to see where the anime goes, especially with how the other three girls connect to the anime, so I am excited to keep this anime for the season.

Undecided:

Garo: Honoo no Kokuin

Garo has a fascinating setting, a fantasy realm where the kingdom pursuits and tortures witches, where witches hunt demons to save humanity, and where demons prey on the kingdom to fulfill their beastly desires. Add in a pleasant and unique art style with a liberal use of color and mature character design and you have an ideal anime for me, right? …Right? Well, right now, I like Garo more than I dislike it, but I never feel in love with the series despite being one of the most imaginative settings of the season. For one, the characterization was surprisingly lacking with virtually nothing on Leon or Alfonso, supposedly the hero and primary antagonist of the story. It’s hard to say how much I like an anime when two of the most essential characters are absent, though we did see Leon for a fight that was mesmerizing to watch but pedestrian in its tension (a fight against the hero in the last two minutes of an episode isn’t really a fight to begin with). As for the story, there really isn’t even one right now as most of the content in this episode was Herman’s exposition in the anime’s backstory and history while he was drunk and naked in bed. It’s really hard to make a proper judgment on the anime when most of the episode was focused on establishing the foundation of the setting and laying out the blueprints for the story. I will admit that there was one thing that bothered me which was the 3D CGI armor and the fights with the 3D CGI armor. It clashes with that gorgeous art style of the background and characters way too much. While I don’t mind seeing CGI characters for anime set in the present, the future or in space… it just doesn’t work out well for a medieval-fantasy setting. I think I’ll be able to make up my mind on this anime after one more episode, so long as it provides enough time with Leon and Alfonso to better understand if I enjoy their characters or not. The story also leaves me wondering too, thought it won’t make or break the series like its characters will.

Dropped:

Ore Twintail ni Narimasu

This is what happens when you write an anime about your favorite fetish. There was nothing more to this anime than the distinctiveness in its unhealthy mania with twintails. Virtually every aspect of the anime was about twintails, whether it was the fact that almost every girl has twintails or that every guy obsesses about twintails. And while I do like twintails on certain characters, I don’t like them this much, and I need something more to an anime than just a specific hairstyle for girls on every girl. Ore Twintail ni Narimasu couldn’t provide me any valuable content, so it is dropped.

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso isn’t a bad anime… it’s just not an anime for me. For me to watch or enjoy a romance, almost everything needs to be perfect: from the characters to the setting to the story to the emotion and so on. Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso fulfills only a few of those criteria for me, so it shouldn’t be surprising to learn I feel virtually nothing toward this anime. The only character I genuinely enjoyed was Tsubaki and her character is destined to be forever in second-place thanks to Kaori’s sudden apperance. Kaori was okay, but her comedy failed to tickle me even the slightest. Kousei was doleful and lackluster as a lead character, probably because his chronic dysthymia brought the whole episode down whenever he was on screen. I realize the anime is about him improving his mood and becoming a better person as he falls in love, so the story appeals to me. But like with every school-setting, romantic comedy anime before it, there’s a guarantee in unnecessary drama, a love-triangle, and rival love interests that frustrates me to no end.  Lastly, the musical themes don’t strike a cord with me as I have virtually zero experience playing music or knowing people who do.  I will say that Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso had one of the most remarkable visuals of this young season, so there’s no doubt that this anime will be great to look at for those who watch it. But for me, it won’t matter since I know I won’t be watching it.

This post reviews: Yuri Kuma Arashi, Kantai Collection (KanColle), Junketsu no Maria (Maria the Virgin Witch), and Koufuku Graffiti.

Since this season is light in terms of new anime, and there aren’t too many shows I am planning on watching this season, there will only be 2 installments of my first impressions posts. Since the anime in these posts are always grouped by the dates they are released, I think all that will be needed are two for Winter 2015.

