(no subject)
Spring anime season is about halfway through, so here’s what I’m watching:
Majin Bone is obviously a kids’ anime, kind of like a Saturday morning cartoon, and the kind I usually don’t care for, but it’s actually pretty fun and the fights are well done. The characters are annoying but overall likable (which is honestly baffling) and there’s enough mystery surrounding the enemies to keep me interested in how things turn out. Nothing amazing, but watchable and makes me feel like I should be eating a bowl of Fruity Pebbles while it’s on.
Hitsugi no Chaika began as one of my favorites, because I love the character designs and a lot of the ideas the show brings to the table about magic and battles and things like that. Even Chaika’s weird, childish way of speaking didn’t annoy me because it really fit her character. But as the episodes roll by, I find myself less and less excited for new episodes. This is probably because there is a growing number of female love interests for the main male character (so far there are three who seem to have an interest in him, and I have a sinking feeling that there’s going to be more) while he remains seemingly oblivious despite being an otherwise intelligent character. There was also a bit of rather uncomfortable fanservice in a recent episode, involving the protagonists, whom we’re supposed to be rooting for, tying up an underage girl and stripping her down to a tiny scrap of clothing that barely covered her while she blushed, squirmed, and clearly felt violated. And the scene was played for laughs. It left me unable to root for them anymore, and if I can’t root for the protagonists, I have a hard time enjoying a story.
No Game No Life is a (very) guilty pleasure and something that’s teetered on the edge of being dropped from episode one. The only real reason to watch is the stunning art, with its gorgeous colors and setting. It’s basically a male fantasy, with a protagonist who is a master of all games and never loses and somehow manages to attract women despite being a total asshole to them. He also has an adoring little sister (also a master of games, but so far she hasn’t done anything as impressive as what he’s done and has already cried because she was losing a game and big brother had to step in and finish it for her). The sister is your standard jailbait loli chick in a school uniform (which is bizarre because she doesn’t go to school) which she often leaves unzipped and draping off her shoulders and provides lots of panty shots. She talks in a very slow, quiet, super-cutesy voice that annoys the piss out of me and always looks/sounds like she’s half asleep. Despite all this, I kind of like her, if only because she’s the only person so far who can cut her brother down with just a few words and reveal the total loser he actually is. What makes Sora (the protagonist) bearable for me is that all of his skill and assholery and arrogance can’t completely cover up the fact that he’s totally pathetic, and every so often we get glimpses of his true nature when he’s crying in a corner, saying he’s sorry over and over again for accidentally grabbing a girl’s boobs, saying, “I’m so sorry! I thought I’d never touch a boob in my entire life!” It’s also interesting that he adores Shiro (his sister) as much if not more than she adores him, which is kind of rare, and they really do function as a team (to the point that if they get too far away from each other, they both basically have mental breakdowns until they’re reunited). And while they are uncomfortably close, the series points out that there’s nothing sexual or romantic going on between them, which I appreciated. Sora even lampshades the idea by exclaiming, “I can’t go after my own sister! Besides, she’s eleven years old!” For her part, Shiro seems eager to get Sora laid by another female character, so she’s not the jealous little sister type, which is nice. Still yet, the show is full of fanservice and looks primed to turn into a harem, so I could drop it at any time. Also, the abuse dished out to the ditzy character Steph is more uncomfortable than funny, mostly because the series relies on degrading and humiliating her for comic effect, and it just comes across as cruel and mean-spirited. The show is holding on, but just barely.
Mushishi Season 2 is just more of the same, but that’s okay because the first season was amazing. For those not familiar, the Mushishi series focuses on subtle, quiet drama with vague supernatural elements. The colors are muted and there’s only one major recurring character (Ginko, who is basically there to connect the stories and be effortlessly sexy). It’s a collection of stories that are touching and occasionally downright frightening, but also incredibly simple. Definitely high on my “to watch” list this season, and will probably end up being my favorite of the spring season.
Akuma no Riddle is a show that could have gone so wrong in so many ways, but has defied all my expectations and somehow managed to be a series worth watching and one of the shows I’m enjoying most this season. Seeing art from the series and reading the description (a class full of high school girl assassins all trying to kill one girl), I assumed it would be full of fanservice, male gaze-fueled lesbian antics, and characters that all fit neatly into the standard tropes. What I got was a surprisingly entertaining series full of strong (in multiple ways) female characters who are well-written, female relationships that feel genuine, and so little fanservice that I’m still shocked by its general absence. High on my watch list.
