Anime Home Companion

Winter 2012 1st Impressions Part 2

2012-01-13T22:10:00.001-05:00

Most of the new shows have aired. Here are the rest of the ones I managed to get through the first episode of:

What I Watched: The Daily Lives of High School Boys

What I Expected: More male bonding, less funny

What I Got: Perhaps the funniest show of the season

I was leery about this show, having endured the smug boredom of Kimi to Boku. However, this is an animal of a different stripe. It has more in common with Azumanga Daioh and Nichijou than male bonding crap. It is a gag comedy, and the focus is on the jokes. In that regard, they got one of the best to lead them. Tomokazu Sugita is one of the most gifted comedic actors in anime, and his Gintoki cum Kyon-inspired internal monologues at the end was one of the most masterful in years. The producers have their tongues firmly planted in their cheeks on this one, and if there is male bonding, it’s just collateral damage from the funny.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Lock. This one’s a keeper!

What I Watched: Inu x Boku SS

What I Expected: A class-obsessed manners comedy

What I Got: Hayate the Wolf-Boy Butler

This was a hard one to call. On the one hand, the story of a bullied rich girl living on her own to isolate herself is touching. On the other, her defense mechanism of insulting anyone who strays into her field of vision is annoying. Thank goodness the Secret Service agent assigned to guard her is completely devoted to her and immune to her verbal barbs. Ririchiyo is redeemable, and Soushi is determined to be by her side. It doesn’t hurt that he’s a half-fox demon with tremendous powers! Will these two find what they’re looking for? What do you think? Despite the rather bland setup, the artwork and odd characters that populate the mansion she’s staying in make it worth a watch.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. If the drama bomb goes off, however, I’m gone!

What I Watched: Kill Me Baby

What I Expected: A gag comedy

What I Got: A best friends gag comedy

Setting aside the most atrocious opening theme I’ve ever heard, this show has promise. A hyperactive chatterbox teamed with a taciturn, irritable hitman (girl) should be a little more frenetic than this. It needs Nichijou’s pacing to keep things moving. Based on a 4-koma manga, the gags should come fast and furious. The producers take their own sweet time setting up and executing jokes. The timing is not quite there, yet. There are some chuckles to be had, and Agiri the troll ninja is a nice wild card thrown in to keep it from bogging down.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. I’ll give it a few more episodes to get into a groove.

What I Watched: Papa no Iu Koto wo Kikinasai

What I Expected: Aishiteruze Baby x 3

What I Got: A bit of a schizophrenic start, but a nice recovery

Japan can craft comedies out of the most dark material. If I told you a 19-year-old college student was forced to watch out for his 3 nieces after their parents go missing in a presumed plane crash, you would be horrified. If I told you that the 14-year-old had a secret crush on her uncle, you would be doubly horrified. Yet from this setup we’re supposed to get a slice-of-life comedy, while the boy tries to court his bizarre sempai from college. To its credit, the show doesn’t hit you in the face with the tragedy. They spent this first episode focusing on Yuuta’s new life at college. He goes to watch the girls at the end, and we’re sort of left hanging. How are they going to keep this from turning into an angst-fest?

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. I don’t know how they will keep this light, though.

What I Watched: Ano Natsu de Matteru

What I Expected: Another uneven entry in the Onegai series

What I Got: A near remake of Onegai Teacher

I have to admit, as cheesy as it was, I did enjoy Onegai Teacher. Strip away all the nonsense, and it’s just a nice little love story in a genre that hates them. The sequel, Onegai Twins was not as good, as they really milked the love triangle aspect. This one, ostensibly a prequel, starts out in a similar fashion to the first show. Alien explorer Ichika accidentally injures Kaito with her ship, then heals him and insinuates herself into his life. Haruka Tomatsu is likably bland as Ichika, and as a tribute to the first series, they bring back Yukari Tamura in a similar role to Morino in Onegai Teacher. They end the first show in a similar fashion, too. Ichika is in a state of undress, while trying to revive an ailing Kaito as his older sister and childhood friend walk in on them. What will happen next? Puh-lease…

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. I’ll probably stick around until the love triangle with the childhood friend heats up.

What I Watched: Rinne no Lagrange

What I Expected: Girls Club Happy Robot Protection Club Yay!

What I Got: A plucky female lead, and one big ass alien robot

It must be a universal dream of animators to be a small child finding a big robot that you can protect the Earth with. Gigantor comes to mind immediately. What if that child is a hot, 16-year-old athletic girl who loves her town and has one of the most positive outlooks in recent memory. That’s what Madoka brings to the table. When she’s accosted by cool alien Lan, she doesn’t freak out. When Lan tells her she’s an alien, Madoka is cool with that. When Madoka defeats an alien robot by using hers to perform a German Suplex on it, you suddenly realize that this isn’t your father’s big robot show. Madoka is my vote for best female lead since the days of All-Purpose Cultural Catgirl Nuku Nuku…and that’s high praise!

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. Madoka makes this show work.

What I Watched: Another

What I Expected: A brooding horror suspense mystery

What I Got: An underrated horror show that tips its cap to King, Lynch and Kubrick

This should be dreadful, but I actually got into the flow of the show. It’s creepy alright, but it’s not in anticipation of what’s hiding around the corner creepy. It’s more atmospheric along the lines of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. Who killed Mei Misaki? And what connection does she have to new transfer student Kouichi? He’s determined to unravel the mystery, and it plays out almost as if he’s romancing the ghost of Mei. The other parts of the series are pretty rote for a horror show, but it’s not about screaming bloody skulls. It’s about searching in the dark for the light switch.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. Horror’s not usually my bag, but this interests me.

What I Watched: Zero no Tsukaima F

What I Expected: More of the same from the abusive tsundere mage and her human weapon familiar

What I Got: Another walk down URUSAI INU BAKA Lane

In what they promise is the final installment of the series, Louise, Saito and the gang get embroiled in another political tiff with the Pope and other countries. All the elements are there, and nothing much has changed. If you liked the first three series, this one will feel like a well-worn catcher’s mitt to you. If you didn’t (like me), it’s just pure torture. Louise is the poster girl for tsundere who can’t just tell the person they love that they love them. Her discomfort manifests as abuse toward Saito. He’s no angel, but he doesn’t deserve to heat thrown his way. Add to the mix two other hot girls who are angling for him, and the main plot becomes window dressing. It’s professionally done. I just don’t really care.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Poor. If Louise ever grew up, I would give her a chance. I’m not waiting around until the last minutes of the last episode of the last series to find out.

What I Watched: Aquarian Evol

What I Expected: LOVE and GATTAI attacks everywhere

What I Got: OMGWTFBBQLEEEROOOOOYJENKINS

I had watched the original ages ago. It was forgettable. This time they pulled out all the stops and gave us a double episode to start with. The background art is gorgeous, and the music by Yoko Kanno is spot on. However, they kept the LOVE and GATTAI attacks, which I just can’t take seriously. The characters are all shopworn archetypes, and the quasi-military staging is a little off-putting. I guess it isn’t that different from Macross Frontier. That series was wildly uneven, and I’m expecting this one to be as well. I suppose this isn’t a bad action fix for the season.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. It’s not really my thing, but I’ll give it a few more episodes.

What I Watched: Brave 10

What I Expected: The hot-blooded action and homoerotic undertones of a typical Sengoku Era story

What I Got: Another plucky female lead surrounded by hairy generals

If half the battle in making a good show is casting, then Brave 10 have it licked. Daisuke Ono is the grumpy ninja saddled with a wide-eyed teenage miko who’s never been outside the temple before. Rina Satou is an attractive Isanami. A 16-year-old scared pup who’s being hunted should be a total mess. Isanami is good-natured enough and curious enough to want to protect. Saizou learns this the hard way when they first meet. All the big names from the era are there, and if the action in the first episode is indicative of what to expect, it should be action-packed.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. Again, samurais not named Gintoki are not really my bag, but the characters are intriguing.

Winter 2012 is looking more and more like Spring 2011 – a season for the ages. I’m sure there’s something you can find to watch. Happy New Year!

Winter 2012 1st Impressions

2012-01-07T21:08:00.001-05:00

It begins….

What I Watched: Nisemonogatari

What I Expected: The focus to shift to Araragi’s sisters

What I Got: Bakemonogatari Part II

It’s as if they hadn’t been away for two years. They really went for the jugular this opening episode, with a Mirai Nikki tribute in the beginning, and an extended 4th Wall-breaking dialogue between Araragi and Hachikuji. We only got a glimpse of one of his sisters (Tsukihi), and we still haven’t seen Hanekawa, Kanbaru or Karen. It looks like they’re taking their sweet time to get the plot rolling. Oh well, it’s not like I wasn’t expecting SHAFT to give up the goods in the first episode!

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. I’ve been waiting for this one.

What I Watched: Milky Holmes II

What I Expected: Not much, since I dropped the first series after episode 4.

What I Got: More stupid antics from the most inept crime fighters in anime history

Every so often, a popular series comes along that has literally nothing going for it. Yet, it’s the favorite series of ironic hipsters and drunken fratboys. Milky Holmes is that franchise. There’s nothing about the series that can be called “good”. It makes Scooby Doo look like Chekov. The girls are still cute. They still do dumb things. They still insult the intelligence of a comatose dog, yet the franchise continues. I’m done ragging on it. I’m done with it period.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Not even if it were to save the Earth from alien destruction.

What I Watched: Mouretsu Pirates

What I Expected: Sora Kake Girl part II

What I Got: An entertaining little show with little fanservice

I refuse to call it by its Americanized name, Bodacious Space Pirates. That name insults it and distracts from an interesting flight of fancy. Once again, a girl is called to step up and have a grand adventure that she doesn’t think she’s ready for. The cast is huge, but they’re playing it smart in slowly introducing all the important ones first. The futuristic setting isn’t too foreign, and Marika is a winning heroine. She doesn’t bemoan her fate, or shy away from action. She isn’t headstrong or overly energetic. In fact, she’s the most “normal” heroine we’ve had since the 90s. It’s very refreshing!

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good, I’m getting good vibes from this one.

What I Watched: The New Prince of Tennis

What I Expected: Hot blooded action and Dragonball-Z type power ups

What I Got: A nice little reboot to a venerable shounen series

The Prince of Tennis was one of the more popular long-running action shows of the last decade. It also was much lampooned, since the special skills the players exhibited were otherworldly. Just as Dragonball kept upping the ante until whole galaxies were being threatened, The Prince of Tennis kept stretching the suspension of disbelief to the quantum breaking point. So with Ryoma returning from America to participate in a training camp with the best in Japan, it looks like a fine place to restart the series. It’s interesting that they’ve already introduced the final boss, and it looks like an Enter the Dragon-style tournament to get to him. Good luck, Ryoma!

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Poor. My two least favorite genres in anime are sports anime and hot-blooded shounen.

What I Watched: Senki Zesshou Symphogear

What I Expected: Another Pretty Cure type magical girl show

What I Got: A grimdark magical girl show a la Madoka

I really hate Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Not because it’s a bad show. I hate it because it introduced the grim magical girl genre. There were casualties. There was suffering. Not the girl-positive upbeat style we all expect from magical girl series. Senki Zesshou Symphogear takes the mantle from Madoka, and drops it—because it isn’t as good. There’s an undercurrent of darkness and desperation about his show. Humanity is being attack by extra-dimensional monsters a la Silent Möbius. Singing idols have the power to use special armor and weapons to fight the invaders. The battle isn’t going well for the good guys. There isn’t any fun about this series. And the story is too boilerplate to transcend that fact.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Poor. Excellent singing from Nana Mizuki is the only reason to keep tabs on this one.

What I Watched: High School DxD

What I Expected: Another monster girl harem a la Rosario + Vampire

What I Got: A gory, sexy, funny romp

After getting burned from last year’s stinker Freezing, I was a little leery about getting into another ecchi horror action series. I was pleasantly surprised. This has more in common with Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka than High School of the Dead. Also, it feels very natural despite the fact the lead was killed and then resurrected as a servant to Lucifer’s sister! More girls will be introduced, and our hero is entertainingly perverted. This show wears a big grin from start to finish. Oh, and the rampant nudity doesn’t hurt, either!

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. I’ve found my guilty pleasure of the season.

The new shows keep coming! Part II on the way.

Seiyuu Awards 2011

2012-01-01T20:08:00.001-05:00

2011 was a pretty good year for anime, and one of the reasons was the inspired work of many seiyuu. Here are my end of the year awards:

Breakout Star (F): Ai Kayano

2011 was a breakthrough year for Ai Kayano, who came out of nowhere to star in some very high-profile roles. Her voice is slight, but like Mamiko Noto, she has full command of every inch of it. From the mysterious loli Menma in Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-tachi wa Mada Shirinai to the ballbusting Class Rep Ume in Ben-To, Ai more than held her own against some industry heavyweights. She needs a little more polish before she can become a consistent leading lady, but that’s just a matter of time.

Breakout Star (M): Yuuki Kaiji

Kaiji has always been a reliable character actor, but now he’s being entrusted to one of the more difficult roles for guys: harem lead. It takes a steady hand not to fall into the many traps awaiting harem leads, but he has acquitted himself nicely. As the teenaged basketball coach of middle school girls in Ro-Kyu-Bu, he had to be attractive without crossing the loli line. As Haruaki in C³, he had to manage a group of anthropomorphized cursed objects without winding up the final casualty. He also could do action, as the lead in Guilty Crown. Not a bad résumé in one year!

MVP (F): Yukari Tamura

One of the highest honor paid to a seiyuu is that they make whatever it is they’re in better – regardless of how bad the show is! Yukarin has that rare ability to elevate slight material and make it watchable. In fact, she nearly steals the show. As Tabane, the genius inventor of the IS System in Infinite Stratos, Yukarin stole every scene she was in – and she didn’t show up until episode 9! She also took a challenging role as Fiya, the torture cube trying to become human in C³. It’s getting so that if you see Yukarin in the credits, you should give that series an even chance. Even if it sucks, you’ll get an outstanding performance!

MVP (M): Yuuichi Nakamura

Nakamura looks like this generation’s Takehito Koyasu: a seiyuu that can do anything, and isn’t afraid to try! He did bad guys (Gai – Guilty Crown), strong silent bros (Ryuu – Kimi ni Todoke 2), slapstick comedy (Goro – Squid Girl 2), and anything else that was asked of him. Plus, he’s one of the few in the male seiyuu brotherhood that can go toe to toe with Tomokazu Sugita. Look for more of him in 2012.

Aya Hirano Award (Most Overexposed): The girls of SPHERE

While each of the girls are fine actors in their own right, I think the whole SPHERE phenomenon is on it’s last legs. It’s as if the anime public is starting to recognize that strong personalities don’t overcome a lack of singing talent. Haruka Tomatsu has the most juice right now, she might be able to continue on as a solo idol. Minako Kotobuki may be the best singer, but she’s often overshadowed by the other girls’ stronger personalities. Ayahi Takagaki is the odd woman out, which is a shame because she’s the most comfortable on a stage. Aki Toyosaki seems to have withstood the boyfriend scandal, and she’s continuing to do fine acting work. There’s rumored to be a series this Summer featuring SPHERE. I wonder if anyone will still care after the abortion that was SPHERE CLUB.

2012 is off to a roaring start. Let’s hope we get another strong year from anime’s acting professionals!

Top 10 Anime of 2011

2011-12-28T21:21:00.001-05:00

The Fall season has concluded, and 2012 is just around the corner. Time to list my Top 10 series from 2011. Remember, these are the best shows that I finished. If your favorite was left off the list, I guess you should get your own anime blog!

10. Rio – Rainbow Gate: So what is one of the most reviled series of 2011 doing on my Top 10 list? Simple. It was the best guilty pleasure I watched all year. It never took itself too seriously, the girls were gorgeous, and it never lost its infectious fun. From poking fun at classic series to putting Rio in increasingly ridiculous challenges, this show always delivered.

9. Fractale: While this show didn’t save anime, it was a competent fantasy action series. It didn’t have enough time to flesh out its ambitious plot, but what we got was excellent acting, Studio Ghibli-inspired backgrounds, and a lovely soundtrack. It was a bit of a mess, but an interesting mess at that.

8. Level E: This may be the greatest troll series ever created. The anthology framework may have kept you disoriented, but the antics of a naughty alien prince getting his comeuppance was well worth the monkey ride.

7. The World God Only Knows 2: The continuing adventures of the “Capturing God” and his demon sidekick picked up right where they left off in Season One. Keima would have been insufferable in lesser hands than Hiro Shimono. Kanae Ito also shined as the sweet, fire truck-loving demon Elsie. We also got introduced to overachieving demon Haqua, and her sparring with Keima kept things lively. This is basically screaming for a Season 3.

6. Ro-Kyu-Bu: The set up is a bit repellant, with viewers expected to ogle middle-school girls in basketball pants. However, this was one of the best ensemble pieces of the year. The personalities of the five girls meshed very well, making them underdogs worthy of rooting for.

5. Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka?: As Japan feels its way around combining comedy, drama and horror, this series works pretty well thanks to a strong lead. The inevitable harem elements actually detracted somewhat from its power, but a strong ending and the promising sequel make it all worth while.

4. Kimi ni Todoke 2: After the first season full of angst, humor and likable characters, Season 2 had to be made for the payoff. And we got it…sort of. Watching Sawako and Kazehaya take baby steps toward becoming a couple was exquisite agony. Mamiko Noto deserves praise for giving voice to Sawako’s social awkwardness. While the drama and misunderstandings came on a little thick most of the time, the strong characters always rescued it from soap opera slop.

3. Infinite Stratos: There are so many ways this could have gone wrong, and to be fair it ended sort of weakly. However, this futuristic action harem comedy was worth a watch thanks to the strong females in the cast. There was a girl for every taste, and that girl was well-acted and strongly built. They are teasing us with OVA releases. I hope it gets a proper Season 2.

2. Denpa Onna to Seshun Otoko: Slice-of-life gets the SHAFT treatment, as we get a wheelbarrow full of terrible quirky, interesting girls and one intrepid boy edging toward adulthood. Stepping back from it all, one can marvel at how much happened between the characters. Makoto sacrificed his right arm to bring his cousin back from the brink of madness. He’s got not one, but two hot (odd) girls chasing him – along with his MILF aunt. Talk all you want about Bakemonogatari, this is SHAFT’s most impressive series about a boy growing up.

1. Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: Sporting the highest re-watchability factor of any series, Haganai impressed me with its humane treatment of socially awkward people. It didn’t mock them like Genshiken, nor did it trash things up with supernatural elements like Haruhi. It was just a group of social misfits trying to find ways to fit in. The story between Yozora and Kodaka seemed shoehorned in at the end. However, I can’t imagine them not doing a second season so we can pursue the plot playing out in the light novel series. This show didn’t try and do too much, it stayed in its comfort zone.

2011 was a pretty good year for anime. Here’s hoping that 2012 is an even better year!

Fall Season Wrap Part 2

2011-12-27T21:29:00.001-05:00

Wrapping it all up:

What I Watched: UN-GO

What I Expected: Another supernatural detective series

What I Got: A stylish, sexy mess of a series

After a year filled with gothic, Sherlock Holmes-style thrillers (Gosick, Dantalian no Shoka), here we have a futuristic take on the supernatural detective series. Unlike the precious two mentioned, UN-GO takes an angular approach to crime-solving. The crimes themselves aren’t very intriguing. It’s the framework which they are presented that’s fascinating. Shijuro and Inga are pawns in a much larger narrative, and that’s what really pulls you in. We get dribs and drabs of who the characters really are with each successive solution and subsequent cover up. While the big reveal was a bit lacking, the framework remains. We also haven’t seen how Shijuro and Inga meet, and how they came to depend on one another. It had pretty good acting, with special props to Aki Toyosaki – pulling off shota/femme fatale demon Inga with surprising ease. It’s left itself open for a second season, and I hope they follow through. We don’t get to see shows like this enough. UN-GO gets 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: Kimi to Boku

What Expected: Gay high school boys doing boring things

What I Got: (Mostly) Straight high school boys doing boring things

We’ve had our fill of high school girls doing boring things, how about the guys taking a turn? Since slice-of-life shows depend on the quality of the characters that inhabit them, Kimi to Boku sort of falls flat. They have the usual assortment of archetypes: healing-type, stern glasses-wearing student, my-pace identical twins & overly-energetic outsider. When the typical character types are transplanted to boys, it doesn’t work very well. It’s not surreal like Azumanga Daioh. It’s not frenetic like Nichijou. It’s rather polite and understated. It’s like they drew a series for girls, and at the last minute replaced them with boys. It isn’t offensive, and Shun is a likable protagonist. I don’t regret watching it. I just wasn’t very excited about watching it. Kimi to Boku gets 2 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: Wagnaria!! Season 2

What I Expected: More slice-of-life from the world’s strangest family restaurant workers

What I Got: Better than season one, but still a little lacking

I had forgot that the official title had changed from Working!! to the name of the restaurant. No matter, it’s still the same Grand Slam Breakfast served on the same plate. By now all the interactions are set, and save for the introduction of a few new characters, everything is pretty much the same. Thank goodness they put Inami on a leash for much of the show. Her neurotic punching of Souta was more a pathetic cry for help than physical humor. Poplar is still short, Satou is still cranky, Yamada is still weird and the Manager still eats too many parfaits. If you loved season one, this one is for you. If you were ambivalent about it (as I was), this is just another bran muffin for your brain. Wagnaria!! Season 2 gets 2 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: Shinryaku!! Ika Musume Season 2

What I Expected: More of the same

What I Got: Second verse, same as the first!

One of the joys of adapting a successful manga series is the numerous story possibilities. One of the pains is you can’t really race ahead of the manga author. We get more slice-of-life antics from the cutest anthropomorphic squid ever to invade out of the sea. However, we learn nothing more about her. Why is she here? Why does she look like a 13-year-old girl, when all the other giant squid look like they come from an H.P. Lovecraft novel? We get no answers. It still is one of the most charming shows I’ve seen, but it feels like they’re bumping up against the limitations of this current set up. While the quality remains the same, the surprise factor is gone. There’s also an undercurrent of melancholy about the series. It’s as is the author is preparing us to part with Ika Musume sometime in the near future. It still is enjoyable, and as long as we get the occasional Mini Ika sequence, I’ll be happy. Shinryaku!! Ika Musume Season 2 gets 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

The Winter Anime season beings after the New Year. As usual, I’ll watch as many of the new series as I can and deliver my first impressions. Happy New Year!

Fall Season Wrap Part 1

2011-12-24T20:44:00.001-05:00

Most of the Fall shows have wrapped up. Here’s my take on the ones I actually finished:

What I Watched: Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukanai

What I Expected: Band of misfits discovering their true potential

What I Got: Interesting character interactions from some very damaged people

Socially awkward people are the lifeblood of otaku culture. The nerds that obsess over the correct coloring and style of pantsu on a figurine can relate to a club for friendless people. Each character had their own quirk, with the near-normal Kodaka leading the group. The main love triangle was kept quiet by his terminal denseness. It never got overbearing or creepy, though it did flirt with schmaltz at the end with Yozora’s big reveal. In the end, everything went back to normal(?), and it’s set up beautifully for a second season. That’s good news, because this show is the best one of the Fall. Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukanai gets 4 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: C³ – Cube x Cursed x Curious

What I Expected: Magical girlfriend series with some supernatural fighting

What I Got: An incomplete horror dramedy

In the West, we have some difficulty combining the horror genre with comedy. The Evil Dead series is the only one I can think of that wasn’t a funny movie poking fun at horror, or a horror movie with funny elements. In Japan, they’ve taken it as a challenge to get it right. C³ is the latest attempt. It’s an odd concept to begin with: cursed weapons taking on human form. It started as a monster-of-the-week show, then tried to jam a plot in at the end. The fighting was surprisingly gory, yet they then tried to pivot back into wacky harem land. I can’t say it succeeded, but it certainly was a game effort. It’s set up for a season two, and I would probably watch it. C³ – Cube x Cursed x Curious gets 2 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: Mashiro-iro Symphony

What I Expected: Eroge adaptation #7612938750

What I Got: An slice-of-life that started strong, then petered out into drama slop

Makers of eroge must curse To Heart. That groundbreaking show was the guiding light of how to turn an eroge into a watchable series. Every attempt after has failed, even the follow-up To Heart 2. Mashiro-iro Symphony started promising, but then took a love triangle route at the end to squash any momentum the characters had built. I do give them props for actually choosing a girl, but it was a bit too polite in how it handled it all. The characters had potential, but it was drown in angst. Mashiro-iro Symphony gets 1 1/2 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: Maken-Ki

What I Expected: Ikkitousen + harem comedy

What I Got: A surprisingly UNsexy, plotless mess

Let’s count up the sins, shall we? Ugly character designs? Check. Tsundere childhood friend beating up the male lead? Check. Unremarkable boy with “special hidden power”? Check. No real plot to speak of? Check. I could go on and on, but that would just depress me. I suppose I kept watching this expecting it would become a guilty pleasure. But that only happens when the producers don’t take themselves or their show seriously. There’s no wacky here. Even the battle in the pool against Team Venus was a poorly choreographed mess. Most series that leave the door open at the end intrigue me. This one just made me relieved that I wasn’t going to have to watch a sequel. Maken-Ki gets 1/2 star out of 5.

Part 2 is on the way!

Melly Chrisumasu!

2011-12-04T19:55:00.001-05:00

As we head into the Christmas season, it’s interesting to see how anime reflects Japanese attitudes toward this most Western of holidays. Being mostly Shinto and Buddhist, Japan places much more cultural weight behind New Years. Witness the many references to midnight shrine visits to pray for good luck in the coming year.

Christmas has risen a bit in the past couple of decades as mainly a couples holiday. Stripped of its religious significance, Christmas is revealed to the Japanese as a commercial celebration, like Valentines Day. To that end, Japan has adopted some unusual traditions. For example, it is customary to eat Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas. I guess for a nation the size of California with twice its population, turkeys are an expensive extravagance. Gift giving is ingrained into the Japanese culture anyway, so that seems a natural.

But it’s the romantic implications of having a date on Christmas Eve that fascinates animators. Many series have taken advantage of this. The series Amagami SS starts off with Junichi getting stood up on Christmas Eve. Each of the girls’ arcs derive from that one event. Legendary harem series Love Hina had a Christmas special that showed the triumphs and tragedies of the Yuletide season. Nearly every series you can think of has a Christmas episode, which usually leads to the New Year shrine visit. Since the Japanese have gender-segregated Valentines Day along with White Day, Christmas serves as a convenient couples day for romantic series to use and abuse.

Another interesting phenomenon is that of Christmas cake. It’s a term for unmarried women over the age of 25. (No one wants Christmas cake past the 25th!) It’s a particularly cruel time of year for those hot teachers who aren’t lucky in love. Yoshinoya-sensei in Hidamari Sketch, Yokoshima-sensei in Seitokai Yakuindomo, and Kuroi-sensei in Lucky Star (who the term may be coined for) are all examples of Christmas cakes searching for a buyer.

Santa also gets the full-range treatment. He’s a hot biker chick in Chokotto Sister. He’s a cruel bastard in Hayate the Combat Butler; and a Dragonball-Z type adversary in Kyouran Kazoku Nikki. The jolly old elf does not escape the culture blender that is Japan. Although, it is easy to see why Santa might be intimidating. He’s a big, fat, old gaijin riding in a giant sled being pulled by flying reindeer. When you come from a culture with flying dragons and demons, that doesn’t normally spell fun.

So as the snow gently falls, and the Winter Solstice shortens the days and extends the nights, let’s take stock of another year in anime.

And pass the KFC!

Defusing Plot Bombs

2011-11-13T19:59:00.001-05:00

After a decade of closely following anime, I’ve noticed something. Occasionally, a work will be adapted that has a well-developed life in another form. Light novels are an example. The benefit of these works is obvious for an animator. The universe for this particular story is already well thought out and fully formed, so there’s no need to fill in any gaps. The plot is laid out and the characters are set. All that’s left is to give it life.

The problem with this is in editing. Words on the written page don’t always translate to the small screen. Compromises have to be made, and if the plot or background are too involved, then exposition must be given to the viewer in order to get them up to speed. A good example would be the Crest of the Stars/ Banner of the Stars series. The action unfolds naturally, and information is only given to the viewer when necessary to understand a particular action or plot point. Another good example would be The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The main character Kyon also doubles as the narrator. He is the avatar for the viewer who wonders what exactly is going on. His internal dialogue keeps us clued in to where we need to be in the story.

Unfortunately, some producers don’t feel the need to fill in the viewer with the necessary exposition to make a jumbled plot seem clear. In the new series Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere, we are dropped into the middle of a maelstrom of action, and I still don’t have a clear idea of what exactly is going on. I had to go to the internet to find out more background on the plot. That’s bad producing on the animators’ side. There are directorial devices that one can use to bring the viewer up to speed. We really haven’t gotten any. Defenders of the series say that there are adequate clues sprinkled throughout the first few episodes. If they are too subtle to be obvious, then they are poorly done. The producers should assume that the viewer has no prior knowledge of the backstory. What should be exhilarating becomes exasperating.

It isn’t the first series to leave viewers disoriented, it’s merely the latest. I agree that viewers shouldn’t be spoon-fed plot. They also shouldn’t have to consider other reference material to understand what’s going on, either. The series Munto also had a similar problem. It had an extremely high concept plot, and it was frustrating to watch because little help was given to clarify.

The principles of good story telling are universal. It’s what allows us to enjoy folktales from South Africa and Siberia in equal footing. The problem I see in anime is the dearth of new material versus the demand. New properties are developed quickly for animation, and corners are cut. It takes some time are care to adapt another story from another format. I get slightly peeved at readers of manga who complain that the animated version differs from the source material. Well, it’s because it’s an adaptation. What looks good on paper, may not look good on a television screen.

