May 12th, 2010
Kimi ni Todoke.
Anime Relations: Kimi ni Todoke
Another series I finished months ago but have neglected blogging. Kimi ni Todoke. A romance. “uh oh” I can imagine people who know me thinking. I'm really not a romance fan. I detest some of the most popular and famous romantic anime around with all of my being, however this one is clearly an exception. I'll state it in the opening paragraph. It's a truly exceptional series. Incredibly surprisingly so given how bad most of this kind of school romance shoujo usually is. But here's an exception.
The art was pretty average, I'd even go so far as to call it sub-par in some areas, but that's just me generally disliking certain shoujo styling (floral overlays and such dreamy scenes for example). However in some areas it was really good, so the good balances out the bad to leave it in the middle ground. Not great, not terrible. Just mediocre and average. The design and art isn't the strong point of this series.
Neither is the sound. The OP and ED didn't appeal to me at all, but that's not my distaste for shoujo, but my usual shunning of OP/ED stuff as a whole. The score also never caught my attention at all. Which means it wasn't bad, but it certainly had nothing good to jump out at me the way good OSTs do (for people who know my taste, you know what I mean, for those who don't know my taste, I generally favour “heavier” music such as Takanashi Yasuharu's work... Kawai Kenji, Omori Toshiyuki and the likes).
However... this is a big however, the voice work was splendid. Absolutely spot on perfect. Mamiko is one of my most beloved voices ever, and she plays the lead, which is a large part of what really made this show work. But it wasn't her alone; the cast was truly awesome. One of her best friends being voiced by the ever wonderful Sawashiro Miyuki and her main rival voiced by Hirano Aya, the casting fell in to place to be just brilliant. Aaya played the perfect bitchy “villain” and Miyuki is always awesome at everything she does so Ayane was a great sidekick. Really, a great cast which played out the story incredibly well.
Obviously, the story is really where this series won me over. As I've stated many times before, I'm not a fan of romance. I usually find it stupid and am always unable to relate to the characters, which limits my ability to enjoy such emotional roller-coasters. However in this case, I could actually relate to several characters, since the story was well told, from the initial set up, through the journey to the end. It's everything you could ever want out of a romance, and doesn't do things too stupidly, certainly doesn't string you along, and has hilarious interactions between many characters (Pin was bloody brilliant) so basically, it's romance without the usual drama bullshit, making it very enjoyable.
Well, there is some drama, but it's resolved well in every case, so you're never left hanging... and in fact all of the drama is executed quite well and fits in with the story as a whole, no random left field stuff going on, which is the sort of thing that infuriates me in most romance series.
It gets a nine, however it's probably deserving of a ten, but I dare not put a romance in my top tier lest people think I'm going soft or something. Well, not really... There's realistically no reason this shouldn't be a ten, but it's just not something that I think I can do in good faith. All of my other tens are serious mature stories or brilliant comedies, and this is neither, so it can just go in to the “very high nine” list.
The art was pretty average, I'd even go so far as to call it sub-par in some areas, but that's just me generally disliking certain shoujo styling (floral overlays and such dreamy scenes for example). However in some areas it was really good, so the good balances out the bad to leave it in the middle ground. Not great, not terrible. Just mediocre and average. The design and art isn't the strong point of this series.
Neither is the sound. The OP and ED didn't appeal to me at all, but that's not my distaste for shoujo, but my usual shunning of OP/ED stuff as a whole. The score also never caught my attention at all. Which means it wasn't bad, but it certainly had nothing good to jump out at me the way good OSTs do (for people who know my taste, you know what I mean, for those who don't know my taste, I generally favour “heavier” music such as Takanashi Yasuharu's work... Kawai Kenji, Omori Toshiyuki and the likes).
However... this is a big however, the voice work was splendid. Absolutely spot on perfect. Mamiko is one of my most beloved voices ever, and she plays the lead, which is a large part of what really made this show work. But it wasn't her alone; the cast was truly awesome. One of her best friends being voiced by the ever wonderful Sawashiro Miyuki and her main rival voiced by Hirano Aya, the casting fell in to place to be just brilliant. Aaya played the perfect bitchy “villain” and Miyuki is always awesome at everything she does so Ayane was a great sidekick. Really, a great cast which played out the story incredibly well.
Obviously, the story is really where this series won me over. As I've stated many times before, I'm not a fan of romance. I usually find it stupid and am always unable to relate to the characters, which limits my ability to enjoy such emotional roller-coasters. However in this case, I could actually relate to several characters, since the story was well told, from the initial set up, through the journey to the end. It's everything you could ever want out of a romance, and doesn't do things too stupidly, certainly doesn't string you along, and has hilarious interactions between many characters (Pin was bloody brilliant) so basically, it's romance without the usual drama bullshit, making it very enjoyable.
Well, there is some drama, but it's resolved well in every case, so you're never left hanging... and in fact all of the drama is executed quite well and fits in with the story as a whole, no random left field stuff going on, which is the sort of thing that infuriates me in most romance series.
It gets a nine, however it's probably deserving of a ten, but I dare not put a romance in my top tier lest people think I'm going soft or something. Well, not really... There's realistically no reason this shouldn't be a ten, but it's just not something that I think I can do in good faith. All of my other tens are serious mature stories or brilliant comedies, and this is neither, so it can just go in to the “very high nine” list.
Posted by Asako | May 12, 2010 4:23 AM | 16 comments
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun.
Anime Relations: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun
These entries will probably be out of order, since I haven't blogged for months, and my history has already cleared itself; I haven't updated it with all the new stuff I'm watching, either. I may do that after these blogs. Anyway. This one will be for Railgun aka; Toaru Kagaku no Railgun.
It's sort of a side story to To Aru Majutsu no Index however as that blog states, in my opinion, Index itself was quite a weak series. The story was too inconsistent and it let me down in the end.
