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Dec 22, 2021
Muv-Luv Alternative is a disaster, and not even an entertaining one.
It is a failure across the board; The animation is bad, the art is bland, the characters come across as flat and generic, and the pacing is atrocious. However, the biggest failure of this series is managing to make a story taking place in a world on the brink of annihilation so utterly tiresome.
Muv-Luv Alternative is an adaptation of a spin-off of a standard school romance visual novel, where the protagonist from the main game finds himself in an alternate universe where BETA (giant monster aliens) are trying to exterminate the human race. The original
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source was far too long to be adapted into one series, so only part of it could be adapted. The choice of part is the main reason why this show is so incredibly boring.
This series starts part way through the story. Takeru, the protagonist, has already experienced this timeline once, but failed to prevent calamity. This time he will strive to change things. The issue this brings is that this means that Takeru knows when and where the BETA will attack, which means that within this series, the BETA, the central antagonists and threat of calamity, are entirely trivialised and barely appear in the series at all.
Instead, what this series should be about is politics and mystery. The issue with this is that starting half way through the story robs us of context. The show takes often far too long expositing simple things, but fails to cover the information anime only viewers will have missed. It seems that the pacing took a hit so they could stretch this section of the story to 12 episodes.
The other reason the politics and mystery in this series fails is that the characters, the reasons we should care about what’s happening, are weak. The reason why we care about stopping Alternative V should be that we care about the characters being saved, but the way they are characterised is generic and bland. It doesn’t help that the voice acting is often mediocre.
What should have been the climatic arc of this cour felt unnecessary. The questions I kept asking myself when watching it was “why does this matter?” and “why should I care?”. The situation itself was actually fairly well written, and the politics were grounded (if not seeming to promote nationalism). But you cannot just try and set up a situation like this without making the stakes seem meaningful. In the original medium this probably had a lot more weight, but in the anime it just feels like filler.
The production values being as low as they are also hurt considerably, and likely explain their decisions in choosing what to adapt. The animation is bad, with minimal movement and characters often looking off model. The art direction is also bland. This seemed like a tick box exercise of getting scenes from the visual novel and putting it into anime form, there was no concern in making scenes more interesting and suitable for the anime medium.
Overall, this series has repeated every mistake that was previously made in adapting the spin-off Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse, and is even worse than it overall. It fails to deliver a positive experience for both fans of the original source material and first-time viewers of the Muv-Luv franchise.
My recommendation to anyone considering this is to watch the first two episodes of Muv-Luv: Total Eclipse and stop there. Those two episodes are the height of what this series should be achieving, and is never replicated again, either in its series or in this one.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Oct 16, 2013
If you've watched the first season of Symphogear then you have a good idea of what to expect from this series; poorly developed characters, a completely bonkers plot, bad drama, bizarre plot twists and general all round silliness. However whilst that may be the case, this series is superior to its predecessor in several key areas, making it a significantly more enjoyable watch. In fact, whilst this series still suffers from the multitude of flaws and failures of the first season, there is the possibility that you may even enjoy it.
The visuals are far more consistent than they were before, there will be no scenes
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with absolutely atrocious animation or badly drawn faces, and all the fights are competently done, although the budget is still noticeable limited. This is very noticeable with the art, the backgrounds lack detail, are usually completely bare and are nothing in the way of eye candy. The character designs for the girls are diverse and have a lot of charm, whereas those for everyone else have much less thought put into them. If they had more money to pump into the show all of them would have looked much better. At least they have their priorities right with focusing on the female characters.
The soundtrack also is an improvement upon the last season, there were a couple of insert songs that may catch your liking, both of which were sung by Takagaki Ayahi, the seiyuu for Chris, who is by far the best singer in the cast. The lyrics for the songs (if you your subs provide them) are incredibly cheesy and are often funny because of that, they rather fit into the spirit of the show. The other seiyuu aren't bad singers, and some of their songs are also pretty nice, however it is Chris that runs away with it.
The characters are much more likable this season, and the developments of the characters (notably the three new ones introduced), whilst clumsy and lacking subtlety are markedly better than the random character developments of the last season. The characters are really weak, however despite this they are still quite endearing, to the extent where some of their annoying habits become lovable quirks. In all they are much like the show, really poorly written and lacking any depth, but that's just a strange part of their appeal. Sadly, for all my back-handed praise, they are not characters that you will forever remember, if not for the character designs they are entirely forgettable. They lack the depth to leave a lasting impression. Additionally some of the characters still manage to be annoying on occasion, however those events are few and far between.
