Summer 2011 Anime Impressions

Although not really a surprise based on the previous preview, we’ve covered a smaller amount of anime this time around. It’s sad when you can’t tell if you’re burnt out from watching anime or if you’re just growing out of it. But keep in mind that the episodes we covered or at least I covered, were for at least 5-6 episodes of each series. That amount is normally more than adequate enough for determining whether a series is going to be kept or dropped. Hopefully with the summer season of moe about to end soon, we’ll get something that will intrigue me rather than make me squeal with glee.

A rather lackluster season this is, only a few series even worth watching and even then most of them just barely. That is unless you are a lolicon who cares about nothing aside from loli, in which case this is the perfect season for you as nearly every show has something based on loli it seems. To be honest half of the delay for this post was due to neither of us having been interested enough to even watch enough of the shows, and the other half was thanks entire to Feal baiting me with delicious eroge recommendations to distract me with while I should have been writing, damn you Feal, send any and all complaints to him.

Here’s a chart from Zana again. And as usual, Random Curiosity for a detailed preview.

RO-KYU-BU (07/01 Fri)

Who really cares about basketball when you have cute lolis to handle. Sure there are basketball matches and training for competitions, but all you’re really focused on is patting the heads of the adorable loli roster in this show. If you’re looking for cute, then this would do the trick, but otherwise this offers little substance for those looking for a lot more! In comparison to the other shows this season, the entertainment value here is sadly higher. I also want to claim Maho and Hina before anyone else does :3

WATCHING

Elementary schoolers really are the best, aren’t they? They’re really cute and pure and they call you oniichan without you asking them to. Damn you Subaru, I’m jealous. I’m following both the LN, manga and anime at the moment and it’s fun to notice all the differences. While there are some scenes that were taken out and/or moved about, the majority of the key scenes remained in the anime. Of course most of those were moments between Subaru and Tomoka, which I am perfectly fine with since Mokkan is the best! (Mahomaho, Aoicchi and Hina shortly after. They’ve definitely made the anime more focused on the fanservice side than the basketball games and how the team has come together under Subaru’s guidance. It’s a shame this is only 12 eps long…

WATCHING

Kami-sama no Memo-chou (07/02 Sat)

Looking just like Hanasaku Iroha, this anime is at least visually pleasing. But I do laugh at the concept of an internet NEET detective. But with the flesh search engine manhunts that we occasionally get on the internet, I guess it’s a bit plausible. However, they really do make hackers seem like internet gods in television. But as it takes place in modern Japan, I do applaud this for having an active story that takes place outside of a school. With its setting and structure, I am reminded of Akihabara DEEP and I do feel like the anime does a good job of exploring the setting and characters. At the very least it’s something to watch that isn’t banking on its moe power.

WATCHING

A better version of GoSick making a show with a detective theme about more than just goth goth loli loli. That said though the show is far from believable as it revolves around a loli neet version of the Puppet Master who directs the actions of her particular group of misfits. The actual story itself is nothing too special for anyone familiar with the typical formulas used in these types of shows though the main draw of this show lies in the character interaction and the complexity of a modern city setting. Yes the show does not focus too much on the moe appeal of characters but does she really have to be a loli? Maybe its just me but her aloof nature and tsun attitude seem more like a nod in the direction of popular archetypes than a decision made to better support the story or rest of the cast. There won’t be any amazingly well written plot twists for those who enjoy genuine detective stories but if you enjoy the characters, setting, and a little mystery on the side this has turned out to be one of the decidedly few decent picks this season.

WATCHING

Sacred Seven (07/02 Sat)

So the basic premise here is, boy is granted powers and has to fight others just like him. It’s a standard shounen anime with typical school related activity subplots, and I guess every season has to have one of these. Unlike Ao no Exorcist, I’m not as excited watching this as I should be. Although it does help pass the time, like a lot of the other anime this season, you won’t ever be mentioning this anime ever again afterwards.

WATCHING – Just a bit for the little shounen in me

A fairly typical shounen plotline for those little boys who dream of growing up and entering the glamorous world of geologists. As your basic shounen battle series, only about this time about rocks there is little here for most people even those who enjoy shounen series, Sacred Seven convincingly displays just how tapped out of ideas writers are when they have gone so far past the bottom of the barrel they have no choice but to use the rocks underneath as subject matter.

DROPPED – Even otherworldly rocks cannot make geology any less boring.