I actually give credit to animators who take their time unfolding a story. It takes discipline to slowly roll out plot points rather than flood the viewer with too much stuff. I see an improvement overall, and that gives me hope for the future.

Fall Season 1st Impressions Part 2

2011-10-16T22:26:00.001-04:00

Most of the new shows have aired. Here’s part 2:

What I Watched: Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai

What I Expected: Adventures at the Asperger’s Club

What I Got: Hot, unpleasant girls sniping at each other

I don’t know what to make of this. You’ve got a club for loners to help them make friends, then you discover why they don’t have any friends – they are mostly unpleasant people to be around. Yozora is sort of a lower key Haruhi, possessing all of her arrogance and eccentricities -- with none of her boundless energy. Sena is arrogance personified. As the hot daughter of the principal, she has boys crawling all over her, but no friends. Why would any girl befriend someone who will instantly steal away all the boys attention? Even the male lead, Kodaka, is an annoying beta who made a bad impression from the start and doesn’t seem to be able to make amends. On the good side, it shares the character designer from Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko-- which I liked. We also haven’t met all the members of the club. If you can take the catty sniping, you might be rewarded with a pretty decent show.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. I’m not completely sold, but I’ll wait for the other members before deciding.

What I Watched: Un-Go

What I Expected: Another detective show a la Gosick

What I Got: A stylish mess that downplays it’s weaknesses

I wasn’t going into this one with a lot of expectations. Detective shows are tough, since the genre is so well defined. If the mystery is too obtuse, it’s frustrating to watch. If it’s too easy, you get to watch 20 minutes of fill before you get the reveal which you’ve already figured out. Un-Go covers up it’s bad writing with oodles of style, and it kind of works. It’s got the style of Utena, mixed with strong characters and a scene-chewing performance by Aki Toyosaki as the mysterious Inga. I was expecting a grown up Detective Conan. But this is more like Demonic Detective Nougami Nero, as that also had a demon teaming up with a human to solve mysteries. It also has a Kafkaesque bend, as the detective’s solutions are covered up by a corrupt plutocracy.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. This one’s intriguing me.

What I Watched: Ben-To

What I Expected: Dragonball-Z during a food fight

What I Got: A great performance in a dud of a show

The Japanese will make a fighting show out of anything. This time, it's a battle for half-price lunches at a grocery store. Several Jojo-like warriors lay in wait, then beat each other senseless for the right to buy discounted lunches. Are you kidding me? Of course, there’s a wimp of a hero who wants to jump in the middle of all this, instead of, you know, GOING TO ANOTHER STORE. At least Hiro Shimono is doing his usual “better than Jun Fukuyama when he wasn’t imitating Norio Wakamoto all the time” performance as the lead. Seriously, wouldn’t the cops be interested in the fact that every night a BATTLE ROYALE breaks out in a local grocery? I’ve a veteran of a number of Black Friday shopping wars. I’ve never seen anyone shoot an energy ball into another shopper who was going for the half-price jewelry.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Nope. Pass. This one makes my brain eat itself.

What I Watched: Working!!

What I Expected: More of the same

What I Got: Even more boredom than the first season

Working!! is one of those shows that got great hype on the Interbutts, then turned out to be a snoozer. A slice-of-life with unpleasant people who try and pass their unpleasantness off as “quirkiness”. At least they’ve put Inami in the background a bit this time. She made the show insufferable. She’s another girl “afraid of men” who works in A FAMILY DINER. Did she not know that 50% of her customers would be dudes? If she were just scared, that would be enough. But she manifests her fear by punching the innocent guy in question. Why isn’t she in the hospital? Guys don’t generally like being punched in the face. Lucky for her, Souta is such a doormat that he takes her “love taps” and doesn’t have her arrested for assault. The other characters have their quirks. It’s not a bad series, it just doesn’t go anywhere.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. I watched the first season and it didn’t kill me.

There are other shows I haven’t gotten to, but that should do. There’s a lot to watch this season. Enjoy!

Fall Season 1st Impressions Part 1

2011-10-05T21:47:00.001-04:00

The flood gates have opened, and the Fall Season is underway! Here are my first impressions of the new series:

What I Watched: Shinryaku! Ika Musume Season 2

What I Expected: More squiddly hijinks from the spawn of Cthulu

What I Got: The best slice of life with the weirdest setup

After the surprise success of season one, season two picks up right where it left off. Our favorite oceanic invader again has her plans for human domination thwarted by her childlike curiosity and basic decency. I wasn’t expecting many surprises, since they seem to be following the manga. I only hope they will devote an episode or two to mini Ika, since that was the most remarkable seven minutes of animation I had seen in ages.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. It’s a known quantity.

What I Watched: C3 (Cube, Cursed & Curious)

What I Expected: A fighting anime a la Fate/Stay Night

What I Got: A magical girlfriend and harem

An industrial-sized suspension of belief is required to accept this one. In this world, cursed objects can take on human form when they receive enough bad vibes. These “worse” can remain human if the curse is lifted. Haruaki is the son of an archaeologist who receives an interesting box. This box transforms into a cute girl named Fiya (Fear). Haruaki promises to help lift her curse. There will be fighting, and it won’t make a lot of sense. However, the harem elements are present, and the girls are cute enough. It shares the same character designer as Baka to Test, so that’s a point in its favor.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair to Good. I’m not getting stink vibes from this yet.

What I Watched: Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!

What I Expected: An ecchi comedy with female warlords a la Koihime

What I Got: Wall-to-wall action for 24 minutes straight

Majikoi achieved the unenviable task of introducing a ton of characters while keeping the action flowing. You might not be able to discern what’s going on, but you can’t say it was boring! Starting the series off with war games between classes got the blood pumping, and setup the next few episodes in flashback. It sort of ran out of steam at the end. But if they keep the pacing up, it should be an interesting watch.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. This might fall off the rails after a promising start.

What I Watched: Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon

What I Expected: A dystopian battle between shadowy forces

What I Got: A combination of Needless and Gintama

I had to re-read the description of the series three times to make heads or tails of it. To be honest, I still don’t understand it. As I can gather, a floating city/state trains warriors from other countries. It’s embroiled in intrigue, and various nations fight over the only inhabitable land left on Earth. Like Majikoi, it decided to forgo exposition in favor of wall-to-wall action. The characters are numerous, and the story should unfold over the next few episodes. The humor was a little smoother, and the action was impressive.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good, until the drama starts laying it on thick.

What I Watched: Maken-Ki

What I Expected: A better Ikkitousen

What I Got: Ikkitousen + harem

So the producers decided to take all the panty shots and ecchi fanservice from Ikkitousen and eliminate the Dragonball-Z nature of the show. They also wanted to build a harem around a screw-up of a weak hero. Add it all up and you get the ultimate pander show for basement dwellers. This is more along the lines of Maburaho, with a weak lead with a special power surrounded by hot, overpowered women. And as with that show, the male lead is the weak point. This has no other reason for existence than fanservice, and as such, shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. It has a good VA cast, and it might be a guilty pleasure.

What I Watched: Kimi to Boku

What I Expected: Cute boys doing cute things

What I Got: Homoerotic undertones and dull action

Japan has series by the truckload featuring cute girls doing cute things. What happens when they turn the table and put boys in the same situation. If Kimi to Boku is to be believed, not much -- save for some uncomfortable BL vibes. I’m not sure who this series is aimed at. Girls won’t like it because the boys aren’t BL enough. Boys won’t like it because it’s boring.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Nope. Pass.

What I Watched: Mashiroiro Symphony

What I Expected: Eroge adaptation #7693062

What I Got: Warmed over tropes

Like last season’s Hoshizora, and series like Da Capo, this show follows cute, young boys and girls at high school. Drama is implied, and never too heavy. There are quirky characters, like a teacher who is afraid of boys, and a Student President who has two sides to her personality. This is setup like a bad dating sim, and I’m sure it will play out like a bad dating sim. Seen one, you’ve seen them all.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. These series sometimes have good comedy, I’ll give it a few episodes.

More series coming – part 2 is on the way!

Summer Season Review Part II

2011-10-01T14:33:00.001-04:00

What I Watched: Ro-Kyu-Bu

What I Expected: Standard sports anime

What I Got: A loli harem and far too little basketball

Japan has an odd fascination with basketball. Considering they are not the tallest of people, they take the game seriously. In fact, you’re just as likely to see a group of Japanese youth playing pickup basketball in the park as soccer. I suppose the NBA’s international marketing in Asia is a success. Anyway, take their love of basketball and mash it together with their love of cute middle school girls, and you get Ro-Kyu-Bu. The suspension of disbelief is strong in this one. Tiny Japanese girls playing a tall person’s game is odd enough. Throw in the lolicon elements and it has a real chance of imploding. That didn’t happen, as the acting and mild situations kept this on the watchable side. It wasn’t a classic, but it wasn’t a waste of time either. Ro-Kyu-Bu gets 2 1/2 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: Mayo Chiki

What I Expected: “Let’s Beat Up the Lead” #6501838401

What I Got: A not-quite romance despite an odd setup

Sometimes Japan layers on the concepts so deep that you need a guide dog to find your way out again. So a reverse-trap butler of a trolling rich girl winds up with a beta male who’s so used to getting beat up by his sister and pro wrestler mother that he’s allergic to girls. Add to the fact that everyone thinks he’s gay, since he hangs out with the worst reverse-trap ever. Subaru isn’t even a tomboy. She’s a shapely girl dressed in a butler’s outfit. She even has braids, for crying out loud. Anyhoo, we progress from uncomfortable situation after uncomfortable situation, and wind up with a semi-conclusion – where they don’t even declare themselves a couple. Season 2? Not likely. Mayo Chiki gets 2 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: Dantalian no Shoka

What I Expected: More loli detective work a la Gosick

What I Got: A game attempt at a horror anthology series

This series should have been much worse than it actually was. An anthology works when there is a thread running through each episode. Instead, it was disjointed with Huey and Dalian waiting for a deus ex machina to save the day. What saved the series was the extraordinary acting of Daisuke Ono and Miyuki Sawashiro as the leads. There was genuine chemistry between the noble WWI pilot hero and the tsundere library demon. The last episode was rushed as hell, but it put a nice capper on a somewhat dark series. Dantalian no Shoka gets 3 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: Uta no Prince-sama – Maji Love 1000%

What I Expected: Underdog makes good

What I Got: A cheesy reverse harem that was somewhat endearing.

Guilty pleasures either need to be so bad that they are charming, or not taken seriously at all by the producers to give a big wink to the viewer. This show fails both. It tries to take itself seriously as a school drama for tweener girls, but it would have served them better by just going completely over the top. It didn’t help that at a school for budding idols, only a few of the bishies could really sing. It had its moments, and casting Norio Wakamoto as an over-the-top principal was genius. However, Uta no Prince-sama gets 1 star out of 5.

What I Watched: R-15

What I Expected: An ecchi high school comedy

What I Got: An annoying series that torpedoed its chances with drama

Summer was the season of high-concept flops. This is another one. A school for geniuses recruits a genius writer of porn novels. Hmmmm… Then they try and manufacture a love triangle between him and two other students. The problem is Taketo is pretty loathsome. Every close encounter he has with girls causes him to fantasize about them in the most crude ways. Japan used to thrive on series like Trouble Chocolate and All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku-Nuku. The difference was the older series knew that they were about slapstick. The naughtiness was just the cherry on top of the sundae. No enough funny sunk this stinker. R-15 gets 1/2 star out of 5.

Summer was by far the weakest season of 2011. The Fall shows have already started. As usual, I’ll watch as many as I can and give first impressions.

Summer Season Review Part 1

2011-09-20T20:25:00.001-04:00

The Summer Season is quickly coming to an end, so here are my reviews of series I finished:

What I Watched: Yuruyuri

What I Expected: More silly antics from high school girls

What I Got: Azumanga GAY-oh

Japan’s bottomless appetite for high school girls continues unabated with Yuruyuri. This time we add overt lesbian undertones to all the hijinks – something that’s merely hinted at in previous series (K-ON, I’m looking at you!).

The running gags become tedious after a few episodes, like Chihiro’s nosebleed fantasies and the constant picking on Akari. However, there’s good energy in the cast, and it ended strongly. I just wished they concentrated more on the funny, and less on the lezzy. Yuruyuri gets 2 1/2 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: Ikoku Meiro no Croisée

What I Expected: Aria in Dumas’ Paris

What I Got: A bittersweet fish-out-of-water tale

The thing that made Aria such a compelling slice of life wasn’t the wonderful characters, but the settings and the sense that time stood still. Any drama was resolved within an episode, and usually minor at best. Yune’s journey to Paris should have been a rich travelogue showing the wonders of one of the world’s greatest cities. Instead, it became mired in class struggles, and an unrequited romance between her master Claude and Lady Camille. It tried to give us some sights of late 19th century Paris, but it was almost like a 2D slideshow. The characters were fun, but there was a pervasive darkness, an ennui about it all. They didn’t really end the series, just stopped. I hope we get another season, as the manga is ongoing. Ikoku Meiro no Croisée gets 2 1/2 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: Sacred Seven

What I Expected: A good, old-fashioned tear ‘em up action series

What I Got: Gundam Macross mecha with rocks

I thought this would be a good guilty pleasure. It had all the ingredients: stellar cast; Japan menaced by an alien evil; SKY SURFING! Yet, they just didn’t commit to it, and got bogged down in angsty shit. In an anime world bereft of good action shows, Sacred Seven did deliver the goods when the time came. It’s just the time in between those fights that dragged it down. Sacred Seven gets 1 1/2 star out of 5.

More shows closing this week. Part 2 on the way!

Happy 4th Birthday Miku Hatsune

2011-08-31T23:05:00.001-04:00

August 31st is the birthday of Japan’s most notorious virtual idol. Miku Hatsune was launched into an unsuspecting Japan in 2007, and now she’s got her sights set on conquering America. She starred in a couple of odd web commercials for Toyota, where she showed a surprising love for double pork products.

She also had her own showcase with a live concert at this year’s Anime Expo in Los Angeles in July.

Japanese art site piapro.jp annouced the winner of their American Miku contest. The winning entry envisions her as some sort of a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader:

It looks like this idol has got legs! (literally)

As Crypton Media continues to refine Miku’s voice and expressive capabilities, we may soon see the day when she becomes a star in her own right here in the West. The concept is still strange, but with the success of movies like Avatar, is it really? The talent of course lies with the producers of the music. Vocaloids are, after all, software algorithms. Visionary artists have given shape and characterization to them, but they are music tools to do your bidding. There’s even been a hint that an English language Miku is in the works. Vocaloid Gumi may be more human in her singing, Megurine Luka may be more versatile with her bilingual capabilities, but Miku is the Queen.

Just watch out when she gets her own reality show on Fox!

Aya Hirano Strikes Back

2011-08-28T17:39:00.001-04:00

The trials and tribulations of embattled seiyuu/idol Aya Hirano continue. August has been a busy month for her, as she was embroiled in a sex scandal. Apparently she was caught sleeping with 3/4ths of her touring band (poor bass player!). She was summarily dumped from her agency Space Craft, and had her website and fan club shut down.

She didn’t take it lying down though (snort!), signing on with new agency Grick. She has promised to open a new fan club and pick up her career right where she left off. She’s nothing if not resilient, as she’s absorbed abuse from one scandal after another. One could say that she brought a lot of this on herself, as she’s refused to play the perfect little virginal queen demanded of most good-looking young seiyuu.

If she winds up changing the perception of seiyuu from fantasy to a more realistic picture, then she should be praised. Most anime otaku are frustrated “cherry boys” who use their favorite anime heroines (and their seiyuu by association) as fetish fuel. They fantasize about taking the virginity of (and in the process losing theirs) their favorite seiyuu. If you’re young and attractive, like Aya is, then so much the better.

She violated this silent contract by admitting on television that not only is she not a virgin, but she prefers rich, older men. She apparently also doesn’t like the taste of condoms, either. Too much information got her in hot water. There was an outcry from the frustrated basement dwellers, and she went into anime hiding. She was forbidden to take on any new roles, though she could work on previous roles and sequels. The sheer volume of work she had done previously kept her working steady, though her frustration must have been building.

She’s been a seiyuu for half her life, so she literally grew up in anime. She turned to her producers and handlers (mostly older men) for comfort and guidance, and now that the truth is out, it’s bit her on the bum. As a Westerner, I don’t really understand the fuss. Yes, we love gossip about our favorite actors. However, few are surprised when they turn out to be human beings with needs and urges.

Perhaps this is what Hideaki Anno referred to when he said that Japan was immature. Grown ups have sex. We all know it. We don’t begrudge other adults for having sex. There also seems to be a double standard for older seiyuu. Around the time Aya’s troubles were coming to light, Maaya Sakamoto announced she was marrying fellow seiyuu and childhood friend Kenichi Suzumura. Sakamoto is 31, an age most otaku consider old ladies. Hirano is 24, and right in her prime. Now that she seems sullied in the eyes of otaku, I wonder if Aya will be left alone to ply her craft in peace.

My guess is no. Because the other troubling thing about the Hirano affair is the implied sexism. Strong-willed, independent women are frowned upon in patriarchal Japan. The most brazen way a woman could exert her power is through her sexuality. Aya isn’t just taking a poke at delusional fanboys, but the entire structure of Japanese society.

I for one welcome her back into anime. She’s an experienced and professional voice actor, and an improving singer. I care not a whit about her private life. I just want to hear her in the various anime series I watch. My wish is Aya Hirano is the first crack in the wall to let seiyuu be human and not worried about being stalked by psychotic shut-ins trying to police some made-up purity laws.

Revenge of the Lolis

2011-07-31T21:38:00.001-04:00

On July 1st, 2011, Rule 156 went into effect in Tokyo. Pushed through by Governor Ishihara, the rule would give the Metropolitan Government added authority to regulate and ban objectionable works depicting minors in adult situations. Child pornography is illegal in nearly every jurisdiction in the world. But we’re talking about anime and manga. These are drawings of fictional children. Can you claim harm on a child that doesn’t exist? This will be discussed for ages.

The rule only affects Tokyo, so the other prefectures have their own rules (or not). However, as the largest prefecture in Japan, and the traditional seat of the anime and manga industries, Tokyo’s influence looms large.

However, almost as an act of defiance by the anime industry, we are seeing a resurgence of lolis in series this Summer. In fact, lolis are playing a greater role this season than in almost any season in recent memory.

In the series Ikoku Meiro no Croisée, Yune is a young Japanese girl living and working in Paris. It’s a classic “fish out of water” tale, with culture clashes aplenty. However, it’s a charming little series with very little drama. We do get fanservice shots of Yune bathing. Alice, a rich French loli is also seen bathing. It’s hardly prurient. In fact, it’s quite tastefully done. But naked lolis would seem to run afoul of Rule 156.

In Kami-sama no Memo-chou (God’s Notebook), Alice is a genius hacker and detective. She solves crime from her computer cave with the help of ne’er do well NEETs, and an earnest and helpful high school boy who falls into her circle. It’s an enjoyable romp – sort of an A-Team meets Nero Wolfe. Alice is said to be 12, and we occasionally see her in states of undress. Again, nothing leering, it’s just part of the show.

Finally, if you aren’t satisfied by just one loli, how about a basketball team full of them? In Ro-Kyuu-Bu, middle-school girls need the help of a hotshot high school basketball player to help coach their team. If they lose a match against the highly-ranked boys team, they have to disband. That would be enough, however producers feel the need to show 6th grade girls bathing, showering and changing in the locker room nearly every episode. It’s gratuitous, but the girls are all innocent and they don’t quite know how to process their feelings for the handsome older boy helping them win.

I’m amused by the loli backlash, but I’m also worried. It can go too far. In fact, there was an OVA released in July called Baby Princess 3D. In it, a boy comes to live with the family he never knew – Mama + 19(!) sisters ranging in age from 19 to 0 (newborn). Setting aside the “vagina as clown car” bit, the girls all seem to have a crush on the boy. The first episode sees them going swimming and to a hot springs. Gee, there couldn’t be any gratuitous nudity there, could there? Let’s just say all the girls showed their “assets” in one form or another.

I hope producers have worked this out of their system this Summer. Young girls can play a vital role in an ensemble. But sexualizing them and objectifying them just seems wrong to me.

There’ll be plenty of time for that when they hit their teens!

Summer Season 1st Impressions Part III

2011-07-17T21:27:00.001-04:00

And, wrapping things up…

What I Watched: R-15

What I Expected: Another ecchi-fest a la Ladies vs. Butlers

What I Got: Weak tea and no biscuit

Okay, a high school for geniuses recruits a teen porn writer who channels his libido through his pen. It’s a somewhat unorthodox setup for a harem sex comedy, but I suppose it’ll do. Essentially it boils down to Taketo meeting, fantasizing about, and inexplicably helping girls about the academy. He gets into the usual misunderstandings, and absorbs the usual kinds of abuse. While not laugh out loud funny, it isn’t really offensive either. These sort of shows are a dime a dozen, yet it isn’t bad enough to drive you away.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. I like to complain about shows like this, but I tend to eat them up!

What I Watched: Dantalian no Shoka

What I Expected: Gosick mixed with Library Wars

What I Got: More Jumanji than anything else

Huey, an English noble and WWI veteran pilot, inherits an estate from his estranged grandfather. Upon inspecting the manor, he finds a small girl named Dalian in the library. Turns out she’s a demon that helped his grandfather seal troublesome grimoires that are wrecking havoc. Huey takes over, and that’s where the story begins. Huey is a rarity in anime, as he’s a suave, assured, capable hero. He carries a gun and knows how to use it. Dalian is a tsundere, but not an incorrigible one. You can’t help but see the attraction between the two as they spar and banter. Despite a subpar budget, this might be carried by the star power of Daisuke Ono and Miyuki Sawashiro, as Huey and Dalian, respectively.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. This started off pretty well.

What I Watched: Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angels

What I Expected: Magic girls fighting outlandish bad guys

What I Got: A pretty effective parody of Pretty Cure

I watched the OVA, and wasn’t impressed. It didn’t really grab me. However, this time they are taking a more camp approach which fits the source material better. They are relying on the star power of Yukari Tamura and Mamiko Noto in the lead roles. By lightening up the feel, the parody comes through. Throw in a pair of bumbling Team Rocket wannabee bad guys and the effect is pretty entertaining. A troubling development is they’ve jacked up the fanservice, and I’m not sure that’s going to help matters. If they keep things light and bubbly, it should be fun. If they try to inject drama, it’s going to collapse like a souffle in a thunderstorm.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. Please stay funny. PLEASE.

What I Watched: Baka to Test to Shokanju 2

What I Expected: More slapstick fun from the magic brats in Class D

What I Got: A funny comedy that tops the 1st season

My problem with the first season was the contrived battles between classes. I felt they got in the way of the wacky characters. Anarchy doesn’t need structure, if you know what I mean. This time, they are starting right off with a beach episode, and it’s a good way to reintroduce the main players. The first season sometimes made me cringe. This one has been a delight to watch thus far.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. If the quality maintains, it should be a fun watch.

While not quite as loaded as the first season, Summer looks pretty packed. There’s something for just about everybody, so happy watching!

Summer Season 1st Impressions Part II

2011-07-11T22:05:00.001-04:00

On to Part 2!

What I Watched: The IDOLM@STER

What I Expected: Cute girls singing & dancing…and not much more

What I Got: Confusion as to why this is so popular in Japan

Taken from the wildly successful game of the same name, this show traces the development of several young ladies as they vie to become idols. That’s it. I’m sure there will be attempts to tell the backstories of the more interesting girls, but why bother? Most will tune it to root for their favorite girl. And with so many girls to choose from, it’s not hard to pick one or two favorites. I’m not sure this will become one for the ages, but it shows real possibilities as a guilty pleasure.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. If the drama gets too heavy, I’m out.

What I Watched: Mayo Chiki!

What I Expected: Another misunderstandings high school comedy

What I Got: A cross between MM! and Maria Holic

Traps are pretty popular in anime, as the Japanese seem to find cross-dressing absolutely hilarious. However, the reverse-trap (female disguised as male) is something of a rarity. They are usually tomboys, however Subaru the butler is slightly different. The only child of a family of butlers serving the Suzutski family, she decides to carry on the family tradition, despite her gender. She’s deadly serious about her task, and doesn’t suffer fools gladly. She’s allowed as long as her true identity is hidden. Of course, our hero discovers the secret in the most embarrassing way on her first day at school! Romance? Well, if you consider beating up and torturing the poor guy romance. Feh.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. In for a penny, in for a pound I say!

What I Watched: Nekogami Yaoyoruzu

What I Expected: A kiddy show with lots of cat gods running around

What I Got: A pretty funny gag show aimed at adults

Gods and Demons have a different connotation in Japanese culture. They refer to spirits that watch over things. As either can be mischievous, this lends itself to gag humor. Well-acted and frenetically paced, Nekogami Yaoyoruzu is sort of a throwback to the 80s. The jokes come fast and furious, and the characters are fun to watch. If you liked Digi Charat, this is right in your wheelhouse.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. It’s funny and not really challenging – a good change of pace.

What I Watched: Uta no Prince-sama – Maji Love 1000%

What I Expected: La corda d’oro with boy band wannabes

What I Got: A predictable, yet charming show

While La corda d’oro took place in a conservatory, this takes place in a high school devoted to creating idols. It’s also a reverse-harem, however the tone is much lighter. The cast is stellar, and they really elevate the slight material to something watchable. It’s rote as hell, yet you take a liking to the characters. They’ve even thrown in some cheap drama, as an identical twin to Haruka’s idol is her classmate. Who will win the heart of our lovely maiden? Does it really matter? This has guilty pleasure written all over it.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. This looks like a palate cleanser.

What I Watched: Mawaru Penguindrum

What I Expected: Don’t know, the producers were secretive about this

What I Got: Penguin Utena

Okay, so the writer of Utena decided to unveil his new project under a cloak of secrecy. No one knew what to expect, and he really got us good! While not as flamboyant as Revolutionary Girl Utena, it shares surreal DNA with the groundbreaking series. Why penguins? Why did the magic penguin hat save the sister? What is SURVIVAL STRATEGY? All these questions will be answered (or not) in the coming weeks.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair to Good. I’m not as impressed as the blogosphere about this one, but I’ll give it a shot.

So many shows! I’ll add a part 3 next time.

Summer Season 1st Impressions Pt. I

2011-07-05T23:44:00.001-04:00

No rest for the wicked! The Summer season is well under way, and several new shows have already aired. Here’s part one:

What I Watched: Ro-Kyu-Bu

What I Expected: Basketball lolis

What I Got: Another trashy lolicon show with a couple of bright spots

What’s with the Japanese obsession with basketball? They aren’t the tallest people, and they rarely do anything at all internationally. I suppose they are compensating for perceived inadequacies, and trying to keep up with trendy America. Anyhow, this show is less about basketball, and more about the plucky 6th grade girls who are striking a blow for woman’s equality. In the first episode, we are treated to continual fanservice shots of the girls in various states of undress. But if you can suppress your “squick” reflex, you’ll find a group of talented seiyuu trying to tell a story. The girls are all cute, and they have chemistry. Let’s see if they tread the path of typical sports anime (underdogs overcoming great odds), or just focus on loli boobies of various sizes and textures.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. I’ll give it another couple of episodes to drive me off.

What I Watched: Kamisama no Memochou

What I Expected: A goth loli Nero Wolfe

What I Got: More Detective Conan than Raymond Chandler

So, we have a shut-in genius detective who solves crime from her heavily tech’ed out apartment, a group of outcast NEETs, and a milquetoast MC who is caught up in the whole mess. By all rights I should hate this. However, something clicks about this series. I was more intrigued by this world they’ve created than the rather tasteless mystery (dead teen prostitute). It’s part film noir, but the darkness doesn’t overwhelm it. It’s part cyberpunk, but they seem to be poking fun at hackers. It’s part tsundere love story, but Alice doesn’t grate on the nerves. We’ll see if they can keep up the pacing.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair to Good. Fall into one of several plot traps, and I’m gone.

What I Watched: Sacred Seven

What I Expected: Super teen saves Japan

What I Got: A trope-laden Ultraman ripoff.

The Trope Police need to raid the production house that made this mess. Let’s count them down:

Edgy loner with a secret power he can’t control
Secret organization run by wealthy loli with a team of combat maids.
Mysterious evil that threatens Japan.

It even has a perky girl interested in the edgy loner. Make no mistake about it. This is trashy. Now whether it becomes good trashy (guilty pleasure) or bad trashy (cringe) remains to be seen.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair to poor. I’m on the fence with this one.

What I Watched: Ikoku Meiro no Croisée

What I Expected: A Japanese in Paris

What I Got: A healing-type travelogue a la Aria

So, a Parisian blacksmith travels to Japan to buy interesting things to sell back home, and he returns with a loli who wants to work in Paris. Granted, Yune is the cutest loli in many moons. But this fish out of water tale has many more layers than at first glance. She melts the heart of grouchy grandson Claude, and captivates the denizens of the shopping arcade where the smithy shop is located. No apparent plot presents, other than Yune’s daily snapshots of life in 19th Century Paris. Like Aria, there should be little conflict and maximum cuteness.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. This a relaxing palate cleanser.