Watching:

Yuri Kuma Arashi

The highlights of Yuri Kuma Arashi are its storytelling and its visual presentation. The execution in this first episode was brilliant, and helped lay the foundation for what should be an intriguing story about love between two conflicting and divided sides. In terms of the characterization, there isn’t much to say beyond identifying each girl’s primary personality, but it’s how they’ll change that will intrigue me. The content of the first episode did little to inspire me, but the storytelling was remarkable in how it constructed this delicate situation. But perhaps the most imposing fact about this first episode is its visuals. It won’t have the best art or animation this season, but its cinematography was superb in how it diversified its shots and scenes. A great example of this is how it positioned its characters with Ginko and Lulu were walking down the spiral staircase. In all, about what I expected given the pedigree of the production staff, though I will admit that I am not as enthused on this anime as I originally thought.

Kantai Collection (KanColle)

I might have a think for military-themed, all-girls anime like Strike Witches, Girls und Panzer, and now Kantai Collection. What immediately stood out to me with this first episode was the duration and quality of these naval battles. It helped that the 3D animation was both gorgeous and smooth, but it was the length and complexity of the battle (18 ships were shown, not to mention countless Zeros) is what I’ll remember the most from this first episode. Unfortunately, I don’t know how often the anime will be able to present naval warfare like this, but at least it was a demonstration of its skills, and it provides me with some hope for a grand finale. With regards to its cast, I’m conflicted. In a sense, I’m happy to see a diverse cast of characters, but the breadth combined with the short course of the anime means each girl will be shallow or one-dimensional except the handful of primary characters like Fubuki, Yuudachi, and some of the aircraft characters. I wish I could see each character developed, but they’d need to make KanColle about 100 episodes for that to happen. Hopefully the anime focuses on some of the more interesting characters. The content of the first episode was a bit of a cliché, but that weakness was fortified by its distinctive setting. Sure, outside the naval themes and alien invaders, it’s pretty much a school setting, slice-of-life anime, but that is never a negative if those aspects are performed well. And, well… the school aspects in this first episode were satisfactory. It wasn’t anything exceptional, but it wasn’t anything terrible either. I’m looking forward to seeing how this anime develops, though I expect the content in the next few episodes to be primarily on school and mock battles against other girls. I am kinda curious if the anime will ever have a beach episode…

Junketsu no Maria (Maria the Virgin Witch)

From the creator of Moyashimon, comes Junketsu no Maria, an anime about a witch who hates warfare in medieval France. But perhaps more significant than the story are the underlying themes of the anime, perhaps most notably are the two main characters, Joseph and a virgin named Maria… huh. Not only that, but there is also some conflict between the church and Maria, as well as the church’s role in the war, and there are some underpinnings to this anime that are laying a solid foundation for a fascinating story. Outside of that, the setting is spectacular in how it mixes its fantasy and realism. The soldiers of Gaul were a ragtag bunch of peasants, which is counter to most fantasy anime, where every soldier has full plate armor, a longsword, and at least 3-months training at the local military academy. There’s also the realism in the peasant village and how the battle progressed (although the number of arrows was exaggerated). Then there are the fantasy elements with Maria and Artemis, performing their magic and transformations and whatnot with ease which provides a pleasant contrast to everything else. I don’t have much to say on the characters at this point other than that Maria and Artemis feel a bit more cartoony than everyone else, even the little peasant girl, Anne. The art and animation are easily some of the strongest this season, given its attractive character designs and fluid battle animations. It is worth noting the anime is a bit ecchi with having Maria naked a few times and Artemis’ outfit, but it’s blended in fairly naturally and not in-your-face or distracting. Overall, one of the most impressive first episodes this season and on its way to being perhaps one of the top anime of the season.