Railgun, however, was bloody brilliant. I thoroughly enjoyed every episode from start to finish. It was episodic for much of the run, but the actual story arcs were connected, which is where Index failed pretty heavily. The fluff episodes in Railgun were entertaining and served to bridge each arc really well, I think. It wasn't really disconcerting jumps from here to there and over elsewhere; it had a natural progressive flow, which sets it far above where Index fell.
The art and animation is on the same level, that is to say good high quality, HD animation; beautiful action scenes, solid character design not to mention worthwhile background work. It's one of few shows that actually take advantage of high definition technology. A lot of stuff is still failing at such a concept, but JCStaff seem to have adapted to it quite well. A number of beautiful HD series from them (Shana, Index, this, and a few things I've yet to see but are reportedly gorgeous too (eg Aoi Hana).
Sound was also great. The OP/ED were tolerable, the score was quite nice, and the voice work most befitting. Surprisingly so given none of them were what I'd call big names. The casting was spot on, I think. Satomi as Kuroko was brilliant; she really won my heart in this series. While her cameos in Index were rather mediocre and I paid no real attention to her existence, Railgun made her shine as a character, and helped show off Satomi's voice rather well.
As I already babbled about, the story in this was leagues ahead of Index, and I adored every minute of it, despite many complaining how Mikoto had been watered down too much and all the other complaints of not enough badarsery compared to what a bitch she was in Index. This with her as the main character fleshed her out really thoroughly, and made her a character worth something. Not quite to the extent of Kuroko since she was bduh in Index and awesome in this, Mikoto was awesome in both, just for different reasons. This laid the groundwork to make it much more enjoyable.
I give it a very solid nine. It's easily the best original series I've seen in a good while, particularly in the fact that its predecessor was so disappointing, and most other stuff in the past few years has ended up letting me down after a really strong start (Index is a prime example, Kurokami and TM8 are other random examples).
It's sort of a side story to To Aru Majutsu no Index however as that blog states, in my opinion, Index itself was quite a weak series. The story was too inconsistent and it let me down in the end.
Railgun, however, was bloody brilliant. I thoroughly enjoyed every episode from start to finish. It was episodic for much of the run, but the actual story arcs were connected, which is where Index failed pretty heavily. The fluff episodes in Railgun were entertaining and served to bridge each arc really well, I think. It wasn't really disconcerting jumps from here to there and over elsewhere; it had a natural progressive flow, which sets it far above where Index fell.
The art and animation is on the same level, that is to say good high quality, HD animation; beautiful action scenes, solid character design not to mention worthwhile background work. It's one of few shows that actually take advantage of high definition technology. A lot of stuff is still failing at such a concept, but JCStaff seem to have adapted to it quite well. A number of beautiful HD series from them (Shana, Index, this, and a few things I've yet to see but are reportedly gorgeous too (eg Aoi Hana).
Sound was also great. The OP/ED were tolerable, the score was quite nice, and the voice work most befitting. Surprisingly so given none of them were what I'd call big names. The casting was spot on, I think. Satomi as Kuroko was brilliant; she really won my heart in this series. While her cameos in Index were rather mediocre and I paid no real attention to her existence, Railgun made her shine as a character, and helped show off Satomi's voice rather well.
As I already babbled about, the story in this was leagues ahead of Index, and I adored every minute of it, despite many complaining how Mikoto had been watered down too much and all the other complaints of not enough badarsery compared to what a bitch she was in Index. This with her as the main character fleshed her out really thoroughly, and made her a character worth something. Not quite to the extent of Kuroko since she was bduh in Index and awesome in this, Mikoto was awesome in both, just for different reasons. This laid the groundwork to make it much more enjoyable.
I give it a very solid nine. It's easily the best original series I've seen in a good while, particularly in the fact that its predecessor was so disappointing, and most other stuff in the past few years has ended up letting me down after a really strong start (Index is a prime example, Kurokami and TM8 are other random examples).
Posted by Asako | May 12, 2010 3:57 AM | 8 comments
January 19th, 2010
Kurokami.
Anime Relations: Kurokami The Animation
All caught up on my blog backlog with this. Here we go... Kurokami.
This is a series I thought sounded kinda neat. I saw the first couple episodes and decided it was one that had to be backlogged, and binged in full. So that's what I did. . . but ended up backlogging it too long and only recently finished it because I have tons to watch and not nearly enough time and/or will any more.
It is a very pretty series; beautiful HD animation, great character design, costume design, background work, everything. It's gorgeous, one of the best looking series to date. Excellent use of CG blended in with the regular animation (yes I know it's all animated on computer now, but there's still a marked difference between CGI and the cel style shading anime uses) but the power moves and stuff were done really well. Really top notch in the looks department.
Musically it also appeals... rarely, all-round. I liked the first OP, I love the ED (Yousei Teikoku ftfw) and the OST was also brilliant. The voice cast all lived up to the roles, and everything in this field was great. Nothing to fault; all pure praise all-round... sans maybe the second OP which kinda sucked, but it's par for the course that I dislike Ops/EDs, so instead I'll focus more on the fact I liked the first OP and ED. <3
As I said, I really looked forward to binging this, because the first few eps made it seem like it would be a very meaty story, and an excellent binge. And, well. I was right. It was an excellent story and great to binge... up til about half way through, where it all just sorta went weird. D: I hammered through the first twelve episodes, then was like... wut. Slowed down and trickled through the rest of the series after that because the story sorta... I dunno, did an Index or something. Jumped around too much without making enough sense. In hindsight it does, but going through it was kinda traumatic, I think.
So if you do watch this series, make sure to grit your teeth and just plough on through the series, don't falter like I did half way through, it'll probably be more enjoyable if you just give it a solid run. :D
Still, despite the gorgeous looks and superb music, I can't rate it very highly. In fact I gave it a six, because a) the protagonist annoyed me a great deal. Useless shitty male lead, the epitome of what I hate about them. One minute he's all KURO FIGHTO then he's all GTFO MY LIFE BITCH. Make up your mind, you stupid cunt. Irked me the whole time. Whiny little bitches piss me off. And he was verily one. Kuro was awesome, though.