The plot is disappointing the sense that it does not reach the ludicrous moon-shattering events of the first season, it does somewhat make up for it by being much more cheesy. In any case, whilst slightly more grounded, the writing is still horrendous. For one it managed to make the fairly simple plot convoluted to the point where it was unclear what exactly was going on. Additionally serious plot twists which are sporadically introduced get either dismissed or resolved easily and are instantly forgotten about despite the fact they should be major events, and even some major points which build up throughout the series are effortlessly resolved out of nowhere. The antagonist is also an atrociously written character, his motives are beyond cliché, his actions are inane, and his personality is one dimensional and he has only two emotions, hysterical or cocky. Despite his amazing seiyuu he is an incredibly irritating character towards the end, he was far inferior even to Fine in the first season.
So whilst Symphogear has improved in most areas, it is still a very poor show on paper, and indeed if you cannot ignore bad writing, and cannot let go stupid things, then I do not recommend this show, because you will be in for the same experience as you had watching the first season. However if you can embrace Symphogear for the incredibly earnest and cheesy show it is then you may have an enjoyable experience watching it. You will find that there are plenty of things to laugh and smile about; one scene in the latter half had me in fits of laughter, and another near the begging had me smiling at how lovable Chris was despite everything. Having watched the first season you should know well by now whether you will be able to enjoy the show or not even if this season is considerably more enjoyable.
Overall, I will say pretty much the same of this season as I did the last; if you can embrace this for the earnestly silly show that it is then you should be able to have some good fun watching it with its somewhat unique appeal. However if you cannot abide watching an anime that does almost every single technical and literacy aspect wrong, then I simply cannot recommend it, because you're going to have a rough time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jul 2, 2013
Muromi-san on the Shore is a comedy in which the protagonist Takurou's life is gatecrashed by the titular Muromi when he accidentally catches her whilst trying to fish. Over the course of the series Takurou meets more mythical creatures, all of which are drastically different to what he was expecting.
The show is made up of 13 minute episodes, and this short length is definitely a good thing; it means that the pacing is fast and concise, which is perfect for the humour used. Additionally it means that the show cannot string out jokes so that they become dull and monotonous. With reduced time slot,
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there is only an opening, which is catchy, energetic, and crazy.
This is just as well, because it suits the show rather well. The humour is off the wall, Muromi herself is crazy, thoughtless and flirtatious. Most of the jokes revolve around "Takkun" dealing with Muromi and her friends. The humour is a mix of weird stories into Muromi's past, adult jokes, mythical creatures being rather different to expectations, and the bizarre actions of Muromi and those around her.
The characters are lack the depth of the seas they reside in, being made up of a couple of distinct character traits, however this is enough to fulfil their comedic roles, and they are likable. Yeti is absolutely adorable, so be prepared to clutch your heart when she appears on screen.
The character designs are very 90's; huge eyes on a big round face, thus it's rather unique amongst anime being released in this decade. It serves the humour well as it allows Muromi to pull a wide variety of faces, and it is pleasant enough to look at, so although it's unusual, it's appealing. The quality of animation is low, however the basics are done right and so it isn't appalling to look at. Regardless the series has no need of a high budget, and so it doesn't undermine the viewing experience.
Muromi-san on the Shore is a comedy and nothing more, so everything rides on how funny the jokes are. Whilst there are a fair few misses, the show is consistently amusing throughout its run, which will be more than enough to keep a smile on your face. That said, whilst amusing, only occasionally was it hilarious enough to evoke laughter. The gags are solid, but for a show that needs to rely so heavily upon its comedy they weren't good enough to carry the show to higher heights.
Also, there will be many people who will not agree with the humour at all, in which case the show will be torturous to watch. After watching the first episode I would strongly recommend dropping it if you did not like what you saw, because it'll only be more of the same style of humour. For most people though this will not be a problem, since the zany humour is incredibly accessible.
