New anime season: Uraboku, House of Five Leaves
I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be watching from the new anime season. I er somehow I forgot most of what I was originally interested in. The only two things I've tried so far are Uraboku and House of Five Leaves.
Uraboku 1&2: Oh my god why is this so dull. Dull, dull, DULL. I watched the 2nd episode in hopes that it would pick up, but it was, if anything, duller than the first. It is so dull and dragging, not even Takahiro Sakurai can leaven it. Are we really so starved for BL-ish anime that even this will do?
It's like they pulled out the Book of BL Cliches and the Book of Fantasy Cliches and wrote everything out verbatim. "Okay, let's see... Reincarnation, kind and pure-hearted heroine hero, orphanage, scary uncontrollable powers, monsters from another dimension, dude that will protect the heroine hero at all costs, person who tries to hurt the heroine hero out of jealousy, ominous suggestion of upcoming catastrophic battle, the betrayer friend who wants to destroy the world... Do we have everything we need here?"
Guys, I have no problem with these things. (Well, okay, so I am a bit sick of "enemy of the heroine/hero who's really just jealous" thing.) I love me some fun BL and fantasy cliches. But you have to do something with them! You can not just plop them on a plate and serve them! You have to, you know, cook them in interesting ways, I don't know, PUT SOME SAUCE ON THAT SHIT, serve it with tasty sides! As it is, the characters are made of cardboard, the plot is also made of cardboard, and NOTHING IS HAPPENING. (Seriously I sat restlessly fidgeting all through ep 2 in hopes that something, ANYTHING would happen, and when something FINALLY did happen... the episode ended. What the hell.) Also, the main character irritates me like nails on a chalkboard. Yes, sweetie, we know you are so, SO ~*~sweet and good and pure~*~, now could you please tone it down a little, because I'm starting to feel the urge to punch you repeatedly in the face. Possibly this might induce you to actually show a little actual personality.
It doesn't help that even the actors' performances sound bored and listless. These are mostly actors capable of doing amazing jobs; the only explanation is that no one involved with the production actually gave a shit.
Usually in this situation ("this situation" being a BL-ish show with Takahiro Sakurai as one of the leads) I would try at least one more episode, but I'm not sure if I can bring myself to sit through another one.
House of Five Leaves 1&2: The new noitamA artsy-fartsy show, based on a manga by Ono Natsume/Basso. This seems pretty promising so far. A bit meandering for my tastes (well, Ono Natsume is generally a bit slice-of-life-y for my tastes), and the 2nd episode was a bit slow, but still interesting and different. Also, Takahiro Sakurai plays one of the leads, bonus!
Plot: Masanosuke Akitsu is a timid ronin who nobody wants to hire because his limp personality makes everyone think him unreliable. Yaichi is the leader of a group of bandits who make a living by kidnapping officials for ransom. Yaichi needs a bodyguard in name only, so he hires Akitsu; only Akitsu unexpectedly turns out to actually have skill and strength in plenty. Thereafter Yaichi sets about trying to get Akitsu to join his group.
Thing that keeps repeatedly occurring to me as I watch: "Is this really not BL? REALLY?" I just keep dot dot dotting at the screen every time one of the two of them start musing on how much he's drawn to the other. And that - that lovingly rendered scene with the knife. You know the one. DOT DOT DOT.
Well, I guess that's just the author's tendencies showing through...
ANYWAY, I'm going to have to expose myself as hopelessly pedestrian here and say that although the animation is very lovely and fresh and the art style is different and original, I'm not terribly fond of the character designs. I prefer a sleeker look, and Ono Natsume's eyes and mouths kind of freak me out a little. (The mouths! They take up the entire FACE. And the eyes. They like. HAVE NO WHITES. Augh.) So really I'm kind of caught between the satisfaction of looking at something visually different from the other 28394827394827 cookie-cutter shows out there, and being mildly put off on account of my boring need for a more conventional prettiness.