What I Watched: Yuruyuri

What I Expected: Cute girls in high school

What I Got: An inoffensive show that has its moments

When I read the description as four girls who take over an abandoned club room for their own enjoyment, my first thought was another K-ON. However, it isn’t that organized. It’s more like a hybrid between K-ON and A-Channel—another underrated show about high school girls. The good news is it’s actually funny and energetic. With creative uses of dream sequences and other clever tricks, the pacing never lags. There’s just not much plot to be had other than “today’s minor adventure”. That puts it above many similar shows, but just below what you might consider good.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. This has so many ways it could go wrong.

More shows are on the way. I’ll cover them in part two.

Spring Season Wrap Part II

2011-07-03T15:54:00.001-04:00

On to Part 2!

What I Watched: Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko

What I Expected: Another odd slice of life with supernatural undertones

What I Got: One of the more effective stories about growing up

This was a pleasant surprise. I was half-expecting another bipolar slice of life shows like Natsu no Arashi. Half the time it was slapstick comedy, the other half was heart-wrenching drama about WWII. Thankfully, they chose to focus on the characters, rather than get bogged down in the alien subplot. We got an effective male lead, surrounded by several cute, odd girls. There was little brooding or darkness, and the stories were nicely done. We did get SHAFTed again like with Bakemonogatari, in that we won’t get the ending episode 13 until the BluRay is released in December. It did end on a satisfying note, with Makoto burying a bad sports memory with a minor triumph. For me, this was the best series of the Spring, and proved Shinbo can pull it back enough to tell a story without resorting to all his usual tricks. Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko gets 4 out of 5 stars.

What I Watched: Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi

What I Expected: Generic eroge adaptation #65793492

What I Got: A charming little inoffensive show

There was literally nothing going for this show when it debuted. It was an adaptation of an adult game (strike one), populated by generic harem archetypes (strike two), with a lame male lead who doesn’t seem to possess a sex drive. (SWING and a miss!) However, the show skillfully avoided all the usual pitfalls to present a mostly pleasant story about a city boy who returns to the country town where he spent some time making girls fall in love with him accidentally. The girls weren’t annoying, and the episodic stories were mostly upbeat. In other words, this was a pretty good guilty pleasure. Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi gets 2 1/2 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: Gosick

What I Expected: Goth Loli Sherlock Holmes

What I Got: An uneven detective series that pulled it together for the ending

This series took its time getting to the main plot in the second half. For most of the first half, it was a gory mystery of the week a la Detective Conan. It wasn’t until the Case of the Blue Rose and the onset of a World War that it really came into it’s own. It probably didn’t need 24 episodes to get to its destination, and I mark it down a bit for that. However, it did manage an excellent ending. Gosick gets 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: Dororon Enma-kun Meramera

What I Expected: Old school hijinks from the master, Go Nagai

What I Got: A delirious, un-PC romp full of joy and energy

A remake of an early 70s series by Go Nagai, this show went about its business running roughshod over anything and everything. Voiced by some classic voices (Kappei Yamaguchi, Mamiko Noto, Ayako Kawasumi) Enma-kun was a blast of fresh air in a world that has too many harem series and childish drama. While the limits of good taste might not have always been observed, everything was done in service to the joke. That kind of dedication made it a fun ride every week. Dororon Enma-kun Meramera gets 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: Battle Girls: Time Paradox

What I Expected: Another lazy, genderbent version of warlords being cute a la Koihime Musou

What I Got: Not nearly enough fanservice to justify its existence

I thought the entire point of series like these was to show scandalously dressed buxom fighters getting clothes ripped off in battle. I’m not sure there was even one scene that could be considered heavy fanservice in the entire series. Shows like these have two choices: play it serious (Ikkitousen), or play it for laughs (Koihime Musou). Battle Girls tried to split the difference, and wound up being kind of bland. Even the climax was kind of cheesy. It was well-acted, with Megumi Toyoguchi getting props as Oda Nobunaga. I also liked the live-action previews at the end. Ultimately, this show will share the fate of shows like Hyakka Rouran Samurai Girls—they will be instantly forgotten. Battle Girls: Time Paradox gets 2 out of 5 stars.

Whew! That was a packed season, and one of the best in recent memory. No show scored lower than a 2, and I finished most of them. Summer season has already started and the new shows are rolling in. As usual, I’ll try and watch as many of them as I can and give first impressions next time.

Spring Season Wrap Part I

2011-06-29T21:21:00.001-04:00

The Spring season is drawing to a close, and many shows have ended. Here are my impressions of the ones I finished:

What I Watched: Softenni

What I Expected: A slice-of-life comedy about a girls tennis team

What I Got: A sexy, funny, surreal little slice of humor with subversive undertones

I wasn’t expecting much, and I got a lot from this little underdog of a show. All the characters were pretty likable, even the Prince of Tennis-inspired bad guys. They took specific delight in skewering many of the tropes of sports anime. But they didn’t stop there. They also poked fun at Miyazaki, Evangelion, and just about anything else they could get away with. I have to knock off points for some forced drama and a lame attempt at a love triangle. While it doesn’t reach the level of the things it makes fun of, Softenni was an enjoyable watch. I actually hope they give it a second season. Softenni gets 3 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: The World God Only Knows II

What I Expected: More of the same formulaic tripe from the “Capturing God”

What I Got: An improvement on the first go around

My biggest beef with the first season was how uneven it was. There would be a decent episode, followed by filler crap. This time they didn’t waste any time. They dove right in and did one girl after another, keeping the pacing steady. Keima seems to be a little more human this time around, and they finally introduced Haqua, Elsie’s friend/rival. It doesn’t look like the series is selling too well in Japan and we might not get a third season. This is a manga that doesn’t fit neatly in a 1-cour flight. Maybe if we’re lucky, we’ll get a whole year to fit in the Goddess Arc, which is currently going on in the manga. This series ended strong, and they hinted at more. I hope they get it. The World God Only Knows II gets 3 out of 5 stars.

What I Watched: A-Channel

What I Expected: K-ON!, minus the music

What I Got: An inoffensive little slice-of-life with high school girls

Sometimes, the best a series can hope for is to be exactly what it advertised. Not quirky enough to be Azumanga Daioh; not energetic enough to be K-ON!; A-Channel occupies it’s little niche like a fat man lying in a hammock. Four girls of different personality types come together and experience high school life. That’s it. It never rises to the level of Lucky Star in rat-a-tat one liners, nor does it try to gross you out with locker room talk a la Girl’s High. It just lazily walks you through the school year. Each episode contains a filler song from one of the girls. But it’s so nondescript that it fails to even register. I don’t know why I liked this show. I think because it didn’t challenge me. A-Channel gets 2 1/2 out of 5 stars.

What I Watched: Dog Days

What I Expected: Digimon, Pokemon…one of the –mons

What I Got: The best kidvid of the year thus far

We’ve seen this setup before from series as diverse as Zero no Tsukaima and Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko. A human is summoned to another dimension to fight. This time it’s an athletic boy to find for the dog kingdom against the cat kingdom. Setting the furry issue aside, this was an enjoyable watch. All the characters were likable. The battles were well choreographed, and even the bad guys were really that bad. The ending was a bit overdone, but it hinted at a sequel. I would watch a part two. Dog Days gets 3 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: Astrarotte no Omocha

What I Expected: To be horrified at the most pedo premise I’ve read

What I Got: A shockingly effective warm and family-centered comedy

Talk about bait and switch! 10-year-old Astrarotte is a succubus princess who must begin forming a harem so she can extract certain male fluids to maintain her beauty and magic. Enter Naoya, a 24-year-old single father with previous ties to the kingdom. He becomes her first harem member. So where does the story head? To the importance of family, as Naoya and his daughter Asuha teach Lotte about how important family is. Aside from the unnecessary fanservice shots of little girls bottoms, this could almost be a kid’s show. In fact, I wish they would forget about the rather horrifying setup and just focus on the family part, because it’s so effective. They left the door open for a sequel. I hope they make it. Astrarotte no Omocha gets 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

So many shows this season! More in part 2.

Nice Girls Finish Last

2011-06-26T20:57:00.002-04:00

The Spring season is drawing to a close, and we’re starting to see series build to a climax. In the eroge adaptation Hoshizora e Kakazu Hashi, affable airhead Ui looks to have the inside track to win the heart of Kazuma. This is causing some consternation among the otakugencia, since Ui is not an abusive tsundere. She is sweet-natured and kind. She is ditzy, but not in a dysfunctional way. How is it possible that someone who doesn’t need to be tamed and conquered could win in a harem anime? Doesn’t the tsundere always win?

I guess I’m showing my age when I’m surprised anyone is even worried about this. This is how relationships work in the real world. You tend to go for the girl who is sweet and kind over the abusive psychobitch who occasionally shows you an all-too-brief glimpse of humanity. Relationships shouldn’t be a never-ending mind game where you manipulate someone into giving you affection. It’s trial and error to find someone whose personality meshes with yours. If the person you’re attracted to is constantly throwing punches and kicks at you, she’s not the one.

I know I’m in the minority on this one. Otaku like to fantasize that the hot girls who despised them in school were secretly in love with them. It’s an intoxicating delusion. It’s tough trying to work on your personality so you can talk to girls and try and get to know them. That’s life. It’s tough for them, too. I recently had lunch with a girl I went to high school with. She was the head cheerleader and one of the most popular girls in school. She’s now a nurse in a nearby town. She said she had a crush on me, since she admired my intelligence. I never knew. I helped her fill out her college application and co-wrote her essay. The nerdiness she admired in me prevented me from ever having the stones to ask her out.

Nice girls are better represented in anime, but they face an uphill battle. In Amagami SS, Rihoko is the childhood friend of Junichi. She’s always been by his side. She’s loyal, sweet, and secretly in love with the big doof. He never knew. In her arc, she’s the only girl who doesn’t get a good or best end with him. Ostensibly, it’s because Rihoko is considered fat—which would be a deal breaker for the neurotic otaku. She’s not really fat, just a little plump. Rihoko doesn’t hit or berate Junichi. In fact, she’s the butt of jokes about her weight by him. Yet she doesn’t abandon him. Her reward is being friendzoned.

In the series The World Only God Knows, Elsie is the demon who contracts with the Dating Sim Game God Keima to win the hearts of real life girls and drive the demons from their hearts. Elsie is considered a screw-up as a demon because she’s kind, friendly and loyal—not very demonic qualities. She admires Keima, and he relies on her. Both the manga and the anime emphasize the familial platonic nature of their relationship. But it wouldn’t take much to push Elsie in the lead to win Keima’s heart when all the demon chasing is through. Throughout Keima’s adventures in seducing girls of all types, there’s only one constant: Elcea de rux ima—Elsie, for short.

Every season I look for signs that the tsundere stranglehold is loosening over anime. Every season I am disappointed. With a small group of plucky young ladies, things are looking brighter on that front. When you’re down, who do want standing in front of you: a girl that kicks you when you’re down, or one that helps you up and puts a bandage on your boo boo?

I’d take Elsie over Haqua 10 times out of 10.

A Farewell to Utena

2011-06-11T21:23:00.001-04:00

Tomoko Kawakami: 1970 – 2011

The anime world lost one of it’s more unique voices late last week. Tomoko Kawakami, seiyuu for Revolutionary Girl Utena, Soifon in Bleach, and Athena Glory in Aria, passed away from ovarian cancer. She was 41.

She had a distinct, high-pitched voice, and was the consummate character actress. She could play noble (Utena), slapstick (Akane – Doki Doki School Hours), genki (Sister Rosette – Chrno Crusade), or detached and spacy (Athena – Aria). In fact, looking at her career in retrospect, she was a very versatile artist.

It had been known since 2008 that she was ill, however no one knew exactly what it was about. Her loss is tragic, but perhaps it could shine the light on cancer research and prevention. For now, let’s take a moment and thank Kawakami-san for her hard work and all the enjoyment we derived from it.

Counting Our Blessings

2011-05-29T20:30:00.001-04:00

As Spring slowly warms into Summer, I want to take a moment to express my appreciation for one of the better anime seasons in recent memory. Nearly all of the shows I’m following are supremely watchable.

The World Only God Knows 2: The sequel outshines the original, as we head deeper into the manga. The long-awaited appearance of Haqua didn’t disappoint. If they can keep the momentum going, maybe we can look forward to S3 and the Goddess’ Arc.

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko: Shinbo and SHAFT are hit or miss when it comes to slice-of-life. So far, this looks like a hit. The characters are quirky, but not surreally annoying. There’s an undercurrent of mystery bubbling beneath the surface. If Shinbo can suppress the urge to go screaming over the top, this one might be one for the ages.

Softenni: Gag comedy done right. It got off to a slow start, but it has settled into a funny groove. The humor, though bawdy, mostly hits the mark. There are so many ways they could mess this up. I’m hoping they don’t.

A Channel: This didn’t impress me at first, but it’s approach to showing the developing relationship between four high school girls with different personalities is gentle and winning. I have to remember that I didn’t like K-ON! at first, either.

Dororon Enma-kun Meramera: This Go Nagai throwback pulls no punches with its old-school slapstick humor and political incorrectness. With classic seiyuu like Kappei Yamaguchi, Takehito Koyasu, Mamiko Noto and Ayako Kawasumi, this show is like a warm handshake from an old friend—right before he hits you in the face with a cream pie!

Gosick: This comes off less like Sherlock Holmes and more like Detective Conan. However, the acting is stellar. With Victorique racing to the capital to solve the country’s biggest mystery, they are building to a nice climax.

Maria Holic Alive: I HATED the first season. However, this season seems more user-friendly. They’ve toned down the sadism, and gone more surreal a la Pani Poni Dash! I still don’t know where it’s going. Maybe I’m not supposed to.

All in all a very full season. I’ve seen previews of Summer, and it looks pretty bare. I guess I’ll have to enjoy this season while I can.

(Jail)Bait and Switch

2011-05-21T21:05:00.001-04:00

Most of the time in anime, you’ll get a promising premise, only to be disappointed by the end. In one particular case this season, that worked in reverse. When I first heard about Astralotte no Omocha, I was horrified. The ten-year-old Succubus princess Astralotte needed to begin building a harem. Her race needs certain “substances” from males to remain young and vital. Nah, no more dancing around…she needs to drink semen. Every red flag I own went up at that moment. You had a loli (10yr.) needing to perform fellatio to get life force. Call the Pedo Police, there’s NO WAY they can get away with this, right?

Well, being the closeted perv that I am, curiosity got the better of me and I watched it. It turns out that this series is much more about the importance of family than anything prurient. In fact, the selling point of the series is but a small side point to show a rift between Lotte and her mother, the Queen. It seems little Lotte witnessed her mother “partaking” of the magic elixir. Because of that, she hates men. It takes a kind hearted human man, Naoya, to melt her heart and get her to trust men again.

Of course, Naoya and his daughter Asuha have ties to the Queen that are found out later. But both Naoya and Queen Mercelida are single parents raising children. It’s a surprisingly warm-hearted series. Asuha is free-spirited and fun-loving, while Lotte wears heavy the yoke of responsibility. Their budding friendship is truly nice to behold.

While the characters are fun and the story moves along briskly, family matters and values permeate the show. Asuha teaches Lotte about making friends at school. Naoya gets the Queens to call a special Parents Day at school so she can be there for Lotte. Lotte is jealous of Naoya being monopolized by the others in the castle and runs away.

Really, it’s like a series of ABC Afternoon Specials about relationships. I wasn’t expecting the depth of emotions and quality of writing. I thought this would be another salacious throw-away with too many panty shots.

There are so many ways this could go wrong. It’s still early, but I’m cautiously optimistic. They seem to have avoided all the major pitfalls the setup presents. Take away the drinking semen part, and it’s almost a children’s show. Since it uses Hayate the Combat Butler as its template, I have high hopes for Astralotte no Omocha.

Now if Lotte would only wear pants…

Burning Out

2011-05-04T21:38:00.001-04:00

The life of a Japanese voice actor is a tough one, perhaps the toughest in the anime industry. As well as getting paid beans to voice upwards of 20 series a year, many are expected to host radio programs, do public appearances, sing and dance and stay upbeat and positive the entire time. As you might expect, this has a tendency to burn out even the most avid and professional performer.

Perhaps the best known recent case of burnout was Aya Hirano. She was one of the brightest stars who did everything. Her schedule was so hectic, that it was affecting her health. She complained of fatigue and hair falling out. She got new management, and changed her focus away from anime. She now stars as a television personality, model and singer. She basically blew up her career as a seiyuu by hinting on national TV that she wasn’t a virgin, and liked dating old, rich guys. Good for her. She’s found a less stressful groove and seems happier for it. It is a pity, though. In my opinion, voice acting is her strongest skillset. She still voices characters in legacy shows like Fairy Tail, Seikon no Qwaser and the Jewelpet franchise. She isn’t taking any new roles, though.

The newest entry into the burnout sweepstakes is Kana Asumi. A popular seiyuu, Asumin has also proved to be a popular radio host and all-around personality. Her agency, probably capitalizing on the success of seiyuu groups like Sphere, tossed her together with Azusa Kataoka and Sayuri Hara to form the seiyuu unit LISP. Being the most popular and visible part of the group means she has to carry them, and it appears to have taken a toll on her. Her agency has announced she was “on hiatus”, even though she’s scheduled to participate in an upcoming event. Hopefully, she was just exhausted and needed a blow before climbing back on the horse.

The Japanese seiyuu system resembles Old Hollywood in a way. Agencies plot your career, decide on your PR activites, manage your schedule, and take the lion’s share in profits. Get too old? Bye, bye. Want more money? Don’t let the door hit your oshiri on the way out. I’ve gained a new respect for performers and personalities like Asumin. They are driven by something other than money. The love of performing and the rush of adulation from fans keep them smiling and going.

To an outsider, being a fan of a voice actor must seem like madness. Most are quite ordinary looking. You probably wouldn’t recognize them in public unless they spoke. However, that shouldn’t detract from the art they create. I only wish the industry would let up on the gas every once and a while. Talents like Asumin shouldn’t be burned up like kindling. More careful management means we can enjoy these performers for years to come.

Spring Season 1st Impressions Part 2

2011-04-20T20:54:00.001-04:00

Now that most of the new shows have aired, here’s part 2 of my Spring Preview:

What I Watched: Astarotte’s Toy

What I Expected: Hypersexualized loli shenanigans a la Kodomo no Jikan

What I Got: A surprisingly energetic show with some perverted undercurrents

Every season I think that Japan can’t possible top the outlandish setup of a show like Seikon no Qwaser, with Russian Orthodox apostles who fight with elements of the Periodic Table and power up through drinking breast milk. Every season I am proven wrong. Astarotte’s Toy deals with a succubus in a parallel universe that has to drink the life seed of men to sustain and power her. You heard me. Lotte’s got to give some lucky guy a blow job and drink his semen. Not so surprisingly, this is downplayed in the manga and the anime, lest it turn into hardcore hentai that can’t be sold in many places in the world. Add to that the fact that Lotte is 10 years old, and you have the added squick factor. Rie Kugimiya plays another tsundere brat, but Lotte isn’t incorrigible. In fact, she understands her role as a princess and takes it seriously. This show could be much, much dirtier, but the producers are emphasizing the relationships and personalities.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. I was pleasantly surprised by the first episode.

What I Watched: Seiko no Qwaser II

What I Expected: More breast suckling and stick fighting

What I Got: An added twist – crossdressing

Emo Russian shota Sasha returns for another mission. This time, he and Hana must infiltrate a prestigious girls’ school for…well, does it really matter? Hana takes malicious delight in dressing up Sasha to turn him into a beautiful maiden. There are new bad guys and CG. By moving Mafuyu and Tomo to the sidelines, a good deal of the energy is lost. Hana is trying mightily to be a good foil for Sasha, but she’s not as pure as Mafuyu or innocent as Tomo. It’s not a good pairing. The new girls are hot, but generic. The action is not quite as fluid as the first season. The first season was an exercise in suspension of disbelief. Without the strong, established ensemble backing Sasha, this season is exposing all the flaws.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair to Poor. Guilty pleasures need to be both.

What I Watched: Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera

What I Expected: A rollicking good time from the master Go Nagai

What I Got: A blast from the past with a stellar voice cast

A remake of one of Go Nagai’s earliest hits from the 70s, this show brings us three demons sent to Earth to track down an take care of rampaging escapees of Hell. All three are powerful an capable, and they all are thoroughly versed in slapstick. To keep these three on track, middle-schooler Harumi acts as the straight man for all the tomfoolery. Taking the throwback element to another level, established seiyuu the likes of Kappei Yamaguchi, Mamiko Noto, Takehito Koyasu, Ayako Kawasumi, Kikuko Inoue and Norio Wakamoto lend an air of class to the proceedings. This really feels like an action comedy time-warped from another time. I wasn’t expecting to like this as much as I did. I only hope they keep joking and not give in to the temptation to turn it grim or emo.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. I’m liking this a lot!

What I Watched: The World God Only Knows II

What I Expected: More of the same “Girl of the Week” adventures

What I Got: An uneven franchise settling into a groove

I thought the first season of this was wildly uneven. We’d get a solid episode one week, and nonsense filler the next. Now that it’s been renewed, and with plenty of manga material to mine, it looks like it’s finally finding it’s own way. Keima’s character was also an issue. He was pretty unlikable the first season, and he relied on the cheerful Elsie to buoy the show. Keima seems a little more under control, and a little more human. We’ve gotten through the first arc pretty well, and now we’re set for the much-anticipated debut of Haqua, Elsie’s overachieving demon sister.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. If we aren’t overwhelmed by new characters, it should be a fun ride.

What I Watched: Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi

What I Expected: Generic eroge adaptation #746145

What I Got: Something generic, yet oddly watchable

Almost from the get-go you can see how this will setup and play out. In order to help his younger brother recover from illness, Kazuma moves to the country where he spent time briefly as a boy. He runs into (literally) airheaded Ui and accidentally kisses her. From here, he has encounters with girls he doesn’t remember, but who remember him. Honestly, if it weren’t for the stellar voice cast, this would be insufferable. The character interactions are light and fun. There doesn’t seem to be anything too heavy hanging over it. It might be a nice palate cleanser from all the other stuff I’m watching this season.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good, until it turns emo.

There are too many shows to mention this season, so I’ll stop here. I’m carrying over Gosick, and there just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day. Happy watching!

Spring Season 1st Impressions Part 1

2011-04-10T21:43:00.001-04:00

First, a couple of reviews I missed from Winter.

Level E – An enjoyable romp back to the 90s with the best troll in history. This show gets 3 stars out of 5.

Dragon Crisis – So much wasted potential with so many great characters. The ending was straight out of the Care Bears Movie. The power of love kills an overpowered dragon? Yeah, sure. Dragon Crisis gets 1 1/2 stars out of 5.

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What I Watched: Softenni

What I Expected: Bamboo Blade with tennis rackets

What I Got: Azumanga Daioh with tennis rackets and the strangest censoring yet

With a cast this loaded, it was tempting to go into this with heightened expectations. Good thing I didn’t, since this turned out to be a panderfest with slice-of-life tendencies. So it has girls in skimpy clothing, and you just don’t care. Hopefully the addition of a new character next week will spice things up a bit. Because this one is kind of dull.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. As with all ecchi series, it’s too soon to give up on it just yet.

What I Watched: Gintama’

What I Expected: After 201 episodes of the original…umm, more of the same?

What I Got: The funniest opening show of a series since Excel Saga

The interesting, and maddening thing about Gintama is its ability to be the best slapstick and the best shounen drama at the same time. I found the combination to be a bit much, preferring the funny. I dropped it after about 50 episodes. The first episode of the sequel reminded me of why I fell in love with them in the first place. Surreal, slapstick, over-the-top humor came at you fast and furious. They also managed to reintroduce all the principals at the same time. I have a feeling they will veer off into drama again, and that’s when I’ll dump it again. Until then, this is a blast!

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good, until the drama comes flooding back.

What I Watched: Dog Days

What I Expected: Another odd doggy show like Inukami!

What I Got: The best kiddy show of the season

This setup has been done dozens of time before. Magical kingdom needs human hero to defend it from invading hordes. Instead of sword fights on horseback, this kingdom has “Capture the Flag” style games to determine victors. Our hero Shinku is a remarkable athlete who happens to be training for similar games on Earth. (Hmmm…you don’t say…) The girls are cute, the action is pretty good, and even the bad guys are pretty likable. This may be the sleeper of the season.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. It’s clichéd as hell, but a lot of fun.

What I Watched: Battle Girls – Time Paradox

What I Expected: Koihime Musou, only with hot, genderbent Japanese generals instead of Chinese

What I Got: A jiggle show far too timid for its own good.

Japan seems to have a fetish for genderbending historic figures. They usually focus on The Romance of the Three Kingdoms Era of China. This time, they take on Japan’s feudal era. Unlike Koihime Musou and Ikkitousen, this show is too modest. There are no daring panty shots or steamy bath scenes. Without the sizzle, the steak tastes pretty bland. They tipped their hand in the first episode anyway. This looks to be an extended dream sequence intent on teaching our heroine Hideyoshi about this era. In fact, her History Teacher and Advisor is named Date—as in Masamune Date of that era. Hopefully it will pick up in the second episode.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. As sad as it is to say, without the naughty stuff, this is pretty boring.

What I Watched: Hanasaku Iroha

What I Expected: Slice-of-life goodness in a rural Japanese Inn

What I Got: Melodrama and and underdog story

Memo to Japan: if you make ALL of the characters in a series unlikable, no one will want to watch it. I feel a bit cheated with this. True, Ohana has had a tough life. Her mother is an irresponsible nut case. She has insensitively ignored her best friend Koichi’s feelings for her. She’s pretentious and slow to read a situation. Move her in with her Grandmother who doesn’t recognize her and treats her like just another staffer, and a roommate with some emotional problems and you have a powderkeg just waiting to be lit. I was desperately searching for a likable character. Creepy uncle? Nope. Hyper gossipy head waitress? Nope. Still searching…

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Poor. This show depresses me.

What I Watched: A Channel

What I Expected: Another girls in high school show

What I Got: An annoying girls in high school show

Producers saw the success of K-ON! and decided to try and emulate it. The beauty of K-ON! was its mix of quirky character types that was greater than the sum of its parts. The chemistry took a while to gel, but when it did it was magic. I don’t see how this particular mix will gel at all. We’ve got the ditz (Run), the ojou (Yuko), the sensible girl (Nagi) and the wildcard (Toru). High school in Japan seems to be all or nothing. It’s either non-stop action and excitement all day, or dull as dishwater. This show falls into the latter category. If it’s supposed to be a comedy, it’s not that funny. I hope things will settle down in the second episode.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair to Poor. Not quite into this…

What I Watched: Nichijou

What I Expected: A quirky show about odd high schoolers

What I Got: Azumanga Bizarro

What is with these shows trying to cop the vibe of Azumanga Daioh? Don’t they realize that the show’s humor depended on the depth and interaction of the main characters? You can’t just throw a bunch of weirdos together with long pauses and expect the magic to happen. This show just screams YOU’RE TRYING TOO HARD. Look, there’s a rich guy riding a goat to school! Look, there’s an android who was built by a preschool genius! Look, there’s a psycho playing skeet frisbee with her dog! All the quick cuts are just disorienting. To be fair, the humor is pretty subversive. The characters are likable, until they do something bizarre. Maybe it’s going to take a few episodes to lock in.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. It’s got potential.

So many series so soon…

Part 2 will pick them up.

Winter Season Wrap Part 1

2011-04-01T21:16:00.001-04:00

After a rude interruption by the 5th largest earthquake in recorded history and accompanying tsunami, the Winter Season is finally wrapping up. I’m changing the format slightly, as I feel the old way has gotten a bit stale.

Fractale – Yamakan’s brave attempt to save anime from its worst excesses

The Good: Borrowing heavily from Studio Ghibli, Fractale was gorgeous to look at. Setting the series in an alternate Ireland gave a pastoral juxtaposition to the cyberpunk world of Fractale. Taking inspiration from Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and other classic science fiction writers, Yamakan tried to tell a cautionary tale about technology intended to help us taking over our lives and controlling us. It was about as ambitious as I’ve seen in ten years of watching anime.

The Bad: The show was a victim of its own pacing. It only had 12 episodes to tell a rather complicated story. It could either focus on the battle between the neo-Luddites and the status quo, or the burgeoning love story between Clain and Phrynne. It tried to do both, and suffered because of it. The art got a little wonky over the last few episodes. I’m still not sure about what Fractale was, or how it worked. This show probably could have used 26 episodes to do the story justice. It feels incomplete.

Final Analysis: While a game attempt, I don’t think this is the series that will save anime. It still was one of the better ones of the season. Fractale gets 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

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Oniichan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara Ne – Another non-incest incest show with a horny sister going after her older “brother”

The Good: The voice cast took some very slight material and elevated it into something watchable. Eri Kitamura in particular is a standout as Nao, the non-blood related sister who goes after her horndog brother. The gags were pretty funny, and it wasn’t as offensive as it could’ve been. The ending was somewhat boilerplate, but I didn’t feel like I was wasting time watching it.

The Bad: Where to start…the character designs were odd. Most of them looked like bulbous noodle people. For a standard screwball comedy, that would be an asset. However, as an ecchi show, it was a distraction. Since the title loosely translates as “I’m Not in Love With My Brother, Okay?”, it takes my two least favorite anime themes (tsundere and incest) and slams them together. It also suffered from “too many girls” syndrome.

Final Analysis: This show was an entertaining mess. It wasn’t supposed to be deep, and it’s not. All in all, Oniichan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara Ne was a pleasantly forgettable series. It gets 2 stars out of 5.