Overall, Muromi on the Shore is a show that will keep you well entertained, having some incredibly funny moments that will catch you off guard. However since it isn't good enough to keep you laughing consistently, the show, whilst being entertaining, is nothing more than that. It may be a forgettable anime, but for what it's worth it provided me with a great couple of hours of amusement.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Mar 29, 2013
Kotoura-san has the makings of an exceptional show. It has the ambition to be both an emotional drama and an uplifting comedy, to be an experience full of highs and lows to keep you engrossed to the end. It even has an intriguing premise providing a solid foundation for its narrative. Regrettably, it is clear from the very first episode that not only is Kotoura-san plagued by atrocious writing, it furthermore has the entirely wrong attitude when it comes to the use of drama in general.
Kotoura-san tells the story of Kotoura Haruka, a girl with the power to read people's minds. Whilst one would expect
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such a power to be a gift, this unfortunately couldn't be further from the truth for Kotoura, who goes through tragedy and strife. As more and more people reject her, she sinks into the depth of loneliness. Abandoned by her parents and afraid to get hurt, she moves from school to school, keeping people at distance. But upon transferring into yet another school, she meets Manabe, a perverted yet honest individual who accepts Kotoura for who she is, and tries with the help of others to get Kotoura to accept herself.
With such a promising premise, how did it all go wrong?
Kotoura-san, bless its poor, forsaken heart, knows nothing of subtlety. When it comes to the drama, the show's writers want you to know for certain what's happening on screen is tragic, and they are not leaving it up to chance. Kotoura-san makes sure you know by shoving it in your face, being incredibly melodramatic, and blaring histrionic orchestral music at your ears. You can practically hear the director shouting "ARE YOU SAD YET? BE SAD NOW!". The writing is so heavy-handed in its approach that the scenes often don't even make sense, as elements designed to make the scenes even more full of anguish are carelessly introduced without proper thought. At worst, things get completely out of hand as you are bombarded with one melodramatic scene after another.
The very first episode is a perfect example. Kotoura's tragic backstory is told, where each depressing event in her life is immediately followed up by another one, aiming to be even sadder than the last. Eventually it escalates into a ridiculous scene in which Kotoura-san, previously finding her only solace in a stray kitten, breaks down because she is informed that the cat has been taken away, leaving her alone. This would be acceptable, however the woman who informs Kotoura proceeds to shout at her, telling her to "Leave and never come back!" for no apparent reason. This is one of the many contrivances used to easily make the scene more emotional, which are the defining hallmarks of Kotoura-san.
The complete lack of subtlety in Kotoura-san's drama is replicated in the fanservice as well. The fanservice consists of eponymous Kotoura being cute, a rather innocent and likable form. However, when the show wants you to notice how cute she is, it again makes sure this is impossible to ignore; once again you are assaulted with one cute scene of Kotoura after another. Kotoura would be more endearing if not for how persistently the show confronts us with it. That said, the fanservice is still a relative highlight of the series, even if poorly executed like the other aspects.
Unfortunately, the comedic aspect of Kotoura-san is also lacking. The essential joke of the series is that the male lead Manabe has a perverted fantasy of Kotoura; who will then get embarrassed and annoyed at him. This joke is then repeated throughout the entire series. Funny as it was the first few times, by the fiftieth iteration of the joke it was getting incredibly tedious. It is fortunate that the show invested in other jokes, however these are also repeated frequently and whilst some of the jokes were funny enough to withstand constant repetition, the majority were not. The repetition of this poor comedy becomes a dull monotony for the viewer. Additionally the humour comes at often inopportune times, causing a large emotional whiplash when placed right in the middle of a dramatic scene, a problem that pervades the entire show. If you are the sort that likes "perverted humour" then the comedy will most likely be more amusing, and will sustain its freshness for much longer.
For the writers, all that seems to matter is the result. They appear not to care if the story makes little sense or is filled with plot holes; so long as the dramatic scenes are saturated with sadness and woe, they consider it a job well done. This attitude is ultimately what's responsible for the terrible writing. It is indeed unsurprising that the writer who was unable to come up with enough jokes to last the series, was also unable to write more than one pattern of character development. Kotoura-san is rescued from her depression by her friends (notably Manabe) at least three times. This wouldn't be so bad if not for the fact that it's the same issue every time, simply disguised by a different context. Ultimately what happens every time is that Kotoura becomes self-loathing and depressed because she blames herself for bad events, only to be "saved" by Manabe and the rest of her friends. Call me a cynic, but although it is clear that Kotoura suffered a tramautic past, the drama feels insincere when Kotoura is saved by Manabe through the same process multiple times.
