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Dec 27, 2008
Could have been much better, but it is held back by poor directing and ends up being a comparatively subpar sequel to the original brilliant series. Still pretty decent.
STORY:
One wonders what could have been with more consistent directing. The story is paced rather slow, and sometimes one gets the impression that this is more a "Life of Chiaki and Nodame in Paris" slice-of-life than an actual story about their obstacles and maturing of character. Indeed, it seems that JC Staff couldn't decide whether to make the anime around the plot or just showcase their daily lives.
And what was with that ultra-rushed ending?
ART:
Simple, clean, flawless, functional
...
and delightfully faithful to the manga's lively expressions.
The CG was, on the other hand, absolutely horrible. The orchestra's playing of the instruments looked more like well-carved stick figures with Flash-like animation than a normal hand-drawn animation. They should have stuck with the default of the original series.
SOUND:
The OP was horrendous.
Other than that, no complaint from this department. The music is significantly better (no doubt due to the improvement of the characters in the story), and would make an excellent OST.....if they'd put it in that.
CHARACTER
While Nodame and Chiaki's well-developed personalities carry the show, the dullness with which character development is made is in general disappointing. Whenever characters in the story are supposed to significantly change in attitude and mental strength, it goes limping by such that one hardly realises it at all. Many times I went "Oh wait, why'd they change so much from something that was put across in such a mundane manner?" It was jarring, and once again I blame the directing.
ENJOYMENT
It is an adaptation that's undecided about what genre it wants to be. Happily, I'm a sucker for slice of life, and what scattered pieces they have tried to direct in whichever genre, they've done it quite well. When it wants to be slice-of-life, it does it well.
OVERALL
Poor directing, and a few decisions which turned out to be big mistakes (looking at the CG and the ending's pace), but thankfully it still turns out to be unmistakeably a decent Nodame adaptation.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 6, 2008
This is pure therapeutic bliss. Literally.
STORY
The story is simple and in execution turns out great. Taking into account the fact that this is a slice-of-life, the pacing is so wonderfully planned out, and the episodic stories so well-rounded in themselves, that one should never find oneself bored out of his wits from exploring the wonderful place that is Neo-Venezia.
And that is a real feat.
ART
Oh god the background is beautiful. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
And accurate (mostly) too, as some guy from Lonely Planet frequenting Animesuki and going on a (mostly business) trip to Venice found out.
Decent effort was also made for the characters. Only 1 obvious QUALITY
...
image ever jumped out at me after the third rewatch and for the most part there were no flaws. Though it'd have been nice if the faces were drawn anywhere nearly as detailed as in the manga. But then that'd have to be budget-busting stuff.
Production IG was roped in for the CG but it didn't seem all that impressive to me, though it certainly was enough to add to the atmosphere.
SOUND
And here, sir, is where this anime is made into the ideal therapeutic experience. Every single piece of music in every single scene is perfectly fitted together. The decision for Choro Club to cut a major album out of this meant the resulting music was absolutely, astoundingly brilliant. Coupled to the show, it was outstanding and perfectly fitting, while on its own it can be summed up as "perfect" (...that is, if you don't hate the Brazilian-style choro and the relaxing tune). The late Kawai Eri worked her magic into the very fitting OP that was soothing to the ears, while Round Table as usual put in a brilliant song for an ED. The insert song was pretty catchy too.
CHARACTER
Here unfortunately I'll have to put in some criticism. Most of the characters are simply not well-developed. We get to see the character of every, uh, character, but not much else. The sempai especially. There's almost no background story on them. Plus, they all seem so eerily close to perfect, it's unreal.
That aside, Akari elevates herself to Goddess status as we see through her beautifully clear eyes the wonders of her world. And it is through her that the stories turn out so beautiful, so wonderful.
ENJOYMENT
Needless to say I loved this to bits. Every episode left me yearning for more wonderfulness, and I eventually wasted a whole day marathoning it when I should have been rushing for projects. It's guaranteed to lift your spirits, relieve whatever pressure you might of had, and turn any pessimist into a perenially happy optimist.
OVERALL
A beautiful slice-of-life anime all in all, and considering the popularity this had at its airing, way too under-watched. This show needs some love; spread the Aria lovin'.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jul 23, 2008
Let's dive right into this.
STORY
Compared to the usual stuff from the series, this episode is more relevant to the characters themselves, namely Alicia and Akari, and reveals that Alicia does have her weaknesses (who'd have guessed).
It also hints at what is to eventually come.
For a 30-minute OVA I had the impression it was longer. Not that it's bad - moar Aria is never bad - in fact, it only made the enjoyable experience longer.
