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Busy, busy, week, so I'm catching up by doing one entry with three shows.

Working!!
Souta loves small people. He maintains he's not some kind of strange pedophile, but when Poplar--an upperclassman who looks like a grade-schooler--begs him to help her at her job, he can't say no. Thusly, Souta is thrown into a workplace with an overly compliant general manager searching for his wife, a do-nothing store manager, two waitresses (one katana-weilding, the other, an androphobic with a violent streak), and two chefs (one who blackmails others to get out of work, the other a very no-nonsense type). Love triangles and comedy ensue.

Jesus. Writing that out as brief, yet descriptive as possible was a little tough. The gist is, though that everyone is crazy, and we're supposed to be entertained by their antics. That doesn't really happen in the first two episodes. The agoraphobic Inami is too overused, punching Souta nearly 10-15 times each. Once the focus is taken from her, and onto Souta's other co-workers, the show really hits a fun stride. Characterization is done in a way befitting a comedy--funny, and not melodramatic like other shows with comedic elements tend to do--and everyone's idiosyncrasies are so specific that no one's actions step on the toes of another, which is very important.

The best part of the show, however, is the voice actors. The cast is full of talented performers who continue to be amazing at differentiating their voices in specific ways from their other characters. Even Jun Fukuyama is beginning to come back into my good graces (between this and Durarara!!). All in all, Working!! is a promising comedy that I hope will continue to get better, as opposed to stale.

Senkou no Night Raid
A team of super-powered individuals comprise an elite team tasked with important missions right before the Second Sino-Japanese War officially begins. Their story has been hidden in the archives of history, just now coming to light.

Sound vague? I know. That's about the best way I can put it. Three episodes in, and only in the third episode do the viewers get a good sense of where the plot is going. The elite squad apart of an organization known as Sakurai Kikan is made up of the telepathic Yukina, telekinetic Aoi, teleporting Kazura, and somewhat all-seeing Natsume. Just so you know, I had to look up each of their names. The characters don't really get a good sense of self until the third episode. You must be asking what the first two episodes were doing in the first place, then. Well, to be honest, they focused more on introducing how the team works and what the nature of their job is. Every now and then we'd get a quick glimpse at the a background of a character, but it was so isolated that it became quickly forgettable.

The show has a very assured sense of production. Almost as though it is aware of its faults, but continues to move forward under the presumption that everything will eventually come together. As of right now, I believe it. Senkou no Night Raid is well, animated, scored, and acted, so I can forgive the ambiguous plot as of now. But it is a red flag. What has been shown of the plot is rather basic, and almost totally removed from the time-period--to the point that I almost question the decision in the first place.

I'm not sure about this one. It's almost like the show doesn't have a heart, while doing everything rather well. It comes off as rather pointless and uninspired.

Giant Killing
Takeshi left his Japanese football team, the East Tokyo United, a decade ago for a shot in Europe. In his absence, the team took a sharp decline, only to slowly build up in the last five years while he becomes a successful coach in his own right. The upper echelon of ETU has decided to bring Takeshi back as the manager. Can he whip his new team into shape while dodging bitter resentment from his players and fans?

I used to say that I don't like the sports genre of anime. Then I watched Ookiku Furikabutte, Touch, and Cross Game. Now, with Giant Killing, I can say with a great deal of assurance that that is no longer the case. In all the ways that I find soccer to be boring and somewhat indulgent, I find Giant Killing exciting and engaging. Maybe it's because the focus isn't on one player that's supposed to be the savior, but the coach/manager that's supposed to have his act together and do the job that (in any other shounen series) would be asked of some unassuming genius. Like Ookiku, Giant Killing gets an exacting sense of the team as a whole. No one carries the weight alone. Everyone is necessary. On top of that, the show is full of strong egos that clash in greatly exciting ways. No two characters interact in a similar fashion. This is the type of writing and character work I expect from all shows. With there being so much character work, some viewers may be dismayed at the lack of 'action,' in the matches, but since I'm not a big fan of the sport itself, I don't care. Also, others may be put off by the art, but because it's different and cohesive, I have an appreciation for it.

Well, that's all for right now. There are two more shows I need to catch up on--Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteru, Saraiya Goyou, and Yojohan Shinwa Taikei--and that should be it for the season. Unless I get roped into something else. Don't forget to leave a comment!