The comedy, romance, and drama that make up the plot of Kotoura-san were in shambles. The quality of writing is dismal, it desired the story to end up a cohesive mix of these disparate narrative elements, but either they couldn't be bothered to actually put in the time and effort to make it work within a story, or they were simply unable to. Whatever the reason, the sheer quantity of inconsistent tone and plot holes is almost insulting- it's a depressing thought that this standard was deemed acceptable.
The art and character designs were of low quality, they both look messy and have very little detail. For the comedy segments this is not so much a problem, as the 4koma style character designs suit it well. However, when it comes to the dramatic scenes the character designs are in stark contrast to the melodrama, and appear incredibly awkward when the art gets in your face. The music is generic and lacks subtlety, dramatic scores being employed ruthlessly in every single scene bar one notable exception that verges upon melancholy. The opening is cute and likable, if not ultimately forgettable; the ending is simply nondescript.
On a more positive note, the characters are all pretty likable. They evoke sympathy from the audience even if they are well defined by a limited number of distinctive traits, and are at times enjoyable to watch; you certainly shouldn't have a problem with any of them. Well, perhaps apart from Moritani. She starts the series as an antagonistic figure, only to have her personality overhauled, leading to an abrupt and irrational character change that is poorly explained. Again, the attitude of the writing shines through once again. However, there is one facet of Kotoura-san that was done right, and that was the romance. The relationship that develops between Manabe and Kotoura was surprisingly well done over the course of the series, despite it's repitious nature. Their interaction isn't complex or deep, but in a show where characters can just change personality at the drop of a hat, it was a real highlight.
To conclude, the incredibly forceful attempts to evoke emotion in Kotoura-san is stifling, demonstrating an extreme example of the "tell not show" attitude to drama. If you can ignore poor writing, and relish heavy-handed drama and comedy, then this show will probably be of great enjoyment to you. If, on the other hand, you loathe over the top melodrama and care at all about plot progression, then Kotoura-san is nothing more than a trainwreck.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Mar 26, 2013
Something that I have discovered whilst watching Girls Und Panzer is that trying to convince people that it is genuinely a fantastic show is nigh on impossible. I don't blame them, if someone had told me before I watched it that I'd be rating it an 8 and calling it a highlight of the year then I would have greeted them with a doubting look, wondering whether they were joking or whether they just had bad taste.
It's obvious why there's so much doubt, it's the premise. Cute girls driving tanks immediately brings up memories of shows of "cute girls doing cute things" or of "Cute
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girls doing [insert unusual activity here]", both have which rarely produce anything other than mediocrity at best. With this overwhelming abundance of poor shows, the ability to believe that Girls Und Panzer could be anything other is incredibly difficult.
Believe me though, Girls und Panzer is really the diamond in the rough.
The natural question here is what sets it apart from the rest? To put it simply, it is its comedy, its earnestness, its action, but above all its execution.
Girls und Panzer is a show with a ridiculous premise and setting, the show acknowledges this and embraces it to deliver great comedy. No matter how ridiculous the happenings or plot points, like friendly tank battles being held in town centres, or a man thinking it's good luck that a tank crushed his shop, it plays it straight and just lets you enjoy it, without it pointing the joke out to make sure you got it. It mocks clichés by putting them into stupid contexts and then blowing them completely out of proportion. There will always be something there to make you laugh, the humour of the show is very consistent, and though it's not the biggest draw of the show, it's what helps to make the show so enjoyable.
The characters are incredibly likable and work perfectly within the context of the show. There are a large number of characters, but every single one, whether it be someone on the Panzer squad or someone on the opposing team, will bring a smile to your face at some point. These aren't deep characters, but they don't need to be, they often have stupid and ridiculous traits, but that's the point, whether it be the girl who also sits on her lieutenants shoulders to put her above everyone because she's got a complex about being childlike, or the vice president who's usually calm and collected who goes crazy when she's battling in the tanks, they bring enjoyment by being so stupid.