But also, since the story went all weird half way through, it heavily impacted my enjoyment of the series, so combined with a completely worthless lead male, a six is what it deserves, I think. As unfair as I'm told that is. It's just how I feel about it. It's not right to give it a seven.
This is a series I thought sounded kinda neat. I saw the first couple episodes and decided it was one that had to be backlogged, and binged in full. So that's what I did. . . but ended up backlogging it too long and only recently finished it because I have tons to watch and not nearly enough time and/or will any more.
It is a very pretty series; beautiful HD animation, great character design, costume design, background work, everything. It's gorgeous, one of the best looking series to date. Excellent use of CG blended in with the regular animation (yes I know it's all animated on computer now, but there's still a marked difference between CGI and the cel style shading anime uses) but the power moves and stuff were done really well. Really top notch in the looks department.
Musically it also appeals... rarely, all-round. I liked the first OP, I love the ED (Yousei Teikoku ftfw) and the OST was also brilliant. The voice cast all lived up to the roles, and everything in this field was great. Nothing to fault; all pure praise all-round... sans maybe the second OP which kinda sucked, but it's par for the course that I dislike Ops/EDs, so instead I'll focus more on the fact I liked the first OP and ED. <3
As I said, I really looked forward to binging this, because the first few eps made it seem like it would be a very meaty story, and an excellent binge. And, well. I was right. It was an excellent story and great to binge... up til about half way through, where it all just sorta went weird. D: I hammered through the first twelve episodes, then was like... wut. Slowed down and trickled through the rest of the series after that because the story sorta... I dunno, did an Index or something. Jumped around too much without making enough sense. In hindsight it does, but going through it was kinda traumatic, I think.
So if you do watch this series, make sure to grit your teeth and just plough on through the series, don't falter like I did half way through, it'll probably be more enjoyable if you just give it a solid run. :D
Still, despite the gorgeous looks and superb music, I can't rate it very highly. In fact I gave it a six, because a) the protagonist annoyed me a great deal. Useless shitty male lead, the epitome of what I hate about them. One minute he's all KURO FIGHTO then he's all GTFO MY LIFE BITCH. Make up your mind, you stupid cunt. Irked me the whole time. Whiny little bitches piss me off. And he was verily one. Kuro was awesome, though.
But also, since the story went all weird half way through, it heavily impacted my enjoyment of the series, so combined with a completely worthless lead male, a six is what it deserves, I think. As unfair as I'm told that is. It's just how I feel about it. It's not right to give it a seven.
Posted by Asako | Jan 19, 2010 4:19 AM | 9 comments
Ookami to Koushinryou II.
Anime Relations: Ookami to Koushinryou II
Aaand on to another blog while I'm in the mood.
Ookami to Koushinryou season two. Aka Spice and Wolf II. More Horo. <3 For a series I preach about, and Horo being my most favourite character to date, this is very delayed. A lot of people questioned why I didn't watch it while it aired, and... well, several reasons. Firstly, it's too epic a story to watch week to week. It'd drive me bonkers waiting for the next episode. Also, the first season was licensed, and there was all sorts of nonsense about her name among the community, not just here on MAL but everywhere, since anybody with a brain disagrees with the R->L romanisation. It caused a lot of drama all over the place, and I wanted to wait and confirm I was getting a good release by a group that subtitled her as Horo.
“But you don't even watch subs, why be so anal about it, Asa!” some have asked. And to that I answer: It's the principle of the thing. I get fansubs because I share anime with friends, who do not speak Japanese. I'm fussy about releases because I want the best available quality to share, so people aren't stuck with crap; seeing crap gives people poor opinions. Speedsubs and other crapsubs, and idiotic editors agreeing with the morons at Funimation about R->L can just go to hell. So here I waited for a good release confirmed with proper spelling, then all sorts of other stuff delayed me from watching it until recently.
So, yeah, I watched I finally, so on with the review;
The artwork I think actually improved with the new studio. A lot of people were concerned they'd ruin it, but I think it looks better, particularly in HD. They kept the same anime style the first season used, however it was a bit more polished; background work, character movement, everything. It's just better as a whole; and it is a difficult thing to improve on a series that was already pretty damn good looking. :D So yeah, very happy with all aspects of the artwork, character design and animation.
Unfortunately the OP and ED paled in comparison to the first season. I absolutely adored the first OP, and the ED was weird and catchy. This season is just... eh. Not interested in either. The scoring was solid, though. Very happy with the composition and use of all of it.
Of course, the voice work... this deserves its own paragraph because Horo is Ami's best ever role, and Jun as Lawrence is just awesome. Definitely one of his best roles, I think he does the character brilliantly. But, Horo... Ami's portrayal of her is just perfect. The best voicing to be heard in anime. The way she does it is most excellent, I can't even begin to put how I feel about it in to words. Nobody else could do Horo. Horo IS Ami, Ami is Horo. Simple as that. =p
So, yeah. The story. The first arc was really disappointing. I found it a bit of a chore to get through, which turns everything I just said upside down I suppose. Yeah, the art is better. And yes the voice work is perfection, and the music is well done and appealing... but the story for the first arc was just blah. Made me rage at a few points, even. I knew how it was going to end so I just felt it was rather unnecessary, I guess. However, the following stories were fine and I was content with the rest of the series, just the first bit was rather feh to me. =p
The series, like the first one, gets a very solid ten. Despite the weak start, all the other factors combined plus just the fun later story redeemed it from a lesser score. I still think it's one of the best anime ever, and look forward to further seasons.
Oh, and this was the 600th completed entry on my list. But I'm blogging late so read the 600 entry earlier on. ^^;
Ookami to Koushinryou season two. Aka Spice and Wolf II. More Horo. <3 For a series I preach about, and Horo being my most favourite character to date, this is very delayed. A lot of people questioned why I didn't watch it while it aired, and... well, several reasons. Firstly, it's too epic a story to watch week to week. It'd drive me bonkers waiting for the next episode. Also, the first season was licensed, and there was all sorts of nonsense about her name among the community, not just here on MAL but everywhere, since anybody with a brain disagrees with the R->L romanisation. It caused a lot of drama all over the place, and I wanted to wait and confirm I was getting a good release by a group that subtitled her as Horo.