Undecided:

Nothing here, which means…

Dropped:

Koufuku Graffiti

Although the individual elements of Koufuku Graffiti were fine, the whole product as an anime failed to hook me. What interested me the most was that cooking was a focal point of the anime, yet it felt underserved compared to the characters and their stories. In fact, besides the opening scene with Ryou cooking and describing her directions, the cooking felt like an afterthought, and the theme transitioned to general “food” and “eating” themes rather than “cooking”. To me, “food” wasn’t a problem, but the orgasmic eating scenes were ridiculous and served well to fragment the scenes between slice-of-life and erotic fanservice. It didn’t help that the characters felt shallow with their problems (one wants someone to eat their food, the other wants to go to art school), but their behaviors were fine given the topic of this anime. The art and animation were enjoyable, and helped create a pleasant personality for this anime. But what keeps this anime from inspiring me to watch more episodes is that I really don’t care about the characters, their issues, and how the theme of food, cooking and eating is presented. I will say that this first episode wasn’t terrible – in fact, it was mildly enjoyable – but there isn’t enough in this anime to keep me going. So, given this judgment, I’m dropping Koufuku Graffiti.

This week: why Hibike! Euphonium, a school club anime, feels more ‘school club’ than ‘anime’, the background art as an indicator of quality and personality in Fate/stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works, how the scarcity of direct fights negatively affects JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders – Egypt Arc, and inherent positives with 3D animation in Sidonia no Kishi: Daikyuu Wakusei Seneki.

Best episode of the week: Fate/stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works (TV)

Anime trending up this week: Hibike! Euphonium

Anime trending down this week: Nagato Yuki-chan no Soushitsu

Fate/stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works (TV) (Episode 16)

The background art is an essential component of every shot in every anime, and it can be used as an indicator for the quality and personality of an anime. Not only does the style and amount of detail matter, but so does the content of the background (scenery, skies, built environment) and how these shots are used within a scene. For Fate/stay Night, the backgrounds are frequently highly detailed with clean designs and exquisite detail. There is diversity in the content of its shots, too, helping to not only establish the locale of the scenes, but using the sky and lighting to denote the time of day while also helping establish the mood. Fate/stay Night also does an excellent job of using utilizing detailed backgrounds during scenes, too, especially scenes heavy in dialogue. Here, the backgrounds are particularly useful because, while the actual writing of the anime is characters standing around and talking, the shots can be diversified to show a variety of angles with few repeats. It’s a sign of excellent directing to avoid repeats in scenes like this since it is constantly providing new perspectives for which to view the scene. The example I’m thinking of is when Lancer approached Shirou and Rin at the abandoned church. Watch that scene again to get a better idea of what I’m talking about and why I believe the backgrounds to be a reliable marker of quality and personality in an anime.

Hibike! Euphonium (Episode 3)

While most ‘school club anime’ feel like an anime first and a school club second, Hibike! Euphonium is a school club anime that feels like a school club first and an anime second. To me, there is a considerable difference in Euphonium’s conduct and elegance that differentiates it from the rest of its school club anime brethren. For one, the structure of the club and the roles of the characters feels right. Perhaps most importantly, the president of the club, Haruka, actually feels like a reliable leader who would be elected the head of a club, especially from the way she presents herself among her peers and how she feels pressure and shame for the band’s sorry performance. In fact, when Noboru, the new music teacher, responded to Haruka, you could feel her character respond to the magnitude of the situation and feel the tension in the air. Oh, that’s another one too, there’s actually a faculty member present in the club. Noboru’s presence, although infrequent, helps in keeping the club aspect realistic, in how he doesn’t brush off the bullshit going on and tries to hold the club accountable for their actions. Not only is his presence here a plus, but his personality plays a significant role in keeping this more school club than anime. One last point about why Hibike! Euphonium is unlike the others in this genre is that it is developing its story around the school club and not solely dependent on comedy or nonsense. Having a story with substance related to the club goes a long way in supporting the school club feel of the anime. Overall, Hibike! Euphonium has the same sensation as some of my favorite school club anime, like Chihayafuru or Hyouka. If it can keep up this approach and quality throughout, who knows, maybe Hibike! Euphonium will join those two as one of my favorite school club anime of all-time.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders – Egypt Arc (S2) (Episode 40)