Captain Earth is the only mecha anime I’m watching this season (is there another one?). It reminds me a lot of Valvrave in that I already have a love-hate relationship with it. I love that the art is pretty (though it’s a generic sort of pretty), approximately half the characters are fun and interesting, the mecha is cool, the villains are basically Team Rocket if Team Rocket were a little more effective, and I can appreciate how ludicrous the plot is (though after Valvrave, mecha anime plots never quite seem that ludicrous anymore). However, I hate that the show so far seems to have little regard for the personal space boundaries of its female characters, has a rather bland protagonist, and is trying way too hard to be deep and artistic but is failing miserably at it. The good things outweigh the bad, however, so I’ll probably watch til the end.
Haikyuu!! is right up my alley, seeing as how I hate sports but love sports anime. It has all the elements I love to see: a spunky underdog protagonist with potential, a snarky rival, and a team full of good looking, charming-in-their-own-ways guys. Oh, and there’s some volley ball being played too I guess. The art took a little getting used to, because it definitely has its own style, but once it grew on me, the unique style became part of the show’s charm. It’s no Prince of Tennis or Kuroko’s Basketball, but it’s fun and cute.
Kamigami no Asobi is an otome series with possibly the most ridiculous setup yet: various gods from various religions must live as bishounen human boys in a magical school with one human girl so they can learn about humans. The show is, well, very dumb. The guy who is probably supposed to be the main love interest says, upon meeting the heroine, “Your name is Yui? That’s so pretty and exotic! I’ll just call you Fairy!” And it just gets dumber from there. But the thing is, this show knows it’s dumb and ridiculous, and it revels in it. The series is so silly that it’s impossible to stay mad at it. Also helps that the guys are pretty and just love coming out of their clothes or doing fabulous magical boy transformations that can outdo Sailor Moon anyday. For all its faults, the show puts a smile on my face, and I can’t ask for much more than that.
Mekaku City Actors is a show I went into without any prior knowledge of Kagerou Project or Vocoloid or anything related to it. Of course I’d heard of these things or seen art on Tumblr, but I just never took an interest. So I’m judging it based on the anime alone. That being said, I like the idea of the series. I like the characters introduced so far, and I especially love the stylish character designs. The songs can be kinda hit or miss, but most of them are good. What I don’t like, so far, is the animation style. I’ve seen it before and I didn’t like it then either. I guess it’s supposed to be super stylish or whatever, but it’s not something I personally like. Anywho, it’s still an interesting show and definitely worth watching for now.
Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii is a series I really want to like more than I do. There’s nothing specifically wrong with it (except maybe that I’m not into shoutas so the male romantic lead doesn’t really appeal to me). It has a great, fun heroine who can usually get herself out of trouble (and when the guy does help her, it comes across as a team effort rather than him rescuing her). It has nice art, music, and some pretty scenery. But for some reason, I just can’t get excited about it. Maybe it’s because I’m not feeling the romance angle at all (even though it’s not bad per se, it’s just not something I’m interested in), and there’s little else to keep me invested. It’s hard when a show does nothing wrong and actually does a lot of things right, but you just can’t get into it. Will keep watching until I go from “not excited” to “bored”.
Selector is a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. I was expecting a shoujo version of Yugioh and thankfully, that’s not what I got. Instead, it gives some pretty strong PMMM vibes (specially chosen young girls battling each other, each having a wish that’s very important to them, the main character being talented but unable to come up with a wish for the first half of the series). The show drags just a bit though, and I would have preferred to see more card battles and less... other stuff. The battles are all-too brief and none of the rules of the game are explained so they’re kinda hard to follow (maybe it’s based on a real card game in Japan and they expect people to know the rules already? I don’t know). I’m guessing the action will pick up in the later episodes. For now, the series is solidly watchable and worth investing some time in. The characters are well-written (especially the so-terrible-you’ll-want-to-punch-her Akira, who makes a rather effective villain) and the plot so far has enough mystery to keep you watching.
One Week Friends is incredibly sweet and easy to watch. The premise is just a little too convenient for the sake of the plot, but it’s easy to forgive the show for that when it’s so heart-warming. The art has a cute, almost sketchy look to it with light warm colors (lots of browns and beiges and creams). It’s a fairly gentle drama, though there’s room for some angst later on should the series choose to go that route. I really hope it sticks to the warm sweetness with a tinge of sorrow rather than going for all out melodrama, but we’ll see. For now, it’s kind of a feel-good series.