The really surprising aspect about Girls und Panzer is how realistic yet still ridiculous the tank battles are. The people who choreographed the battles obviously knew the tanks involved inside out, providing startlingly realistic battles, all whilst the tanks are running around coloured bright pink or with Edo period flags. The battles are amazing in how much the intelligence of the realism and tactics conflicts with the bizarre and absurd nature of events. You will be entertained, and there is sometime genuine tension in the battles, especially the later ones. The animation of the battles improves greatly as the series progresses, in earlier episodes the CGI looks awkward, but by the end it's much better and used very well with solid animation, providing fast exciting action. The camera angles are done very well, particularly in the last showdown where I can only say they were perfectly done.
The animation as a whole started off fairly average, but as the episode count increases it's obvious that the budget increased significantly, by the end the animation was excellent, it's visually appealing and there are no mistakes or off model characters. The soundtrack was strong on the whole, with some great military marches and themes that really added to the scenes and battles. The voice acting was strong, making sure to keep everything straight (and often hilariously over the top) so that the humour was conveyed correctly. The opening "Dream Riser" is an uplifting track which suits the series well, and the ending "ENTER ENTER Mission" is generic but rather catchy.
Overall, I'm not saying that Girls und Panzer is the best show out there, but it executes what it's trying to do flawlessly. The show plays everything so honestly and with such earnest that you cannot be cynical about it, but wish to enjoy the show like it wants you too. This show is really the height of entertainment, and during the weeks that I watched it, despite myself I grew to love the show more and more.
You may still be doubtful that Girls und Panzer is the brilliant show I'm painting it to be, but I whole heartedly recommend you go and give it a try, as it really is pure and enjoyable entertainment at its best.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 25, 2013
The expression "don't judge a book by it's cover" is something you should always keep in mind, because occasionally, a show is a lot more than what it's cover suggests.
Senran Kagura is not one of those shows. What you see is what you get, you see ninja girls with big boobs in the cover picture? That's what you'll get. This is a quintessential ecchi action romp, plenty of fan service, serviceable action and characters that are for the most part likable. How well exactly does the show do what it does?
Let's start with an important aspect of the show, the art and animation. On the
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whole the animation strong, and surprisingly consistent, the faces and character models are rarely off model, and the action looks fluid, and there is a good use of colour which makes for an enjoyable viewing. The art is weaker, the backgrounds lack detail, to the point where it's rather noticeable, however, for the most part it makes little difference, because rather than the scenery, most of your attention will be drawn to the characters and their assets. Let's not beat about the bush, these characters are all meant to be visually appealing, and the specific pull of this anime is that they all have huge boobs. On the whole I think the character designs work, however a couple of the character designs just look strange with the gigantic boobs attached, but there will be a character design that you like, and at numerous points you will see their bodies in almost all their glory. The character designs are like the music wholly generic, but are good enough to satisfy the needs of the show.
Onto the characters, they are shallow but on the whole likable. You have the standard tropes like the pervert, the Ojou-sama etc. which fulfill their fanservice roles whilst being mostly likable. In the end these characters are really poor and have the depth of a puddle, but they suffice. Obviously, these characters aren't really what you'd expect of trained ninjas, but Senran Kagura doesn't really give a toss about realism, because why should it? There are tons of holes in the plot of this show, but really it doesn't matter, it's not as if it was aiming for high brow entertainment.
The plot is not exactly spectacular, it's really stupid, cares nothing for sense, logic or proper plot progression. Whilst the fights are entertaining, the ways in which they come about are so stupid, and I often was in disbelief at how blatantly poor the writing was. However, by the end of the show nothing surprises anymore, and so you can wholly accept the anime for what it is, cheap shallow entertainment, funny often for how poor it is in areas. In the final few episodes, the fights that take place become less like fights and more like a competitions to see who has the most tragic back story. It was funny seeing people trying to be more tragic than their opponent, something I actually enjoyed. If you can take these scenes at face value, then I expect you'll get some more honest entertainment out.
In the end, Senran Kagura is a poor anime that provides cheap and easy entertainment, about as low brow as you can go. However, it fulfills it's intended purpose pretty well, so if you look at the picture and think "a show about big boobed ninjas? Sounds like my sort of show!" then I can't say anything other than yes, this probably is exactly your sort of show, after all, it does exactly what it says on the tin.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Sep 22, 2012
Accel World certainly has good quality visuals, dynamic battles and an interesting setting, however past that I cannot think of anything that the show does well. You may disagree with this and my scoring, but please, allow me to justify myself because I intend to do so in full.