“But you don't even watch subs, why be so anal about it, Asa!” some have asked. And to that I answer: It's the principle of the thing. I get fansubs because I share anime with friends, who do not speak Japanese. I'm fussy about releases because I want the best available quality to share, so people aren't stuck with crap; seeing crap gives people poor opinions. Speedsubs and other crapsubs, and idiotic editors agreeing with the morons at Funimation about R->L can just go to hell. So here I waited for a good release confirmed with proper spelling, then all sorts of other stuff delayed me from watching it until recently.
So, yeah, I watched I finally, so on with the review;
The artwork I think actually improved with the new studio. A lot of people were concerned they'd ruin it, but I think it looks better, particularly in HD. They kept the same anime style the first season used, however it was a bit more polished; background work, character movement, everything. It's just better as a whole; and it is a difficult thing to improve on a series that was already pretty damn good looking. :D So yeah, very happy with all aspects of the artwork, character design and animation.
Unfortunately the OP and ED paled in comparison to the first season. I absolutely adored the first OP, and the ED was weird and catchy. This season is just... eh. Not interested in either. The scoring was solid, though. Very happy with the composition and use of all of it.
Of course, the voice work... this deserves its own paragraph because Horo is Ami's best ever role, and Jun as Lawrence is just awesome. Definitely one of his best roles, I think he does the character brilliantly. But, Horo... Ami's portrayal of her is just perfect. The best voicing to be heard in anime. The way she does it is most excellent, I can't even begin to put how I feel about it in to words. Nobody else could do Horo. Horo IS Ami, Ami is Horo. Simple as that. =p
So, yeah. The story. The first arc was really disappointing. I found it a bit of a chore to get through, which turns everything I just said upside down I suppose. Yeah, the art is better. And yes the voice work is perfection, and the music is well done and appealing... but the story for the first arc was just blah. Made me rage at a few points, even. I knew how it was going to end so I just felt it was rather unnecessary, I guess. However, the following stories were fine and I was content with the rest of the series, just the first bit was rather feh to me. =p
The series, like the first one, gets a very solid ten. Despite the weak start, all the other factors combined plus just the fun later story redeemed it from a lesser score. I still think it's one of the best anime ever, and look forward to further seasons.
Oh, and this was the 600th completed entry on my list. But I'm blogging late so read the 600 entry earlier on. ^^;
Posted by Asako | Jan 19, 2010 4:05 AM | 8 comments
Seitokai no Ichizon.
Anime Relations: Seitokai no Ichizon
Yet another late blog; I watched this weeks ago, but I haven't been blogging much lately. I feel inclined to tonight since I'm feeling rather well for a change and looking at copious amounts of text doesn't make me want to gouge out my eyes. So here we are, another blog review of Seitokai no Ichizon.
An otaku series. Made entirely of parodies and references, so it's a series that can easily overwhelm people who don't get a large portion of what they're referring to. However I did understand most of it, thus I found it incredibly entertaining; it was a hilarious show from start to finish, though I think it picked up as it went on and the characters developed. I suppose that's pretty natural, though. Lots of random references to be had in every episode and some of them really pushed the plot of the ep along, so if you missed it you may end up a little lost.
The artwork was fine, I wouldn't say great, but it wasn't bad. The usual. Character design was a bit on the odd side; while the girls were pretty, their uniforms were unappealing to me. The male ones were even worse. ;.; Terrible design in fact. The hair was also a little weird. Something about it didn't sit well with me, though it's not as bad as parrotheads.
Music was good. OP/ED the usual fare I don't care about, but I rather liked the scoring and do want the OST. Also the voicework was great; even a minor char voiced by my beloved Mami. <3 The main girls were all newbies, which says a lot; because their performance was good. They will be going places, I think. Will be disappointed if they don't, because they deserve to. >.>
So... the story, as I said, is parody focused. Lots of references and rips on other anime, manga, games, and game-like scenarios. It was a harem that... wasn't really a harem. The guy wanted it to be though. And I approve of that. He was quite adamant about wanting a harem, not any one girl. So to that effort, I salute him. I think more stories need harem focus, too many people are all amg amg Guy x Girl, need canon pairings, real romance, wah wah. But fuck that. Harems mean everyone gets to be happy, no one person is shunned for another. That's the way it should be. And Ken understood that. So that makes him one of the best male characters ever. Which says a lot, since I hate the vast majority of male characterisation in anime... and media as a whole.
Due to being so entertaining and tickling me in the right way with its stupid, I'm giving it an eight. It will probably be bumped down in the future, even though it was a good watch. I'm happy to score it well at the moment. Other people should, too. Watch this series if you feel confident about your Japanese media knowledge. A few hundred series under your belt and/or a long history with JRPGs will probably suffice, though there will almost certainly be stuff that eludes just about anybody... but that's part of the fun.
An otaku series. Made entirely of parodies and references, so it's a series that can easily overwhelm people who don't get a large portion of what they're referring to. However I did understand most of it, thus I found it incredibly entertaining; it was a hilarious show from start to finish, though I think it picked up as it went on and the characters developed. I suppose that's pretty natural, though. Lots of random references to be had in every episode and some of them really pushed the plot of the ep along, so if you missed it you may end up a little lost.
The artwork was fine, I wouldn't say great, but it wasn't bad. The usual. Character design was a bit on the odd side; while the girls were pretty, their uniforms were unappealing to me. The male ones were even worse. ;.; Terrible design in fact. The hair was also a little weird. Something about it didn't sit well with me, though it's not as bad as parrotheads.