Kindaichi Case Files Returns is no Detective Conan, and that’s the first thought that came to my mind upon watching the first episode. I know this is just a new anime for a long-running series (I think the manga started just a few months after Conan did), and maybe being more familiar with the characters would help, but I wasn’t familiar with the Conan characters when I watched the first episode of it, and I fell in love immediately. However, Kindaichi isn’t a bad show by any means. For a detective/mystery series to work for me, it has to have either a compelling cast of characters that I feel emotionally invested in and want to see what happens to them, or it has to have interesting cases/mysteries that keep me guessing and that I need to see the conclusion to. Conan had both these things. Kindaichi has the latter. So far the cases in Kindaichi are great fun. The downside is that I have little to no interest in the core cast of characters. Kindaichi’s love interest was kidnapped and basically became a damsel in distress in the very first episode, effectively taking her out of the story and making her an object to be rescued throughout the entirety of the first story arc. Contrast this with Conan’s Ran, a genuine karate master who can beat the shit out of literally anyone who pisses her off enough and is always an active and vital presence in the story. Kindaichi also has a secondary love interest, a pop idol whom he flirts with openly in front of the other girl, and the series seems to find it really amusing that the girls are jealous of each other and don’t get along (and it’s super annoying that Kindaichi flirts like crazy with the idol chick and acts like the childhood friend chick is being unreasonably jealous, then gets all jealous and acts like a petty child when he sees childhood friend chick simply having an innocent, polite conversation with another male character). Overall, it comes across as Kindaichi having his cake and eating it too. He has both the beautiful famous girl and the cute girl next door, and then acts as if he’s somehow a victim when they get jealous or upset. This aspect of the show annoys the crap out of me, which is why the show is low on my watch list. But, since the cases are generally exciting and overshadow the useless love triangle bullshit, I’m still watching.
Overall, this season is okay, but none of the shows really grabbed me the way certain series of other seasons have. Maybe this is just a warm-up for the summer season, which is supposed to be pretty awesome.
Majin Bone is obviously a kids’ anime, kind of like a Saturday morning cartoon, and the kind I usually don’t care for, but it’s actually pretty fun and the fights are well done. The characters are annoying but overall likable (which is honestly baffling) and there’s enough mystery surrounding the enemies to keep me interested in how things turn out. Nothing amazing, but watchable and makes me feel like I should be eating a bowl of Fruity Pebbles while it’s on.
Hitsugi no Chaika began as one of my favorites, because I love the character designs and a lot of the ideas the show brings to the table about magic and battles and things like that. Even Chaika’s weird, childish way of speaking didn’t annoy me because it really fit her character. But as the episodes roll by, I find myself less and less excited for new episodes. This is probably because there is a growing number of female love interests for the main male character (so far there are three who seem to have an interest in him, and I have a sinking feeling that there’s going to be more) while he remains seemingly oblivious despite being an otherwise intelligent character. There was also a bit of rather uncomfortable fanservice in a recent episode, involving the protagonists, whom we’re supposed to be rooting for, tying up an underage girl and stripping her down to a tiny scrap of clothing that barely covered her while she blushed, squirmed, and clearly felt violated. And the scene was played for laughs. It left me unable to root for them anymore, and if I can’t root for the protagonists, I have a hard time enjoying a story.