Well, it's not enough to keep me from enjoying the show, at any rate.
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Uraboku 1&2: Oh my god why is this so dull. Dull, dull, DULL. I watched the 2nd episode in hopes that it would pick up, but it was, if anything, duller than the first. It is so dull and dragging, not even Takahiro Sakurai can leaven it. Are we really so starved for BL-ish anime that even this will do?
It's like they pulled out the Book of BL Cliches and the Book of Fantasy Cliches and wrote everything out verbatim. "Okay, let's see... Reincarnation, kind and pure-hearted heroine hero, orphanage, scary uncontrollable powers, monsters from another dimension, dude that will protect the heroine hero at all costs, person who tries to hurt the heroine hero out of jealousy, ominous suggestion of upcoming catastrophic battle, the betrayer friend who wants to destroy the world... Do we have everything we need here?"
Guys, I have no problem with these things. (Well, okay, so I am a bit sick of "enemy of the heroine/hero who's really just jealous" thing.) I love me some fun BL and fantasy cliches. But you have to do something with them! You can not just plop them on a plate and serve them! You have to, you know, cook them in interesting ways, I don't know, PUT SOME SAUCE ON THAT SHIT, serve it with tasty sides! As it is, the characters are made of cardboard, the plot is also made of cardboard, and NOTHING IS HAPPENING. (Seriously I sat restlessly fidgeting all through ep 2 in hopes that something, ANYTHING would happen, and when something FINALLY did happen... the episode ended. What the hell.) Also, the main character irritates me like nails on a chalkboard. Yes, sweetie, we know you are so, SO ~*~sweet and good and pure~*~, now could you please tone it down a little, because I'm starting to feel the urge to punch you repeatedly in the face. Possibly this might induce you to actually show a little actual personality.
It doesn't help that even the actors' performances sound bored and listless. These are mostly actors capable of doing amazing jobs; the only explanation is that no one involved with the production actually gave a shit.
Usually in this situation ("this situation" being a BL-ish show with Takahiro Sakurai as one of the leads) I would try at least one more episode, but I'm not sure if I can bring myself to sit through another one.
House of Five Leaves 1&2: The new noitamA artsy-fartsy show, based on a manga by Ono Natsume/Basso. This seems pretty promising so far. A bit meandering for my tastes (well, Ono Natsume is generally a bit slice-of-life-y for my tastes), and the 2nd episode was a bit slow, but still interesting and different. Also, Takahiro Sakurai plays one of the leads, bonus!
Plot: Masanosuke Akitsu is a timid ronin who nobody wants to hire because his limp personality makes everyone think him unreliable. Yaichi is the leader of a group of bandits who make a living by kidnapping officials for ransom. Yaichi needs a bodyguard in name only, so he hires Akitsu; only Akitsu unexpectedly turns out to actually have skill and strength in plenty. Thereafter Yaichi sets about trying to get Akitsu to join his group.
Thing that keeps repeatedly occurring to me as I watch: "Is this really not BL? REALLY?" I just keep dot dot dotting at the screen every time one of the two of them start musing on how much he's drawn to the other. And that - that lovingly rendered scene with the knife. You know the one. DOT DOT DOT.
Well, I guess that's just the author's tendencies showing through...
ANYWAY, I'm going to have to expose myself as hopelessly pedestrian here and say that although the animation is very lovely and fresh and the art style is different and original, I'm not terribly fond of the character designs. I prefer a sleeker look, and Ono Natsume's eyes and mouths kind of freak me out a little. (The mouths! They take up the entire FACE. And the eyes. They like. HAVE NO WHITES. Augh.) So really I'm kind of caught between the satisfaction of looking at something visually different from the other 28394827394827 cookie-cutter shows out there, and being mildly put off on account of my boring need for a more conventional prettiness.
Well, it's not enough to keep me from enjoying the show, at any rate.
comments on dreamwidth