Let's cover a good point first though, the art and animation. The art is very consistent, and it does a great job of displaying the interactive world in its diverse and grand state. The animation for the battles is well done, I certainly didn't have any complaints, there is plenty of movement and excitement, and the
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battles enough time to satisfy fans of action. The character designs are on the whole attractive albeit generic, but here we come to our first problem, the protagonist Haruyuki.
I get it, Haru is supposed to be a character with low self esteem, otherwise they wouldn't have brought in Yuki Kaiji to voice him, but the character design they chose to demonstrate this was insulting to the viewers. Looking at him, it shows the designers attempt to force down our throats the fact that this guy is vulnerable and a "loser", but at the same time still not be ugly enough to put us off, which is why he is chibi, rendering him completely different from every other character in the show. Why did they feel the need to do this? I get the feeling they think the audience is stupid, and need constant reminders of why this guys has no confidence, they even made his avatar a small pig, just to reiterate this further, because you are that stupid.
This leads me onto Haru himself and the rest of the characters. His best friend Taku is generic, seems to have no romantic chemistry with his girlfriend Chiyu (indeed Haru has more), doesn't add much to the series, but is at least likable. Although her relationship with Haru was odd (i.e. romantic), Chiyu was alright initially, but later in the series she becomes incredibly obnoxious. Kuroyukihime is the most likable character, partly because of her pleasant disposition and good design, but mostly because she got a pass on the second half of the series on account of being on holiday. The side characters lack depth and are completely non descript, the enemies are infuriating (and not for the reasons they should be), and then there is Haru. I'd be amazed if anyone could manage to actually like this guy, unless he is so similar to them disliking him is an act of self loathing. The amount of hatred I built up watching him was one thing, but then the second half of the series happened.
Now obviously I won't spoil anything, but let me just say, the second half of Accel World has some of the most rage inducing episodes you'll come across. Why? The characters start acting in completely illogical and infuriating ways, I had just forgiven Haru for the first half of the series when he just goes downhill in a spectacular fashion, the show starts introducing plot devices that either make little sense or break the setting Accel World itself, and the plot degrades terribly. Indeed, this half was so poor they had to introduce a few episodes of filler in the middle to give you time to calm down. The antagonist has at his disposal seemingly every plot contrivance possibly, and an ability that would never be allowed in any game of that sort.
In fact, a major factor in why I ended up being so angry is due to the blatantly poor plot devices and elements that were poorly thought out and look like ass pulls. It shows laziness in the writing, or a simple lack of ability. I was shocked often throughout the second half at how stupid these things were, and this did not help the infuriating exchanges at all.
So, in all, the second half was terrible, indeed I'd give it a 1 overall. It did have some nice battles, some fan service and some really spectacular background settings, but when you have to watch this in tandem with the genuinely upsetting nature of the show (where whenever the antagonist is on screen your head will find itself drawn to the oven) the experience is irredeemable. The first half was better, and many will have or will enjoy the first half, but I didn't really like it either. For someone who is the protagonist because they are good at games, Haru really sucks at games, he makes rookie errors and shows a lack of judgement that makes you wonder about his ability. To be fair to him this is simply more usage of plot devices, and I would forgive him for that, but he's an irritating waste of space who only serves to pander to the viewers inadequacies and insecurities. He is not a decent character, he is only there to make people who identify with him feel better for themselves. That is the only reason I can imagine someone liking this show at all to be honest.
Accel World is certainly not all bad, it has some decent episodes which always include exciting fighting, some of the side characters are likable, and the world setting was fantastic in terms of aesthetics, however these happy instances were always in between long durations of anger, misery and frustration. Many may enjoy it, I certainly don't speak for all opinions, but for me watching Accel World was an experience devoid of enjoyment or fun, the way this anime is set up makes it inherently dubious, but it is the execution that really cause such grief that I wanted to cause harm to myself. I hope this never gets a sequel.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Sep 3, 2012
Phi Brain is all about solving puzzles, however if you think that you'll be able to solve puzzles along with the protagonists, then I'll put that hope to rest now; you're not. Whilst you'll get the occasional glimpse at the whole puzzle, they are for the most part exclusively for the characters.