Ikoku Meiro no Croisee (07/03 Sun)

No. Maybe if her caretakers were aliens and this took place on the Moon.

DROPPED – Couldn’t sit through a full episode.

Yuruyuri (07/04 Mon)

Like I mentioned earlier in the summer preview, cute girls doing cute things, especially to each other. It hit dead on, although it was pretty obvious. Another loli moe show like Ro-Kyuu-Bu but this one is full of moe comedy. Considering that it doesn’t take things seriously, this isn’t bad of a watch if you limit your moe intake. But overall, just another cute show if you can tolerate these.

WATCHING

Kamisama Dolls (07/05 Tue)

I did get interested in the story development of this anime but I started to wonder what kind of direction did the plot want to go into. For a 13 episode series, I find its lack of focus on that to probably be detrimental to how it will eventually build up. At the very least with its plot advances, I do find it better than Blood C. But given that it’s only gone through halfway,  I do find that it may have the potential to build into something greater.

WATCHING

I find two things absolutely intolerable about this series. First the little girl is annoying and completely out of place in a story that tries to be dark but just can’t when shes around being goofy for moe appeal. The second major flaw is that for a series with so much focus on death and characters dark pasts, the protagonist reaches almost Shinji levels of worthless human being. With the two main points addressed I do feel I have a general hold on where this story is going, however at the same time the layout and type of story does not suit a typical single season series. With the actual story moving along at a snails pace and significant time lost focusing on the brat being “Cute”, there is little time left over to bring everything back together in a convincing and satisfactory manner. While I did technically drop this series I will at least watch the end sometime to see if my predictions hold true, but otherwise this is one of those series that is a waste of time for all involved. Since the creators decided to try and satisfy everyone, there is nothing here to satisfy anyone, the story and characters are just so all over the place there is little here worth the time it takes to watch. Maybe not a terrible series but whether you like or hate some parts you can be pretty sure that when the roller coaster is over the average will be something easily forgettable.

DROPPED

Usagi Drop (07/07 Thu)

Adorable. That’s the only word you have to use to sum up this series.  If only real children were as obedient as Rin, I would want several in the future :3 This is why the 2D world is awesome.  As long as it sticks to the current formula, nothing should go wrong for now.

WATCHING

NO. 6 (07/07 Thu)

Despite the interesting setting, I just can’t help but notice all the shounen-ai overtones here. Right now I’m just wondering whether the show is going to put more focus onto the events occurring at No. 6 or the relationship between the two main characters. Although strengthening character relationships is a good thing, I just hope the plot doesn’t forget the dire issues coming forth.

WATCHING

THE IDOLM@STER (07/07 Thu)

The other show I’m following this season. I love idol shows. I even watched Lovedol. So obviously, I was delighted when it was announced that Im@s is getting an anime (No, I don’t count that one). The first ep from the producer-san camera-san’s perspective was a refreshing way of introducing the huge cast and each of their own charms. For someone who knows the series and the characters, the anime is showcasing the best of each of them, whether it’s the twins’ antics, Iori’s tsuntsun or Miki’s everything. And they had Go My Way! as an ED. My life is complete.

WATCHING

Blood-C (07/07 Thu)

Blood C has disappointed me for running a standard monster of the week formula. The school life segments are not even remotely interesting either. I suppose it is trying to slowly build up the storyline, but they really have to ditch such predictable episodes that feel like a waste of time. But given 12 episodes, I doubt it can catch up and pull off something amazing that would completely change the series.

DROPPED

Mayo Chiki (07/07 Thu)

This has to be one of the most pointless and typical series I have ever borne witness to, the entire premise is based around a cliche romance comedy when a tsun heroine and reluctant protagonist start things off by sharing a secret. Oh no she’s faking being a butler for some stupid family reason because apparently they never heard of maids, and of course if anyone finds out it is the end of the world as we know it. For the hell of it lets throw in some more random stupidity, oh I know we can make the protagonist have a fear of girls, and of course we need to explain that so lets attribute it to his mother and sister using him as their punching bag since they are apparently into that pro wrestling garbage. Lets not consider that it is the furthest thing possible from actual fighting, and to make things more interesting we should make two rival groups who are for and against the protagonists relationship with our butler wannabe heroine B. Of course heroines A, C, and D are involved in all of this, and thus we have the entirety of our cast and plot. All that is left is to throw in all the typical jokes, misunderstandings, and cockblocking and you have something we have all seen quite literally a hundred times before. Only the ojousama character has any merit in this series as far as I am concerned and was the only character I even watched for. Given she is quite obviously not the primary heroine I dropped the series pretty quick in favor of wasting my time in far more productive ways, such as staring at the nearest wall, or getting into youtube comment arguments. 