Music was good. OP/ED the usual fare I don't care about, but I rather liked the scoring and do want the OST. Also the voicework was great; even a minor char voiced by my beloved Mami. <3 The main girls were all newbies, which says a lot; because their performance was good. They will be going places, I think. Will be disappointed if they don't, because they deserve to. >.>
So... the story, as I said, is parody focused. Lots of references and rips on other anime, manga, games, and game-like scenarios. It was a harem that... wasn't really a harem. The guy wanted it to be though. And I approve of that. He was quite adamant about wanting a harem, not any one girl. So to that effort, I salute him. I think more stories need harem focus, too many people are all amg amg Guy x Girl, need canon pairings, real romance, wah wah. But fuck that. Harems mean everyone gets to be happy, no one person is shunned for another. That's the way it should be. And Ken understood that. So that makes him one of the best male characters ever. Which says a lot, since I hate the vast majority of male characterisation in anime... and media as a whole.
Due to being so entertaining and tickling me in the right way with its stupid, I'm giving it an eight. It will probably be bumped down in the future, even though it was a good watch. I'm happy to score it well at the moment. Other people should, too. Watch this series if you feel confident about your Japanese media knowledge. A few hundred series under your belt and/or a long history with JRPGs will probably suffice, though there will almost certainly be stuff that eludes just about anybody... but that's part of the fun.
Posted by Asako | Jan 19, 2010 3:50 AM | 9 comments
January 13th, 2010
Nyan Koi!
Anime Relations: Nyan Koi!
I love kitties. Everyone knows this by now, I'm sure. I have three cats. I run a club and a site dedicated to kemonomimi characters (many of whom are neko) and I'd probably have/do more if I had the time/money/capability. Thus when I heard about this series, I was all like, “Hell yes.” It sounded awesome. A romantic comedy with a curse about cats at the centre of it, what's not to like? And it turned out to please greatly. In fact it didn't really disappoint at all.
Artistically it was standard modern fare, I suppose. Pretty girls, clean art with smooth lines, fairly generic work in some areas while others had more effort put in to them, but as a whole I think it's a good looking show; not mind blowingly stunning art like Kara no Kyoukai, but still great all the same. As I said, higher end standard for the modern era of budding high definition.
The music didn't really catch my interest. OP/ED were the usual stuff I ignore, and the scoring was so-so. Voice-work was great, though. A few random roles such as Jun as one of the cats amused me a lot. I wouldn't really say it's all A-grade casting, but most of the mains were good, even if not prolific and well known, eg. Iguchi Yuka, who voiced the lead female Kaede. She's done a bit of stuff, most notably Index in Index, and Naeka in Maid Guy, both of which I have blogged as linked. She's not done a ton of work but is still good enough to respect, and made the character work well, as did all of the others. Excellent work all-round.
Obviously the story was the core of this show, though; the set up was amusing and enthralling, the pacing was perfect and the conclusion was solid. A well executed story, particularly so for a single cours series which tend to be very sub-par in the story department. Plentiful comedy to be had, a bunch of very funny girls of all sorts (semi-harem, I suppose) present, and an enjoyable ride from start to finish. It's rare series please me this much from the outset, continue to hold my interest and entertain me every episode, and finish without leaving a sour taste in my mouth.
So, yeah. I verily liked this series, and verily recommend it to everybody who can tolerate light hearted stuff; it has comedy, a bit of drama, romance, girls of all types for people who want their lolis or tsun or whatever else. Don't expect some amazing deep story, because this is a romantic comedy, not a Homer epic.
I give it a nine. It very thoroughly entertained, but the music was a bit weak even if the art was good for modern HD standards and the story did its job succinctly and properly. It's a very easy binge being a short run, you could watch it all in an evening and really make for a good night. Not many better ways I can think to spend time than with a story like this.
Artistically it was standard modern fare, I suppose. Pretty girls, clean art with smooth lines, fairly generic work in some areas while others had more effort put in to them, but as a whole I think it's a good looking show; not mind blowingly stunning art like Kara no Kyoukai, but still great all the same. As I said, higher end standard for the modern era of budding high definition.
The music didn't really catch my interest. OP/ED were the usual stuff I ignore, and the scoring was so-so. Voice-work was great, though. A few random roles such as Jun as one of the cats amused me a lot. I wouldn't really say it's all A-grade casting, but most of the mains were good, even if not prolific and well known, eg. Iguchi Yuka, who voiced the lead female Kaede. She's done a bit of stuff, most notably Index in Index, and Naeka in Maid Guy, both of which I have blogged as linked. She's not done a ton of work but is still good enough to respect, and made the character work well, as did all of the others. Excellent work all-round.
Obviously the story was the core of this show, though; the set up was amusing and enthralling, the pacing was perfect and the conclusion was solid. A well executed story, particularly so for a single cours series which tend to be very sub-par in the story department. Plentiful comedy to be had, a bunch of very funny girls of all sorts (semi-harem, I suppose) present, and an enjoyable ride from start to finish. It's rare series please me this much from the outset, continue to hold my interest and entertain me every episode, and finish without leaving a sour taste in my mouth.
So, yeah. I verily liked this series, and verily recommend it to everybody who can tolerate light hearted stuff; it has comedy, a bit of drama, romance, girls of all types for people who want their lolis or tsun or whatever else. Don't expect some amazing deep story, because this is a romantic comedy, not a Homer epic.
I give it a nine. It very thoroughly entertained, but the music was a bit weak even if the art was good for modern HD standards and the story did its job succinctly and properly. It's a very easy binge being a short run, you could watch it all in an evening and really make for a good night. Not many better ways I can think to spend time than with a story like this.
Posted by Asako | Jan 13, 2010 12:21 AM | 8 comments
November 21st, 2009
Kanamemo.
Anime Relations: Kanamemo
Kanamemo. A cute series. I have no idea why I picked it up, really. I saw it, looked at synopsis and thought, sure, that'll be worth checking out. Grabbed the series, watched a couple episodes and kinda... left it for a while. It was actually rather difficult for me to get through as a whole. For some reason, it just fell short in the entertainment as a whole. And I'm not entirely sure why, but I'll try to explain it as I go in my usual blog fashion.
