Lake
2761
I seriously dislike Raki. I think a little girl sidekick would have worked better because of Clare’s history with Teresa and no weird sexually undertones with Raki.
Yeah, by “less Raki” I guess I really mean “no Raki.” And I had the exact same thought – a girl sidekick would have been better. The main problem with Raki, at least for me, is that he remains completely whiny and utterly useless throughout the entire series. He never changes from the puppy dog tagalong that he starts out as. I mean, I understand the need for the character in relation to developing Clare’s personality, but he could have been utilized so much better.
He does get a little stronger as the series progresses, but the entire point of the claymores is that normal humans can’t deal with that stuff. A normal human certainly doesn’t have a chance against a claymore in an actual fight either.
In his defense, I think i remember one other human in the series even trying to fight back against inhuman threats and Raki certainly does take even greater chances than that. It is almost like thinking poorly of a 7 year who volunteers to go in to combat with a seal team of their own free will (albeit with some whining), knowing the risks and that they aren’t trained for it. Although i suppose he does get a little wishy washy at the very end.
So while at work today*, I got through like 7 episodes of Deadman Wonderland on crunchyroll. Talk about screwed up but good.
*by working, I am I was at the office with literally nothing else to do.
The summer season got started this weekend; you can read previews here.
Kamisama no Memochou #1 was pretty good. I’m looking forward to Sacred 7, Kamisama Dolls, No. 6 (it’s BONES, and the premise sounds great). BLOOD-C I’m hoping gets the formula right this time, since as stated above, I didn’t really like BLOOD+. Dantalion no Shoka looks promising. Oh and Break Blade 6 and Hellsing Ultimate 8, woo!
Also, from that preview, Manyuu Hikenchou… wtf:
The focus of the story is the size of breasts in a fictional Taihei Edo Period, during which the Tokugawa shogunate imposes a completely irrational regime that uses the size a woman’s breasts to measure her worth in life. Manipulating them behind the shadows is the Manyuu Clan (loosely based on the Yagyuu Clan), who possesses sword techniques which can “cut off” (reduce the size of) breasts and steal them. They also possess a secret scroll on how to cultivate large, beautiful breasts, which the youngest member of their clan and chosen successor of the Manyuu Arts, Chifusa (Kotobuki Minako), runs off with in an attempt to correct the cruel and twisted world that her clan created.
Unsurprisingly, it’s made by the same people who gave us Seikon no Qwaser, the creepy “breastmilk gives you superpowers” anime.
I don’t know why you disliked blood+ so much (saya wasn’t prone to crying or complaining overly and certainly did both less than a normal person would do in her situation), but i doubt Blood-C is being made for people who hated the previous anime.
I don’t personally hold much hope that blood-C will be as good as blood+, mostly because the art style makes it look less serious/dark, but will probably still be good, probably.
Kami-sama no Memo-chou and Ikoku Meiro no Croisée sound interesting.
The art style doesn’t seem to make it less serious to me. I actually like the design of the new Saya and other character designs as well. You might be right about BLOOD+, since I didn’t watch the whole thing, but man it really did drag during those first 20 episodes. Who knows, though, maybe it got better.
Brief thoughts on the new shows I’ve seen so far:
Kamisama no Memo-chou: the premise reminds me quite a bit of Gosick, albeit without the Roaring `20s Europe twist; introverted doll-like NEET detective and her milquetoast teenage sidekick - they fight crime! [For that matter, Dantalian no Shoka seems to have a similar “girl-detective + male sidekick” vibe to it; are they suddenly in vogue?] She from her Den of Computer Awesomeness, he with his…ermmm…uhhhh…utter blandness? Or to paraphrase a friend: it’s like a modern-day Nero Wolfe with a lolicon hikikomori instead of a fat white dude. There’s an eclectic cast of supporting characters (mostly other NEETs) and the vibe is not unlike Eden of the East or maybe Durarara, albeit without the latter’s crazier, supernatural elements. The first episode is double-length, so they’re able to do a more in-depth intro than most series. At first glance it’s somewhat promising; the main problem is none of the characters really stand out yet and the premise may be a little too, well, normal for my usual tastes. It’ll have to stand on its gasp writing to hold my interest.