DROPPED

Baka Test to Shoukanjuu (07/07 Thu)

I was hoping for more class battles, but all I get is fan service and what I feel like a season full of filler. Not sure if this is what went on in the light novels, but it really feels too much like filler. Going to put this on hold for now or lose interest and drop it.

TEMPORARILY ON HOLD

Itsuka Tenma no Kurosagi (07/08 Fri)

Loli pantsu and fanservice. Although the premise seemed interesting, this was what it came down to unfortunately. But those are some awesome shimapan :3 And despite that loli vampire’s age upgrade, she still seems pretty loli to me!

DROPPED

Mawaru Penguindrum (07/08 Fri)

Among the lineup this season, Mawaru Penguindrum is one that I have to praise. With the wacky  yet mysterious scenes involving some alien penguin hat, the story shifts from dark sequences to comedic ones. Although the main point of the story is to find the mysterious penguin drum, they’ve managed to pack in fun penguin escapades in a non-predictable manner. But seeing that I’ve only covered 1/4th of this 24 episode series, it is hard to say if this series will become repetitive or not. But at the very least, my only complaint is how repetitive the ‘Seizon Senryaku’ sequences are when they start it up. I’m starting to tire of ‘Rock over Japan’.

WATCHING

Initially a very entertaining series the focus on surrealism becomes a chore later in the series as it becomes pointlessly thrust into your face for no reason other than to reiterate things we already know each and every episode. The over use of the transformation sequence in every single episode eventually got on my nerves as it was unecessary past the first three or so times, not to mention it is exactly the same each time down to her silly and exaggerated movements while walking down those steps. A shame that they tried to make this into a mind ____ anime, as I can be quite sure by this point having watched ten episodes as of this writing that it is a garbage series, that failed completely at what it was going for. Characters that exaggeratedly skirt the insane in such a painfully boring and stupid fashion reminds me of Higurashi, just less blood and different animation style here as it would clearly be impossible to do something like that with shoujo artwork. When not being emotional little brats over every little thing and never quite reaching the level of insanity one would like to see from a series trying its best to convince you to buy into their poor attempts at binding the unnatural to the everyday world we are all familiar with. Throw in the style of directing used everywhere it doesn’t belong since Bakemonogatari by artsy cinematography school dropouts (Or a single idiot who is a one trick pony, far too lazy to be bothered checking that), and all those scenes meant to give a sense of being out of place feel so ordinary and just plain dull that twiddling my thumbs feels more interesting than waiting for things to move along again. I doubt anything here will be as memorable or well known as oh lets say the last few episodes of Evangelion, which means they have already missed the point entirely. Maybe had the creators had the intelligence of creativity to bring the surreal to life in a convincing manner providing a strange and twisted parallel to reality this series may have had some merit, as it is however this is just some shoujo rubbish that bit off more than it can chew.

DROPPED – Faster than I could throw her penguin hat in a dumpster.

Dantalian no Shoka (07/16 Fri)

A new forbidden book each episode! I wonder if they’ll actually show a main storyline or arc versus this current monster of the week formula. Although in the past, many anime followed this format, I’m starting to desire a lot more of what I watch. If it’s not a comedy or a moe show, I really demand much more from genres such as this. As of now, it’s not keeping me interested so I’ll drop this. For those who enjoyed Gosick, this may be your cup of tea.

DROPPED

While Dantalion no Shoka may be episodic the creators have chosen to use that as a means to further the emphasis around a concept of ephemeral beauty. As though they were two sides of a single coin tumbling end over end through the air love and hate exchange places throughout these stories to the point that love turning into hate or hate turning into love can no longer be distinguished from one another. Yes the series is episodic in the sense that each story arc lasts a single episode however there is no reset and each episode builds upon the subtle elements and relationships previously established. Whether or not this is intentional and they are going to reach the conclusion being steadily hinted at throughout the series remains to be seen however I am still hopeful that there will be a satisfying conclusion to this series. Typically I hate anything even remotely episodic as they tend to be too short to cover things, however this time around the point is not the battles nor the books even, but rather the allure of knowledge and how easily temptation can warp a sinner or saint, as such this series has become by far my favorite this season.

WATCHING