The artwork was fine, the characters were cute, the background work, animation fluidity etc was all average, nothing remarkable, but certainly not bad. There was censorship, but considering two main characters were children that's only a good thing, I suppose. Nobody sane wants to see naked flat chests and obviously uncensored nether regions are illegal in Japan anyway. Really, cute characters, average art, not bad at all. See, nothing wrong there.
Music, well. OP and ED were blah, but they usually are. Perfectly normal. Scoring was fairly bland, nothing really caught my interest. But that's not unusual either. Voicework was good. A bunch of well known voices, brilliantly skilled people, and the direction wasn't bad or anything, either. Even some big names involved, and they performed well so it's not like there was a glaring fault there. Though Rie's character was stereotypically tsunloli trash. I guess that's a fault, but not with the voicework itself, just her accepting these kind of shitty roles. And the fact people write them at all, for that matter. Stupid tsun bullshit. But that didn't make me dislike the show.
So, it must be the story, if the art and sound didn't suck terribly, the story must have, right Asa? Well... no. It was a fairly average slice of lifey comedy kind of deal. It was cute. I liked the situations that occurred and found most of it, except for the singing episode, rather adorable. There was no real strong ongoing story, as there never is in slice of life type shows. So, what was wrong, exactly?
I don't know. I really can't place it. For some reason, it just bored me. I had a great deal of difficulty watching an episode through in full. I'd go browse forums etc while just listening waiting for something interesting to happen; practically none of the gags were visually based anyway, so nothing lost there. It completely failed to captivate me, and I just have no idea why. Cute girls, doing kinda cute stuff (except for the pedo, she was just being a lecherous) in a decently unique setting. I don't know. Not a clue why I couldn't enjoy it. By all means I should have, but for some reason this show failed to entertain.
So, I give it a five. There's nothing -wrong- with it. I really can't fault it on technical aspects, the story wasn't flawed or anything, it just seemed to be something that simply rubbed me the wrong way, or... something. I haven't the faintest idea why I couldn't enjoy it. It will probably perplex me until the end of time. Really, watch it. Maybe if people can tell me what they thought of it, I could discover why I had difficulty enjoying it.
The artwork was fine, the characters were cute, the background work, animation fluidity etc was all average, nothing remarkable, but certainly not bad. There was censorship, but considering two main characters were children that's only a good thing, I suppose. Nobody sane wants to see naked flat chests and obviously uncensored nether regions are illegal in Japan anyway. Really, cute characters, average art, not bad at all. See, nothing wrong there.
Music, well. OP and ED were blah, but they usually are. Perfectly normal. Scoring was fairly bland, nothing really caught my interest. But that's not unusual either. Voicework was good. A bunch of well known voices, brilliantly skilled people, and the direction wasn't bad or anything, either. Even some big names involved, and they performed well so it's not like there was a glaring fault there. Though Rie's character was stereotypically tsunloli trash. I guess that's a fault, but not with the voicework itself, just her accepting these kind of shitty roles. And the fact people write them at all, for that matter. Stupid tsun bullshit. But that didn't make me dislike the show.
So, it must be the story, if the art and sound didn't suck terribly, the story must have, right Asa? Well... no. It was a fairly average slice of lifey comedy kind of deal. It was cute. I liked the situations that occurred and found most of it, except for the singing episode, rather adorable. There was no real strong ongoing story, as there never is in slice of life type shows. So, what was wrong, exactly?
I don't know. I really can't place it. For some reason, it just bored me. I had a great deal of difficulty watching an episode through in full. I'd go browse forums etc while just listening waiting for something interesting to happen; practically none of the gags were visually based anyway, so nothing lost there. It completely failed to captivate me, and I just have no idea why. Cute girls, doing kinda cute stuff (except for the pedo, she was just being a lecherous) in a decently unique setting. I don't know. Not a clue why I couldn't enjoy it. By all means I should have, but for some reason this show failed to entertain.
So, I give it a five. There's nothing -wrong- with it. I really can't fault it on technical aspects, the story wasn't flawed or anything, it just seemed to be something that simply rubbed me the wrong way, or... something. I haven't the faintest idea why I couldn't enjoy it. It will probably perplex me until the end of time. Really, watch it. Maybe if people can tell me what they thought of it, I could discover why I had difficulty enjoying it.
Posted by Asako | Nov 21, 2009 5:13 AM | 3 comments
Rosario + Vampire Capu2.
Anime Relations: Rosario to Vampire Capu2
A widely hated series. Or should I say, adaptation. While not detested with quite the same zeal that Type Moon fans shun Tsukihime, there is certainly a great deal of fuss over the anime adaptation of Rosario to Vampire. I'm not really sure why, because it's just ecchi fun anyway. Maybe the manga has some sort of epic story the anime completely and utterly failed to capture, but if so, well... so what? The anime was still entertaining in its own way.
In fact, it's better than average for this sort of thing. Take To Love Ru and Princess Lover as recent examples of ecchi trash I've watched this year. R+V is certainly better. I didn't mind the first season, and I certainly found the second to be stronger than the first, which is somewhat unusual, but, eh. It was. Probably because there was less time spent setting up characters, so they could just have fun with the idiotic interactions that is the core of the show.
Art... average. Nothing outstanding, nothing overly bland. Excellent character design, though. I'd say Moka looks even better this season than last. Maybe just because you see more of the hot Inner-Moka who is really awesome. But regardless of what it is, the characters are hot/cute, but the rest of the art is generic and unremarkable.
I dare say I want the OST. Haven't gone out of my way to find it, but it had nice music. And I think even the OP was tolerable (Moka singing, woo?) and the voicecast as a whole is high level. Good quality voicework all-round, excellent cast for all the girls, which, really, are all that matter. They're all that ever matter unless you have a male character voiced by Norio. Which this doesn't. Though to be fair, there was Takehito Koyasu, who is an exceptional male seiyuu. One of the best, though obviously Norio will always be the greatest. Anyway, R+V has good voicework all-round, and the music is quite excellent. So ++ for that.