ART
The background, CG and animation were just about perfect, but I can't bring myself to like the different drawing style of the character's faces compared to the TV series. The cheeks are
...
too thin, and the eyes a touch too big, making the faces rather...disproportionate. A contant distraction.
SOUND
On par at least with what we've been getting from the franchise. The OP takes some getting used to, but I liked it; it fit very well with the overall tone.
CHARACTER
With the dearth of development for the sempais for the TV series, a huge dose of delicious jailbait Alicia backstory is just what the doctor ordered.
ENJOYMENT
As relaxing and uplifting, with a touch of melancholy. Though as mentioned above the faces were a constant distraction.
OVERALL
Still can't get over the drawing style, but otherwise a great OVA.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 15, 2008
I sometimes get depressed about my life being nowhere as enjoyable as any of the characters in this show.
Oh well.
STORY
Life of Akari and friends as they discover Neo-Venezia. Meh.
The one thing I noticed is that for a place which has seasons twice as long, and for a pace which goes like an old woman on stilts (not that I'm complaining), the seasons go by awfully fast. Plus the characters don't seem to grow much, especially considering they're in the latter puberty stages.
Still, that's a minor flaw if you consider the episodic nature of things this is meant to be taken as, and each episode's story
...
is very well done, interesting, and never fails to leave a smile on your face. It's...therapeutic, the way it lifts your spirits.
Which is where this anime hits it off with everyone.
Plus it never gets boring.
ART
Ugh.
It's never pleasant with the onset of QUALITY. Especially coming from a studio you'd never expect to have quality issues with.
Lots of times I find myself facepalming at inappropriately placed features which make the faces all weird. Seriously, focusing your attention on the background detail (which is excellently drawn by the way) is fine, but not when you're doing it at the expense of the characters in the middle of the screen, and especially not in the face, of all the areas you can mess up in.
At least they didn't mess up anything else.
SOUND
As charming and elegant as the first season. The insert songs are rather unimpressive this time round though.
CHARACTER
There's plenty more depth to the characters than the first season. Akari's friends, Aika and Alice, have plenty of time devoted to them this time round, and it is heartwarming to see them mature from setbacks and become a better person. Akari, our main character-cum-Goddess, is as usual being honest, enthusiastic, and an angel that opens the heart of every person she comes across, though as the season progresses one starts to worry for her mental well-being, as she keeps delving into bizarre or simply out-of-whack incidents which baffle her friends. And there's also a couple more tidbits on their Prima teachers, and a few other side characters.
Also, the filler characters that pop up for story of the day are all well fleshed out, and never flat.
ENJOYMENT
I love it. Love it, love it, love it. Can't love it enough. The atmosphere, the story, the interactions, the music, the episodes (except for a particular genderswap episode...that was traumatising >_>), everything was beautiful.
OVERALL
As per above. If you aren't too bothered by the QUALITY, you'll love this. Relaxing animu is beautifully relaxing.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 15, 2008
I swear, it's criminal how CLANNAD has been shortchanged so horribly by the polarity of the opinions of the people who watched it. For good or bad.
STORY:
The premise is less than ordinary, though understandable, considering this started out as a visual novel (read: harem). KyoAni has done a decent job on adapting the game paths into one coherent story, but there are a couple of significant errors.
1. Fuuko path. Dragged wayyyy long. The BAW atmosphere was beautiful, but when you try and stretch it over 7 episodes (and sacrificing the time for the other characters' arcs) it becomes a chore. It becomes worse when you're
...
crying and yawning at the same time.
2. The other arcs. Thanks to Fuukodrag, all the other characters had to suffer from big reductions to their paths. Kyou and Ryou, and Kotomi to a lesser extent, all suffered from this, such that Kyou and Ryou's arcs seemed almost like an afterthought.
3. Inconsistency in tone. As a result of the two factors above, we went from long-drawn, depressing BAAAAAW to rushed, wow-that-was-fast. Which was really jarring.
ART
KyoAni, for all its reputation on its production value, showed a lack of consistency for this anime on one thing. The one flaw that jumps out at me - the mouths are almost always differently positioned between episodes. And at certain moments, it looked almost as if their chins took up the entire lower portion of their faces. A big part of it is undoubtedly due to the unfortunate placing of the mouth right in the middle of the face in the visual novel (lol Key), but then I'd have expected KyoAni to get their animators to stick to the same position. The art and quality is otherwise fine, and the animation is top-notch.
SOUND
Simple, and generally well-matched, if underwhelming. A lot of it is lifted straight from the visual novel, and I find most to be unimpressive, except for the ones in the Fuuko arc.