One area of criticism for Part III has been the lack of direct fights between Stands and Stand Users. While Parts I and II were dependent on the characters fighting each other to the death, Part III seems too comfortable with all these indirect fights. And while some battles have turned out great with indirect fighting, namely D’Arby the Gambler, most have not. And while variety is appreciated, I feel that the value of having more direct fights would dominate the value provided by the diversity in all these different styles of indirect fights. Now, that isn’t to say that I am not enjoying this battle fought on a video game console (because I am actually really enjoying it), but it doesn’t have that same lasting impression or emotion as would a direct fight would. Then again, many of these Stands are not designs or capable of surviving a direct fight between Jotaro and the others, but it’s something I miss from Parts I and II and why I feel that those areas of JoJo’s trump Stardust Crusaders.

Plastic Memories (Episode 4)

The more I watch of Plastic Memories, the more I understand that these writers have no clue how a business works or even how most of the real world works. There are just so many inherent errors and inefficiencies with this office that I spend most of the episode thinking of how, if I were manager of this department, I would completely gut the office and rework all its policies. Nothing about this business makes any sense and the fact that all of these errors are correctable makes it even more irritating. I do hope the anime begins steering away from its office setting and back towards Isla dying from Robot Alzheimer’s, but that also has some major issues, too.

Sidonia no Kishi: Daikyuu Wakusei Seneki (S2) (Episode 3)

Since it took me forever to catch up on Sidonia, I never had the opportunity to talk about it as it aired last Spring. However, with its sequel airing this season, I now have the time and platform to write about it. What I appreciate the most about Sidonia’s 3D animation is that it always consistent and that the appearance and animation with the characters is dependably good. Although I still prefer 2D animation over 3D, I do appreciate that there are no variations or dips in the quality of art and animation with the characters. If you know how one characters looks once, you know how they’ll look throughout. Additionally, with the 3D animation, the camera is able to do more and the anime can incorporate more cinematography than most anime. With the increased budget of this sequel, Sidonia has done just that, with more shots incorporating cameras rotating, cameras following behind characters, and performing other difficult maneuvers that would otherwise be nearly impossible with traditional 2D animation. Of course, 3D animation will never surpass 2D animation for me, but I do enjoy the inherent advantages of 3D animation with Sidonia, and I feel that for an anime of this style and caliber, that 3D animation works well for its story, its characters, and its setting.

This post reviews: Himouto! Umaru-chan, Gakkou Gurashi!, and God Eater.

Alright, this post is light, and Himouto and Gakkou Gurashi are already on their second episodes, but you can blame that on God Eater waiting until the third week to debut (and me not watching it until several days after its premire). Anyway, my final first impressions for Summer 2015 are below.

Watching:

Gakkou Gurashi!

What a delightful and memorable introductory episode, one that beautifully mixed subtle elements of distress in a sugary-sweet package of cutesy, moe girls living at their school. I especially enjoyed how the clever hints of horror were implanted in amusing scenes with easygoing jokes and chibi caricatures, but these hints are evidence that this anime will steadily become darker, especially as they escalated from a Stephen King novel to the hidden words on the blackboard to the broken glass and finally to the cross on the rooftop farm. Although the episode was shown entirely from Yuki’s delusions, I expect the anime to move forward through a realistic interpretation of the world as we saw from the ending to this episode: a ghastly, horrific setting with death lurking behind every dark corner. I am thrilled with the execution and directing in this first episode and this promises for a pleasant series, one that is able to successfully blend the contrasting elements of lighthearted, 4-girl, slice-of-life with a zombie apocalypse. Yuki will be an fascinating character to watch as the protagonists, due to her rejection of reality, and I’m sensing some annoyance from Miki who wants her to see the world for what it is. I don’t really have much to say about the other characters at this point, though, but the chemistry and writing work well. Really, this was probably the most impressive first episode of the season, and I’m hoping Gakkou Gurashi continues to be this strong from start to finish.