The story... well, it's generic harem trash, so there's really not a whole lot to say here. I enjoy it for its absurd premise and silly events. And Moka's beautiful legs, can't forget to mention them with her high kicks. There seemed to be a bit of real “story” in this season, but for this kind of show it still felt weak and forced – perhaps that is why people say the manga is better? Maybe it really does focus more on the story and less on the pantsu. But the anime is still good; as long as you go in to it expecting a mindless ecchi comedy with occasional beatdowns.
So, yeah. More of the same, but this season is a bit stronger than the first, I felt. Don't ask me why, because I cant quantify something like that. I just enjoyed this more, and certainly seemed to appreciate the character design more in HD. It also had a much better score than the first season, I think. Definitely a few tracks that caught my ear.
Seven. One more than I gave the previous season (or rather bumped it down to after reconsideration). It's decent. Nothing amazing, but it was good for what it is.
In fact, it's better than average for this sort of thing. Take To Love Ru and Princess Lover as recent examples of ecchi trash I've watched this year. R+V is certainly better. I didn't mind the first season, and I certainly found the second to be stronger than the first, which is somewhat unusual, but, eh. It was. Probably because there was less time spent setting up characters, so they could just have fun with the idiotic interactions that is the core of the show.
Art... average. Nothing outstanding, nothing overly bland. Excellent character design, though. I'd say Moka looks even better this season than last. Maybe just because you see more of the hot Inner-Moka who is really awesome. But regardless of what it is, the characters are hot/cute, but the rest of the art is generic and unremarkable.
I dare say I want the OST. Haven't gone out of my way to find it, but it had nice music. And I think even the OP was tolerable (Moka singing, woo?) and the voicecast as a whole is high level. Good quality voicework all-round, excellent cast for all the girls, which, really, are all that matter. They're all that ever matter unless you have a male character voiced by Norio. Which this doesn't. Though to be fair, there was Takehito Koyasu, who is an exceptional male seiyuu. One of the best, though obviously Norio will always be the greatest. Anyway, R+V has good voicework all-round, and the music is quite excellent. So ++ for that.
The story... well, it's generic harem trash, so there's really not a whole lot to say here. I enjoy it for its absurd premise and silly events. And Moka's beautiful legs, can't forget to mention them with her high kicks. There seemed to be a bit of real “story” in this season, but for this kind of show it still felt weak and forced – perhaps that is why people say the manga is better? Maybe it really does focus more on the story and less on the pantsu. But the anime is still good; as long as you go in to it expecting a mindless ecchi comedy with occasional beatdowns.
So, yeah. More of the same, but this season is a bit stronger than the first, I felt. Don't ask me why, because I cant quantify something like that. I just enjoyed this more, and certainly seemed to appreciate the character design more in HD. It also had a much better score than the first season, I think. Definitely a few tracks that caught my ear.
Seven. One more than I gave the previous season (or rather bumped it down to after reconsideration). It's decent. Nothing amazing, but it was good for what it is.
Posted by Asako | Nov 21, 2009 5:00 AM | 5 comments
November 7th, 2009
To Love Ru.
Anime Relations: To LOVE-Ru, To LOVE-Ru OVA
Tits. Ecchi harem. Pretty much the point of this show. And on that front it delivered pretty much what I expected, so I can't say I was disappointed or pleasantly surprised. Though I did like it a bit more than I thought I may – from all the hate it receives, I thought it might be worse than it turned out to be. I should really learn to just ignore other people because their opinions are pretty much always wrong anyway. I have too wide-ranging tastes to be put off by the lack of story in a show like this.
And, really. This was nowhere near as bad as these kind of shows can get (see Kanokon, Princess Lover etc). Also it did have a number of cute characters, which I can never completely shun. The lead was a totally useless pleb, as per usual in these sorts of shows, but he was easy enough to ignore in favour for the girls. I also appreciated the fact Lala (the heroine) wasn't the “kyaa hentai” type. But rather was quite open and not terribly bothered by being seen naked and such, which is always nice since it's pretty rare in a lead.
So, hm. The art was average, I guess. Nothing really to say about it, just standard modern fare. Pretty generic all-round. As I said, cute girls, so the character design wasn't bad, but that's all it really has going for it on the art front. Pretty mediocre otherwise, which is normal for these kinds of shows; harem rarely bother with any real artistic detail and certainly lack much in the way of fluid animation, even in “action” scenes.
Music was actually not too bad. Score was decent. Don't care for the OP or ED, but the music was nice in parts. Not something I would go out of my way to get, but good enough for me to pick up if I happen across it. Also nothing really to say about the voicework. Just more average stuff to suit the average animation. There were some decent names involved, though with the limited story and the general nature of this sort of thing, you can't expect them to do anything exceptional.
The story was... well. Pretty generic harem. Sudden girlfriend appearance, bunch of other girls interested in the completely plain protagonist, much hilarity ensues. It was a pretty funny series, which is what I give it credit for. It entertained me despite being quite generic, so I managed to binge through it at a respectable pace for how little I've been watching lately. It's sad I manage to get through pulp fluff like this when I have things like Monster and Legend of Galactic Heroes in my backlog just rotting away. But, eh. This sort of thing is more easily digestible. I enjoy fluff, so no harm getting this out of the way first.
It, and the OVAs (which were pretty much just fanservice nonsense) both get a six. It was okay. A little funnier than average, but not really “good”. Just... decent. Silly ecchi harem entertainment that is easily watched in bite size pieces or marathonned due to the light nature.
And, really. This was nowhere near as bad as these kind of shows can get (see Kanokon, Princess Lover etc). Also it did have a number of cute characters, which I can never completely shun. The lead was a totally useless pleb, as per usual in these sorts of shows, but he was easy enough to ignore in favour for the girls. I also appreciated the fact Lala (the heroine) wasn't the “kyaa hentai” type. But rather was quite open and not terribly bothered by being seen naked and such, which is always nice since it's pretty rare in a lead.