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Infinite Stratos – The only male pilot in the world attends Gundam school with a bunch of beautiful girls…poor him

The Good: For a change, all the harem girls were likable. There was surprisingly little catfighting for the attention of the dense, but well-meaning Ichika. The action was pretty good, and the 3D animation was forgivable considering the complexity of the flying armor. This series belonged in the Summer, as it had a Summer feel to it. The ending was forced drama, but it also left the door open for a second season.

The Bad: I feel a bit cheated. I was expecting an action packed mecha series, and what I got was a warmed-over harem comedy. The latter isn’t bad, but they tried to do both. It didn’t work for Tenchi, and it didn’t work here. The series could also use more episodes to delve into the girls’ past. They were far more interesting than Ichika.

Final Analysis: This was the most entertaining show of the season for me. While it aggravated me in parts, it always delivered. I hope it gets a second season. Infinite Stratos gets 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

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Rio – Rainbow Gate! – Hot casino babes battle it out to see who loses their dignity the most

The Good: Like Koihime Musou, this show is intended as a guilty pleasure. It that respect it delivers in spades. Just about all the characters are likable (and hot!), and the show has a candy-coated sheen to it. The plot is about as heavy as a helium balloon, but it makes you smile.

The Bad: It made the fatal mistake of guilty pleasures—it tried to get serious. After episodes where Rio battled on water slides and fought digital flying space sharks, this seemed woefully out of place. Rina’s revenge against Rio didn’t even make any sense, and the resolution didn’t either. If you watch, just skip the last few episodes.

Final Analysis: It isn’t Evangelion, but it is a barrel of fun. I just wish they kept it goofy and sworn off the drama. Rio – Rainbow Gate! gets 2 stars out of 5.

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Kimi ni Todoke Season 2 – Sawako and Kazehaya creep ever closer to becoming boyfriend and girlfriend (very slowly!)

The Good: Mamiko Noto puts in another excellent performance as the shy wallflower who catches the eye of the most popular boy in school. Thankfully, they really cut back on Sawako’s internal monologue and focused on character interaction. Since this season was half the length of the first, the pacing seemed much better. Sawako was even put in the spotlight during the cultural festival, and gained popularity from her creepy persona as a fortune teller and playing an angry well spirit.

The Bad: FOR CRYING OUT LOUD KISS EACH OTHER! They became boyfriend and girlfriend and they didn’t even kiss. No payoff for some 30+ episodes of this nonsense. How on Earth will Sawako deal with their wedding night? Holding hands? Does she dare?

Final Analysis: Normally I hate shoujo series, but this one keeps puling me in. I liked this season better than the first because of the telescoped time frame. Kimi no Todoke Season 2 gets 3 stars out of 5.

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Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka? – Throw as many tropes as you can into a series and make fun of all of them

The Good: This series was the biggest asspull of the season. Zombies, necromancers, magical girls, vampire ninjas and goofy evil villains called megalos all played a role in this big rollicking mess of a show. It featured one of the manliest leads since Kyon in Haruhi. Ayumu is a zombie, but seems almost non-plussed by it all. When he turns into a magical girl, I knew the fix was in. If you strapped in for the ride, you were rewarded by decent action, harem comedy and a not too bad ending arc.

The Bad: There were so many inconsistencies in this show they were too many to count. The plot was unpredictable, and that’s not always a good thing. They rushed over Ayumu’s revenge arc to shove more slapstick in. This show sometimes gave me a headache.

Final Analysis: For me, this was the best show of the season. I really looked forward to seeing it each week. They hinted at a second season with a cameo by one of the later novel’s baddie in the final frames of the last episode. Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka? gets 4 stars out of 5.

There are a few shows that are wrapping up this weekend and early next. Part 2 to come.

Life Gets in the Way

2011-03-26T16:05:00.001-04:00

The 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan has also affected the broadcast schedule of anime. This has disrupted the flow of shows, and thrown a monkey wrench into the viewing habits of millions of otaku around the world.

Fine. They have much more important things to deal with right now than some silly old cartoons. As Japan digs out in the aftermath, they are using the airwaves as originally intended: to deliver timely information and news updates to millions of bewildered Japanese. I’ve spent the better part of the past couple of weeks watching heart-rending videos on YouTube of the tsunami’s awesome destructive power. Being one of the most technologically advanced nations on Earth, Japan had many HD quality cameras covering the tragedy as it unfolded.

Back to anime, though. The timing of the disaster couldn’t have come at a worse time. With only two week left in the Winter season, many shows were building to a climax, only to have real life sidetrack them. Some shows went on a week or two delay, some indefinitely. Most will have to wait for the DVD/BluRay release to watch the last couple of episodes. Again, not a big deal—they are only cartoons. These delays are playing havoc with the start of the Spring season, which looked loaded at the outset.

Japan, having weathered similar tragedies in its past, is stoically moving forward in a show of unity that shames many of us in the West. It will be interesting to see if anime will tackle the many stories arising from this latest tragedy. There was a series that dealt with the possibility of an 8.0 earthquake striking Tokyo. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 imagined the the real and human response to a large earthquake hitting the capital, and all 23 million residents. Had the Sendai earthquake erupted just a few hundred kilometers to the south, it would have been real, and actually worse. Art imitating life, and vice versa.

I guess my point for this post is that anime, while still enthralling to me, takes a back seat to real life. If they didn’t produce anime for the rest of the year, I wouldn’t be sad. After all, there’s some 60 years worth of series already produced, and I wouldn’t run out for many decades. All of the immature fans on message boards I frequent should be ashamed of themselves for carping that their favorite series was delayed or cancelled. Look around you. Would you care about something so trivial as anime if your town was destroyed by fire, or hurricane, or tornado? Would you be offended if someone blamed you for their favorite television show being delayed because they were covering the tragedy you now find yourself in the middle of? Find those you care about, and tell them you love them. Then count your blessings.

That’s what’s important in life—not cartoons.

Saving Anime Part 2

2011-03-13T16:49:00.001-04:00

I realize that the focus should be on saving Japan after the terrible earthquake and tsunami laid waste to northern Honshu, but that’s a post for another time. Picking up where I left off, anime isn’t dead, but it’s not doing terribly well right now. How can the industry attract new fans while shedding itself of some of its more troublesome fanatics?

Stop Overindulging Manchildren-- An astonishing amount of the output produced by animators is focused at a tiny sliver of fanatics. That’s why we get tasteless, pandering crap that serves the fantasies of these perverts. With themes like incest, loli, and harem, it’s no wonder the rest of the world sees anime as an outlet for the deranged fan with arrested development. I understand something similar is happening with the gaming industry, for similar reasons. Shows like Fractale, Queen’s Blade, and Puella Magi Madoka Magica prove that when forced to write original, compelling stories, the industry can rise to the occasion. Yes, they are cartoons. However, they are also television. American television is going through a renaissance right now, and it’s all because of an emphasis on good writing. It may be easier to adapt a manga, but writing for television is a different animal.

Write Grownup Shows for Grownups-- The children’s market will always be a big seller. And ironically, children’s shows are pretty well written. That’s because many are anime originals that don’t rely on manga for source material. It may seem like much of anime is targeted at teens, since they feature teens in high school. However, the demographics show that men aged 18-35 are the most avid consumers of anime. If that’s so, why do the series feature teens? I suppose there are several reasons. Teens are more attractive that older people. I think the main reason is much darker. Anime fans, especially the more fanatical ones, tend to be social outcasts and nerds. High school must have been especially traumatic. Why not relive those painful years vicariously through cool kids who have great adventures with lots of friends. Many of the male leas in these series are losers who have a latent gift or are thrown into an extraordinary situation. The lead become a viewer insert, like a dating sim. When anime ventures outside the comfort zone of teens in high school, it usually does pretty well. Space operas and futuristic series rarely have kids going to high school. They are the template for intriguing stories and relationships. Once you hit your 20s, it’s time to look forward, not backwards.

Make Heroic Heroes-- This relates to the first point. Many anime heroes are nebbishy losers who act as the proxy for the viewer. There’s nothing special about me, so the hero should be nothing special so I can relate to him. Nonsense. In the old days, heroes acted heroically, even in anime. The nihilism of Japan’s youth ushered in a self-defeatism which was reflected in anime. There are a lot of unpleasant leads in anime. It’s time to get some heroes who are self-confident and know their own power. Heroes are supposed to be role models who you can look up to, not idiots you tolerate so you can get some panty shots.

Tone Down the Cute-- I like cute things. I’m sure you do, too. However, having it shoved down your throat is starting to backfire for anime. In just about every series there is a hyper-cute little girl for everyone to fawn over. Aside from being vaguely pedophilic, this serves little purpose in advancing the narrative. Having a loli call you “oniichan” may be adorable, but it accomplishes little else. The emphasis should be on adult interaction. There can be cute kids involved, but only to advance the plot, not distract from it.

Give Manga a Break-- This might be the toughest one of all. Since Japan produces so much anime every year, source material gets hard to come by. Manga outsells everything in Japan, so there’s a rich vein to mine for series. However, not every manga adapts well to the small screen. On every anime discussion board I’ve been on, there’s someone carping about how the anime adaptation was botched. No kidding? You mean 20 chapters devoted to a fight doesn’t work well when condensed into a 24 minute TV episode? Do tell… They are different formats with different strengths and weaknesses. A mangaka has the luxury of unfolding a story and developing characters over a long period of time. TV is quick and visual. It can show action better, but at the expense of exposition. Good TV writers do exist, and they are the key to breaking the cycle. Devoting just 5% of productions to anime original stories would have an impact. It would be better suited to the medium, and there wouldn’t be the second-guessing from fans of the manga.

Times are changing, and the industry has to change to stay relevant. A burgeoning overseas market, used to American-style animation, is waiting to be conquered. Japan needs to get out of the esoteric death spiral of feeding otaku and opening the format to a wider audience. Neon Genesis Evangelion and Ghost in the Shell have proven that foreign audiences are willing to take the journey. Now it’s up to producers to deliver the boarding pass.

Saving Anime

2011-03-05T21:07:00.001-05:00

Noted anime director Yutaka Yamamoto caused a stir recently when he said that if his new project Fractale didn’t sell well, he would quit the industry. Yamakan, as he is known, is regarded as a purist in the vein of Hayao Miyazaki. He’s criticized successful directors like Akiyuki Shinbo for being too esoteric with the rabid otaku. He feels Shinbo has abandoned decent storytelling and good writing in favor of slick visuals and inside references to beloved older works. I guess it’s sort of the difference between Picasso and Andy Warhol. One is fiercely dedicated to his own muse, the other a clever synthesizer of Pop Culture memes.

While I don’t really like Yamamoto or his style, Fractale is one of the most visually intriguing series I’ve seen in a while. It’s not groundbreaking like Evangelion, or even The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (which he also worked on). But it’s trying to tell a story, while using gorgeous visuals and time-tested techniques. It’s probably not the home run Yamakan was hoping for, but it’s probably enough to keep him in the game. Fractale reminds me more of Last Exile, an intriguing sci-fi story set in the possible future.

So is he right? Is anime entering a death spiral where it’s being sustained by an ever dwindling number of fiercely devoted fanatics? Can anime ever grow back to the profitable days of the mid-2000s, when just about any old dreck sold like hotcakes? Possibly on all counts. I’ve certainly noticed a turning inward by producers. Instead of taking a chance on a fresh story or a visionary talent, the industry is lazily falling into a same old grind. They are licensing the hottest selling manga and adapting them to anime. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it damages both franchises. It’s interesting to me that some of the most watchable series of the past few years were anime originals.

Queen’s Blade in particular struck me as fresh. That’s because there was no manga to draw upon. Producers had to do the unthinkable and write a fresh story to fit the character archetypes. It worked beautifully. Without source material to mess up, they could freely write as they wished—evolving the story as it went along. The other danger of adapting manga is when the manga is ongoing. If the anime outpaces the manga, producers can either wait for the mangaka to catch up, or race on ahead with an anime original ending. Neither outcome is particularly desirable.

In part 2 of this post, I’ll detail some ways anime can save itself and draw newer viewers while slowly shedding itself of its more amusing fanatics.

Handicapping the Harem: Infinite Stratos

2011-02-20T20:56:00.001-05:00

Just when you thought you’ve found a series that’s just about teenage girls learning to fight with Gundam-type mech suits, it turns into another harem! In the case of Infinite Stratos, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Ichika Orimura discovers that he’s the only boy in the world who can operate the Infinite Stratos (IS) weapons system. He’s whisked off to a private high school where he learns how to use and fight with the IS. Upon arrival, he realizes that he’s the only boy in a school full of girls! What mischief will he get in? What is the true purpose of the IS? Why is his hot sister his homeroom teacher? Who cares? Bring on the harem…

Houki Shinonono – Japan: As Ichika’s childhood friend, Houki has the benefit of the First Girl Met rule. When her older sister developed the IS, her family was put in protective custody and moved away from Ichika. Kendo was the only thing that helped her get over the pain of losing her friend. Hot-tempered and proud, Houki knows she’s got a lot of work to do to win Ichika over the other girls. He feels at ease with her, and if she plays her cards right, she has the inside track. Odds of harem victory: 3 to 1.

Cecilia Alcott – Great Britain: As the haughty ojousama of the class Ichika transfers into, Cecilia has disdain for him at first. When Ichika proves his strength and reliability in a match with her, she becomes smitten with him. She is persistent and smart, although she can’t cook very well. As a long-range gunner, she gets the kill shot on the unmanned drone that attacked Ichika and Rin during their match. Ichika respects Cecilia, but there’s not much heat on his end. Odds of harem victory: 6 to 1.

Rin Yin Fang – China: Breaking the unwritten rules of harem anime, Rin is Ichika’s 2nd childhood friend. She showed up in his life shortly after Houki moved away. Ichika often ate at Rin’s family restaurant. Rin became smitten with our hunky hero, and made a marriage proposal that he stereotypically misunderstood. She’s energetic, competitive, and a good foil for Cecilia. Unfortunately, the both of them have moved into a comic relief role that doesn’t bode well for either. Odds of harem victory: 10 to 1.

Charles (Charlotte) Dunoa – France: Supposedly the second male IS operator in the world, Charles transfers in and becomes fast friends with Ichika. Ichika is thankful that there’s a second boy to take some of the heat off him. Later on Ichika discovers Charles’ true identity: Charlotte Dunoa. He’s been rooming with a girl all this time. Charlotte is caring, thoughtful and reliable. She’s had a hard life, and Ichika vows to protect her secret, lest she be deported and jailed. Has a reverse trap ever won a harem? We’ll soon see, as Charlotte is the current frontrunner. Odds of harem victory: 2 to 1.

Laura Bodewig – Germany: A stern and stiff soldier, Laura has a grudge against Ichika for taking her beloved Orimura-sensei away. Wearing an eyepatch that covers a faulty artificial eye, Laura has also had a rough life. She intends not just to beat her opponent, she wants to annihilate them. Her overpowered IS has little trouble defeating both Cecilia and Rin. When she starts curbstomping them, Ichika, Charlotte and finally Orimura-sensei has to step in to stop her. It look like she’s in for some tough love from Ichika in the tournament. Odds of harem victory: (pre-defeat) 1,000,000 to 1; (post-defeat) 25 to 1.

Chifuyu Orimura – Japan: Ichika’s sister, and the original IS champion, Chifuyu has returned to teach at the academy. Stern and unflappable, she doesn’t show much emotion to any of her pupils. She gave up a chance to win a second straight world championship to rescue Ichika from kidnappers. Legend has it that she was ruthless and reckless in battle, but she never lost. According to the novels, she loves Ichika more than she lets on. There’s also a rumor of them not being blood-related. Until verified, that’s good for doujins only. Odds of harem victory: 1,000 to 1.

Maya Yamada – Japan: Buxom and bespectacled, Yamada-sensei is the opposite of Chifuyu. She’s kind, caring and thoughtful. She’s also a capable IS pilot, as she took out Rin and Cecilia with a 2nd generation IS. She also seems to be smitten by Ichika, although she’s going to have a tough time getting close to him with Chifuyu on one side and the harem on the other. Odds of harem victory: 10,000 to 1.

There are other girls, but the odds are so miniscule that it wouldn’t be worth it to handicap. There are other options:

Status Quo ending: Nothing changes. No girl is declared winner, and Ichika goes densely along his way. Odds: Even money.

Harem ending: Ichika can’t choose, so he chooses them all. He uses his IS to take over a small island nation and declares himself ruler. He marries them all in one big ceremony, and everybody lives happily ever after. Odds: no way in hell.

Infinite Stratos is a fun show. Hopefully we’ll get some sweet mecha fighting action and zero radius turning in between the clumsy relationships.

The Death of the Magical Girl

2011-02-05T22:29:00.001-05:00

In the Spring of 1992, an innocuous little series showed up and changed the anime world forever. Sailor Moon introduced the concept of the magical girl (or majou shoujo) to an audience jaded on giant mecha and manly period fantasies. Ever since, we’ve seen just about every permutation of the same theme: boring, normal girl turns into a magical girl and battles evil for the good of mankind, friendship and estrogen everywhere.

Now, in Winter of 2011, two series are determined to kill off the franchise. One does it with it’s tongue placed firmly in its cheek. The has much darker intentions.

Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka? is a densely plotted horror comedy. Ayumu is brutally murdered by a serial killer and brought back to life by a silent necromancer. He’s determined to find his killer and avenge his murder. Pretty grim, no? Luckily, Ayumu is the laid-back type and takes most things in stride. One night, while on patrol, he stumbles into an encounter between magical girl Haruna and a big bear demon. Getting caught up in it, he accidentally steals Haruna’s powers. She decides to stay with him until she can get them back. However, Ayumu now has to fight in her place when demons attack. Got that? Ayumu even has to go through the stereotypical magical girl transformation and wear the frilly dress to fight. It’s completely ridiculous, and exposes how ridiculous the tropes of the genre really are. When he “powers up”, his outfit gets even cuter—making him look all the more queer. After atrocities like My Wife Is a Magical Girl and the ghastly Precure saga, the thought of a magical guy who is actually a zombie seems like scraping the bottom of the barrel. The fights are completely serious, but with a guy shouting for strength instead of a cute girl calling out a magical spell.

The other series has less humorous intentions. On paper, Puella Magi Madoka Magica looked golden. With hot SHAFT director Akiyuki Shibo at the helm, Phantom creator Gen Urubochi writing the script, and character designs from Hidamari Sketch creator Ume Aoki, how could this be anything but a smash hit? Well, this might be a case of too many chefs spoiling the broth. Shinbo delivers his acid trippy visuals and interesting shot selection. Ume-sensei’s magical girl designs are appropriate. However, Urubochi seems to want to deliver a gothic horror story in place of the puberty metaphor most magical girl shows are about. We see the horrific decapitation and death of one of the magic girls. The main character is tortured by guilt and self-doubt. The dream world is a series of surreal nightmares. There’s a thick fog of darkness permeating this depressing little world. Magical girl fights magical girl. Is Kyuubey good or evil? Magical girl and psychological thriller don’t go together in my humble opinion.

In a way, it’s good that the magical girl genre is being deconstructed. It was originally aimed at little girls. However, with the tough economy, these type of shows are being marketing to the loyal otaku. They are loyal, and deeply disturbed. It just doesn’t sit well when a grown man is lusting over a preteen girl who transforms into a cute fetish object. Maybe this will shake up the industry and send the Card Captor Sakuras of the world back to the wide-eyed young girls who need positive role models, and not the nerdy, socially awkward men straining for a panty shot.

The Soft Sexism of Superwoman

2011-01-22T15:05:00.001-05:00

Trends come and go in anime. One season, shows featuring cute girls doing cute things dominate, then the next it’s aliens or mecha, etc. This season is seeing a resurgence of overpowered fighting women. Infinite Stratos, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and Yumekui Merry all feature the stronger sex battling forces beyond comprehension. But there’s one series that stands out in this regard: Freezing.

Based on the Korean manwha, Freezing takes place in an alternate future where Earth is under attack by beings from another dimension. In this regard, it resembles the classic series Silent Möbius. But that’s where the similarities end. Special women are genetically engineered to fight the interdimensional creatures. They train at a special school, where they are teamed with telepathic young men who can stop, or “freeze” the creatures and allow the girls to finish them off. But the training is brutal and pitiless. Perhaps it’s a way to remind the girls that many of them won’t survive the war. It’s also set up in a tournament style fight to determine the strongest fighters. Anything goes, and deaths are not uncommon.

It’s all fetish fuel, but set aside the gratuitous violence and nudity and one gets a glimpse into the psyche of the Japanese (and Korean) otaku. Most Asian cultures are patriarchal. The women are expected to be subservient to the men. But what if those men are pale, weak shut-ins who would rather cut off a limb than even talk to a woman? The flipside of this coin is that Asian women expect their men to be strong and good providers. The recent phenomenon of “herbivorous men” and “carnivorous women” in Japan illustrates this point. One of the most alluring fantasies of these thwarted, horny otaku is winning over and taming an Amazon. If you notice, Bridgette L. Satellizer (pictured above) is a tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed westerner with DD breasts. She’s the ultimate conquest for these nerds.

Bridgette is competing for the top rank in her class. She is focused and taciturn about her business. She doesn’t like to be touched, and she doesn’t really associate with her fellow students outside of training. All it takes to fluster her is to be glomped by a wispy shota who mistakes her for his beloved sister who died fighting earlier. So we have a bishounen who took down the scariest fighter in the academy with a hug when all the other superpowered women couldn’t touch her. Right.

Normally, all this would be good, trashy fun. Ikkitousen, for all its pretentions toward the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, had a sense of humor about it to break up the seriousness of the fighting. Not Freezing. There’s a sense of foreboding and doom hovering over it like L.A. smog. There aren’t really any comic relief characters to lighten the mood, either. Since this is set up more like the Lord of the Flies than Divergence Eve, there isn’t a sense of camaraderie among the fighters. I guess female bonding would get in the way of all the fetish nonsense being thrust at us.

As an American, I have no problem seeing strong women. But I’m also not threatened by seeing a strong man. In fact, I’ve been conditioned to see a strong male hero that I can admire. Japanese otaku seem threatened by strong male figures. I suppose they remind them of their fathers. Either overbearing samurai-wannabes, or invisible salarymen, fathers in Japan don’t really enjoy a good image in anime.

So, perversely, strong women have moved to the front. Only they don’t exist to be admired. They exist to be conquered.

Winter 2011 First Impressions Part 2

2011-01-15T17:48:00.001-05:00

Moving right along…

What I Watched: Wandering Son

What I Expected: Trap and Reverse Trap Freak Show

What I Got: A surprisingly effective (if odd) love story

Okay, the genderbending in the description turned me off. A boy who likes dressing up as a cute girl and his tomboy childhood friend who prefers boys clothes. If they focused on that, this show was doomed. However, they choose to focus on the relationship between these two and the confusing time of middle adolescence. The artwork is beautiful, and for now they’re avoiding the cheap gender jokes. This has real promise to become a hidden gem.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. It’s sure to get messy later on, but for now it’s looking pretty good.

What I Watched: Fractale

What I Expected: A futuristic slice-of-life

What I Got: A mini tribute to Studio Ghibli

Here’s another gorgeous show with fluid animation and decent characters. It’s more of a tribute to science fiction heroes of the past, with allusions to Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov and Hayao Miyazaki. It’s a dense story, with a lone boy trying to unravel the mystery of the strange girl he rescued from pursuit by bumbling band of criminals. The Miyazaki references are undeniable, since the show looks like Laputa or Howl’s Moving Castle. It’s a little early to christen it a classic just yet. But if it continues down this path, it just might be.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. This one looks like a winner.

What I Watched: Freezing

What I Expected: Amazon Women protect the Earth from aliens

What I Got: Divergence Eve, only bloodier and less coherent

It’s been a while since Japan served up a trashy jiggle and gore fest without a trace of irony or humor. Based on a Korean manwha, Freezing takes a particularly gory and tasteless route in telling the story of genetically altered women and their telepath partners who defend Earth from an invasion from another dimension. In the first episode, we see the top student in a training run dispatch a number of fellow students. This is training? Just about everything about this is gratuitous. That in itself wouldn’t be bad, but he tone is dark and humorless. This grim world is not one I would want to visit.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Poor. Unless they lighten the mood a bit, there will be no payoff.

What I Watched: Dragon Crisis

What I Expected: Something involving dragons, I guess

What I Got: Magical Girlfriend plot #472946

Finding a girl in a suitcase who turns out to be a dragon. I guess dragons are cute blondes with squeaky voices. Naturally, Rose the dragon bonds instantly with our hapless lead. He’s also dragged around by his bombshell of a second cousin who is a first-class troublemaker. It seems there are dark forces who want to get Rose back. There are also other dragons after her. Looks like a wild ride.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. I’ll give it a few more episodes before ODing on tropes.

What I Watched: Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka?

What I Expected: Not much, since Japan has a terrible history with zombies

What I Got: The biggest asspull of the season

So, our lead is murdered by a serial killer and revived as a zombie by a silent necromancer. He’s now searching for his killer. That’s pretty heavy. Suddenly, he has a run-in with a magical girl in training and he steals her power accidentally. Okaaaay. Now he uses her power to transform into a magical girl (err, guy) and battle giant crawfish. Every season has at least one show that takes delight in poking fun at tropes of all kinds: Macademy Wasshoi!, Baka to Test, Pani Poni Dash!, etc. Even though all this tragedy has happened to the MC, he remains pretty non-plussed. It’s a pretty fun show that doesn’t take anything too seriously. That’s a good thing.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. This might be the remedy for shows like Freezing.

What I Watched: Level E

What I Expected: GAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY

What I Got: A cop buddy show in disguise

I was relieved after the first episode that they didn’t go down the yaoi route. Yes, Prince the alien is your typical long blonde haired bishie you would normally see in gayboy shows. But he’s more interested in teasing the butch baseballer Sado than making out with him. There’s a mystery surrounding all this, but it’s more Narue no Seki than X-Files. So far, so good.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. There are fewer women than I’m comfortable with in this show.

What I Watched: Oniichan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara Ne

What I Expected: More incest shenanigans a la Oreimo

What I Got: A tour de force from KitaEri

Man, why do incest show have the longest titles! It loosely translates to “I’m not in love with my brother, okay!” A younger sister is infatuated with her older brother but can’t quite explain why. Then we learn why in the first episode: she was in a car accident that killed her parents and left her with amnesia. Shu promised to protect and take care of her when she moved in. So right there, they give away an important source of the tension. The show would be pretty insufferable if it weren’t for Eri Kitamura moving the show forward with sheer force of will as Nao. It’s kind of like Yukarin taking over the otherwise ghastly B Gata H Kei and making it her personal charisma vehicle. It may not be enough, but I wouldn’t count her out.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair.

What I Watched: Mitsudomoe Season 2

What I Expected: More vulgar antics from the most troublesome triplets in school

What I Got: Producers doubling down on the funny

Misanthropy is much easier to take coming from chubby little cute girls, right? The Marui triplets return to wreak havoc on their homeroom teacher and classmates once again. The first season was kind of uneven. There would be some funny segments interspersed with some horrible ones. They didn’t take any chances with the first episode this time. They focused on the Gatcha Rangers, a Power Rangers send up for the entirety of the episode. They even had an overwrought OP and ED from hotblooded singer Masaki Endoh to make the parody perfect. If they keep things moving, it might be worth the watch.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. I wasn’t a huge fan of the first season, but it was watchable.

I’m cautiously optimistic about this season, as there seems to be many more shows that look good. Happy viewing!

Winter 2011 First Impressions Part 1

2011-01-08T16:03:00.001-05:00

The New Year is upon us, and the first season of the New Year is as well. Here are my first impressions of the new shows I watched:

What I Watched: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

What I Expected: A highly competent magical girl show

What I Got: Salvador Dali does Sailor Moon

With a production staff led by the hottest anime director, Akiyuki Shinbo, I fully expected to be wowed by this new project. I was surprised, but not for the reasons you think. This is a series Shinbo really wanted to make, and it could turn out to be his Apocalypse Now—the project that drives him over the edge. He pulls out all the visual stops, including his fondness for montage (Bakemonogatari, SZS), modern design (Hidamari Sketch), and odd camera angles (everything he’s ever directed). I was astonished how dark and foreboding everything was. This looked more like Dance in the Vampire Bund than Nanoha. Alice Through the Looking Glass seems to be his template, as he lays on more LSD-inspired imagery than Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton combined. It would be foolhardy to count him out, but I’m not digging this just yet…

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. I’ll give it a few more episodes to lighten up.

What I Watched: Rio – Rainbow Gate!

What I Expected: Sexy shenanigans in a casino

What I Got: An amusing, inoffensive jigglefest

One of the benefits of lowered expectations is you let down your guard and stop critically assessing every little element and just enjoy the ride. If you approach this fanservice vehicle with that attitude, you’ll get a lot more out of it. Hot casino babes solving non-problems in a flamboyant way make for entertaining fluff. Think of it as one of those awful card battle shows, only made for adults who want cleavage and panty shots. Thank heavens it’s episodic. If they tried to shoehorn in a plot, it would collapse under its own pretentions.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. This has guilty pleasure written all over it!

What I Watched: Kimi no Todoke 2nd Season

What I Expected: More sparkles & bubbles & misunderstandings

What I Got: I don’t know because it was a recap episode

This is not a good sign. Either the producers thought that fans wouldn’t remember the general plot and characters without a recap, or they didn’t have a strong enough first episode to get the ball rolling. It’s a shame either way, because I was pleasantly surprised by the first season. It was a joy to watch the socially awkward Sawako blossom into a beautiful swan with the help of the most popular boy in her class and two of the greatest fembros in anime history. It seems we’ll start for real next week with the Valentine’s Day arc from the manga. The framework is already there, and the producers would have to work to mess things up. I not feeling good about this…

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Incomplete. I’ll have to watch the real first episode next week.