Undecided:

Nothing undecided in this post, meaning…

Dropped:

Himouto! Umaru-chan

So this is an anime about the most beautiful/athletic/smartest/blah blah blah girl in the school who *gasp* has an otaku personality! Wow, so original! And then there’s her onii-chan who possesses no personality whatsoever and tries to establish some discipline but gives in, almost immediately, to her wacky and silly demands. What a disaster.

God Eater

I’d be inclined to call God Eater the most visually impressive anime of the season based solely on its cinematography, directing style, and stellar art and animation. I can’t, though, because of on consistent and unnerving error throughout various scenes of the episode. I’m not sure whether the 3D camera, the encoding or what is to blame but there were many shots where the camera was shaking or jittery. These uncanny movements were especially notable when looking at the edge of the screen, at the floor, which would move up and down. This ataxia didn’t ruin the episode for me, but it caught my attention multiple times, distracting me from what were the wearisome and uneventful monologs of this introductory episode. Oh that’s right, beyond the visuals, God Eater is another generic “boy-must-save-humanity” anime that we’ve seen a dozen times before. But the main issue with God Eater isn’t with this overused story, but that its protagonist is flat with about as much personality as a ham sandwich without the ham. The writing and dialogues were less than motivating too. Though I was engaged and pulled in by the visuals, God Eater is honestly nothing special.

This post reviews: Hai to Gensou no Grimgar, Dimension W, Schwarzesmarken, Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm, Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!, and Ajin: Demi-Human.

Since I do not write weekly posts for the second week of the season, primarily because many shows air their first episodes in that time, I’ll just provide a brief update on my thoughts on the second week here since this is so late. Most of the anime that impressed me in Week 1 have regressed a bit in Week 2, save for Boku Dake ga Inai Machi which is easily the best new show of the season. Of the sequels, Durarara!!x2 Ketsu is opening to a strong start, and I appreciate the change in direction for Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen. Still, I am a little disappointed in the performance of some of the new anime that I am keeping, but it’s only the second week of the season. Who knows, maybe one of these anime below will end up being the most impressive and most improved of the season? Let’s see just what I’m planning to do with these shows this season…

Watching:

Nothing here, not with these anime today.

Undecided:

Hai to Gensou no Grimgar

There are quite a few shining qualities to Hai to Gensou no Grimgar, but there’s an equal amount of concern after watching the first episode. For the positives, first and foremost is the art, which features stunning and picturesque backgrounds as vibrant watercolor paintings over pencil sketch outlines. Furthermore, the use of various lighting brings out depth in these shots, building the setting to feel like a world that the people live in rather than just a layer of things behind the walking, talking characters. The second positive worth mentioning is the personality and demeanor of the fantasy world. While there are literally a dozen modern-teenage-kids-stuck-in-fantasy-world anime these days, Hai to Gensou no Grimgar feels genuine given that the kids are inexperienced and awful at combat… which is what you’d expect given the situation they’re facing. I’ve enjoyed it thoroughly in the first half, during the goblin battle. The latter half is where things started to drop off and the drawbacks of Hai to Gensou no Grimgar revealed themselves. Of note are the characters and the writing. It appears that the main party of this anime will be the six characters that were featured in the second half of the episode, which is my primary concern with this anime… I’m bored with them at best and am irate with them at worst. Of course, the anime has a chance to redeem itself if a few of these characters die, but considering that this is the core unit, I can’t feel inspired with any of these kids. Then again, that might be the fault of the writing which paints these characters as plain and basic. The dialogue doesn’t help either, as it is easily the most discordant and displeasing element of the anime. Fortunately for me, the art and setting are likely to remain unchanged, and there’s always a chance that the characters and writing improve. I’ll likely give this another episode or two to see if it picks up, but I don’t think I’ll keep it the introduction was a fluke and the anime progresses on and on like the second half of this episode.