No Game No Life is a (very) guilty pleasure and something that’s teetered on the edge of being dropped from episode one. The only real reason to watch is the stunning art, with its gorgeous colors and setting. It’s basically a male fantasy, with a protagonist who is a master of all games and never loses and somehow manages to attract women despite being a total asshole to them. He also has an adoring little sister (also a master of games, but so far she hasn’t done anything as impressive as what he’s done and has already cried because she was losing a game and big brother had to step in and finish it for her). The sister is your standard jailbait loli chick in a school uniform (which is bizarre because she doesn’t go to school) which she often leaves unzipped and draping off her shoulders and provides lots of panty shots. She talks in a very slow, quiet, super-cutesy voice that annoys the piss out of me and always looks/sounds like she’s half asleep. Despite all this, I kind of like her, if only because she’s the only person so far who can cut her brother down with just a few words and reveal the total loser he actually is. What makes Sora (the protagonist) bearable for me is that all of his skill and assholery and arrogance can’t completely cover up the fact that he’s totally pathetic, and every so often we get glimpses of his true nature when he’s crying in a corner, saying he’s sorry over and over again for accidentally grabbing a girl’s boobs, saying, “I’m so sorry! I thought I’d never touch a boob in my entire life!” It’s also interesting that he adores Shiro (his sister) as much if not more than she adores him, which is kind of rare, and they really do function as a team (to the point that if they get too far away from each other, they both basically have mental breakdowns until they’re reunited). And while they are uncomfortably close, the series points out that there’s nothing sexual or romantic going on between them, which I appreciated. Sora even lampshades the idea by exclaiming, “I can’t go after my own sister! Besides, she’s eleven years old!” For her part, Shiro seems eager to get Sora laid by another female character, so she’s not the jealous little sister type, which is nice. Still yet, the show is full of fanservice and looks primed to turn into a harem, so I could drop it at any time. Also, the abuse dished out to the ditzy character Steph is more uncomfortable than funny, mostly because the series relies on degrading and humiliating her for comic effect, and it just comes across as cruel and mean-spirited. The show is holding on, but just barely.
Mushishi Season 2 is just more of the same, but that’s okay because the first season was amazing. For those not familiar, the Mushishi series focuses on subtle, quiet drama with vague supernatural elements. The colors are muted and there’s only one major recurring character (Ginko, who is basically there to connect the stories and be effortlessly sexy). It’s a collection of stories that are touching and occasionally downright frightening, but also incredibly simple. Definitely high on my “to watch” list this season, and will probably end up being my favorite of the spring season.
Akuma no Riddle is a show that could have gone so wrong in so many ways, but has defied all my expectations and somehow managed to be a series worth watching and one of the shows I’m enjoying most this season. Seeing art from the series and reading the description (a class full of high school girl assassins all trying to kill one girl), I assumed it would be full of fanservice, male gaze-fueled lesbian antics, and characters that all fit neatly into the standard tropes. What I got was a surprisingly entertaining series full of strong (in multiple ways) female characters who are well-written, female relationships that feel genuine, and so little fanservice that I’m still shocked by its general absence. High on my watch list.
Captain Earth is the only mecha anime I’m watching this season (is there another one?). It reminds me a lot of Valvrave in that I already have a love-hate relationship with it. I love that the art is pretty (though it’s a generic sort of pretty), approximately half the characters are fun and interesting, the mecha is cool, the villains are basically Team Rocket if Team Rocket were a little more effective, and I can appreciate how ludicrous the plot is (though after Valvrave, mecha anime plots never quite seem that ludicrous anymore). However, I hate that the show so far seems to have little regard for the personal space boundaries of its female characters, has a rather bland protagonist, and is trying way too hard to be deep and artistic but is failing miserably at it. The good things outweigh the bad, however, so I’ll probably watch til the end.
Haikyuu!! is right up my alley, seeing as how I hate sports but love sports anime. It has all the elements I love to see: a spunky underdog protagonist with potential, a snarky rival, and a team full of good looking, charming-in-their-own-ways guys. Oh, and there’s some volley ball being played too I guess. The art took a little getting used to, because it definitely has its own style, but once it grew on me, the unique style became part of the show’s charm. It’s no Prince of Tennis or Kuroko’s Basketball, but it’s fun and cute.
Kamigami no Asobi is an otome series with possibly the most ridiculous setup yet: various gods from various religions must live as bishounen human boys in a magical school with one human girl so they can learn about humans. The show is, well, very dumb. The guy who is probably supposed to be the main love interest says, upon meeting the heroine, “Your name is Yui? That’s so pretty and exotic! I’ll just call you Fairy!” And it just gets dumber from there. But the thing is, this show knows it’s dumb and ridiculous, and it revels in it. The series is so silly that it’s impossible to stay mad at it. Also helps that the guys are pretty and just love coming out of their clothes or doing fabulous magical boy transformations that can outdo Sailor Moon anyday. For all its faults, the show puts a smile on my face, and I can’t ask for much more than that.