What I Watched: Infinite Stratos

What I Expected: Infinite Ryvius + Stratos 4

What I Got: Macross Gundam High School: Do you remember Generic Harem Plots?

What looked at the outset like another Gunbuster-style battle training series quickly turned into a rote standard harem comedy. In a way, I’m relieved. There are so many ways to screw up the former, and so many ways to get the latter right. Ichika is the only boy in the world who can use the IS Battle Unit, so he transfers to the school that trains pilots. Conveniently, his long-lost older sister is his homeroom teacher. She’s a legendary pilot. It looks like half the girls love him, and half hate him. Throw in a tsundere childhood friend, and a haughty oujo-sama, and you have a built in love triangle. More harem additions are on the way, including another childhood friend with a marriage promise in hand, and a reverse French trap. Strap in, this should be a wild ride!

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. If it stays slapstick, it might just be worth my time.

What I Watched: Yumekui Merry

What I Expected: Another magical girlfriend show

What I Got: A grimdark magical girlfriend show

This must be the season of dark, interdimensional dream world series. You’ve got a boy that can see auras finding a catgirl, and being pulled into a nightmare landscape full of cats who want to do him in, and a masked bad guy menacingly voiced by Jouji Nakata. Neither lead character is very strong, so they’ll have to rely on action to carry the series. Luckily, the action is pretty good. The plot looks like an asspull, though.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Poor. This doesn’t do much for me.

What I Watched: Gosick

What I Expected: Rozen Maiden III

What I Got: An intriguing update on Sherlock Holmes

Taken from the successful novel series, Gosick (Japanese corruption of Gothic) features a crime-solving loli and her sensible Japanese sidekick. It was a good choice to set the series in a fictional European country in the distant past. The setting works well to frame the Sherlock Holmes-style crimes our two heroes must solve. Trains, carriages, cobblestone street all signal Dickensian England without the grime and soot. Aoi Yuuki is also doing well walking the fine line of boredom and brattiness that Victorique treads. I’m not quite sold on Kazuya. He is a good foil for Victorique, but he’s a little too whiny and high-strung to be a good Watson to her Holmes. This is the most promising series I’ve seen thus far.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. This sucked me in from the get-go.

More series are starting next week. I’ll update them in part 2.

2010 Seiyuu Awards

2011-01-01T21:16:00.001-05:00

Now that 2010 is safely in the books, various blogs around the blogosphere are handing out awards. I thought I’d join the festivities by handing out my seiyuu awards for 2010. My awards are little unorthodox, but hopefully they’ll make sense.

MVP – Like in sports, this award goes not necessarily to the most talented, but the actor that makes everyone around them better. It rewards ensemble acting and consistency.

2010 Male MVP: Shintaro Asanuma—looking over his CV, you would be hard-pressed to find a role he sucked at. Equally adept as a leading man (Takatoshi - SYD) as a side character (Frank – Nodame Cantabile: Paris), he excelled in all his assignments. He also showed impressive range in covering many different genres. If he keeps up his pace, he’s well on his way to becoming an all-time great.

2010 Female MVP: Aoi Yuuki—like her or hate her, you can’t say she phoned in any of her roles. In fact, she’s starting to display the same chameleon-like tendencies of her hero, Miyuki Sawashiro. No matter what role she was given, she improved the show through her performance. From the dour and mischievous Trollbot Korone in Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou, to the plucky underdog pastry student Ichigo in YumiPati, to the bipolar Jubei in Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls, Aoi-chan always did a memorable job. At only 18, she has a bright future ahead of her.

Best Newcomer: Hisako Kanemoto—it’s rare for someone to come from nowhere to top billing, but she certainly knocked both her starring roles out of the park in 2010. First, as the wide-eyed Kanata in Sora no Woto, then her breakthrough as Ika Musume in Shinryaku! Ika Musume. Both roles needed an energetic sense of wonder. Both roles could have easily been botched by being too timid, or overly aggressive. On both occasion, she struck the correct balance to keep both roles from becoming insufferable. It took me the longest time to think of who she reminded me of. Then it hit me: Sakura Tange of Cardcaptor Sakura fame! I’m not saying she’ll star in a legendary series like that, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she did.

Best Character Actress (alternately known as the Ayako Kawasumi Award): Haruka Tomatsu—it was a mistake for me to write off Tomato as a cute face who was angling for an idol’s career a la Nana Mizuki. Her acting took on a real depth and fearlessness in 2010 with roles as varied as a desperate vampire in Shiki, a gunslinging tsundere CIA hopeful in Asobi ni Iku Yo, and a happy-go-lucky alien princess betrothed to the unluckiest harem hero on Earth in Motto To Love-Ru. She seems equally adept at drama as she is with comedy. If she continues on this path, she’ll be the go to actor that Mamiko Noto and Ayako Kawasumi always were. If only she could work on her singing…

Best Character Actor: Takahiro Sakurai—score one for the Old School! Few actors were as flexible and consistent as Sakurai. He played everything from an Army Officer afraid of spirits (Kei – Otome Youkai Zakuro), to an amoral Shogun bent on protecting Japan at all costs (Yoshihiko – Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls). He’s as reliable as your father’s tools, and can play leading men and side men with equal aplomb. There aren’t as many new male seiyuu rising through the ranks, so his services will be needed in the foreseeable future.

Most Overexposed (also known as the Aya Hirano Award): Ayana Taketatsu—it’s one thing to be the fifth wheel upsetting the balance of a fine ensemble that didn’t really need you (Asuza – K-ON!!). It’s quite another to be thrust into starring roles where you are way over your head (Mio – MM!; Kirino – OreImo). Ayanyan is best suited to side roles where she can do the least amount of damage. Her turn as the feline prodigy Nozomi in Mayoi Neko Overrun was understated and well-received. She’s quite good as the Sugar Fairy Vanilla in YumiPati. She’s even tolerable as the horny Ako-nee in Kiss x Sis. But to promote her as the next great tsundere successor to Rie Kugimiya is pushing it. She needs to drop back into her comfort zone of supporting roles.

Most Underexposed: Saori Hayami—if ever there was a seiyuu that needed to be overhyped, it’s her. Her acting is showing ever-increasing range. She can play energetic, over-the-top girls (Musubi – Seikirei). She can play understated badasses (Ikaros – Sora no Otoshimono). I was even surprised to hear her replace Ayako Kawasumi as Hime in Princess Resurrection. I like her Hime better! Kawasumi’s sounded bored and disaffected. Saori’s sounded pensive and playful. And her singing voice is heavenly. It’s a real shame she isn’t drop-dead gorgeous, otherwise she’d be outselling Nana Mizuki on the Oricon charts. She is only 19, so she has plenty of time to get more plum roles. Spread the word: Saori Hayami is the best singer/seiyuu you’ve never heard of!

May you have a Happy and Prosperous 2011!

Fall Season Wrap Part 2

2010-12-29T21:52:00.001-05:00

Here’s part 2 of my reviews of Fall series I completed:

What I Watched: Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt

What I Expected: A glorious tribute to modern American gross-out animation

What I Got : The most profane series I have ever watched

I’ve watched a lot of animation in my life, both American and Japanese. I’ve seen a lot of series that “pushed the edge”. I have never seen a series that so completely ignored the edge like this one. You can tell the producers wanted to pay homage to American series like Ren & Stimpy, Felix the Cat, and Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. In the process, they threw in every gross thing they could think of without regard to plot, pacing or common sense. It was especially amusing watching them trying to master American profanity. You don’t quite appreciate it until you hear George Carlin’s seven words you can’t say on television shot through a thick, Engrish accent. This show wasn’t ashamed of it’s sex, violence, scatology and gluttony. In fact, it positively reveled in it like a pig rolling around in it’s own filth. It was amusing, and fast-paced. It never dragged. It just never found it’s own level (as low as that may be!). They ended with a cliffhanger and an announcement for a second season. I’m not sure I’ll watch that one. Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt gets 2 out of 5 stars.

What I Watched: Fortune Arterial

What I Expected: H-game adaptation #51342464678

What I Got: A pretty box filled with nothing

I don’t know what possesses me to watch garbage like this. In the past, I chalked it up to penance. Show like this cross the line into self-torture. Usually, there’s some character that transcends the show. Not this time. They were all stale stereotypes. Even the plot twist of the year (vampires) wasn’t enough to get this lead zeppelin off the ground. I’ve learned my lesson. No more crappy series without a payoff. Fortune Arterial gets 1 out of 5 stars.

What I Watched: Motto To Love-Ru

What I Expected: More of the same, tired harem antics from Rito and his alien concubines

What I Got: A half-decent series reduced to its strengths

I wasn’t expecting much going into this. I watched the first season and the OVAs, and it was several variations on the same joke. Rito trips and falls into the cleavage of a girl. Girl gets embarrassed, girl slaps Rito. Repeat ad infinitum. For this series, they broke the show into three parts, taking advantage of the manga’s format. This kept the pacing up, and reduced the chances of screwing up the plot. It also managed the large cast of characters better and emphasized the comedy. I actually enjoyed this season, while the previous shows bored me to tears. There’s another manga series that’s even sexier (To Love-Ru Darkness). If they adapt it into a series, I hope they retain this production crew. Motto To Love-Ru gets 3 out of 5 stars.

What I Watched: Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru

What I Expected: Natsu no Arashi with less talented leads

What I Got: A pleasantly goofy surprise

SHAFT and maid cafes seem to go together. They did both seasons of Natsu no Arashi (a show I hated). When I saw the first episode, I wasn’t really impressed. However, I stuck with it, and was rewarded with a fun, light show with a little Shinbo weirdness to spice things up. Hotori is energetic, but annoying. She’s also a little dim. I think we’ve finally found a character archetype that Chiaki Omigawa can play as a lead. All of the cast sported character flaws, but they were complimentary—like Seinfeld. Slice-of-life is a form unto itself, so the episodic nature of the show actually flowed very well from one episode to the next. Also, the band the maids formed was rather catchy! Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru gets 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge

What I Expected: More smug doodling from Shinbo and SHAFT

What I Got: Second verse, same as the first!

I had low expectations for this after not enjoying the first series. Did you ever watch a play that was billed as a comedy, but didn’t laugh once? That’s the feeling I got from this series. It was too hip for the room. The second season didn’t even double down on the weirdness. It just looked like mental patients making up little games during recess in the yard. Slavishly sticking with the manga’s chapter headings might be a nice in-joke for the readers, but it was just annoying for those of us who didn’t read the manga. Riku also was my least favorite lead type: the screamer. If something didn’t make sense, he would start yelling. I guess that was the author’s cue to laugh in lieu of a punchline. Weird is not always entertaining. I guess it’s fitting they ended this series with a circus. Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge gets 1 1/2 stars out of 5.

This season kind of sucked. Winter 2011 looks promising, as usual I’ll watch the first episode of just about everything and give my first impressions. Happy New Year!

Fall Season Wrap Part 1

2010-12-23T18:18:00.001-05:00

The Fall season shows are wrapping up, so here’s part one of my reviews of the series I finished:

What I Watched: Shinryaku! Ika Musume

What I Expected: Another bumbling invader of Earth a la Sgt. Frog

What I Got: The best slice-of-life series since Azumanga Daioh

This turned out to be the biggest surprise of the year. Going in, I wasn’t expecting much after reading the synopsis. It looked like another incompetent invader sucked into life in Japan. What crossed me up was the childlike wonder and energy Ika Musume brought to the show. Things we find quite mundane can seem wonderful to this literal “fish out of water”. It wasn’t perfect. The humans bullied Ika Musume too much. The serious environmental message was tossed out to sea. We still don’t know much about who she is, or where she came from. But all that matter little, since this was a sneaky attempt to turn everyday life inside out. As you might have read in my previous post, this was the best show of 2010. Shinryaku! Ika Musume gets 4 1/2 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls

What I Expected: Another fightin’ girls with exploding clothes show a la Ikkitousen

What I Got: A pleasant waste of time that was a little too lazy about its task

I can’t really say this show was a disappointment, since I wasn’t expecting much in the first place. The setup was videogame clichéd. The dialogue was pedestrian, and when they threw in every shopworn phrase about defending Japan and love triumphing over evil, one just has to chuckle. The real promise was in the characters. There were some very good performances from Aoi Yuuki and Rie Kugimiya. The male lead even started off as a badass—a good sign. However, when it turned into a harem series mid-run, that’s when it all went wrong. The game attempt to throw in a plot at the end was rushed and amateurish. At least the girls were pretty, and the artwork was interesting. The BD releases should be uncensored, so that’s something to look forward to. Hyakka Rouran Samurai Girls gets 1 1/2 stars out of 5 stars.

What I Watched: The World God Only Knows

What I Expected: Sort of a Cardcaptor Sakura for galge

What I Got: Another game attempt at adapting a well-regarded manga

It’s bad enough that a cute, bumbling demon contracts with the world’s greatest girls game (galge) player to capture the hearts of girls harboring wayward souls in their hearts. But add to that a malevolent shut-in of a male lead who’s out of his element, and it becomes kind of painful. The girls were no prize, either. With the exception of taciturn bookworm Shiori, they all had some sort of unpleasant character trait that had to be overcome. The best thing about this series by far is the good-natured screwup of a demon, Elsie. The manga is ongoing, but she may have the inside track to capture the heart of the Capturing God. There’s a season two coming in the Spring, so we’ll see what direction the producers take. I’m not overly thrilled with this series, but it wasn’t bad. The World God Only Knows gets 2 1/2 stars out of 5.

More series are wrapping up this week, and I’ll get to them in Part 2.

Top 10 Anime of 2010

2010-12-18T17:00:00.001-05:00

The New Year is fast approaching, and it’s time to look back on the best shows of 2010. Here’s my Top 10 list:

10. Sora no Woto – I didn’t know what to expect with this title. The description made it sound like an unholy cross between Aria and Full Metal Jacket. I’m not sure I wanted to see a slice-of-life series set in an alternate wartime Europe. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the characters and the setting. While the series didn’t shy away from the grittier aspects of war, the focus was much more on the girls stationed at the remote outpost and their daily efforts to live through an uncertain time. There was just enough action to keep from getting too sleepy, and the ending was a bit clichéd. However, all in all, it was a decent watch in the dead of Winter.

9. Strike Witches 2 – The plucky witches of the 501st Airborne took to the skies once again to defend Romagna from another, more powerful hive of Neuroi aliens. Like the first series, they took their time developing the characters and their interactions. Each girl got some attention, and each showed their growth over time. Ironically, protagonist Miyafuji was shoved to the back somewhat, as other witches were spotlighted. However, the producers remembered what made this show so endearing, and Yoshika got the final blow in again. There was a hint at a season three at the end, but the main girls might not be the stars. Despite the ridiculousness of pantless girls with propellers on their legs battling aliens in an alternate WWII, this show was a fun watch.

8. Kimi no Todoke – Here’s another pleasant surprise. Sawako is a tall, taciturn beauty who doesn’t talk much because of her stunning resemblance to the main villain in the horror film The Ring. It’s made her shy and prone to living in her own head. A chance meeting with the most popular guy in school changes her life dramatically. Mamiko Noto gives a bravura performance as the meek, socially awkward Sawako. This is another show where we get to see an ugly duckling grow into a beautiful swan. Sawako’s transformation is truly inspiring, and the characters are all fun, too.

7. Baka to Test to Shoukanguu – Another underdog show, this one deals with a class full of misfit witches and wizards. They are graded by letter, and given accommodations equivalent to their standing. Thus, A Class gets the best digs, and F Class gets the worst. A lower class can challenge a higher class for their classroom and standing. That would be a standard underdog story in itself, but the show twists the knife with its wacky humor. It has more in common with Pani Poni Dash! and Excel Saga than Harry Potter. It’s eccentric, weird fun.

6. Nodame Cantabile: Finale – The final series dealing with the prickly but talented Shinichi, and the gifted, but autistic Nodame. I shouldn’t really call her autistic, because she does relate well to others. She’s just different, and her peculiar nature rubs the proper and driven Shinichi the wrong way. This opposites attract love story shouldn’t work, but it’s imbued with enough humanity to carry the two across the finish line. By not having a definitive end, producers leave the possibility of a sequel open. I hope they take it. This show was a delight from start to finish.

5. Ichiban Ushirou no Daimaou – In the 80s and 90s, action comedies were all the rage. Then, at the turn of the century, producers turned away from this venerable genre. This show revives the tradition laid forth by Slayers, Louie the Rune Soldier and Lost Universe. It was refreshing to see a harem lead that actually kicks ass. Akuto wasn’t afraid to fight for what he believes in. He’s not someone to trifle with. He punched out a dragon, for crying out loud! The girls were all personable, and for a change they all had a part to play in the plot. The Matrix Reloaded-inspired ending left something to be desired. However, all in all, it was the best action series I watched all year.

4. K-ON!! – The much-anticipated sequel to 2009’s surprise hit didn’t disappoint. Well, not at first, anyway. Picking up right where they left off, the senior girls in the Light Music Club were ready for their final year in high school together. That left junior Azusa contemplating the future of the club, and life without her beloved sempai-tachi. The series took its time and deftly handled each dramatic setup. The seniors decided to all attend the same college, and Azusa’s best friends Ui and Jun decided to join the club for Azusa’s last year. It all culminated in Episode 20 for their final show before the student body. It was a triumph, then they had 6 more episodes to wrap things up. They just punted. That was a disappointment. There was an announcement for an upcoming movie, but I would like to have seen a better ending for such a wonderful series.

3. Yumeiro Pâtissiére – There’s always one kidvid on my list, and this one was a delight. Disguised as a girly show about learning to be a professional pastry maker, this actually was a sports anime. Plucky Ichigo loves sweets, and wants to follow in her grandmother’s footsteps to open her own pastry shop. At school, she meets the three best students in her class, the “Sweets Princes”, and they bond as a team. YumiPati avoids all the pitfalls of many kidvids, and focuses on the humanity of Ichigo. Her triumph was a long time coming and well worth the wait. I was delighted to see them continue the series almost immediately with a new series. This is one of my guilty pleasures.

2. Seitokai Yakuindomo – The surprise hit of the Summer, SYD combined the “fish out of water” and “Supreme Student Council” tropes and slammed them together with non-stop sex jokes. Sounds dreadful, right? It would have been, had the lead Takatoshi been a typical, leering walking gonad. Instead, he was a patient, thoughtful, decent man for which the action swirled around. Producers insisted on keeping the 4-koma style of the manga. At first, this was disorienting. The jokes came fast and furious, and if you missed one, they would throw six more at you. Once you got used to the pacing, the show never failed to deliver. While the sex jokes were naughty, they were never lurid. It was just curious girls at an all-girls schools getting used to having men around. This one deserves a sequel.

1. Shinryaku! Ika Musume -- Talk about your ultimate bait and switch! What looked like another overmatched alien invading Earth a la Sgt. Frog, turned into the best slice-of-life comedy since Azumanga Daioh. A Squid Girl comes to the surface to invade humanity and punish them for polluting her ocean. She’s quickly adopted by a family that owns a beachside restaurant. Watching her learn about the land above the water has been truly wonderful. Her natural curiosity and cheerful nature make even the most mundane things seem fascinating. It isn’t perfect. The humans tend to bully Ika Musume too much for my liking. They seem to have abandoned the serious environmental message. We still don’t know who Ika Musume is, or where she comes from. There’s an underlying unease about the series that occasionally verges into darkness. But all in all, it’s a pleasant watch. The manga is ongoing, and I hope they choose to make more series about this adorable cephalopod and the humans she interacts with.

2011 is just around the corner. Another year of new series to look forward to. Happy watching!

Wharrgarbl in Tokyo

2010-12-16T20:17:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday, the Tokyo Metropolitan Board approved Rule 156, otherwise known as the Tokyo Metropolitan Area Youth Protection Ordinance Reform Bill. Essentially, it’s a morals bill that intends to clean up the more racy titles in manga and anime. Proposed by Tokyo Governor, Shintaro Ishihara, the act would outlaw depictions of violent sex and sex with minors, among many other things. It’s hard really to know what the rule specifically bans, since it’s written so vaguely that it could encompass everything sexual.

Since it’s very vague, no one is sure how to interpret the impact on the anime and manga industry. Since Tokyo is the de facto capitol of the otaku world, the government could shut them all down. Akihabara could become a ghost town. Millions of yen would be lost. Prime Minister Naoto Kan has spoken out against this rule. Kan, himself a former Finance Minister, knows the power and reach of Japanese culture. Anime and manga have the capability of reaching global audiences, and could boost revenue and Japanese prestige in an era when the Land of the Rising Sun is being eclipsed by the waking Chinese Dragon.

The motives of Governor Ishihara are unclear, as well. At 78, it would be foolish to try to run for Prime Minister. This rule, while pleasing prudes and ultra conservatives, stands to cost his city money. Most of the major anime events and launches take place in Tokyo, and he runs the risk of the companies fleeing to more friendly cities, like Kyoto, Osaka, and Yokohama. Ishihara has always been somewhat of an outlier. He has defied traditional Japanese decorum, and stated his dislike for foreigners in general, and Koreans in particular. He has angered Western countries by visiting shrines dedicated to those responsible for World War II. He has angered the Chinese by downplaying the Rape of Nanking and other atrocities committed by Japan during World War II. Is this another tweak at a constituency he doesn’t like?

If it is, it might come back and bite him on the butt. One of the more reliable exports from Japan is culture—usually in the form of games, anime and manga. Otaku may be distasteful and loathsome to the public at large, but they do spend money…a LOT of money. Most of that money is spent in Tokyo. While the bill only affects the Tokyo jurisdiction, the infrastructure doesn’t exist to support these industries elsewhere in Japan. It would take time, and when the studios are facing an economic downturn, any interruption in revenue could be fatal.

One thing in the industries’ favor is the vagueness of the bill. In America, a lower court would strike down the bill, since it’s wording is so vague that it could ban anything. This might happen yet, as the industry mobilizes to try and figure out how to deal with the new landscape. However, the law moves slowly, and it’s set to go into effect in June of 2011. That may not be enough time to get a stay on the bill.

Another remote possibility, and one that makes me chuckle, is the thought of thousands of deprived otaku mobilizing politically and forcing Ishihara out at the next election. The site of thousands of irate nerds carrying daimakura and wearing 20th Century Boys masks would be quite a sight, indeed! The truth is, no one knows what will happen. This could just be a show bill to signal to the right wing that he means business, or it could be the end of anime and manga as we know it.

Knowing the creativity and ingenuity of the Japanese otaku, I’m not writing the obituary just yet, law or no law.

Top 5 Series to Give As Gifts

2010-11-30T23:31:00.001-05:00

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone. If you still haven’t gotten that special someone a gift, there’s still time to give the gift of anime. I’ve thought about what I would recommend to someone new to anime to start them out. Here are my Top 5 recommendations for series to give as gifts. Remember, these reflect my tastes. Your mileage may vary.

5. Macross Frontier

There has to be a mecha series in there. I thought about going back to the more venerable original Macross, or the highly-regarded movie Do You Remember Love? However, time has not been kind to these titles, so the most modern installment has the best production, and a killer soundtrack by Yoko Kanno. The story is a bit convoluted, and there’s some teenaged angst from Ranka Lee to get through, but the ending is good, and the characters are fun.

4. Love Hina

I had to include a harem comedy on the list. And while the various Tenchi incarnations are to be considered, Ken Akamatsu’s first big hit stands up to the test of time. The story of hapless Keitaro trying to win the heart of volcanic tsundere Naru while simultaneously trying to get into prestigious Tokyo University make for a frenetic mix. As each new girl is added, Keitaro’s troubles are compounded. Despite all the tomfoolery, Akamatsu is trying to tell a love story, and there are humane moments among the mayhem. The characters are all a hoot, too!

3. Mahoromatic

There’s a special place in my heart for this series, as it’s the one that lured me back into anime after a decade’s hiatus. Mahoro might be one of the most humane characters in the history of anime. That’s pretty odd, since she’s an android. The seemingly simple story of an android warrior spending her last days serving her dead commander’s son as a maid is deep and complex. The series shifts between bawdy slapstick and heart-stopping action. It has something for just about everyone…as long as you ignore the infamous finale.

2. Cowboy Bebop

This series proves that anime’s specialty is taking an unusual situation, populating it with oddball characters, and infuse it with humanity. Shinichiro Watanabe’s masterpiece about space-age bounty hunters wows you with technology, but it’s grounded by a strong ensemble cast. This series runs the gamut, from slapstick comedy to the most awesome action sequences this side of Quentin Tarantino. In fact, the last fifteen minutes of the last episode wouldn’t be out of place in a film by Robert Rodriguez or Tarantino. The choreography of violence is breathtaking. If there is such a thing as a perfect 26-episode series, this comes as close as any other.

1. Neon Genesis Evangelion

In the 15 years since its debut, NGE has been picked apart, venerated, reviled and elevated to the title of “The Greatest Anime in History”. I’m not sure I would go that far, but it certainly has the most impact of any series in memory. By infusing the stale mecha series tropes with Christian iconography, Hideaki Anno created a dense, psychological undercurrent that’s as much Sigmund Freud as Isaac Asimov. If you get one of the many boxsets available, make sure it includes the movie End of Evangelion, as it puts the TV ending to shame in its grandeur. Your recipient might not understand it all, but they will never forget it!

I purposely stuck to series, but there are many movies that would be excellent gifts. Two that come to mind are Akira, and Ghost in the Shell. There are many more, but that’s a post for another time.

A Bully’s Banquet

2010-11-20T20:59:00.001-05:00

I often look for trends when I’m watching anime, and one disturbing trend has bubbled to the surface this season: bullying. In nearly every series I’m watching, there seems to be a character designated to be bullied. In a way, it’s understandable. The history of animated comedy is full of cartoony violence. Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, even Mickey Mouse dished out a lot of punishment in their day.

The bullying I’m seeing isn’t like that. Bullying in the past was portrayed as a morality tale. The bully always got their comeuppance in the end. In current day anime, bullies often get away scot-free. Part of it must be cultural. Japan is renown as a homogenous society where standing out is frowned upon. School children often tell horrific tales of being bullied by classmates, and even mean teachers on the lookout for rebellious behavior. If that’s the case, one could sympathize with the animators who are taking their revenge in two dimensions rather than three. If, however, it’s just taking malicious pleasure in torturing another, then that’s really sad.

In Shinryaku! Ika Musume, Ika is bullied by the humans she’s living with. Eiko in particular seems keen on keeping her in line, and isn’t afraid to get physical with her. Older sister Chizuru already proved her superior fighting skill in taking down Ika when she threatened her family. While Ika is ostensibly the bad guy, since she is trying to invade and subjugate humanity, she’s actually just a curious girl in a strange land. She doesn’t know the customs, and she’s trying to learn all she can. It isn’t really her fault that she often gets into mischief. After all, if you or I were transported to an alien land, we would probably make some missteps as well.

In MM!, Tarou Sado is trying to cure his extreme masochism in order to live a more normal life. Mio, the head of the Helper’s Club is an extreme sadist. You would think this would be a match made in Heaven (or Hell). However, it’s tough to watch the earnest Tarou get beat up in the most creative ways each week. He’s enjoying it, but it doesn’t make it any easier to watch. Another irony is his romantic interest, Yuuno, is terrified of boys. She can’t stand being touched by them, so she punches Tarou whenever he accidentally brushed up against her. At least Yuuno regrets hitting Tarou.

In Tantei Opera Milky Holmes, the one-time stars of the schools lose their magical girl powers, and are instantly demoted to a dusty attic. They are forced to forage for food, and are treated like second-class citizens. I realize this is a parody of magical girl shows, but seeing someone suffer week in and week out doesn’t tickle my funny bone. The girls seem to take it in stride, and there’s usually a happy ending. But until the girls regain their powers, it’s going to be more gags of them getting beaten up by bears and attacked by giant squid.

In Sora no Otoshimono Forte, the lead Tomoki gets his share of abuse. It’s totally warranted, as he’s one of the most perverted heroes since Atsushi in Uresai Yatsura. The real victim of the cruelest bullying is Nymph. The smallest Angeloid seems to be targeted for special abuse. First, her sadistic master sends her out to kill Tomoki. When she can’t because she’s falling for him, harpies are sent out to kill Nymph. She gets her wings torn off. Tomoki and gang rescue her, but now she feels lees than whole without the ability to fly. In the latest episode, she’s taken advantage of by a Type 2 Angeloid who impersonates Tomoki. She’s again cast in the role of Damsel in Distress. What does the creator have against Nymph? She’s hardly the most loathsome character in the series. From the outside, this looks like picking on the smallest and weakest Angeloid. In other words, bullying.

It would be too tiresome to psychoanalyze the Japanese psyche about bullying. Certainly culture plays a role. Also, this might be subconscious acting out at losing wars to Russia and the United States, and economic wars to China. All I know is bullying is ingrained into the Japanese culture, and it’s reflected in their anime. I’m not going to scold them for it, since I don’t have a good grasp of what it’s like to live in that society. I only know I don’t like it. I hope they have the self-awareness to recognize that behavior like this casts them in a bad light. You can be funny without being degrading.

However, after watching series like these, I wonder if Japan knows it.

Miku Hatsune Coming to America!

2010-11-19T22:19:00.001-05:00

Japan is the Land of the Rising Sun. It’s also one of the most technophilic societies in history. They love all things robotic, artificial and mechanical. While Western animators and robotics experts try and preserve the Uncanny Valley by not making artificial things too real, Japan embraces it and tries to surpass humanity with its creations. Singing is hard. So, does Japan create a program that helps you sing? No! They create a program that does all the singing for you! Enter the Vocaloids.