The ED was beautiful though.
CHARACTER
I mentioned earlier that they dragged out Fuuko's arc too long. This has another consequence - some of the characters are not well-developed. Kyou and Ryou had potential, but their arcs were too short. Also, the girl-by-girl order the KyoAni decided to go with caused another problem - girls that were all the focus the previous arc would simply almost disappear from the story from then on. Again it's understandable, but its still something that (with the exception of Fuuko which needed no workaround) wasn't resolved.
What KyoAni did do right, however, they did very well. Fuuko was so endearing and the developments so heart-tugging that it left a deep impression on me for a long time. And Kotomi, despite the shorter arc length, was similarly well developed, and so was Nagisa, the main girl. Even Sunohara, the side guy, got in a bit of development.
Which is commendable, considering that their characters are all rather cliched, and typical. Which again, is all due to the source material.
ENJOYMENT
I wouldn't lie, I enjoyed it mostly. The BAAAAAW moments, and the trademark KyoAni humour injections, done to perfection, were great. However, many times I found myself wondering when the episode would end. Major markdown.
OVERALL
Decent, but one can't help but feel that KyoAni could have planned the pacing much better. Plus, it doesn't help being too faithful to a source material which is not adaptation-friendly. Though I guess this couldn't be helped, considering this is what KyoAni is known for, and it's an image they want to keep.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 13, 2008
Kanokon: Piercing the Heavens of Fanservice.
Says it all really.
STORY
Is a hackjob. Shota attracts animals spirits and makes all the girls reveal their skin to the audience in various ways. Hurr.
Marks for going farther in terms of (lewd) action than any other fanservice (or even some hentai) anime though.
ART
You have to give credit to Kanokon - the animation and production is great. Every curve is well-proportioned, every line is drawn nicely, every oily glean off the skin polished to perfection. Adds to the realism of the fanservice, which is always welcome to, ahem, fans of this genre.
...
SOUND
Well, the girls make great sounds.
To be honest though the VAs aren't that committed, and it shows, if subtly. I wouldn't blame them.
BGM doesn't stand out at all. Neither do the songs.
CHARACTERS
Shota. Bigboob foxgirl. DFC wolfgirl. Wincest. Etc.
Well there's some half-decent character development at least.
ENJOYMENT
Unfortunately, I'd have to mark it down in this area more than I thought I'd have to. It turns out there can be too much fanservice for its own good, even if it's made for it. The absolutely delightful (some would prefer obscene) limits the fanservice pushes leave little to no imagination, which could turn off people from looking for doujins, while ensuring blue balls at the same time. Blue balls and no desire for doujins. Not a good combination.
Still it's great fun watching and wondering how far the producers would go. And learning wonderful news, like this anime being the favourite among Japan's elementary school kids. Who'd have thought.
OVERALL
Sometimes a whackball just comes along and hits you in the face (or balls for some). Turns out this season's came from the fanservice field.
Well hey it's fun watching the moral crusaders among us wiggle uncomfortably, while we f*p and laugh to the fanservice. For that I'd give it an extra point, and make it a 6, for making it the standout rose among the defloweries of its genre.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jul 13, 2008
Almost every single S & W review here (and 80% of all the reviews in MAL for that matter) is a lesson on how to make anime enthusiasts rage.
Seriously. A 10 isn't something you throw at every single category you think an anime did well at. And mediocre is not a 9 either.
STORY
Refreshing, at least. How often do we come across a nice slow story about economics and a cunning wolf-girl?
If it was me I'd have put it at least as part-Slice-of-Life, but apparently it wasn't planned as such, so I'd have to give it a mark-down for the rather slow pace .(slice of life,
...
in my adventure animu?) Also, the less than exciting (I'd say non-existent) ending left a lot to be desired, and almost screamed SEASON 2, FUND IT OTAKUS.
Oh well. They barely covered half the novel material as far as I know anyway.
ART
The quality isn't bad, especially considering that IMAGIN did this, and they haven't exactly been this good in the past. The background is given attention, the animation is decent, and the characters' expressions are usually well-drawn. Sadly, QUALITY still appears often enough to be noticeable, and in a few cases were very obvious (long-faced Lawrence in one scene was horrible).
SOUND
What at first seemed to be decent BGM turned out to be really well done and refreshing when I paid attention to it. Very well-matched to the scenes, and the variety was such that it never sounded repetitive, a feat especially impressive considering the unique challenge this anime posed to the music producer.
OP was 80% horrible (except for the starting part), but the extremely unique, catchy and upbeat ED (lol engrish) more than made up for that.