The character designs are very brash and crude, very much like the show itself, and whilst I am hesitant to call them outright bad they are certainly below average. This is a low budget anime, and so the animation and art is poor, expect to see many off model shots every episode, which are
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often so bad that they are distracting. Whilst this is the case, the animation level doesn't detract too much from the anime as a whole.
The music is worlds apart from the art, the opening "Brain Diver" is a catchy and energetic song that fits the series well, and the ending, "Hologram" is a pleasant track that grows on you as the series progresses. The soundtrack is also pretty good, which at points makes up for the appalling animation quality. It isn't amazing, but is remarkable considering the budget, and works well to make the action scenes tense.
During the first few episodes you will find yourself hard pressed to like the main characters, as the first few episodes focus on making Kaito look as cool as possible by having him casually solve difficult puzzles and the like, to the point where it feels like they're trying to force it down our throats. Gammon comes across as loud and obnoxious, and Cubic seems like an arrogant child prodigy. However as the series progresses past the first few episodes and onto the main plot, the characters become much more likable. This is because they stop trying to outdo each other in both arrogance and in puzzle solving and start working together against the antagonists of the series, the POG.
The story starts off very simply, the POG will set Kaito a puzzle and he'll proceed to solve it using his Orpheus armband, often with the help of one of the geniuses that Kaito meets during the first few episodes. Fortunately the plot becomes more engrossing before too long which makes the series more interesting and reduces the repetitiveness. Don't expect anything deep or complicated from the main plot of Phi Brain as it's still straightforward and standard shounen, but it's an improvement. The puzzles act as a way for the characters to fight each other, and in later episodes "battle puzzles" are introduced, where the two contestants directly match their wits. This is quite entertaining at times, however, the fact you can't see the puzzle in its entirety is frustrating, as it alienates you from the tactics employed.
Phi Brain improves as it progresses, but it never reaches the level of quality I would have liked, however that does not mean it's bereft of entertainment, and although it doesn't have the gripping battles of wit it was aiming for, it's a simple shounen that you can find fairly enjoyable if you aren't feeling too critical.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jul 3, 2012
Shining Hearts: Shiawase no Pan seems to suffer from an identity crisis much like its protagonist, initially starting off as a serene slice of life about bread making and ending up as a fantastical action anime. Ultimately, although it executes both sections well, this change alienates both the viewers who wanted action and those that wanted a charming Aria-esque show.
There's one thing you can't deny about the show, and that is the high quality art and animation. It's incredibly consistent, the characters faces and the beautiful scenery remain brilliant throughout, and I doubt you'll see food look so delicious in anime for some time. The
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animation was clean and precise, there were no sloppy errors and only a couple of scenes where they had obviously saved on budget. The soundtrack is just like that of an RPG game which I thought was nice as it displayed the roots of the anime, and there were one or two tracks that were particularly good, overall it's a bit generic but it's enjoyably and compliments the series effectively. The voice acting is strong, although I doubt the Seiyuu were stretched much in their roles. The OP is fairly nice but forgettable, however the ED is incredibly catchy and by the end I found I knew the words and the dance far too well.
The characters have the traits you'd expect from a slice of life show, and cover the fantastical range of Dwarves, Elves, Witches and Furries that you'd expect of a fantasy RPG. The side characters are likable and it's a shame that you see some of them for only one or two episodes, a consequence of the fact it's based on a game. Onto the main characters, the trio of girls are perfectly pure and cleanse your soul, making you feel slightly better about life. Rick the protagonist is initially just as innocent as the rest of them, however he receives development during the series and becomes a more complicated individual, although he is still rather plain.
This brings me to the story, if you want to watch it for the action, then don't, because there is a distinct lack of it and so the series is unlikely to please you. If you want to watch it only for the pleasant slice of life, then you'll be happy for the most of the show, but won't be at the end. This is the problem with the show, it's tried to please both demographics but has ended up letting down both. If you like both action and slice of life then you'll have less of a problem, and to the show's credit it does build up to the action well throughout, creating a sense of mystery and intrigue, but in the end I would have preferred it to be a simple slice of life the whole way through, even if it had to deviate from the story of the game it was based on.