I first heard of Yamaha’s vocal synthesis technology a few years back when they released a singing synthesizer based on vocalist Miriam Stockley. While it was impressive, it was pretty easy to hear that it was a synthesizer and not a human voice. Western musicians largely wrote off the English versions as a novelty. However, in Japan, musicians embraced the technology. Several Japanese voice synthesizers, or Vocaloids, were developed and sold. The most successful of these by far was one based on a 16-year-old up and coming idol with green hair and a slender body: Miku Hatsune.

Miku’s voice is based on Japanese seiyuu and singer, Saki Fujita. While Miku’s voice isn’t that much more advanced than Miriam’s, the simpler phonetic set of Japanese lends itself to singing Japanese songs. Clever producers also push Miku’s voice to the limit, having her sing everything from hyperspeed JPop to operatic arias. Miku’s pure tone is charming, as is her character design. Artists have gone wild with her. Just do a search on YouTube, and you’ll find hundreds of videos of animated Miku. She really has captured the hearts of Japanese techno-nerds.

So why all the fuss about Vocaloids in general, and Miku Hatsune in particular? Crypton Future Media, which releases the Vocaloids, has announced that they are working on an English version of Miku Hatsune. Soon us English speakers will be able to use Miku to front our virtual bands. I’m not sure how they will do this. Saki Fujita doesn’t speak English, and if they hire an English speaker to voice this new version, the magic might be lost. I’ll be following this development closely, as I have plans to use it if it lives up to its predecessor. In closing, let me leave you with my favorite Miku Hatsune song: Ai Kotoba (Love Word) by Japanese artist DECO*27.

200th Post: A Squid Girl Shall Conquer Us All

2010-11-06T20:45:00.001-04:00

At long last, I’ve finally reached my 200th post on this humble little anime blog. Instead of doing a recap like I usually do, I think I’ll turn my attention to a sleeper show that may be one for the ages.

In Shinryaku! Ika Musume, an anthropomorphic squid girl surfaces from the deep to conquer humanity. Our crime? We humans are thoughtlessly polluting the oceans. She first turns her attention to a seaside restaurant run by the Aizawa siblings: little brother Takeru, middle sister Eiko, and eldest sister Chizuru. Squid Girl quickly learns that humanity exceeds 6.7 billion, and we have huge armies and weapons. What can one lone cephalopod do? Well, in traditional slapstick style, she accidentally knock a hole in the restaurant wall. Being dutiful, she begins working at the diner to pay for the damages.

This is what separates this show from other alien conquest shows like Keroro Gunsou. While Sgt. Frog is a self-parody on the excesses of otaku culture, Ika Musume is a testament to childlike wonder, as her natural curiosity about the landers world takes over. Her mission is consistently subjugated by her lust for life experiences. It is precisely this wonder that rescues her character from being insufferably bratty. Ika Musume is basically good at heart. Even her intentions for conquering humanity are pure.

Many viewers have noted that her character is strikingly similar to one in a popular manga. Yotsuba Koiwai from Yotsuba& also has a childlike wonder and a nose for trouble. She also finds amazement and enjoyment in seemingly mundane things. Like Yotsuba, Ika Musume gives us a fresh perspective on us wacky humans with our odd foibles. The writing is also similar, taking an episodic, slice-of-life approach to storytelling.

All that would be well and good, but there was one sequence in Episode 5 that may elevate this to a special place. It’s a dream sequence where Eiko finds a Mini Ika Musume stuck in a bottle on the beach. She takes her home, and the magic begins. In seven wordless minutes, we are treated to wonderful scenes of companionship between a pet and a master. We also get to see the bittersweet ending that accompanies these relationships. Apparently mini squids live 150 years so we see Eiko on her death bed smiling at Mini Ika before she passes away. Mini Ika is confused at first, then the stark realization slowly creeps across her. She lets out a heart-wrenching little shriek of agony at the loss of her beloved master. It was one of the most poignant scenes I’ve ever witnessed in anime. Lucky for us, they let us off the hook by showing Sanae lamenting that it was her dream, and she wasn’t in Eiko’s place!

This simple, effective sequence was the best in pantomime, slapstick, and humanity. It connected on such a deep level, that I’m still shaken by it nearly a week later. It reinforced to me that despite all the crap Japan churns out, it is still capable of hitting a home run. To be fair, most of the credit has to go to the writing, as it sets things up perfectly. I’m still giddy over the fact that seven minutes of animation has renewed my faith in the art form. They further soothed our wound by having a happy little Mini Ika Musume skipping across the end credits.

At first, I thought Hisako Kanemoto was miscast as Ika Musume. Wouldn’t a more experienced and charismatic seiyuu like Yukari Tamura or Rie Kugimiya be a better Ika Musume? After watching the first few episodes I realized that she was perfectly cast. Kanemoto emphasizes Ika Musume’s wonder and curiosity. The others would have turned Ika Musume into an insufferable brat. Props also go to Rie Tanaka as the mischievous, yet caring big sister Chizuru. She is an “Iron Butterfly” who is caring, yet can kick your ass if you step out of line. She also likes teasing. The underrated Ayumi Fujimura is coming into her own as the scolding, yet caring middle sister Eiko. I didn’t like her at first, but she’s slowly evolving into one of the more important characters in the show.

The show isn’t perfect. They still bully Ika Musume too much. The serious environmental message has been lost in all the tomfoolery. They are introducing new characters every week, and I fear they might dilute the focus of the show. But it continuously surprises and delights me every week.

The show is only scheduled for a 13 week run, but there is enough manga material for more. I hope Japan sees what a gem they have with this show and gives it another season. There are many more questions to answer. Who is Ika Musume? Are there more like her? Will she ever take over humanity?

After seeing Episode 5, I hope the answer to that last question is “Yes”.

Invasion of the Moeblobs!

2010-10-24T21:06:00.001-04:00

Run! Run for your lives! We are being invaded by girls so adorable your heart will instantly melt! This season has brought us a veritable treasure trove of cute girls of various types. Not just any cute girls, mind you, but cute girls of a specific type: moeblobs.

A moeblob is a cute, young girl who is earnest, energetic, and usually incompetent. They trigger the “Big Brother” instinct in men. It’s not really a sexual attraction like typical moe characters. These are girls you want to help and protect. While I loathe moe in general, these girls are my weakness. I guess it’s because I have a little sister, and I remember what it was like keeping her out of harm’s way. She drove me crazy, but I was rewarded with unconditional love. That made things all better.

The first example is an unusual one. She’s an anthropomorphic cephalopod risen from the deep to invade and conquer humanity for its careless treatment of the ocean. From the series Shinryaku! Ika Musume, Ika Musume has an agenda, and a point. However, she’s like an energetic 10-year-old just discovering the alien world of land walkers. When she should be full of malice and antipathy toward mankind, she’s actually full of wonder. Her basic good nature makes her helpful and adorable. Unlike another invader, Keroro Gunsou, Ika Musume is basically good at heart. Her mission is constantly derailed by the idyllic life of a seaside restaurant and the odd denizens who populate it. Ostensibly the bad guy, one can’t help but feel offended at the bullying Squid Girl suffers at the hands of the humans. The more she’s mistreated, the more sympathetic she becomes. I fear the serious ecological message of her mission is being drown out by the slice of life episodes she goes through as an indentured servant. (You see, she accidentally punched a hole through the restaurant wall while swatting a fly with her powerful tentacles. She’s working to pay off the damages.) A normal invader would have retreated to the sea for reinforcements. She seems content doing basic reconnaissance on the strange land creatures she’s supposed to conquer and dominate. At heart, she’s just a curious prepubescent girl exploring. While the consequences of her succeeding are unknown, you really can’t root against her. She’s too cute!

The next example comes from the depths of Hell itself. She’s a demon come to the surface to track down escaped souls and bring them back to Hades with her. She’s a bounty hunter. Sounds pretty scary, right? That is, until you meet her. In the series The World God Only Knows, Elcea de rux ima is the younger sister of a successful demon who volunteered to track down and catch the escaped souls in order to prove herself. Before this mission, she was part of the cleaning detail of Hell—a demonic janitor, as it were. The escaped souls can only take refuge in the hearts of lonely girls, so she enlists the aid of the world’s greatest dating sim player, Keima, to help dislodge them from the girls. Elcea is remarkably powerful, but incompetent. She also takes the persona of Keima’s little sister so she won’t attract to much attention. She wants to really do well, but she’s a screw up. Keima has to take the lead in order to get things done. The comic tension between the two is what powers the series. Elcea isn’t cynical in the least, and Keima is almost completely cynical. She also seems to be falling for Keima. Her presences makes the series bearable.

The final example is the earthly manifestation of one of the greatest samurai in Japanese folklore. In the series Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls, Jubei Yagyuu literally falls from the sky into the arms of Muneakira Yagyuu, samurai and instructor to the emperor. She powers up by kissing Muneakira. When she does, no one is a match for her stunning battle power. When she’s not powered up, she’s a helpless, childlike little sister type. This is a problem for Muneakira, since Jubei has the mind of a 10-year-old girl, but the body of a 17-year-old lingerie model. She’s also really clingy, which irritates the others girls angling for Muneakira’s eye. We are just now unraveling the story behind Jubei’s mysterious appearance and why she seems to be the medium for a powerful samurai. In the meantime, we’ll enjoy some gratuitous nudity and fanservice from the comely Jubei.

In all three series, there are criticisms and complaints to be made about plot, characterization and direction. However, one thing you can’t complain about is the girls. They all three are adorable and add much to each series. While I’ve been railing against moe for some time, I’m going to keep watching all three series. Because even though there are weaknesses to be spotted, these girls make watching series like this fun.

Fall Season First Impressions Part 3

2010-10-09T21:47:00.001-04:00

Wrapping things up…

What I Watched: Yet the Town Goes On

What I Expected: More meido shenanigans from Shinbo & SHAFT a la Natsu no Arashi

What I Got: The first example I’ve seen of Shinbo mailing it in

I’m dubious on the whole maid cafe concept to begin with. I didn’t really like Natsu no Arashi, and this looked like more of the same. Unfortunately, this doesn’t even rise to the level of Natsu no Arashi. It’s a comedy without humor; a slice-of-life about lives I couldn’t care less about; and it’s staffed by less competent seiyuu. It’s not even that quirky by Shinbo’s standards. I hope something weird happens in the next episode, otherwise it’s going to be a long season.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Poor.

What I Watched: Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge

What I Expected: Exactly the same as the first season

What I Got: Perhaps the glimmer of a plot?

I went into the first season of this tale about an uptight businessman falling in with a bunch of weirdos living under a bridge because it held the promise of wacky funjinks from Akiyuki Shinbo and his band of subversives at SHAFT. I got quirky alright, but it wasted its potential. I don’t really care about any of the characters, and their eccentricities grow tiresome rather quickly. However, the first episode showed a glimpse of Nino’s parents and how she ended up under the bridge. While watching this is like eating oatmeal for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it just might hit its stride in season two.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Poor to Fair, depending on my patience with the tomfoolery.

What I Watched: Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga ni

What I Expected: Very little, since incest is part of the humor

What I Got: A boatload of tropes served up cold with congealed gravy

The bloated title, “My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute”, refers to the little sister of Kyosuke Kosaka. She’s a model, and she acts standoffish toward her older brother. Later on we find out why. Kirino is an otaku for incest manga, games and anime. What’s creepy is they are all big brother/little sister themed. How would you feel if your little sister was mad for incest items related to who you were in her life? Anyway, she confides in him, and he promises to protect her secret. This is funny? After suffering through Kiss x Sis, I can’t imagine how they’re going to treat this. The manga from which this is adapted from is well-regarded, so maybe there’s hope.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. I’ll give it a few episodes.

What I Watched: Motto To-Love-Ru

What I Expected: Rito to keep falling into the breasts and crotches of hot women (accidentally, of course!)

What I Got: A venerable title that’s starting to wear out its welcome

If you’ve seen the first series and the OVAs, you know the story. Rito Yuuki is a likable, but unlucky schlub who has a runaway alien princess literally fall in his lap. Through innumerable misunderstandings and pratfalls, Rito gains a harem of hot women. He’s earnest, well-meaning, and completely hopeless around women. The first episode of the new season promises more of the same. Lala is energetic, fun-loving, and devoted to Rito, yet he can’t quite seem to give up on his first crush, Haruna. The misunderstandings will continue until the writers all have strokes figuring out how to end this without choosing one girl. Lucky us.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. I always bitch about shows like this, yet I keep watching them.

What I Watched: Fortune Arterial

What I Expected: Ero game adaptation #2518495

What I Got: Pretty vampires and a vapid harem lead

Good: Daisuke Ono, Hitomi Nabatame and Junichi Suwabe all have roles in this. The artwork is competent, and the character designs are appealing. Bad: everything else. It truly astonishes me how Japan is able to keep coming up with thousands of variations on the same theme. This time, a boy returns to a place where he met some friends (All girls, of course) and made some memories. So what’s the twist? VAMPIRES! Great. If they keep things light, it should be a pleasant, if forgettable watch. If not, it falls into the huge pile of failed eroge adaptations like Wind, A Breath of Heart, _summer, and W~Wish. Remember them? Neither do I.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. Sometimes shows like these are good palate cleansers.

Overview: After the debacle that was Summer 2010, I’m cautiously optimistic about Fall 2010. There are quite a few new series up for consideration. Unfortunately, nearly all of them started slowly. I’m hoping that a few sleepers will wake up just in time to keep this season going. Happy watching!

Fall Season 1st Impressions Part 2

2010-10-06T21:11:00.001-04:00

Here’s Part 2:

What I Watched: Star Driver

What I Expected: Another Hot-Blooded Teens in Big Robots series

What I Got: Utena x RahXephon x FABULOUS

That was…surprisingly enjoyable. It’s your typical HUIA (head up its ass) big robo with teens series, but with a sense of style and humor. The characters are playing it straight, but with tongue firmly planted in cheek. If they had played this straight and amped up the melodrama, it would have fallen on its bloated face. Instead, they opted for a confident, yet not cocky, hero. They also made the fight scenes almost gay ballet. I wanted to hate this, but I just can’t.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good, until they run out of ideas.

What I Watched: Iron Man

What I Expected: Another nostalgic Stan Lee tribute a la Heroman

What I Got: A slightly off-kilter take on that sexy bastard, Tony Stark

They really, really wanted to get this right. However, a proto-American hero like Iron Man shot through Japanese sensibilities just doesn’t work very well. Even if you hadn’t watched Robert Downey Jr.’s bravura performance as the heroic, yet flawed superhero, you knew what Tony Stark was. He’s a brilliant, arrogant, womanizing, sexy bastard who lives and fights crime on his own terms. Such an individualistic character is anathema to Japanese culture, which covets conformity. Kenji Fujiwara makes a game effort to capture the complex lead, and he comes up a bit short. It’s a bit too polite. The action is good, and it’s set up like a classic Stan Lee series, so you have to respect that.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. Heroman took a few episodes to find its level. Iron Man probably will, too.

What I Watched: Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls

What I Expected: Ikkitousen with swords

What I Got: Playboy Playmates standing in for classic Japanese samurai

Every season, it seems, there’s a series that’s set up as a big sexy mess. Samurai Girls is this season’s entry. Like Koihime Musou before it, Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls replaces hairy warlords of the classic past with buxom young women with a bad habit of losing their clothes. However, instead of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Era in China, this takes place in an alternate timeline Japan—where the warlords were never overthrown. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before, but it’s pretty eye candy. The voice work is excellent, and the girls are sexy. Should be a fun ride!

Chances I’ll Keep Watching This: Good. This has guilty pleasure written all over it.

What I Watched: Yumeiro Patissiere SP Professional

What I Expected: More fun from our favorite group of pastry students and their helper fairies

What I Got: Surprise setup and new characters

I really enjoyed the first series, since it was a sports anime in disguise featuring a good-hearted underdog in Ichigo. She triumphed at the baking competition and it didn’t feel forced. Now it’s two years later, and she returns to Japan after studying in Paris. The first shock is Andou and Hanabusa leave to pursue their dreams. Then, Makoto skips a grade because of his improvement. She’s alone! Well, not quite. Lemon follows her from Paris to Japan to be her friendly rival. We’re also introduced to American transfer student Johnny McBeal, and he’s got his eyes firmly on Ichigo! The first series focused on friendship and competition. This one looks to be a love triangle. Don’t know how I feel about all these changes…

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. I like YumiPati, and I’ll give it a chance.

What I Watched: Otome Yokai Zakuro

What I Expected: Ghostbusters with yokai and bishie soldiers

What I Got: A sort of reverse Inuyasha

Soldiers teaming up with halflings to fight evil spirits? Sure sounds like a standard anime setup to me! It does have several things going for it. The leads are two of my favorite veteran seiyuu: Takahiro Sakurai and Mai Nakahara. They add a spicy sense of fun to the proceedings. They’ve also made the correct call to focus on the comedy, and downplay the drama. The love/hate dance between the two leads should make the romance element pop in a few episodes. The action is also pretty good, although I am creeped out by the song the Otome sing before they dispatch an unlucky spirit.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. This looks like a sleeper.

What I Watched: Yosuga no Sora

What I Expected: An atmospheric mystery a la Sola

What I Got: Incest, and nipples in the first episode

From the very first scene, Yosuga no Sora screams “eroge adaptation”. There’s the detailed rural setting. There’s the rapid fire introduction to the girls who will be in play during the show. And, there’s the hint at a tragic back story that will be referred to in every episode. What I didn’t expect was the false ending, and the humorous vignette featuring the horny, but frustrated maid. It probably was for the best, since the main part of the show was pretty dire. The twincest elements are pretty skeevy. The girls seem like fun, but each might have something they’re hiding from the MC. This is about as deep as a sidewalk puddle.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. It’s a brave show that isn’t afraid of sexuality.

What I Watched: Shinryaku! Ika Musume

What I Expected: Sgt. Frog with a cute squid girl

What I Got: An awkward slice-of-life with a magical alien girl

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed in this. The setup should be familiar. A squid girl is tired of humans polluting her beautiful ocean, so she decides to go to the surface and invade the land dwellers to make them stop. Unfortunately, she wasn’t counting on there being nearly 7 billion humans on Earth. When she accidentally punches a hole in the wall of a seaside diner, she is forced to work there to pay off the repairs. This show falls a little flat with me, because the lead is too laid back to make a convincing invader. She’s also too cute to be menacing. Sgt. Frog is a repulsive little frog, and it’s totally believable that he wants to conquer Earth. Ika seems a little ambivalent and accepting of her fate. One would think she could easily escape back into the sea and get reinforcements.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. She’s cute, but a little dull.

There are more series, but they’ll wait until part 3.

Fall Season 1st Impressions Part 1

2010-10-02T20:25:00.001-04:00

The Fall season appears to be front-loaded, so a lot of new shows have already aired. As usual, I’ll watch as many of the new shows as I can stand, and give my first impressions. Here’s part 1:

What I Watched: Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt

What I Expected: Powerpuff Girls x South Park

What I Got: Cartoon Network, Tokyo Division

We were warned that this series would “push the envelope” of taste. This show catapulted the envelope into low Earth orbit! Taking a cavalier attitude toward sex, bad language and scatological humor, PSG owes its heritage to groundbreaking shows like Ren & Stimpy, the Simpsons, Family Guy & FLCL. The show was a blur of motion from the get-go, and the energy never flagged. That’s a good thing. The bad thing is it comes off like a Michael Bay action film: all flash, but little substance. There’s no way this show would be allowed on Cartoon Network, but it has the look and attitude of one. For all the eye candy, PSG seems tedious to watch. I think its because the casting seems a little off. Mariya Ise is perfect as the dour Goth Stocking. Arisa Ogasawara seems miscast as the sex-crazed Panty. She lacks the vivaciousness undergirding the bored pose of Panty. Hitomi Nabatame would have been perfect for the role. Yuu Kobayashi is another one who would have aced it. Even though it’s a comedy, I found myself not laughing very much. If the rest of the series is like the first episode, it’s going to be a frenetic, stylish mess.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Poor to Fair. I’m repulsed by it, but in a good way!

What I Watched: MM!

What I Expected: Another romantic comedy with a weird hook (masochism)

What I Got: A Perverts Parade

Taro Sado (oh, come on…) goes to the “2nd Volunteer Club” to get help for his hard-core masochism. He wants to be able to talk to a girl he likes without giving in to his “tendencies”. Unfortunately, the head of the club is a megalomaniacal sadist. Mio Isurugi has a genuine desire to help people, but she tends to bully them and overpower them with her strong personality. Taro doesn’t stand a chance. Throw into the mix an androphobic childhood friend, a best friend who cross-dresses, a mother with a son complex, a sister with a brother complex, and a sadistic school nurse, and you have a walking compendium of the DSM-IV. A clever Psychology student could probably do their dissertation just by watching this series. Jun Fukuyama is perfectly cast as the masochistic Taro, but the rest of the cast is a mixed bag. There are some funny moments, but it’s mostly Taro getting beaten up and loving it.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Slim. I hate shows like this, but it could be a tour de force for Jun Fukuyama.

What I Watched: Sora no Otoshimono Forte

What I Expected: More antics from the cute angeloids and the most repulsive harem lead ever

What I Got: A surprisingly fun show

Season two of this show picks up right where they left off in season one. Ikaros and Nymph settle into life with Tomoki and the others. Tomoki complains of his recurring dream, so the angeloids use their powers to let them enter his dream and see what’s going on. However, due to several screw-ups, they wind up going into everyone else’s dream instead—with hilarious results, especially the tsundere Sohara. They waited until the very end to introduce the latest angeloid out to kill Tomoki and retrieve Ikaros—the buxom Astraea. We’ll have to wait until next week to see what she’s like. I’ll admit I hated the first season because they focused heavily on Tomoki’s perversions. This time, everyone’s personalities are set, and they head into plot. While episode one of the first season was almost intolerable, this one was quite watchable.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching This: Good. If they keep a lid on Tomoki’s perversions, I can see myself watching this. If not, see ya!

There are a boatload of shows in my watch pile, so I’ll probably break this up into three posts. Part 2 is on the way!

Summer Season Wrap Up

2010-09-28T21:58:00.001-04:00

With the final episode of K-ON!! airing, Summer Season 2010 is officially in the books. Time to do some final reviews of the series I watched.

What I Watched: Mitsudomoe

What I Expected: Kodomo no Jikan, three years later

What I Got: A funny, smutty, ugly little mutt of a show

Well, this was a mixed bag. The art design was ugly and odd, the jokes and situations repetitive, yet it did make me smile a few times. Apparently, Japan likes having lolis saying the most outlandish shit-- witness the crossover success of Crayon Shin-chan. The thing that saved this series was the excellent voice work from some industry veterans. It got a little too vulgar for my tastes, and they criminally underused the clueless school nurse. However, it was a relatively painless waste of 24 minutes every week. Mitsudomoe gets 2 out 5 stars.

What I Watched: Shukufuku no Campanella

What I Expected: A wacky RPG set in an alternate Italy.

What I Got: Nearly the best children’s show of the season

After seeing the pedigree of this show (eroge adaptation), I was prepared to dismiss it out of hand. That would’ve been a shame, since this was a charming little piece of fluff. No characters were objectionable. In fact, take out the random, senseless nudity and fanservice, and this is an effective little Pinnochio-like tale for kids and grown-ups alike. It’s true that if it got any more sugary, my monitor would’ve keeled over from diabetes. However, the producers knew how to walk the line, and gave us a happy ending. While nothing is in the works, I sure would like to see a season 2 of this. Shukufuku no Campanella gets 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: Strike Witches 2-ki

What I Expected: More of the same from the pantsless witches of the 501st Airborne.

What I Got: Actually, a better season than the first.

Disproving the old adage that sequels are always worse than the original, Gunny Yoshika Miyafuji returns to combat to protect Romagna from a more aggressive Neuroi hive. All the old familiars return, and there’s greater character development for each, as nearly every witch gets her own story. And despite the surreal scene of pantsless WWII-era witches attacking a huge alien nest wearing propellers on their legs, I found myself rooting for them in the end. Of course, we get a bittersweet happy ending, as the victorious Miyafuji destroys the hive, but loses her powers in the process. I’m not sad, because they introduced other witches from other squadrons, and it looks like they may make another season. The premise is still silly, but this was one series I always looked forward to each week. Strike Witches 2-ki gets 3 out of 5 stars.

What I Watched: Asobi ni Ikuyo

What I Expected: Another wacky alien girlfriend series like To Love Ru

What I Got: A big honking, sexy mess

One of the big problems adapting a successful manga and light novel series for anime is what to include and what to leave out. Since this was only a 1-cour series, they only had 13 episodes to tell a somewhat complicated story about alien scouts, international intrigue, a competing alien Cold War and, oh yeah, a love polygon that includes a CIA trainee, a trained assassin and a cat girl with MASSIVE BOOBIES. They made a few mistakes along the way, and some of the drama was overdone. However, by the end, you couldn’t really hate any of the characters. This show was kind of like Girls Bravo in that regard. Also, the A&W restaurant product placement always made me thirsty for a root beer float! Asobi ni Ikuyo gets 2 out of 5 stars.

What I Watched: Yumeiro Pattisere

What I Expected: Tweener girls baking cakes

What I Got: A surprisingly effective sports anime, with a plucky underdog

I always include at least one kidvid in my viewing, since Japan has long since eclipsed America in the quality of shows for kids. This one looked fun, and it turned out to be one of the better series I seen in the past year. Ichigo’s journey from sweets-loving girl to world-class pattissiere was a natural and believable journey. There were few overwrought pep talks, and Ichigo took her lumps and knocks along the way. Thankfully, they didn’t introduce romance into the show until late in the game, and that was tastefully done. Ichigo’s triumph was a prize not just for her, but for all who took the journey with her. Lucky for us fans, the second series starts immediately in October. We can see her and her friends in high school, and taking the next step in becoming pros. Oh, and the Sweets Spirits were cute, too! Yumeiro Patissiere gets 4 out of 5 stars.

What I Watched: Seitokai Yakuindomo

What I Expected: Another snoozer about student council life like Seitokai no Ichizon

What I Got: The best series of the Summer

Not a lot of expectations going into this one. It sounded too much like Seitokai no Ichizon, and I hated that series. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable it all was. Having two sisters, I know that they aren’t all sugar and spice and everything nice. They burp and fart and tell smutty jokes with the best of us guys. The seemingly perfect girls of Ousai Academy’s Student Council actually had some truly foul mouths. They talked about sex, and bodily functions openly. They were politically incorrect, and yet the normal straight man Tsuda managed to pull it all together. The producers were merciless in sticking with the 4-koma style of the manga, and the jokes came like machine-gun fire. This was the most anticipated series of the week for me. They all but came out and said that there was a second season on the way. I can hardly wait! Seitokai no Yakuindomo gets 4 1/2 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: K-ON!!

What I Expected: More quirky slice-of-life from the girls of the Light Music Club

What I Got: 20 brilliant episodes, and 6 episodes of a long goodbye

I liked the first season, and I was anticipating this one quite a bit, since they doubled the episodes from the first. The first 20 episodes were really good, culminating in the triumphant last performance before the student body for the seniors. Everything was great. Even the breakdown in the music room afterwards seemed real and believable. Then, they just lost their way. They had six episodes to say goodbye to the seniors and figure out what to do with Asuza, Ui and Jun, and they just punted. The final episode, while staying true to the slice-of-life format, was anticlimactic. While I liked the series, the pacing was off on this one. There’s talk of a third series. I’m not sure I’ll get on for that one. If it doesn’t feature the original four, it won’t seem interesting to me. I’m thankful for this one last bite, though. K-ON!! gets 3 out of 5 stars.

There won’t be a second part to this, as these are the only shows I made it through. Summer 2010 was one of the worst I’ve experienced since I began watching regularly in 2001. There were more shows I didn’t finish than ones I did. This bodes ill for the industry I’ve grown to love over the past decade. I’ve taken a look at the Fall season, and while there are shows I’m interested in, they all look pretty shaky. I’m going to have to re-evaluate anime in my life if this slide in quality continues. As usual, I’ll watch the first episode of almost everything. However, I’m not real sure I’ll follow as many. Keep your fingers crossed.

The Humane Harem Hero

2010-09-16T21:01:00.001-04:00

I’ve long railed against the poor quality of heroes in anime. Most of them are nebbishy losers that don’t threaten the rice-paper-thin egos of the shut-ins who watch these series. Since most otaku have a low opinion of themselves, they don’t want manly or admirable heroes getting a hot harem of girls. Most harem heroes are either mousy little bookworms who luck into a gaggle of hot babes through circumstances, or they’re criminally perverted creeps who’ve received iron-clad plot armor. I had all but given up on the genre, but along came a hero that we can all admire.

In Seitokai Yakuindomo, Takatoshi Tsuda is an average teenage boy entering high school. Because he’s slightly lazy, he’s chosen Ousai High School, which is located near his home. It’s a traditionally all-girls high school that’s just begun to accept boys. The girl/boy ratio heavily leans in favor of girls as they begin the transition to coed. While some boys came to Ousai to take advantage of the mass of girls, Takatoshi doesn’t really care. A chance encounter with the Student Council President upon entering the grounds changes his life almost immediately. After berating him for his sloppy dress, she recruits him to be Student Council Vice-President to provide a male perspective. He soon discovers that he is the lone, sane person in a sea of eccentric women.