Dimension W

What leaves me uncertain with Dimension W is that, in the first episode, the two main characters were separated throughout whereas the rest of the series will have these two characters paired together. With such little time to see them interact together, other than their rousing fight, it’s hard to judge their chemistry together and how they’ll function as a team together. Fortunately, the two seem to be fine when they were independent of each other, each having their own stories and struggles, though I do hope Mira isn’t whiny and mopey throughout following the death of her father. One of my primary concerns moving forward is that I fear the anime will be formulaic each week, with the two characters looking for illegal coils each week and slowly moving toward their individual goals… but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. The other remaining elements do point in the right direction, such as the visuals, the directing, the setting, and the sound, but they’re not enough to convince me to keep it after this one episode. Once I can see how the characters function when they’re teamed-up together and whether this anime follows a set formula each week, then I’ll make a decision on whether to keep this or not. But, for now, it’s undecided.

Schwarzesmarken

Of all the anime this season, Schwarzesmarken is the hardest to read. I watched it, and… really could not formulate an opinion or initial impression. And no, I wasn’t bored with it either, especially during the mecha battle to start, but I felt emotionally detached from everything going on. I did not feel much of anything after the first episode either and desperately need a second to figure out what I want to do with this anime. Hopefully then, will I have enough of an impression and enough information to decide whether I want to keep this or not.

Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!

Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! is a perfect example of how chemistry and comedy between characters is certain to catch my attention. What I enjoy the most about Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! is that it’s strengths are the two most important qualities of an anime for me: the characters and the setting. With the main duo possessing strong personalities and fascinating charisma, I find their interactions and exchanges to be charming and amusing, a real joy to watch. The fantasy setting is another strength too, with its obvious tribute to fantasy JRPGs, and the directing has been superb given its pacing, especially with that montage at the end. However, I do want to see more before committing to this anime, considering that they plan to add two more characters who have the potential to destroy the outstanding chemistry between Kazuma and Aqua. Beyond that, I am curious how the story develops now that everything is set and the two are stuck in this fantasy realm. I will admit that the art and animation are a bit subpar considering the quality here versus some of the other shows I’m keeping this season, but that is not reason enough to drop it. I think after one more episode, I’ll end up keeping this, unless the new characters spoil the chemistry between Kazuma and Aqua or if the story goes to shit and becomes a harem or something stupid.

Dropped:

Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm

Although Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm is being dropped, I am still considering it as a candidate for watching on 4x this season. To put it bluntly, I enjoyed bits and pieces of Ao no Kanata, but the overall product was a snore, and I don’t think it’ll get better given what the rest of the series holds. However, I figure if the anime were a short, like a 5- or 7-minute anime, I might consider keeping it around given its cute, fun characters and the flying shoes gimmick. Because of that, I’ll considering watching the episodes on 4x and hope that cures the tedium that overshadowed this first episode.

As for the first episode, it progressed similar to Asuka’s training, with many ups and many downs (but no heroic win at the end, unfortunately). The cast is above-average for these types of anime, and I do enjoy that the focus of the anime is on Asuka and not a male lead. I found the setting and style to be charming more than not, with the comedy and chibi art being highlights and the flying shoes to be mildly interesting, piquing my curiosity to how they’ll use it for themes and its story. That being said, I couldn’t help but find myself generally bored throughout. Maybe I’m just burnt out from trying two dozen anime in about a week, but I had trouble genuinely caring about the characters and their story. And, because of that, I think it might be a decent candidate to 4x this season since I can pretty much skip most of the text and whatnot and enjoy what I enjoyed with this first episode. I know, it’s not the best option, but it’s better than the alternative and being done with it right here and now.

Ajin: Demi-Human

Ajin: Demi-Human actually had a decent first episode, but until a dependable subber releases it regularly, there’s no point in trying to watch Ajin this season. Until that happens, I might as well consider this dropped from the list.