CHARACTER
You'll have heard this before many times, but Horo is seriously one of the most intriguing and unique female characters around, especially considering that just about every other character that fits the same brief description (wolf-girl lieks running around nekkid) is, well, flat. A fascinating background, a childish personality and a sweet tooth, yet cunning, tricky and malicious as a real wolf when the situation called for it. You could almost say she carries the whole show.
Which brings me to the big issue with this show. Horo unfairly makes every other character in this show look lame and one-dimensional by comparison (almost). The sweet-tongue money-changer, the shepherd with a dark side, even the well-developed male lead Lawrence; all of them seem almost like props around the main dish that is wolf-girl. Of course, if you take this show seriously and read into things, this probably won't affect you at all (you'd take issue with the sleep-inducing pace instead), but for casual watchers it obscures a large part of the cast.
ENJOYMENT
Well I approached it as a "tranquil economics animu", and I'd have to say I had a great experience. It comes close to rivalling slice-of-life classics like Aria - I'm pretty sure it would if it were longer - and the journey never got very boring, a plus considering the pace. The ending was a real bummer though. At least make the effort to close it out nicely instead of leaving us hanging and going "Wait, that's the end?"
You learn about basic economics though. Info tidbits appropriate to the theme are always nice.
OVERALL
Slow and tranquil, yet refreshing, and with an amazing female lead. Just don't expect a real ending.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 13, 2008
Ah, all the nostalgia is coming back. Good times, good times.
STORY
This being a one-episode DVD special, one would think story would be complete filler. But then, this is a slice-of-life show, where things are episodic, and very few plotlines actually last.
Anyhow there isn't much to write about here without giving things away. Suffice to say it's about Akari's secret place.
ART
Worthy of a DVD special. Animation is top notch, the background is as usual gorgeous, detailed and extremely accurate when compared to the real-life counterpart, and there are no errors as far as I've seen.
SOUND
Exemplary, just like the rest of the Aria series. Every BGM piece
...
matches the scene very well. The insert song however is forgettable, though it certainly doesn't jar the ears.
CHARACTER
Once again the Goddess that is Akari manages to effortlessly draw us in into her world and gives us a front-seat view of what she sees. And what she sees is a beautiful world brimming with positivity, with more than a healthy tinge of mono no aware.
The only issue I have is that the other characters in this episode are overshadowed, but then this wasn't exactly an episode about them.
ENJOYMENT/OVERALL
I enjoyed this immensely. Charming atmosphere, soothing music, great animation, Akari. Couldn't have asked for more.
Plus it's not filler.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 13, 2008
I'd be all personal about it and say it's DA BEST THING EVARRR!!!! and give it a 10 across the board like a typical MAL fa...uh, not-so-objective member. But then I'm simply not that type.
STORY
Pretty simple premise: guy in charge of the club looks to make a group of kendo chicks to compete with his ex-kendo mate's team, so that he can have a shot at his buddy's promised reward: free food for a year.
Not terribly exciting, and the way the teacher just manages to put together a team of skilled kendo experts screams plot device. Plus the couple of filler episodes distract from the
...
main storyline, and not at the best times either.
Still, having a simple plot means there are no big plotholes to drop your balls over, and the progression in the story is for the most part smooth.
ART
The main weakness of this anime. The animation quality is at best functional, and at worst, obviously flawed and jarring. It gets readily apparent that the studio had typically thrown its budget at the first episode; the quality degradation after that is obvious, with many features out of position, and the background detail a bare minimum. Fortunately it does pick up a bit near the end (as expected).
The designs aren't very eye-catching (with the notable exception of the oh-so-moe Tama-chan), but the characters have been drawn very distinctively, with no chance of mistaking a person for anyone else.
SOUND
Functional. The OP/ED is typical, and the BGM (a decent if apparently hackjob-style effort) doesn't vary much.
CHARACTER
Here the anime really shines. Every character's personality is distinctive, refreshing, and surprisingly believable, the chemistry is great, and the voice acting is also excellent. The character development, while skimpy for most characters except 2 (the only markdown here) is sufficient to endear one to the characters.
ENJOYMENT
The whole ride was fun. Even though the story wasn't exciting, and it looked to be going nowhere at times, I found myself looking forward to the amusing interactions of the kendo club and its happenings. The down-to-earth and (mostly) realistic tone of these interactions (with the exception of Miya-Miya and the two side characters related to her) really drew me in, and at the end of every episode I found myself in better spirits.
OVERALL
The animation was comparatively plain bad, the music was forgettable, and the story wasn't great. But these glaring errors somehow were little more than side distractions in a wonderful viewing experience with the amazing characters and chemistry. Certainly worth a watch.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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