He acts as a straight man (tsukkomi) to all the crazy girls that he associates with at the school. With him, everything clicks. He guides the viewer through this odd, little clique. Most of the women are innocently lewd. They aren’t used to having men around, so they speak freely of all things, including female hygiene, sex, and other topics typically shunned in mixed company. Since everyone feels comfortable around the non-threatening Tsuda, he’s privy to things that most men aren’t accustomed to. Most of the time, he wishes he wasn’t privy to them as well.

That is what makes him such a humane, attractive lead. He’s ordinary, but laid-back, respectful, decent and thoughtful. He’s also the nexis around which the action swirls. Without him, the jokes aren’t really that funny. His horror at some of the things uttered by these pretty mouths intensifies the humor. Tsuda is a teenage boy, but he isn’t a walking gonad. In fact, it seems like the girls are goading him and treating him like a lab animal of male sexuality. His very humanity is drawing the girls closer to him, unbeknownst to him. Shino, the Student Council President, appreciates his hard work and decency. Aria, the rich girl secretary, finds him intriguing. Suzu, the undersized genius, grudgingly accepts his value to the Student Council. Musume, the pure, airheaded Judo Club President, finds herself falling for him. Even Kaede, the man-hating head of the Disciplinary Committee, finds Tsuda approachable.

I had to think, when was the last time there was a harem lead who was this humane? Most people say Tenchi, but he was the heir to the throne of Jurai and not really human. Tenchi was born with tremendous powers, and didn’t discover them until later. Tsuda is just an average boy making the best of an unusual situation. Even though he’s surrounded by hot women of all types, it would be hard to say you would switch places with him. They give Tsuda an awful lot of grief. Yet he takes it and doesn’t get angry or bitter. It just rolls off his back.

Seitokai Yakuindomo is thus far the best series of the Summer, in my opinion. But it isn’t the hot girls that makes the show watchable. It’s the steadfast, hard working everyman Tsuda that makes the show work.

Not With a Bang, But a Whimper

2010-09-15T20:57:00.001-04:00

That’s right. The seniors went out playing Fuwa Fuwa Time…for the umpteenth billionth time.

It finally happened after some 38 episodes and OVAs. The senior girls in K-ON!! finally graduated from high school. We knew it was coming. They foreshadowed it for the entirety of this second season. From Azusa’s inability to attract and recruit new members for the Light Music Club, to the trip to the Summer Music Festival, to the tearful and triumphant final live before the student body, all things were pointing to the fact that the characters we’ve grown to love (or hate, depending on your stand on moe) were going to move on.

There was something a bit off about the last few episodes, though. It’s though the producers forgot about the heart that made the series so special. How does one say goodbye? More than that, how do you grow the characters into a life-changing stage of their young lives? It was a sweet gesture that all the seniors decided to try for the same college. Mugi and Mio were shoo-ins. Ritsu and Yui had some academic scrambling to do. All showed a sisterly bond in trying to keep the core of Houkago Tea Time together, at least through their college years. In the end, their tribute song to Asuza was touching, if a little sappy.

What of Asuza, and to a lesser extent, Ui? They will have another year of high school before they rejoin the others in college. Ui has already spoken her preference to follow her older sister to college. Mainly because she worries for her. Asuza has not tipped her hat yet. Perhaps these last two episodes sans seniors will shed some light on the direction, or finality of the franchise. Producers are hinting at another season, featuring Houkago Tea Time 2.0. There’s already a core of Asuza (guitar), Ui (keyboards) & free-spirited Jun (bass). All they really need is a drummer, and they would be set.

Of course, they could go in a different direction. In this season, we got a glimpse of Sawako-sensei in her younger days as a member of Death Devil, the original Light Music Club band. We also met one of her compatriots. It would be interesting to do a prequel featuring Sawako and her friends. We could see the desperation that led her to pick up guitar in the first place. We could also see the rejection from the boy she tried to impress, and her subsequent crush that led her to teaching. I just find it hard to believe that a franchise that took in 18 million dollars in merchandise last year would suddenly stop. In the long recession the anime industry has been facing, leaving that kind of money on the table seems suicidal. Yes, the manga has concluded. However, there’s nothing stopping them from licensing the characters from the mangaka and carrying on.

I don’t know how I would feel about that. On one hand, more K-ON is a good thing. It’s like an old friend that stops by once a week for tea and gossip. You know nothing untoward will happen, and while it’s not side-splittingly funny, it does make you smile. On the other hand, the odds of them screwing this franchise up are pretty high. Without the guiding hand of the creator, there’s nothing to stop animators from trying to stretch the characters into new situations that would ruin the fun. One of the things that kept the series pure was the lack of boys. While it seems unnatural for a group of attractive girls to go through high school without getting one boyfriend, the lack of relationship drama was refreshing. No one was forced to choose between a boy and the band. No one stole another’s boyfriend. No one was date-raped or pressured into losing their virginity too soon. It was a slice-of-life that never made you flinch or feel icky.

I just can’t get the anti-climax of episode 24 out of my mind. The true climax of the series occurred in episode 20 for the final live. While the air was heavy surrounding it, the girls did what they did best, and rocked the auditorium. The let down afterwards in the club room was touching and real. The tears were a mishmash of emotions. The graduation seemed pedestrian in comparison. I suppose we can be thankful they didn’t stretch out the awarding of the diplomas—which is a deadly cliché in graduation ceremonies. They just glossed right over it all, and the tearful and triumphant celebrating of the afterglow, and went right for the heart in the club room. Azusa’s desperate realization that this was it hit like a ton of bricks. But even that seemed awkward and off-putting. Her preternatural order had been upset, yet we didn’t see the turmoil. Just standard issue tears. It seemed out of character.

If there is a third series, I hope they split time between the original four in college and HTT 2.0. Nothing against Azusa, but she just doesn’t seem as interesting as the Big Four. The thought of Yui studying toward any academic discipline seems a little ridiculous. Ritsu hanging on to Mio also just seems right. They complement each other’s personality. Mugi will just be Mugi. It would be fun to see her navigate the plebian world some more. She seemed fascinated and a little awed about the dreary little things poor people have to do everyday. What can Azusa, Ui and Jun do to possibly match that? We’ve pretty much seen it all through two seasons with the original group. Another year at that same high school seems a little stale.

Anyhow, I raise a glass and toast this charming little series. May you live on Blu-ray forever! Now let me get my guitar out…let’s see…Fuwa Fuwa Time is in E, and starts in 7th position…

Top 10 Pleasant Seiyuu Voices

2010-09-12T21:31:00.001-04:00

Last time, I had a royally good time trashing ten seiyuu voices that always irritate me. This time, I’m going to go in the other direction and praise ten seiyuu voices that always make me smile when I hear them.

10. Jouji Nakata – While perhaps not quite as manly as Norio Wakamoto, Nakata is a far better actor. His deep, reassuring voice is easily recognized. He’s usually playing authority figures, like generals, police chiefs or fathers. He’s as heavy as they get when he plays bad guys, yet his well-modulated baritone never fails to impress. Like Wakamoto, he can do comedy as well. His turn as Corporal Giroro in Sgt. Frog is a manly counterbalance to the carefree screw-up Keroro. That’s right, Nakata can even make a little, red frog manly!

9. Sanae Kobayashi – She’s a bit hard to spot, as she’s a chameleon when it comes to the roles she takes. She’s considered an A-List actress among her peers and industry professionals. It’s not so much her voice, as the way she uses it. She can communicate deep emotion with few words. While the series Elfen Lied remains controversial, her role as the Jekyll/Hyde character Lucy/Nyuu was a standout. It might be the best acting job I’ve ever heard. She had to be the innocent, childlike Nyuu, then become a serial killer as the bitter Lucy. She also showed her stuff in Madlax as the lead. While the series was suspect, Kobayashi’s performance, full of melancholic ennui, was exceptional. She seems to be focusing more on her stage career at the moment. I hope she comes back to anime. Quality like her is hard to come by.

8. Rie Tanaka – RieRie seems to garner more attention for her stunning beauty than her stellar voice work. A triple-threat entertainer, Tanaka is a top TV presenter, singer as well as seiyuu. Her photobooks are the stuff of legends, as she’s fearless about exploiting her sexuality. That’s a shame, because she’s consistently one of the best voices working in anime. Whether playing the sensible maid Maria in Hayate no Gotoku, or the psychopathic killer Liang Qi in Canaan, Rie throws everything she has into her performances. Fearless and talented, she is a welcome voice in any series.

7. Aki Toyosaki – Aki-chan is a bit of an outlier in this group, because she possesses the most unusual voice of the ten. Having said that, she’s a truly underrated actor who always improves whatever role she’s given. While it’s easy to trash her for playing the spacey guitar savant Yui in K-ON!, a closer look shows how difficult it is being the glue of the series while also projecting Yui’s large personality outward. There’s a reason this was her breakout role, it’s pretty darn good! Her singing is somewhat suspect, but she never embarrasses herself. Her real life personality tracks frighteningly close to Yui, and that makes her attractive as well. Oh yeah, the fang…love the fang!

6. Rikiya Koyama – Rie Tanaka’s partner on TV, Koyama is a suave sophisticated gentleman with a smooth voice. A converted stage actor, Koyama brings a polish to whatever role he’s given. He’s done them all: heavies, heros, badasses, etc. His breakout role is probably Haukoro, the masked, tortured warrior king with a forgotten past in Utawarerumono. Koyama carries the drama in his gut as he feels out this almost Shakespearean role. His voice is relaxing, but with an edge. It’s like he’s always wearing a tailored suit, but he could still kick you ass. If they ever make a series about James Bond, he should play Bond.

5. Kikuko Inoue – Still the hottest MILF in anime, Oneesan is continuing as one of the most enjoyable voices working. While her roles are tending to lean more on motherly/authority types, she can still pull a surprise or two. Her turn as the mysterious agent Grace O’ Connor in Macross Frontier was refreshing in how over-the-top she turned out to be. Her pleasant, motherly voice is easily recognized. She’s often used as a narrator for children’s shows. My favorite part of her repertoire is her slightly bawdy sensei type. In DearS, she played the oversexed Mitsuka-sensei who was 180 degrees from the angelic Belldandy in AMG. Any series that features her is worth checking out.

4. Yukari Tamura – Maybe the most charismatic seiyuu working today, Yukarin has incredible range and feel for voice acting. A popular singer and performer, she still draws crowds in her mid-thirties. But it’s her seiyuu work where she really shines. She nearly steals the show in every series she works. Sometimes it’s necessary. In the teen sex comedy B Gata H Kei, Yukarin and her friend Yui Horie had to rescue the series by themselves. They pulled it off. In less skilled hands, Yamada would either become too dirty and less innocent, or perpetually embarrassed and ineffectual. Yukarin knew how to walk the tightrope and elevate the scant material to something watchable. Possessing an elastic voice and keen acting sense, she can shine in just about any setting.

3. Miyuki Sawashiro – If there’s a more versatile voice working, I don’t know of them. Who else could play a little boy, a little girl, a teen boy, a teen girl, a hot lady, a hot dude and any number of magical fuzzy creatures? Her presence in a series guarantees that it will be interesting. She shares the same trait with others on this list, as she can take mediocre material and elevate it using only her voice and the force of her personality. Equally skilled in drama and comedy, Sawashiro is well on her way to the Hall of Fame along side such names as Hayashibara and Mitsuishi.

2. Ayako Kawasumi – It’s the voice that lured me back into anime after about a decade layoff. Her Mahoro in Mahoromatic was concentrated charm. She’s worked steadily in the decade since, and shows no sign of slowing down. She is probably is the most recognizable voice in anime, and her acting skills keep her a force to be reckoned with. While she can’t sing her way out of a wet paper bag, and she’s not much to look at, her voice work is second to none. As she eases into the later stages of a remarkable career, she’s still a first-call actor in the world of anime. She could read the Tokyo phone book, and I would be grinning from ear to ear.

1. Mamiko Noto – Some might describe her acting style as “sleepy”, but Za Mamiko is one of the finest actors of this generation. She doesn’t have much range, but she knows how to use her voice. Her control and lower-centered voice allows her the versatility to play teenage boys—something Ayako Kawasumi cant do. She also has better dynamic control, giving her some headroom when the role calls for dramatic heat. Skilled in comedy, drama, action, or whatever, Noto fits in just about every situation. She’s a class act, and she’s my favorite voice of the current seiyuu. She was at Otakon in Baltimore a few years back, and I regret not making the trip to meet her.

This list is subject to change as the new generation makes its way into the spotlight. I look forward to updating this list regularly.

Top 10 Annoying Seiyuu Voices

2010-08-15T16:11:00.001-04:00

This post was inspired by j1m0ne’s post over at Super Noisy Rice Shower Goes Boom!!, which by the way, is required reading for seiyuu lovers. Essentially, it deals with voices that never fail to annoy, despite their experience or acting ability. These are the ones that really get under you skin. After about a week of thinking about it, here’s the list I came up with:

10. Maaya Sakamoto—It may seem strange to list my number one seiyuu/singer on the list. However, a full review of her recent output has shown a depressing laziness. Maaya has a lower-centered voice that opens up into a gorgeous mezzo-soprano when she sings. Unfortunately, her speaking voice is what we call in the radio industry a “turdy” voice: nasal, phlegmatic, somewhat unpleasant to listen to. She also doesn’t seem willing to modulate her pitch. She’s been using the same voice to play little boys (Ciel in Kuroshitsuji), psychotic hitmen (Alphard in Caanan) and mysterious ladies (Akashi in Tatami Galaxy). She does have an upper register which makes her sound cute, however those Escaflowne days are far in her past. I fear we won’t hear them again. She’s a great singer, a decent actor, but a turdy voice.

9. Tomoko Kaneda—A natural for the list, Kaneda-sensei has a voice for cartoons. She sounds and acts like a cartoon character in real life. That’s the mitigating factor: it’s not an act. She also possesses a certain amount of acting ability, and does have a bit of range. It’s hard to imagine anyone but her voicing Nel in Bleach, or Chiyo-chan in Azumanga Daioh. The problem occurs when she drifts out of her comfort zone. When she tries to play “normal” characters, she really sticks out like a sore thumb. Perhaps the worst example of this is her trying to portray clumsy, big-breasted meganeko Aoi in Myself; Yourself. KaneTomo is many things, sexy moe isn’t one of them. Since her voice is so distinct, it’s impossible not to recognize her. She’s a fun person, but an annoying voice.

8. Kappei Yamaguchi—What? Inuyasha and Ranma’s VA makes the list? Like Tomoko Kaneda, Yamaguchi has a voice made for cartoons. It’s elastic, expressive, and really, really annoying. It’s another one you instantly recognize when you hear it. His voice would be instantly at home in American cartoons like Scooby Doo or Ren & Stimpy. It’s hard to describe his voice. It’s between irritating exuberance, and sniveling cowardice. Like KaneTomo, he has a lower register to mine, and he can be effective. His performance as L in Death Note was notable. However, most of the time he’s cast as the hyperactive sidekick, trying to goose the energy to keep the story going. His voice is the type that wears me out.

7. Yuko Sanpei—I have a special dislike for female seiyuu that specialize in doing male voices. I have no problem when they voice pre-pubescent boys. Boys and girls voices are similar. However, when they reach puberty, it’s time to spend the money and hire a male seiyuu to voice them. Some lady seiyuu with low voices can get away with it: Mitsuki Saiga, Romi Paku & Miyuki Sawashiro come to mind. Yuko Sanpei can’t, yet she’s forever voicing pubescent boys. Starting with her debut role in Daa! Daa! Daa!, Sanpei tried to cover for the lack of depth in her voice by talking out of the very bottom of her range. This left her with no headroom, and it nearly ruined an otherwise cute series. Looking over her roles: Cocomo in Galaxy Angels, Renton in Eureka Seven, and Hajime in Natsu no Arashi!, it becomes apparent that she’s a “tweener” voice. Her voice is too low to play cute girls, yet too high to play tough boys. As a result, she does neither particularly well.

6. Hiro Shimono—He has one of the whiniest voices for a guy I’ve ever heard. Sometimes it works in his favor. In the Tenchi Muyo spin off, Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari, his voice was perfect as Tenchi’s little brother. Other times his voice is really irritating. In Mitsudomoe, he plays a whipped pussy of a teacher who gets bulled by 6th graders. In Nagasarete Airantou, he’s the unwilling lone male shipwrecked on an island of only women. Most guys on the planet would give their left testicle to be in his position. He spends most of the show running away from hot women. He gives men a bad name.

5. Ayaka Saito—Think of her as Tomoko Kaneda with even less range and acting ability. While KaneTome has a unique high-pitched voice, Saito’s voice is equal parts buzzsaw and airhorn. If anyone deserves to voice only irritating furry sidekicks, it’s Ayaka Saitou. She does a respectable job as Ruby, the annoying magic rabbit in Jewel Pet. Her other roles are hit and miss, mostly miss. She was effective as the cake-loving karate master Honey-senpai in Ouran High School Host Club. But nothing else on her resume really stands out. She has stage experience, and maybe she should focus on that. That way she would only assault the ears of a small audience of unfortunate theater goers instead of millions of unsuspecting anime fans.

4. Yukari Fukui—I hesitated putting her on the list because I like her. It’s not just because she’s a former gravure idol and swimsuit model (yeah, right…), but because I think she brings an enigmatic melancholy to many of the roles she voices. Falce the Variablewand in Macademy Wassoi! benefitted from her quiet, playful voice. Her problem is she can’t act. Every role is her. She’s spacey in real life (she says she can talk to trees), and all of her roles contain that spaciness. Sometimes her personality works, sometimes it doesn’t. It really a crapshoot when you cast her in any role. I do enjoy her many spacey exploits on Nico Nico Douga, though.

3. Tsubasa Yonaga—Another of my pet peeves with males voices is the gay voiced character. They may not be gay, but Japan is so perverse it wouldn’t surprise me if they did it on purpose just for the yaoi and BL fans. Yoshinori Fujita gets a pass because he’s flamboyant. Daisuke Ono gets a pass because he voices his share of manly characters, and he’s damn fabulous! Tsubasa Yonaga just sort of irritates me. He’s got his little gay boy voice (Hiroshi – Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou) and his smarmy gay teen voice (Satsuki – Yumeiro Patissiere) and that’s about it. It’s like he’s Akira Ishida without the hotblooded yelling side. He needs a couple of red meat action series under his belt for his balls to drop.

2. Aya Hirano—It seems like piling on at this point for poor Aya-tan. She’s already suffered the violent backlash from her fans when she admitted she like banging older rich guys on TV. I actually will miss her if she does decide to forgo her seiyuu career. Her singing was improving, and while her acting wasn’t virtuosic, it was professional. My problem with her voice is that she has no alternate persona to don when she acts. Mamiko Noto, another seiyuu with limited range, has learned to use dynamics and the different timbres of her voice to change personas. Aya doesn’t have that. Every role is Aya Hirano. It may be excited Aya (Haruhi, Kaoru – ZKC), or downbeat Aya (Lumiere – Kiddy Grade), but it’s still her. It’s like Will Smith in Hollywood. Every role he plays is…Will Smith. Perhaps her burn out will allow her to retreat into TV and work on her acting before returning.

1. Chiaki Omigawa—What do you get when you take every pet peeve on this list so far and distill them into one person? You get Chiaki Omigawa. She’s young, and she’s cute. Other than that, I have no idea why she keeps getting plum roles while other more talented seiyuu get pushed aside. Her voice is all midrange. It’s like an axe going through your sinuses. She also has trouble with dynamics. In other words, she has none. Every thing she utters is at TOP VOLUME. In fact, when she gets on a roll, she sounds like a Canadian Goose—HONK HONK HONK HONK. Going through her credits, there’s not one standout or defining role. In fact, they all sound the same. If the rumors about the casting couch are true, she probably has bedsores.

The funny thing about this list is there’s at least one series starring each of the ten that I like. I plan to do a list of voices I really like in the near future to balance things out a bit.

The Persecution of Aya Hirano

2010-08-07T16:06:00.001-04:00

Recently, Aya Hirano began her career as a TV personality by driving a stake in the heart of her idol seiyuu career. She admitted that she likes older men, and at times was dating several at once. In America, this wouldn’t have even raised an eyebrow. However, to the the borderline psycho fans, this was a declaration of war. Japanese idol/seiyuu are expected to be virginal angels in the eyes of their shut-in fans. This perpetuates the myth that they have a shot of landing someone like Hirano as a perfect wife. A myth that is even more ridiculous in that they would have to leave their rooms in order to make it happen.

I have written before about Aya-tan, and I will reiterate that I think she’s a capable voice actor, and an improving singer. It was obvious that her lifestyle as an idol was taking a terrible toll on her. Her hair was falling out, and she was exhibiting signs of stress-related exhaustion. A switch to TV personality would allow her the freedom to live her life without the insane expectations laid on idols. Unfortunately, her admission that she was human didn’t sit well with the fans that bought her albums and other parephernalia associated with the characters she voiced. In fact, many put up videos on Nico Nico Douga and YouTube showing them cutting up and breaking CDs and other things associated with Hirano’s career.

While expected, it didn’t make it any easier to take. Aya put up a blog post defending her change in career path, and wishing everyone would just let her go on with her life. The response was immediate and predictable. Death threats and anger came flooding back in the comments. This is just further proof to me that Japan is a sick, sick country. There just isn’t enough Prozac, nor enough mental care professionals to treat all of the deluded freaks who have latched on to a celebrity to try and wring some joy out of their disturbed existences.

For her part, Hirano is still connected to several anime roles that are in process. However, when the new series roll around, she will be absent for the first time in almost a decade. It’s sad, really. She was moving into the middle part of a voice actor’s career where the good ones usually move to a higher level: Nana Mizuki, Yukari Tamura, Chihara Minori, Yui Horie and Megumi Hayashibara all hit the big time in their mid twenties. With successful CDs and live tours under her belt, she seemed poised to join this elite group. However, the spotlight was a little too hot for her, and she wasn’t able to spin the PR in her favor. The aggressive marketing that brought her to fame’s door also inspired a backlash against her. It was almost as fashionable to hate her as to like her. This was a pity, because the rough edges and airheaded-ness that defined her image was slowly being replaced by a confidence and polish of maturing pro. Minori Chihara is also an airhead, but it’s endearing. Haruka Tomatsu is also aggressively marketed, but she laughs off criticism.

Aya seemed oddly fragile. My opinion of her changed when I saw her reality series Aya Hirano Dake (Only Aya Hirano). Taking its cue from The Simple Life with Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie, Aya Hirano Dake gave her quests to complete. These quests ranged from working at a fast food joint for a day, to being photographed with all the animals at an animal safari and cooking Christmas Dinner for her crew. At times, it was painful to watch, but she was always game. It humanized her from all the hype, and made her look like what she was: a green, young lady who was trying to figure her way through life. We have all been there, and it was easy to empathize with her.

Other burnt-out idols have turned to TV presenting as a way to recharge their careers and find a new path. Saki Fujita and Maria Yamamoto are two that come to mind. Fujita has slowly returned to voice acting, while Yamamoto takes the occasional odd role here and there. I hope Aya eventually finds her way back to voice acting, as she will be sorely missed. A quick look at her roles shows that she’s central to many ensembles that are ongoing or have the possibility of revival: Queen’s Blade, Fairy Tail, Jewel Pet, Bakemonogatari, Lucky Star, and of course the role that lauched her into superstardom-- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

As she heads into a different phase of her career, I wish her well. I never really cared who she was dating, and have become a fan of her acting. I only wish the psychopathic manchildren who are making her life miserable right now do the honorable and unthinkable thing and get a life.

Top 5 Awesome Imouto

2010-07-31T21:08:00.001-04:00

I may have already covered this before. I’m too lazy to check. Anyway, it’s been ages since I’ve done a Top 5 list. Here’s my list of the Top 5 awesome little sisters in anime:

5. Kotomi Tsuda—Seitokai Yakuindomo: A new entry from a new show this Summer, Kotomi is the doting little sister of the male lead in Seitokai Yakuindomo. Takatoshi is kind of plain and boring, so naturally he would have a sweet, little sister who dotes on him. The joke of the series is that Takatoshi is normal, and all the women in his life are crazy or perverted. Kotomi is a little of both. When he fell ill, she dutifully went out and got him a sports drink to stay hydrated, and some porn because, well, isn’t that what guys do when they’re alone in their room all day? She’s a year younger than him, so she’ll be going to his high school next year. Heaven help him.

4. Ichijou’s Little Sister—Pani Poni Dash!: While Ichijou is the ultimate dandere, her little sister is a lot more expressive…and more devilish! Not being able to talk, she communicates via drawing on a large sketchpad. Often, she’s insulting others, or other trolling. Most of the time, she’s just painfully honest about the crazies surrounding her. One episode had her struck by an alien growth beam, and she terrorized the school as a 50-foot tall rampaging lolizilla. Like Ichijou. it’s better to stay on her good side.

3. Chika—Hidamari Sketch: For someone who appeared so infrequently in a series, Chika certainly made an impact. As the energetic little sister of the serious Sae, she’s the complete opposite of her bespectacled older sister. She’s fun-loving and outgoing, and socially active. Sae is practically a shut-in when she’s working on her novels and short stories. Chika is fearless, and take risks Sae never would consider. Of course, they fight like cats and dogs, but the affection between them is obvious. Chika just wants Sae’s attention and approval. Sae expresses exasperation at her little sister, but is proud of her and encourages her. Chika is also drawn to Yuno, as she’s small and cute and accepting of Chika. Chika really deserves her own spin-off series. Ume-sensei, get to work!

2. Ui Hirasawa—K-ON!: Speaking of doting sisters, Ui may be the ultimate. She’s always supporting Yui, with their parents mysteriously absent. She cooks, cleans, does the housework, and maybe even wipes Yui’s butt. She would be number one, but her devotion to her older sister borders on the creepy. Like Yui, Ui has that rare ability to master something quickly after picking it up. She impersonated her sister when she was sick so the crew could practice for the School Festival in season one. She would have gotten away with too, if the others hadn’t noticed that she was perfect in her rhythm, unlike Yui. Sawako-sensei also noticed that Ui has a larger chest than Yui. Why she noticed that, it’s better not to ask! Ui also foreshadowed that she’s probably going to join the Light Music Club with her friends Azusa and Jun, after jamming with them. If there is another season, Ui will be a big part of it.

1. Mika Nogizaka—The Secret of Haruka Nogizaka: Mika is the little sister of our heroine, Haruka. She’s also rich, smart, talented, and has the mind of a dirty, old man! She spent the better part of two seasons scheming to get our two lovebirds together. She also realized that she had feelings for Yuuto, and made a move on him in season two. Yuuto, being as dense as he is completely missed it, and the maids came in for the rescue. That little setback aside, she saved both the leads’ bacon a number of times. Her devotion to both of them is admirable, considering the obstacles before them. She’s sexy, vivacious, and a little too smart for her own good. She also deserves her own spin-off series with the maids. If Mika were a guy, she’d be a total bro.

I have a little sister, and she’s the light of my life. If you have one, tell them how much you appreciate them. If they’re anything like this list, they deserve at least that, and probably a lot more!

The Revenge of the Catgirls

2010-07-27T21:09:00.001-04:00

Japan has always ha a fascination with cats. And why not? Many cultures have celebrated cats throughout history. They are mysterious, independent, aloof, affectionate and sensual. Ancient Egyptian kings often sealed cats into their burial chambers to protect them from evil spirits—and rats and scarabs, too. Cats have long been a favorite in literature, often portraying crafty dodgers like Puss ‘N Boots. While dogs are loyal, cats are ruled by their own will.

Which brings us to Japanese anime. To men, women are very catlike. They too are mysterious, independent, and totally irresistable to us dogs, I mean men. So why not combine them? Recent series have capitalized on the catgirl phenomenon. In Stray Cats Overrun!, Nozomi is the enigmatic girl with catlike tendencies. Her hair even looks like nekomimi. She meows when she talks. Later it turns out she’s not actually a catgirl, just catlike. She’s preternaturally smart and gifted, but she’s been sheltered. Staying with Takumi and friends have done wonders acclimating her to the big, bad world. The foundation that raised her allows her to stay with her new friends. She’s a foil for the other girls vying for Takumi’s attention.

In the new series Asobi ni Ikuyo, Eris is an alien catgirl (why not?) who’s come to study the Earth for her people. She falls in with the nerdy Kio on Okinawa. Who knew that First Contact would be with a catgirl who’s built like a Playboy Playmate? Hearing about Earth’s fun climate, her superior and peers beam down to set up formal relations with Earth. They even use Kio’s house as the temporary Cathean Embassy. The Catheans are all beautiful, and they fit all fetish types: meganeko, motherly, DFC, mischievous, etc. While she’s quite nice and friendly, Eris proves that Catheans can be quite dangerous. (just like real cats) She has little trouble taking down a U.S. military installation bent on dissecting and examining her. They’ve come to play, and playing is serious business with them. While it’s turned into a fairly standard “magical girlfriend” harem a la Ah! Megamisama, or Urusei Yatsura, it has good action and intrigue. There are even intergalactic rivals battling for Earth. You guessed it, they’re dog girls.

I really don’t have a problem with cat girls, in fact, in the right situation they lend some spice to a standard setup. In the otherwise dreadful Da Capo, Yoriko Sagisawa lent a little humanity, ironically enough, to the harem situation. As the catgirl maid, Yoriko came to serve Junichi. Partly as a thank you for his past kindness, partly as a proxy for her hikkikomori master—a girl who saw Junichi’s smiling face walking to school each day. She wanted to meet him, but couldn’t. So her pet cat Yoriko morphed into a catgirl in her place. The resolution of Yoriko’s arc in the story was bittersweet, yet less forced than the other drama in the series. Like her master, Yoriko was afraid to go outside until Junichi lured her out on a date. Once liberated from her fear, it was time to return and pass that magic onto her master, which she did.