Mekaku City Actors is a show I went into without any prior knowledge of Kagerou Project or Vocoloid or anything related to it. Of course I’d heard of these things or seen art on Tumblr, but I just never took an interest. So I’m judging it based on the anime alone. That being said, I like the idea of the series. I like the characters introduced so far, and I especially love the stylish character designs. The songs can be kinda hit or miss, but most of them are good. What I don’t like, so far, is the animation style. I’ve seen it before and I didn’t like it then either. I guess it’s supposed to be super stylish or whatever, but it’s not something I personally like. Anywho, it’s still an interesting show and definitely worth watching for now.
Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii is a series I really want to like more than I do. There’s nothing specifically wrong with it (except maybe that I’m not into shoutas so the male romantic lead doesn’t really appeal to me). It has a great, fun heroine who can usually get herself out of trouble (and when the guy does help her, it comes across as a team effort rather than him rescuing her). It has nice art, music, and some pretty scenery. But for some reason, I just can’t get excited about it. Maybe it’s because I’m not feeling the romance angle at all (even though it’s not bad per se, it’s just not something I’m interested in), and there’s little else to keep me invested. It’s hard when a show does nothing wrong and actually does a lot of things right, but you just can’t get into it. Will keep watching until I go from “not excited” to “bored”.
Selector is a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. I was expecting a shoujo version of Yugioh and thankfully, that’s not what I got. Instead, it gives some pretty strong PMMM vibes (specially chosen young girls battling each other, each having a wish that’s very important to them, the main character being talented but unable to come up with a wish for the first half of the series). The show drags just a bit though, and I would have preferred to see more card battles and less... other stuff. The battles are all-too brief and none of the rules of the game are explained so they’re kinda hard to follow (maybe it’s based on a real card game in Japan and they expect people to know the rules already? I don’t know). I’m guessing the action will pick up in the later episodes. For now, the series is solidly watchable and worth investing some time in. The characters are well-written (especially the so-terrible-you’ll-want-to-punch-her Akira, who makes a rather effective villain) and the plot so far has enough mystery to keep you watching.
One Week Friends is incredibly sweet and easy to watch. The premise is just a little too convenient for the sake of the plot, but it’s easy to forgive the show for that when it’s so heart-warming. The art has a cute, almost sketchy look to it with light warm colors (lots of browns and beiges and creams). It’s a fairly gentle drama, though there’s room for some angst later on should the series choose to go that route. I really hope it sticks to the warm sweetness with a tinge of sorrow rather than going for all out melodrama, but we’ll see. For now, it’s kind of a feel-good series.
Kindaichi Case Files Returns is no Detective Conan, and that’s the first thought that came to my mind upon watching the first episode. I know this is just a new anime for a long-running series (I think the manga started just a few months after Conan did), and maybe being more familiar with the characters would help, but I wasn’t familiar with the Conan characters when I watched the first episode of it, and I fell in love immediately. However, Kindaichi isn’t a bad show by any means. For a detective/mystery series to work for me, it has to have either a compelling cast of characters that I feel emotionally invested in and want to see what happens to them, or it has to have interesting cases/mysteries that keep me guessing and that I need to see the conclusion to. Conan had both these things. Kindaichi has the latter. So far the cases in Kindaichi are great fun. The downside is that I have little to no interest in the core cast of characters. Kindaichi’s love interest was kidnapped and basically became a damsel in distress in the very first episode, effectively taking her out of the story and making her an object to be rescued throughout the entirety of the first story arc. Contrast this with Conan’s Ran, a genuine karate master who can beat the shit out of literally anyone who pisses her off enough and is always an active and vital presence in the story. Kindaichi also has a secondary love interest, a pop idol whom he flirts with openly in front of the other girl, and the series seems to find it really amusing that the girls are jealous of each other and don’t get along (and it’s super annoying that Kindaichi flirts like crazy with the idol chick and acts like the childhood friend chick is being unreasonably jealous, then gets all jealous and acts like a petty child when he sees childhood friend chick simply having an innocent, polite conversation with another male character). Overall, it comes across as Kindaichi having his cake and eating it too. He has both the beautiful famous girl and the cute girl next door, and then acts as if he’s somehow a victim when they get jealous or upset. This aspect of the show annoys the crap out of me, which is why the show is low on my watch list. But, since the cases are generally exciting and overshadow the useless love triangle bullshit, I’m still watching.
Overall, this season is okay, but none of the shows really grabbed me the way certain series of other seasons have. Maybe this is just a warm-up for the summer season, which is supposed to be pretty awesome.