07-18-12, 5:29 AM
2012 Summer Previews (Part II)
Anime Relations: Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita, Sword Art Online, Kokoro Connect, Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate, Campione!: Matsurowanu Kamigami to Kamigoroshi no Maou, Arcana Famiglia, Tari Tari, Chouyaku Hyakuninisshu: Uta Koi., Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imouto ga Iru!, Natsuyuki Rendezvous
--- Theron "Key" Martin ---
First up is Theron "Key" Martin, one of the main reviewers on the site. He does ANN's year in review articles with Carl Kimlinger. Reading those articles, it always seemed to me that Theron's taste is a bit suspect, now I can find out for sure.
Here's his preview articles:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.co.uk/preview-guide/2012/the-summer-anime/theron
Kokoro Connect - 3.5 [+1.5 compared to my rating]
Wow! That score is generous! Even psgels (author of the infamous but bland Star Crossed Anime Blog who tend to rates things very generously) didn't think this was good. Theron thought the characters were interacting in "mildly interesting ways". I think "mildly boring" would have been a more accurate (but understated) description. But he's right in that it's not that similar to K-On beyond the art style.
Sword Art Online - 4 [+0.5]
At least this rating looks to be in the right area. Not much to complain about in the review either, as he covered pretty much everything.
Koi to Senkyo to Choclate - 2.5 [+1.0]
Even a score of 2.5 is a lot more than this anime deserves. It's good that he thinks that the serious parts and the goofy parts are "strongly at odds", cos I thought that too, to the point where I'd completely forgotten about the serious parts by the end of the episode. He's severely understating how terrible the character interactions are though.
Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imōto ga Iru! - 2 [+1.0]
What the hell does it take for this guy to give something less than a 2?? "The problem with this first episode isn't the potential 'ick' factor of the concept". It is. Though it's not the only problem. "Beyond the mystery about who his little sister really is, the content is very mundane." Yeah there's that too. The review then goes onto enumerate a long list of hackneyed plot/character elements that this show has. There's barely a positive remark in sight ... AND IT'S STILL A 2?!
Campione! - 3.5 [+1.5]
This show wasn't good. And its only redeeming feature was when the narrator from Kaiji forced his way into the recording studio and stamped his trademark dramatic narration onto the end of the show (I'm not sure he was supposed to be there, given that that was the only bit of narrative). Theron rated this on the wrong end of the scale AND failed to mention the Kaiji narrator. That's a double fail.
Natsuyuki Rendezvous - 4 [+0.5]
At least he recognises this as one of the best opening episodes this season has to offer. I also liked his description of Rokka in his review.
Chouyaku Hyakuninisshu: Uta Koi - 3.5 [0]
He gets this one mostly right, with both the ratings and the review. This bit highlighting the weakness and strength of the first story is especially good (despite the typo):
"The first and longer one moves the romance along quite a bit too fast - they meet, he makes a telling first impression, and BAM!, they're in bed together in the next scene - and might have worked better if it had taken up the full first episode. Still, its ending, where both parties are looking back at the love affair many years later, is a satisfying wrap-up which integrates is poem in very well."
I'm not keen about his assessment on the second story though - "The second one, contrarily, is a neat affirmation of marital devotion which is exactly the length it needs to be to get its point across." Personally I felt the story lacked something and didn't feel complete. Maybe it's because the point it was trying to make was so mundane that the story felt a bit pointless.
Tari Tari - 4 [+1.0]
WTF?! 4!? This would put it on the same level as Natsuyki Rendezvous, and anyone can see that it was no where near as good. "This is a good-looking and richly-written first episode for a series which shows a lot of promise." I won't argue about the "good-looking" part, but "rich-written" is a compliment that the episode richly undeserves. The episode does show promise, but not a lot of it just yet.
Humanity has Declined - 3 [+1.0]
The review did a good job describing the bizarre feel of the show. BUT - "its first episode certainly will not bore viewers no matter what your normal tastes are." It certainly bored me - I'm not quite sure how, given how weird the show is. Only the suicide bread bit at the end was good, and that isn't quite enough to save this snorefest.
Arcana Famiglia - 2.5 [0]
He gets this one right.