Catgirls go all the way back to Nuku Nuku. All Purpose Cultural Catgirl Nuku Nuku was one of the first anime I watched in the 90s. The titular character was an advanced military grade robot that looked like a hot teenage girl. The twist? She had the brain of a cat. It’s the creator’s son’s pet cat Nuku Nuku, who was killed in a chase early in the series. So imagine a playful, dim robot with enough power to take down a small army. Megumi Hayashibara was perfect as the loyal, none too bright, yet loving Nuku Nuku. One minute Nuku Nuku was chasing a mouse, then next she was taking down a Blackhawk Assault Helicopter. She was always protective of her master, Ryunnosuke.

Having owned cats, and having had girlfriends, I can see the fascination with merging the two. Cats are physical. You don’t need to pet one, just provide a leg and they’ll pet themselves. When they are tired of you, they move on to the next thing—just like some girlfriends (but I’m not bitter!). As long as Japan keeps making hot catgirls like Nozomi, Eris, Yoriko and Nuku Nuku, I’ll keep watching.

I might even have a fish or two handy to lure a catgirl of my very own!

Summer Season 1st Impressions Part 2

2010-07-10T21:42:00.001-04:00

Most of the new series have aired, so here’s part 2 of my first impressions:

What I Watched: Asobi ni Ikuyo

What I Expected: Another light, fun harem comedy with an alien catgirl

What I Got: Onegai Teacher + The X-files

Who knew Okinawa resembled Berlin in the early thirties as far as conspiracies go? Eris, an alien catgirl, crash lands on Okinawa. She winds up with the nerdy Kio Kakazu. He’s the “never had a girlfriend, yet surrounded by hot girls who want him” type. Aparently, every other girl in his life leads a double life. Childhood friend Manami works as a secret agent for the U.S. Cute, shy classmate Aoi is an assassin, and his homeroom teacher is part of some shadowy group with dark intentions. With the appearance of Eris, things will get a lot more interesting for Kio.

I have to admit I was a little disappointed in this. I was hoping for something a little lighter, along the lines of say The World of Narue, or even To Love Ru. This looks more like the forced drama of Onegai Teacher. Kio even looks like Kei. If they play up the slice-of-life aspects, this might be tolerable. I have a feeling they’re itching to go all Mission Impossible on us, though.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. I’ll give a couple of episodes to hang itself.

What I Watched: High School of the Dead

What I Expected: BRAINS!

What I Got: A fairly straightforward Zombie Apocalypse, with little fanfare

Japan is such a clusterfuck when it comes to genre specific series. They usually can’t help themselves, and muddy the waters with spiritual mumbo-jumbo, or magical nonsense. Not here. This is a good, old-fashioned, meat-and-potatoes zombie show. They follow a noble line of zombie scarefests like Dawn of the Dead, 28 Days After, I Am Legend and Shawn of the Dead. A zombie outbreak makes it to the local high school, and the virus spreads rapidly. A handful of students and a nurse escape the first round, and now they must figure out a way to survive and make it to safety. I was a little miffed that they didn’t already know the basics of zombie fighting. It took them most of the episode to figure out they had to go for the head to stop the zombie hoard. What should feel claustrophobic, actually feels a little ridiculous. There are all the standard types: anti-hero forced into a leadership role; flighty girl who’ll endanger them at every opportunity; chubby mechanical genius who’ll create zombie-killing guns out of scrap; smart mouthed class rep who’ll save them at the oddest times, etc.

I was actually impressed that there’s no magical or spiritual undertones in this series. It a genre as familiar to Western viewers as a vampire film. Unfortunately, the manga that this series is based on is borderline hentai, so I expect a lot of gratuitous fanservice. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing. I just wonder how they’re going to pad this out to an entire season. If you like this kind of thing, it should be the best of breed. I don’t, however.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Poor. I was never big on zombies, and I can get the adrenaline thing on Cinemax late night.

What I Watched: Shiki

What I Expected: Another vampire show

What I Got: An unwelcome tribute to the worst excesses of David Lynch

Twin Peaks was a milestone in television. With its non-linear storytelling, surreal settings and characters, and stylish flourishes, David Lynch created a series for the ages. Unfortunately, it was so revolutionary that any attempt to copy it would pale in comparison. You would have to be crazier than Lynch to do it right, and I doubt you could function in society if that were the case. A better template might have been Satoshi Kon’s Paranoia Agent. While just as stylish as Lynch, Kon’s shows seemed more grounded in reality—with something sinister just beneath the surface. Well, Shiki does neither. They want the surreal and obscure like Lynch, without explaining anything. Like Twin Peaks, a lead character is killed off in the first episode. Unlike Laura Palmer, Megumi is thoroughly unpleasant. She’s one of those pretentious malcontents railing against the provincialism of her rural hometown. She has aspirations of being a fine lady living in a big mansion, married to a rich handsome man. The problem with killing her off is I don’t care to walk backwards to find out why. She means nothing to me, the viewer. They should have spent a few episodes setting everything up, instead of trying to style their way through it all. I don’t think a dancing, backwards-talking midget could save this one.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Zero. NEXT!

What I Watched: Nurarihyon no Mago

What I Expected: Inuyasha revisited

What I Got: Scooby Doo with youkai

So let me get this straight: a 12-year-old boy is 1/4 demon. He is in line to inherit the title of Head Demon from his grandfather, since his father died under mysterious circumstances. He hates his demon side, and wants to live as a human. However, if he doesn’t, he and his family might be killed by other demons jockeying for power. This is more like a mafia tale than a demon clan. To be fair, Rikuo’s demon side is quite the handsome badass. But his 12-year-old boy side looks more like Negi Springfield. Looks like our hero will have quite the time navigating clan politics while keeping it all a secret from his friends. It was amusing that his friends insisted on going ghost hunting in the abandoned school building. (Why does efficiency-obsessed Japan hesitate in tearing down decrepit, ghost-filled buildings?) At least the show had the good sense in casting Yui Horie as a Yuki Onna (snow woman) as a protector. She’s a delight. If it stays light, it might be a pleasant diversion. If not, it could be quite painful.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair.

What I Watched: Strike Witches 2-ki

What I Expected: More pantsless witches fighting aliens in an alternate WWII setting

What I Got: A second helping with new witches joining the fight

After the Neuroi hive was destroyed over Gallia (France), another one popped up near Romagna (Italy). This one is much larger, and the attacking Neuroi are much fiercer. Back into the fray are the plucky witches WHO AREN’T WEARING PANTS from the 501st Airborne Division. Most of the European witches WHO AREN’T WEARING PANTS are already on the scene being outgunned. The Fuso witches WHO AREN’T WEARING PANTS, Major Sakamoto and Gunny Yoshika Miyafuji are heading to the battlefront. As odd as group as the 501st was, they did make a cohesive team WHO AREN’T WEARING PANTS. It will be nice to see them reunited to fight the new scourge. The first episode was somewhat disjointed, as it focused on Yoshika in Fuso, trying to adapt to life as a civilian. Her love and respect for Major Sakamoto forced her back into the fight. She wants to protect the Major, now that the veteran is older and unable to generate a proper shield in battle. It must be doing something right, if it can make me overlook the fact that they AREN’T WEARING PANTS.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. I liked the first series, and if I’m lucky I WON’T BE WEARING PANTS when I watch the new one.

I’ll be carrying over K-ON!! and Yumeiro Patissiere, and that will be plenty to watch this Summer. Stay cool!

Summer Season 1st Impressions Part 1

2010-07-04T15:33:00.001-04:00

Summer is here, and the first wave of new series have hit the beach. Here’s part one of my first impressions:

What I Watched: Seitokai Yakuindomo

What I Expected: Another gender mismatched student council series like Seitokai no Ichizon

What I Got: The most subversively perverted series of the season

Well, that was a surprise! I thought it would be following in the footsteps of Seitokai no Ichizon (which I hated). Instead, they made all the girls charmingly perverted, especially the uptight Student Council President. She seems to be missing that filter which prevents you from blurting out whatever pops into her head. Aria is also a favorite, taking the the angelic idol image and standing it on its head by saying some of the most outlandish things with a beatific smile. The lead male and the undersized, neurotic council accountant are tired stereotypes, but everything else seems intent on taking the all-powerful student council trope and subverting it. The show is rather choppy, since the producers seem intent on following the 4-koma style of the manga it’s based on. But with three jokes about menstruation and two jokes about sperm in the first episode alone, this has the makings of a legendary series.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. As long as they keep surprising (and offending), this will be fun!

What I Watched: Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi

What I Expected: Tall Taiga punches men

What I Got: An interesting take on some legendary nursery tales

Here’s the problem: you need to take some classic children’s tales like Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, etc. and modernize them for 21st Century Japan. What do you do? Well, if you’re the producers of this show, you make the big, bad wolf a student vigilante, with her partner, Akazukin (Little Red Riding Hood). She’s being stalked by a shy hunter who likes her. Make her part of a team that helps people with their problems, and have those helped be metaphors for fairy tale heroines. What once was a bog standard high school comedy becomes more interesting. The series is filled with standard stereotypes: tsundere female lead, shy & wimpy male suitor, snarky midget sidekick, etc. But the charm of the series is the odd characters and how they interact. This show has much in common with To Aru Kagaku no Railgun, it even has Satomi Arai (over)narrating the show. While not blowing my socks off, this show did intrigue me with its possibilities.

Chance I’ll Keep Watching: Good, for now. If it drifts into emo territory, I’m out.

What I Watched: Sekirei ~Pure Engagement~

What I Expected: More Adult Pokeman with more boobies and pantsu

What I Got: Pretty much right where they left off from the first season

Here is the anticipated sequel to the first season. There were many unanswered questions from the first season, and they seem intent on wrapping it up here. The strongest part of the series are the girls. They are all beautiful, buxom and personable. The weakness remains Minato, the male lead. He’s still the confused wimp from the first season. A harem action comedy series needs a strong male lead to drive the action (see Masaki, Tenchi). Without him, the action doesn’t have a focus, and it’s up to the women to fill in the gaps. I don’t hold much hope for Minato. He still seems to be bullied by his winged Sekirei. At least the women are pretty to look at, and you might get some nudity.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair. It was kind of a chore to finish the first season, since Minato frustrated me so with his helplessness.

What I Watched: The Legend of the Legendary Heroes Who Are Legendarily Legendary: The Legend

What I Expected: Swashbuckling action and cool monsters to fight

What I Got: A sort of reverse Slayers, with a flighty male wizard and hot, stoic blonde swordswoman

Medieval type action shows used to be a staple of anime. This show aims to carry on the tradition, as Lyner Lute seeks artifacts related to the Legendary Heroes referenced in the tautological title. There will be much campaigning, fighting and other fun. The cardinal sin for a series like this is taking it all too seriously. Thankfully, they don’t. This might be a fun watch.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair.

What I Watched: Shukufuku no Campanella

What I Expected: A typical H-Game translation to a neutered anime

What I Got: A pleasant, sweet story taking place in an alternate Italy

I wasn’t expecting much with this. It’s an H-game that’s been sanitized for TV. However, I was taken by the charming beauty of the setting, which looks to be based on a southern Italy port city. The characters are all nice and pretty, and the lucky male lead has his pick of a dozen hot girls of all types who want him. Of course, since it’s Japan, he’s too nice and virginal to make a move on any of them. The drama point of the series seems to appear at the end of the first episode. A magical girl appears after a magic meteor crashes into the church tower. The girl, Minette, instantly identifies Leicester as her “Papa”. The story has the pleasant feel of Magical Nyan Nyan Taruto, Aria, or Sister Princess. In fact, it would be easy to call this a children’s show because of the light tone. After the abominations perpetrated by the Spring season, this might be a nice change of pace.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Good. I’m liking this.

What I Watched: Mitsudomoe

What I Expected: Kodomo no Jikan as 6th graders

What I Got: A raunchy Hanamaru Kindergarten with a good shot of Potemayo tossed in

Wow. Didn’t know what to expect with this one. Triplets, each with their own foibles, terrorize a poor homeroom teacher. That would be kind of boring, and we’ve seen it a dozen times. However, there’s a raunchy undertone to the humor, recalling such subversive series as Ebichu and Pugyuru. They name a hamster “Nipple”, for crying out loud! The humor generally isn’t the “ha, ha that’s funny” type. It’s the “Oh my God, I can’t believe they said that” type. Which in and of itself isn’t bad. But the art is ass, and the character designs are kind of ugly. Also, the girls are rather unpleasant. It would be one thing for such perversion to be softened coming out of a cute face. But the ugliness magnifies the horror of the jokes. It is funny, but in a really uncomfortable way.

Chances I’ll Keep Watching: Fair to Poor. I’ll give it a couple more episodes to grow on me (like fungus).

What I Watched: Amagami SS

What I expected: Every dating sim cliché in the world tossed at us without imagination

What I Got: A new way to deliver those old clichés

From the outset, this is a bog standard dating sim like To Heart or Tokimeki Memorial. Boy meets girl; boy goes through her arc; boy moves on to next girl. How else can you cover all the girls in one series without declaring a winner? Well, what if you complete an arc, then reset at the end of it? That’s what this series proposes. Junichi Tachibana had his heart broken on Christmas two years ago when a girl stood him up. He’s vowed to give up on love. However, fate and the girls around him conspire to give him another chance. There’s the chubby childhood friend, the school idol senior, the diligent class rep, and a few other on the menu. We’ll see Junichi complete the arc for each girl, then reset and try again. I guess the ending is reserved for his choice. If it lays out this way, it will become one of my favorites of this tired genre. The point of the game is to choose a girl. If they wimp out at the end, I’ll never forgive them.

Chance I’ll Keep Watching: Good. I’m invested in this as a genre experiment.

More series coming, part two is on the way.

Spring Season Wrap Part 2

2010-06-30T21:25:00.001-04:00

Most of the series from Spring have ended. Here’s part 2 of my review of the series I finished:

What I Watched: Bakemonogatari

What I Expected: A climactic battle

What I Got: A firecracker—a loud noise signifying nothing

After nearly a year of waiting, the final three web-only episodes of Bakemonogatari have aired. Shinbo and Shaft took their sweet time in telling poor Tsubasa’s story. In many ways it was a disappointment, as Tsubasa baited Araragi into hearing his true feelings for her and having the Ghost Cat convey her feelings—since she was too shy to do it herself. They did wrap things up nicely, and Senjougahara was the winner in the harem sweepstakes. The other girls weren’t left out, though. They all made cameos in the final wrap up of a strange series. I suppose it was a fitting ending. This part of the story was ended conclusively, and they left open the possibility of a sequel. There are other novels in the series, and it’s a rich mine of raw material to draw from. My only wish is they would let some other studio have a crack at this, as Shinbo’s unique talents also come with unique excesses. This series could have stood for less flamboyance and more substance. After all, you wouldn’t get David Lynch to do a standard teen horror film and expect him not to go flying off into cloudcuckooland. In the end, it was an entertaining mess. Bakemonogatari gets 3 out of 5 stars.

What I Watched: Angel Beats!

What I Expected: A Nietzschean struggle between destiny and free will

What I Got: Purgatory High School: The Drama

Speaking of entertaining messes…

I went into this series not knowing what to expect. They dropped you in slam bang in the middle of a turf war between what looked like a moe Terminator and a heavily armed Student Council (of the Revolution!). What happened after that is anybody’s guess. It seems as though not a lot of thought was put into the writing of the series. Jun Maeda just threw a bunch of anime tropes into a blender and hit “pulverize”. There was the bossy female leader (Haruhi), an all-girls rock band (K-ON!), and tragic backstories on all of the main characters (Air, Clannad, Kanon & everything else Jun Maeda did previously). While it did flash signs of life in its humor, it was usually derailed by forced drama so heavy that you needed oxygen after watching it. The ending also didn’t make a lot of sense, as they tried to force Kanade and Otonashi together in a way so contrived that it seemed ridiculous rather than touching. While the otakugencia on the web seems to like it, I found it exhausting and manipulative. Perhaps if Maeda had another 13 episodes, he could have worked his magic. However, upon review, I don’t know how he would salvage it. Angel Beats! gets 2 out of 5 stars.

What I Watched: Working!!

What I Expected: A quirky little comedy set in a diner

What I Got: Reservations for one at the Bistro du Psycopath

This series had a lot going for it: a respected manga as source material; excellent cast; and perfect setting for comedy. Unfortunately, TV seems to have magnified all the worst traits of the cast. Misanthropic sitcoms can work, as Larry David has made a career out of it. However, the viewer had to overcome an awful lot of bad behavior and character traits to get to the relationships. There’s the pedophile lead. Well, that’s not fair…he likes small, cute things. There’s the ex-Yakuza manager. There’s the shift chief who carries a Samurai sword and has a lesbian crush on the manager. Etc. etc. In fact, it wouldn’t be stretching the truth to say that every one of the cast members has some sort of neuroses they’re working through. The series was not unwatchable, as the humor was present and funny. It’s just that Working!! seemed to work awful hard at derailing itself. The worst was androphobe Inami. We get it. She hates men. I don’t think you have to drive that point home by having her punch poor Takanashi every episode. Not playfully, either. She cold-cocked him in nearly every episode. Sometimes several times an episode. In real life, she would have been subdued and sent to the rubber room at the Hoo-Hoo Hotel long ago. She’s a danger to one-half the population. The madness continued by having her slowly fall for the guy she uses as a punching bag. While the humor was good, I found the faults too much to overcome. Working!! gets 2 out of 5 stars.

What I Watched: Mayoi Neko Overrun

What I Expected: Cat Girls baking cakes

What I Got: A bog-standard harem comedy with a failed experiment.

The experiment I’m referring to is bringing in a new director for each episode. It sounds intriguing in principle. In practice, it made an uneven series that much more uneven. Some episodes, like 4, were brilliant and hilarious. Others went over the top, like the tribute to big mecha series that had no relation to the main storyline or even the universe which the main characters lived. The characters were all standard anime type: tsundere childhood friend, mysterious healing-type cat girl, OHOHOHO ojousama. We’ve seen them a million times. When they finally settled on the plot about Nozomi at the end, it seemed to give focus to a series that was wildly all over the map. While this show was likable, it’s also forgettable. Mayoi Neko Overrun gets 2 out of 5 stars.

What I Watched: Kiss x Sis

What I Expected: To be horrified at the main focus of the plot, which is incest

What I Got: Several MORE reasons to be horrified

I kind of knew what I was in for when I started watching this abomination. I had already seen the OVA that the TV series is based on: twin stepsisters battle to see who gets to sleep with their stepbrother with the parents encouragement. I just didn’t know the depths of perversion they were willing to plumb. Bow Ditama is a sick man with many perversions. Incest is bad enough, but he also has a piss fetish, and he’s up for lolicon, as well! What could have been a touching story about stepchildren bonding and becoming a stronger family unit, turned into a who can out-slut the other fest. It turns out the sisters aren’t the only ones vying for Keita’s heart (and penis). Junior Mikazuki is an exhibitionist who can’t keep her skirt down. He older sister Yuzuki is the sisters’ homeroom teacher. She has a fetish for samurai-era men. She envisions Keita fulfilling that fantasy. Classmate Miharu is a busty prude that discovers a piss fetish thanks to Keita’s dimwittedness. I’ve seen many series in almost ten years of continuous watching. This one is one of the most offensive series I’ve ever watched. It’s not even that sexy. Kiss x Sis gets 1 out of 5 stars.

Spring 2010 will go down as the season of wasted opportunities. Had the producers of many of these series taken the time to get them right, a lot of these shows would have been instant classics. Instead, many wound up falling on their bloated faces. Summer season is just around the corner. Producers have drastically cut the number of series available. Hopefully, it will increase the quality of the series. If Summer repeats the excesses of the Spring, it’s going to be long, hot Summer indeed.

Adventures in the Metaphysical World

2010-06-26T20:28:00.001-04:00

As I watched the end to the series Angel Beats last night, I realized that the creators of anime are delving more and more into the metaphysical world to tell stories. It’s nothing new. Series like Haibane Renmei and Kaiba take place in alternate, surreal universes that can be allegories for Limbo. Angel Beats seems more like the concept of Purgatory—where lost souls have to atone for some regret that keeps them from moving on to their eternal reward (or punishment). Even series like Bleach owe a lot to the concepts of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory.

Japan, like most Asian cultures, has its superstitions and unusual beliefs. This is where ancient pagan and tribal beliefs cross paths with more recent belief systems like Buddhism and Shinto. My father was born near Manila. He was raised in the Catholic Church. Yet he also held some strange superstitions. He believed that lightning stole the souls of unsuspecting mortals. It was odd watching him construct a cross out of iron pipes in the back yard to ward off “evil spirits”. Clearly, this wasn’t from his Catholic teachings. It was the remnant of island belief. Lightning did kill people on tropical islands, as the storms were usually quite severe. When lightning struck some poor, unlucky bastard, I suppose it did “steal his soul” away.

Angel Beats is unusual, in that it not only borrows from the Catholic concept of Purgatory, but also the Hindu belief in reincarnation. The SSS Brigade was fighting to stay in the world they found themselves, because they were afraid of being reincarnated by an angry God as sea slugs, or something less appealing. In Hinduism, you reincarnate until you reach Nirvana. If you lived a good life, you came back as something better. If you lived a poor life, you were “demoted” and had to fight your way back up. Yuri also expressed an interest in “killing God”. It’s unthinkable to someone brought up in a monotheistic Western religion. But Shinto has many Gods and Demons. “Killing God” doesn’t quite have the same taboo when there are literally thousands of Gods managing everything from a waterfall and a forest to household appliances.

When viewed from the Japanese third point of view, Western religious concepts and ideology seems rich for exploring. One reason so many in the West find Neon Genesis Evangelion so spellbinding is Anno’s use of Western religious iconography and concepts. The terminology: Adam, Eve, Angels, the Tree of Life, are all familiar to Christians and Pagans alike. There’s no catching up, we get the concepts. It allowed the creators to weave a rich tapestry when telling their story. You may find it all utter bunk, but you have to admit it was entertaining.

Which brings us to the problem with Angel Beats and shows like it: losing one’s focus. The concepts of good storytelling are universal. The best stories are love stories, or a struggle against a formidable opponent. Angel Beats started out as rebels battling God. It ended with a putrid attempt at a love story. Had they stretched the series to 24 or 26 episodes, they would have had time to explore each characters’ back story or regret. It the background, they could have developed the love story more organically. In the end, Maeda went for the heartstrings, and it didn’t make much sense. In fact, it opened up a can of worms about a time paradox. The end scene also implied reincarnation. A lot was left up to the viewer to fill in the considerable gaps. I hope they have an OVA to explain things more fully. I kind of wanted to find out what happened to the lost souls once they accepted their lives.

The danger in exploring concepts like Heaven, Hell, Purgatory and Limbo is the limitations of their rules. Only good people go to Heaven. Hell is reserved for the unapologetically evil and arrogant. Purgatory implies a resolution to the problem imprisoning the soul. Limbo is nowhere (literally). Trouble occurs when those who didn’t grow up with these rules try and bend them. The viewer is too busy trying to resolve their cognitive dissonance to catch up to the story. Our B.S. detectors are on red alert all the time. My advice to Japan on using these concepts?

Use them sparingly, like Rosemary. Too much tastes like soap.

Spring Season Wrap Part 1

2010-06-20T21:13:00.001-04:00

The Spring Season will be wrapping up in the next week or so, and here are the first wave of reviews of series I actually made it through:

What I Watched: Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou

What I Expected: Tenchi + Bastard! + Negima

What I Got: A wild ride and a ripoff of The Matrix: Reloaded at the end

Wow. While it didn’t always make sense, this show never failed to deliver something interesting each week. Akuto was a fine harem lead, in that he wasn’t helpless. He actually kicked some butt when the situation called for it. While he slow on the uptake, once he caught on, he took charge. The girls were all capable as well. Keena looked like an airhead, but due to her invisibility and spying powers, she knew a lot more than she was letting on. I felt a little bad for Junko. Because she wasn’t clear on her feelings about Akuto, the marriage meeting was confusing, frustrating, and humiliating for her. She is probably the only tsundere I’ve ever liked, because there was actually some dere to go along with the tsun. Korone may be the finest android introduced since Chachamaru in Negima. Her trolling and teasing of Akuto and the others kept everything from getting too serious. Both Lily and Fujiko were underused, but that had a lot to do with the short 12-episode run. Peterhausen stole the show whenever the flying dragon was onscreen. Even though he got a bit whiny and emo, Hiroshi proved himself to be a bro.

As for the plot, it’s better that you don’t go too deeply into it. The producers tried to fuse elements of Hinduism, quantum physics and metaphysics into one, big mess. Thankfully, a semi-reset ending was the best that could be hoped for. It’s a pity that they couldn’t stretch this into a 24 or 26 week run, as that would have given them enough time to develop the characters a bit more and evolve the story. On the other hand, that would also give them twice as many episodes to screw it all up. I’ll take this run fine, thank you. Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou gets 3.5 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: Shin Koihime Musou: Otome Tairan

What I Expected: More cute girls doing stupid crap

What I Got: Bingo!

For the third installment of this unusual read of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, all the players are set. Now we just need to resolve the plot point from the previous series. Namely, Kada needs to seal away the evil book before it enslaves the world—or at least pre-dynastic China. However, that would take too little time, so first the main girls are sent on a quest to retrieve rare ingredients to keep Kasshin from being turned into a cat. This actually makes sense from a historical perspective, since the original ROt3K involved a lot of traveling around doing heroic things. I’m not sure that capturing barbarian catgirls or resolving a lesbian lovers spat qualifies, but no matter. The girls pick up extra cute traveling companions, and the table is set for the final showdown against…ceramic warriors. Yup, our heroes have to beat up clay figures to win the day. Will they succeed? What do you think?

There’s nothing really challenging about this series. All the girls are cute. The fight scenes are passable, and the camaraderie is winning. I do wish they would tone down the lesbian undertones. I don’t think the original warriors in ancient China were gay. How did China grow to 1.4 billion people? This series isn’t meant to be deeply analyzed. It’s meant to unwind after a hard day. Just turn off your brain, and let the goofy in. From that perspective, it may be the best of breed. Shin Koihime Musou: Otome Tairan gets 3.5 out of 5 stars.

What I Watched: B Gata H Kei

What I Expected: A reverse Porky’s sex comedy

What I Got: An effective, actor-driven love story

When I first read the description of the series, I cringed. A popular, cute incoming freshman wants to get 100 casual sex buddies, and she’s obsessed with sex—yet she’s a virgin. She doesn’t want to lose her virginity to someone more experienced, because that might embarrass her. So she picks one of the plainest guys in her class to do the deed of popping her cherry. Later I saw that one of my favorite voice actors, Yukari Tamura, was playing the lead Yamada. She gets a lot of help from fellow veteran Yui Horie, cast as her put upon best friend Takeshita. While this series was raunchy, it wasn’t profane. It was the story of a neurotic girl wanting desperately to be initiated into this particular part of adulthood. Her expectations are so high, though, that she ends up sabotaging herself. She also misses an important part of sexual relations: the relationship part. Ironically, her best friend Takeshita isn’t a virgin, and she’s in a loving and committed relationship. Yamada doesn’t pick up on that part, though. In the hands of a lesser actor, Yamada would be insufferable. She’s immature, hyper-competitive, mean-spirited and thoughtless to the feelings of others. Yukarin softens these bad characteristics, and imbues Yamada with an energy and optimism that lifts her above the odd situations she finds herself in. Yui Horie shines as Yamada’s one-woman Greek chorus—alternately chiding and encouraging her flighty friend. In my mind, these two made this series work. It was sometimes a frustrating watch, as it became clear that Yamada wasn’t going to succeed until she grew up. But the baby steps that Yamada and Kosuda took towards being a real couple were worth the aggravation. B Gata H Kei gets 2.5 stars out of 5.

What I Watched: Seikon no Qwaser

What I Expected: Booby sucking element warriors, and not much else

What I Got: An uneven, but exciting action show…with booby sucking

After nearly a decade of constant anime viewing, I thought I had seen it all. However, this show takes the cake. Let me get this straight: Warriors from the Russian Orthodox Church fight using the Periodic Table of Elements. They each represent one element, and in order to power up they need soma, which they get from sucking the breast milk of virgin maidens. Now right there, the BS meter is going off the charts. Virgin maidens…breast milk…don’t you need to be knocked up in order to produce breast milk? Pedants will tell you that any woman can lactate if you suck hard enough. I guess this show sucks pretty hard! Suspension of disbelief aside, this was a fairly lively action show. It kind of fell into the bad guy of the week syndrome at first. But when they made a decent effort in trying to kick-start a plot, things started to come together. This was another series that was much better than it should have been thanks to spirited voice work. Everyone played it straight, and you forgave the more moronic parts of the setup. There were two feeds of the show, one censored, and one not. You almost had to watch the uncensored version to make any sense of the show, since there were boobies flooping around in nearly every show. In fact, boobies became the subject of a particularly amusing filler episode in an onsen. Aya Hirano was a standout as the S&M loli Katja. Aki Toyosaki showed her impressive range as the sweet airhead Tomo, and the malevolent Gold Qwaser who haunted her body. While there was much nudity, it wasn’t a very sexy show. It seemed like a lampoon of Japan’s big breast fetish more than a romp through Hef’s Grotto. The ending was predictable, but after a season of bouncy boobies, it seemed pretty fitting. I can’t really recommend it, as not everyone has the same tolerance for this level of fanservice. Seikon no Qwaser gets 2 out of 5 stars.

More series ending this week. Part II on the way!