Sacred Seven is kinda like Saint Seiya: superheroes with Greek mythic twist. Arima is a sullen teenage boy with a chip on his shoulder and a bad rep at school. Turns out he’s got hella supah-powah and accidentally kicked the shit outta some high-school kids once, so he avoids other people. But wouldn’t you know it, some weird little rich girl wants him to be her personal superdude to fight “Greek” (by way of batshit Japan) monsters - and she’s got a Battle Butler and an army of Battle Maids to back her up! So naturally he gets sucked into a world of weird shit and goes all Megaman on some stone monster in the first episode. It ain’t high art, but it might be passable action fare. What’s a bit jarring is it plays itself straight, and yet - Battle Butler and an army of Battle Maids. If anyone’s really taking it seriously, they’re doing it wrong.
“Blade Goes to Japan to Fuck Up Some Vamps and Runs into a Vampire-Huntin’ Lady Who Punches Them So Hard They Explode” - that’s not my plot summary, I’m pretty sure that’s the episode title. It’s a solid if unremarkable first episode, though I wonder if the plot will be a little too similar to Wolverine. With only 4 Marvel anime titles in this crop, did we really need a second “badass anti-hero carves up eeevil dudes in Japan with a hottie in tow” story?
OK, I lie - I’m pretty content if every anime has that basic premise. But some people want more variety.
The Megaman comparison in Sacred Seven is pretty apt – that costume! One thing I liked about the way the suit worked is the holographic rotary UI that pops up in front of his eye when he wants to switch to a different suit configuration. Very video gameish. And yeah, when he changes configurations, what does he do? He selects an arm cannon. No, really.
On the heels of Tiger & Bunny, another Sunrise superhero show, which definitely does not play it straight, it does feel a little odd. I’m willing to give it a chance, though, since the actiony bits and suit concept were pretty good.
By “playing it straight,” I mean Sacred Seven doesn’t have the pratfalls, double-takes, embarrassed silences, and other tropes of typical action-comedy anime. That shouldn’t be construed as meaning you should take it seriously. It’s like an old-fashioned sentai show where everything is ludicrous but the cast is oblivious to just how ridiculous things are.
I predict everything in the upcoming summer season will suck, with Usagi Drop being the only possible exception (and maybe Hyouge Mono too, if still-airing spring series count).
I knew what you meant, and that’s exactly why I don’t take it seriously. I would still classify Tiger & Bunny as action-comedy, though. ANN even classifies it as such.
Otagan
2775
If you’re counting still-airing spring series, then Steins;Gate is worth mentioning as well.
Usagi Drop: Surprisingly i liked this, although i can’t say why. For the first 10 minutes i thought it was a less good version of another similar anime/manga, with worse art. After that i noticed i was enjoying it and that was that.
Mayo Chiki: I feared this would be like Ro-Kyu-Bu where the manga was pretty funny and it sounds funny, but the anime isn’t funny. Luckily it wasn’t and i thought it was quite funny.
Yuru Yuri: It is a moeblob, but one of the girls is a lesbian. That is pretty much the anime in a sentence (well, at least the first episode). I guess this is popular now after A channel last season. Still, it was pretty funny from time to time so maybe i will watch it from time to time.
So far i still like sacred seven the most, but i haven’t watched Blood-C or Kamisama Dolls yet. Dantalian no Shoka hasn’t aired yet either and is likely to be good. Sacred Seven also seems like the type of anime that tends to lose steam part way through as well (ie star driver)…
Also, speaking of still airing series, beelzebub is still quite funny, in my opinion at least…
I really enjoyed the first episode of No. 6. It’s got the classic amazing BONES visuals and animation quality, and it reminds me of another BONES anime that I loved: Jyu-Oh-Sei. The character designs are even somewhat similar. I’d definitely recommend it.
Didn’t like it too much, I was constantly facepalming at the two main female characters so I dropped it after a few episodes. But I keep hearing good things about it, maybe I should give it another try.
It turns out that I’m wrong anyway, 'cause Mawaru Penguin Drum (from the crazy director of Utena and Sailor Moon) started airing and looks promising - at least judging from the first ep. No idea where it will go from there but in an interesting direction I hope.
Steins Gate is the best anime of the year, mysterious and interesting time travel plot, hilarious comedy, heart gripping drama, all in one.
Tiger & Bunny is decent action superhero series, if a bit bland in story. But all the characters have lots of charm, it’s the good point of the series.
Mawaru Penguin Drum is the anime of the summer. Total WTF. Warning: from the creator of Utena.
I don’t see why anyone need to be warned about Kunihiko “will slap you around for commenting on his snakeskin pants and turn your story into a weirdo lesbian fairytale” Ikuhara!