***
Links to other parts of the preview:
Part I (intro)
Part III (Carlo Santos)
Part IV (Carl Kimlinger)
Part V (Gia Manry)
Part VI (Bamboo Dong & Zac Bertschy)
Part VII (Summary)
First up is Theron "Key" Martin, one of the main reviewers on the site. He does ANN's year in review articles with Carl Kimlinger. Reading those articles, it always seemed to me that Theron's taste is a bit suspect, now I can find out for sure.
Here's his preview articles:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.co.uk/preview-guide/2012/the-summer-anime/theron
Kokoro Connect - 3.5 [+1.5 compared to my rating]
Wow! That score is generous! Even psgels (author of the infamous but bland Star Crossed Anime Blog who tend to rates things very generously) didn't think this was good. Theron thought the characters were interacting in "mildly interesting ways". I think "mildly boring" would have been a more accurate (but understated) description. But he's right in that it's not that similar to K-On beyond the art style.
Sword Art Online - 4 [+0.5]
At least this rating looks to be in the right area. Not much to complain about in the review either, as he covered pretty much everything.
Koi to Senkyo to Choclate - 2.5 [+1.0]
Even a score of 2.5 is a lot more than this anime deserves. It's good that he thinks that the serious parts and the goofy parts are "strongly at odds", cos I thought that too, to the point where I'd completely forgotten about the serious parts by the end of the episode. He's severely understating how terrible the character interactions are though.
Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imōto ga Iru! - 2 [+1.0]
What the hell does it take for this guy to give something less than a 2?? "The problem with this first episode isn't the potential 'ick' factor of the concept". It is. Though it's not the only problem. "Beyond the mystery about who his little sister really is, the content is very mundane." Yeah there's that too. The review then goes onto enumerate a long list of hackneyed plot/character elements that this show has. There's barely a positive remark in sight ... AND IT'S STILL A 2?!
Campione! - 3.5 [+1.5]
This show wasn't good. And its only redeeming feature was when the narrator from Kaiji forced his way into the recording studio and stamped his trademark dramatic narration onto the end of the show (I'm not sure he was supposed to be there, given that that was the only bit of narrative). Theron rated this on the wrong end of the scale AND failed to mention the Kaiji narrator. That's a double fail.
Natsuyuki Rendezvous - 4 [+0.5]
At least he recognises this as one of the best opening episodes this season has to offer. I also liked his description of Rokka in his review.
Chouyaku Hyakuninisshu: Uta Koi - 3.5 [0]
He gets this one mostly right, with both the ratings and the review. This bit highlighting the weakness and strength of the first story is especially good (despite the typo):
"The first and longer one moves the romance along quite a bit too fast - they meet, he makes a telling first impression, and BAM!, they're in bed together in the next scene - and might have worked better if it had taken up the full first episode. Still, its ending, where both parties are looking back at the love affair many years later, is a satisfying wrap-up which integrates is poem in very well."
I'm not keen about his assessment on the second story though - "The second one, contrarily, is a neat affirmation of marital devotion which is exactly the length it needs to be to get its point across." Personally I felt the story lacked something and didn't feel complete. Maybe it's because the point it was trying to make was so mundane that the story felt a bit pointless.
Tari Tari - 4 [+1.0]
WTF?! 4!? This would put it on the same level as Natsuyki Rendezvous, and anyone can see that it was no where near as good. "This is a good-looking and richly-written first episode for a series which shows a lot of promise." I won't argue about the "good-looking" part, but "rich-written" is a compliment that the episode richly undeserves. The episode does show promise, but not a lot of it just yet.
Humanity has Declined - 3 [+1.0]
The review did a good job describing the bizarre feel of the show. BUT - "its first episode certainly will not bore viewers no matter what your normal tastes are." It certainly bored me - I'm not quite sure how, given how weird the show is. Only the suicide bread bit at the end was good, and that isn't quite enough to save this snorefest.
Arcana Famiglia - 2.5 [0]
He gets this one right.
***
Links to other parts of the preview:
Part I (intro)
Part III (Carlo Santos)
Part IV (Carl Kimlinger)
Part V (Gia Manry)
Part VI (Bamboo Dong & Zac Bertschy)
Part VII (Summary)
Posted by kajia | 07-18-12, 5:29 AM | Add a comment