Why? It's because the slice of life was done so brilliantly, it was relaxing and almost therapeutic , the characters as I've mentioned were nice and all lent themselves to the experience perfectly. Nothing much happens, they may go to a nearby castle to deliver bread to the tsundere loli witch who's trying to make the perfect ice-cream, they may visit the elves or go reef diving for treasure, it doesn't matter, you may complain of a lack of plot but that's all a delightful show like this needs. It didn't need an aim, it just needed to provide a pleasing experience every week, which is why I feel the plot introduced at the end was unnecessary.
The whole of Shining Hearts: Shiawase no Pan feels like a prologue, at the conclusion of the series you'll wonder where everything and everyone went from there, and it's a pity because I think a second season is unlikely, and you'll want to see many of the characters again. Overall I thought the first half was excellent at being a heart-warming experience about four pure people making bread, and if you enjoyed Aria, I'd say this was worth a look, even if the show eventually loses sight of what it was good at.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jun 30, 2012
Even though Mouretsu Pirates doesn't deliver on the potential of its first few episodes, it still ends up being an enjoyable and light hearted show, even if it suffers from incredibly slow pacing and the loss of its seriousness and realism.
Despite the silly premise of a high school girl becoming a space pirate, the show was originally very grounded, the technology was not too farfetched and along with the bureaucracy of getting the Letter of Marque and the electronic warfare, it impressed me with just how realistic it was. Everything seemed to have procedure which compared to most futuristic sci-fi shows was impressive and a
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welcome change. However, we come here to our first problem; part of the director's job is to edit out the unimportant sections from the original light novel to make the series concise, but in Mouretsu Pirates nothing was removed. Therefore there is a large amount of dialogue consisting of unnecessary technical talk which soaks up a massive amount of time, leading to episodes where very little is achieved. If you are impatient, watching this will be painful at times, particularly towards the end you start hoping that they'll speed everything up.
This pace also means that there is very little characterization and no character development, which is a pity because you'll want to find out more about the crew of the Bentenmaru who are instantly likable and are often a joy to watch. You'll wonder about the backgrounds of some of the side characters, but will never find out anything about them, at the end you may even wonder what they even contributed to the show. Of the two main protagonists, Marika was a pleasant surprise as I was expecting some moe character trope, and instead got a level headed protagonist that thinks things through, is responsible and has a flare worthy of a pirate, although things go her way far too much. Chiaki is a lovable tsundere who's love of parfaits will usually get a smile on your face, usually acting as the straight girl in the various frivolous situations at school and at the cafe.
As you get further into the series, the series becomes much harder to take seriously, not so much with the plot or the enemies, but conveniences like a major corporation not having good security on their data and recorded phone conversations, or a machine gun being fired at a bunch of high school girls but conveniently missing everyone, or even the fact that Marika has better pirating skills than those with many more years of experience. Nothing that the plot throws at the Bentenmaru feels threatening because you know Marika will come up with some plan and the situation will all resolve itself without much difficulty. This is problematic for the last arc where there's supposed to be danger and tension and you can't feel it at all, let alone take it seriously. This makes it all incredibly underwhelming, and without the music it would have been even worse.
In regards to the music, it really grabbed my attention in the first few episodes, having some really notable tracks in a selection that really suited the setting of both space and the school well. I doubt I'll forget the lead track used in the preview and recap for some time. The animation is very good, with one of the best uses of CGI I've seen to date, as for the consistency occasionally the faces are slightly off model but other than that it's very stable, with no episodes that aren't pleasing to the eye. The art is very good, particularly that of Marika's home town, making me wish that more scenes had taken place there, as I feel it's a pity that it was mostly limited to the Bentenmaru's interior. The OP is energetic to say the least and you'll either love it or hate it, I liked the ED "LOST CHILD" by Momoiro Clover Z, being glad that it stayed for both cours.
Whilst it suffers from very slow episodes, on the whole the series is very enjoyable, and there is plenty to keep you amused, from high school girls pirating whilst cosplaying to surprise yuri, and dynamic battles to flashy outfits. There's plenty of funny moments, and many times where you can't wait to see how the arc will end, so overall, whilst Mouretsu Pirates is a very flawed anime, it's a lively and boisterous show that you'll appreciate so long as you have the patience to get through the slower episodes.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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