So, hm. The art was average, I guess. Nothing really to say about it, just standard modern fare. Pretty generic all-round. As I said, cute girls, so the character design wasn't bad, but that's all it really has going for it on the art front. Pretty mediocre otherwise, which is normal for these kinds of shows; harem rarely bother with any real artistic detail and certainly lack much in the way of fluid animation, even in “action” scenes.
Music was actually not too bad. Score was decent. Don't care for the OP or ED, but the music was nice in parts. Not something I would go out of my way to get, but good enough for me to pick up if I happen across it. Also nothing really to say about the voicework. Just more average stuff to suit the average animation. There were some decent names involved, though with the limited story and the general nature of this sort of thing, you can't expect them to do anything exceptional.
The story was... well. Pretty generic harem. Sudden girlfriend appearance, bunch of other girls interested in the completely plain protagonist, much hilarity ensues. It was a pretty funny series, which is what I give it credit for. It entertained me despite being quite generic, so I managed to binge through it at a respectable pace for how little I've been watching lately. It's sad I manage to get through pulp fluff like this when I have things like Monster and Legend of Galactic Heroes in my backlog just rotting away. But, eh. This sort of thing is more easily digestible. I enjoy fluff, so no harm getting this out of the way first.
It, and the OVAs (which were pretty much just fanservice nonsense) both get a six. It was okay. A little funnier than average, but not really “good”. Just... decent. Silly ecchi harem entertainment that is easily watched in bite size pieces or marathonned due to the light nature.
Posted by Asako | Nov 7, 2009 6:19 AM | 1 comments
November 3rd, 2009
Princess Lover.
Anime Relations: Princess Lover!
Generic harem series number 75345. I picked this up on a whim, and... really have no idea why I continued it. Watched the first couple episodes thinking, “Well, this isn't bad, maybe the story will go somewhere...” however it didn't. In fact it went pretty much nowhere, and left far too many plot holes unfilled. Or maybe they were consumed by the black holes that live up skirts in this setting.
A little more on that; as I had a good rant about when I was finishing this series, it featured incredibly over the top censorship, any scene that offered pantyshots were instead filled with huge black voids, or incredible sun glare, and bath scenes and any other cases of nudity had amazing magical steam clouds that followed breasts around. It was really, utterly stupid. As I said in the rant, I don't care about the presence or lack of fanservice, pantyshots or breasts don't bother me, however bothering to put in the low angles for pantyshots, only to shadow over half the frame is... stupid, and that's being polite since this isn't a rant.
Otherwise, the art was okay. Character design was nice – not exceptional, but not bad in any way. A bunch of fairly generic bishoujo girls, I guess. Some of the background work was sloppy, and the motion could have been smoother in some cases. Also a few instances of just... plain continuity errors that seemed to escape the quality control... they were obviously too busy drawing in black holes and magic clouds to actually check for errors like that.
Music... not really noteworthy at all. OP/ED blah, scoring unremarkable, and even the voices were... dry? I don't know how to put it. There was some talent on the cast, but maybe it was just the dialogue didn't let them shine, or perhaps the voice direction was just holding them back. A particular mention to Norio, who voiced a supporting character, and was the only real highlight of the entire show. But even then, his character was so bland Norio didn't get a chance to be his usual awesome self.
Story... boy trying to adjust to new lifestyle, and saving damsels in distress. Nothing to see here, move along. It was all rather stereotypical, cliché and so overdone and ridiculous that it's just not worth the time at all, there is no substance to be had here, and you'd do better spending your time on just about anything else, because it's almost guaranteed to be better than this.
I give it a four. It was bad. Only my bemusement at the degree of censorship, and Norio save it from getting the two or three it deserves, but it was “bad” so I think a four is fair enough. Not even Norio can bump it up to average, because he was too minor a character. The only reasons to watch this are for Norio fans to check it off his list of works, or for people who want to see absurd levels of censorship taken way over the top for no apparent reason.
A little more on that; as I had a good rant about when I was finishing this series, it featured incredibly over the top censorship, any scene that offered pantyshots were instead filled with huge black voids, or incredible sun glare, and bath scenes and any other cases of nudity had amazing magical steam clouds that followed breasts around. It was really, utterly stupid. As I said in the rant, I don't care about the presence or lack of fanservice, pantyshots or breasts don't bother me, however bothering to put in the low angles for pantyshots, only to shadow over half the frame is... stupid, and that's being polite since this isn't a rant.
Otherwise, the art was okay. Character design was nice – not exceptional, but not bad in any way. A bunch of fairly generic bishoujo girls, I guess. Some of the background work was sloppy, and the motion could have been smoother in some cases. Also a few instances of just... plain continuity errors that seemed to escape the quality control... they were obviously too busy drawing in black holes and magic clouds to actually check for errors like that.
Music... not really noteworthy at all. OP/ED blah, scoring unremarkable, and even the voices were... dry? I don't know how to put it. There was some talent on the cast, but maybe it was just the dialogue didn't let them shine, or perhaps the voice direction was just holding them back. A particular mention to Norio, who voiced a supporting character, and was the only real highlight of the entire show. But even then, his character was so bland Norio didn't get a chance to be his usual awesome self.
Story... boy trying to adjust to new lifestyle, and saving damsels in distress. Nothing to see here, move along. It was all rather stereotypical, cliché and so overdone and ridiculous that it's just not worth the time at all, there is no substance to be had here, and you'd do better spending your time on just about anything else, because it's almost guaranteed to be better than this.
I give it a four. It was bad. Only my bemusement at the degree of censorship, and Norio save it from getting the two or three it deserves, but it was “bad” so I think a four is fair enough. Not even Norio can bump it up to average, because he was too minor a character. The only reasons to watch this are for Norio fans to check it off his list of works, or for people who want to see absurd levels of censorship taken way over the top for no apparent reason.
Posted by Asako | Nov 3, 2009 1:57 AM | 0 comments