[IXI! Digest] Fall 2010 Anime Season Review

Hello and welcome to my usual segment I do four times a year. For those who don’t know, I’m Raven, and I do a video series called The Anime-Niac, which is being moved to IXI Studios since me and the rest of my old group have joined up with Ichida and Litrid. You can look up my old episodes on youtube if you want, there’s only three of them. Anyways, as the so called anime liaison here at IXI Studios, I’ve taken it upon myself to bring an old segment I used to do for Starhill back from the dead. I am of course referring to my first impressions reviews of the new anime seasons.
Now, usually I would have liked to have gotten this done a few weeks ago after only a few episodes, but due to all sorts of issues and delays that come with a new group I’m just getting to it now. From this point on, these reviews will be posted a week or two after the beginning of the season.

Now, I should probably mention that these reviews will only cover the anime that I’m actually watching… which is a lot. Also, I will not usually talk about second seasons or sequels, as if it was popular enough to merit a sequel, you’ve probably either already heard of it, or don’t care. There are exceptions though, sometimes there’s just something I need to say. Anyways, now that introductions are over, let’s get this thing started.


StarDriver ~ Takuto of the Radiance

All I can say is that this show contains the fruitiest mecha I have ever seen. Anyways, this show is about a guy named Takuto, and transfer student on a small island who has some sort of special ability related to the island itself that allows him to summon a mech to fight an evil organization also using similar mechs in order to take over the world. In order to even have their mechs leave the island however, the organization needs to break a seal held together by four maidens, and thus Takuto goes to great lengths to protect one in particular.

Nothing really wrong with this series, in fact is really enjoyable to watch, and a lot of people consider it the best series this season. However, it just bugs me for some reason at points. Nothing really gets explained, it just drops a new gimmick on you every episode and expects you to figure out how it all fits in. I mean, after a series full of nothing overly fantastical outside of the mech battles in another dimension, suddenly this one girl summons an army of magical, flying mermaids in the real world. Also, the main character’s title is the Galactic Pretty Boy. I can never tell if I’m supposed to be taking this series seriously or not. I kind of want to call it a parody of shows like Rahxephon and Evangelion, but then it turns around a pulls a completely serious moment. This is really just me griping about little things though, give it a watch, you’ll probably enjoy it.

Also, I have to give this show credit for some really fun moments, like having Takuto defeat his most difficult opponent to date because she was too busy checking him out to realize she had to dodge.


Ironman

All I can say about this one is that it’s kind of underwhelming. I mean, I was all excited to hear that there was going to be an Ironman anime. I mean, a Marvel comics property being turned into an anime couldn’t possibly go wrong, right? Well, somehow it just doesn’t seem that good. The story is awkward and feels pieced together, they revived a guy who was pretty solidly killed in Ironman’s origin story, and the animation is kind of lacking. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the anime Tony Stark designed after Robert Downy Junior is pretty cool, and the animation for most scenes looks great, but the battles… suddenly they swap to a really crappy CG model of Ironman that looks really blocky. So, if you like Marvel comics, or the Ironman movies, give this a watch, you might enjoy it, but don’t expect a masterpiece.


Togainu no chi

Who’d have thought a show about a city full of druggies constantly trying to kill each other for sport could be so gay. Not that there’s anything wrong with that of course, but still, it just seems so forced in this series. Every man in this show is gay, though I guess I shouldn’t be surprised with a show based on a Yaoi game. The plot is slow moving, and often just plain weird. The characters are stock, forgettable personalities that show about as much emotion as a guard at Buckingham Palace. All in all, this is a pretty weak series, and I don’t really recommend it to anyone… unless of course you like bishounen and Yaoi overtones, in which case you’ll probably watch this anyways. Also, if you like Granrodeo as much as I do, you’ll want to get your hands on the opening single.


Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru

This one’s a weird one. It’s kind of like what happens when you take Kaichou wa Maid-sama, Working, Zetsubou-sensei, and School Rumble in a blender. You get a weird show about a couple high school girls working at a small town restaurant that just suddenly decided to have its employees wear maid costumes just for the hell of it. The way the episodes are laid out into short parts on certain subjects reminds me a lot of the Zetsubou-sensei style of storytelling, with jokes and puns flying at you from every which way whether you catch them or not. If you enjoyed shows like Zetsubou-sensei or Maria+Holic, you may enjoy this as well, so give it a watch, otherwise, this probably isn’t for you.


Shinryaku Ika Musume

This is a show about a half-squid, half human girl from the sea who comes ashore in order to invade mankind as punishment for polluting the sea. Somehow though, she gets roped into working at a beachside café in order to pay back the money she owes for damages to their wall in the process of said invasion. The episodes are all separated into three parts, each part having its own self-enclosed plot. There’s no real plot from episode to episode, so you could really watch everything past episode one in whatever order you like and it’d still make the same amount of sense. It’s just a light-hearted comedy show you watch for a laugh, a good break from plot heavy shows as far as I’m concerned.

Also, I have to quote Sankaku Complex on this one. This may be the first anime ever to include hot women in bikinis and tentacles, and yet not have any sort of fanservice involving the both at once.


Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls

And speaking of fanservice…This show has plenty of that, an almost Queen’s Blade level of it in fact, though much unlike Queen’s Blade it does mostly go censored except obviously on the Bluray and DVD copies. Though I must say I don’t mind the censoring in this show, it actually feels like it sort of belongs there. The animation style in this series is done with CG, and cell shading that makes the entire thing feel as if you’re looking at an old Japanese painting or scroll. With that being as it is, the sudden appearance of ink blots blocking strategic areas doesn’t seem too out of place. At very least its better then a random streak of light that blocks half the screen…or god forbid the camera just tilting off somewhere else altogether like in a certain other show that aired this year.

Anyways, back on track, this series is about a sort of alternate Japan that’s modernized, yet still kept a sort of Edo era medieval sort of structure to it. The Tokugawa family has remained in power due to a special ability they possess to create warriors called Master Samurai. By creating a contract with a samurai, they can give them superhuman power and thus not only have kept the country safe from outside influence, but have actually become a major influence on other countries themselves. You know, the total opposite of what happened in real life. Anyways, the series centers around Yagyu Muneakira, a servant of the Tokugawa family that discovers he too has the power to create Master Samurai, and gets swept into a web of secrets, lies, fortune telling, and love triangles because of it.

Other notable facts are that it includes various historical figures from Japanese history as women. Like Sanada Yukimura as a loli voiced by Kugimiya Rie. Yeah, this series really only takes itself seriously about 60% of the time, but other than that, its actually a pretty good series. If you can stomach that fanservice and random idiocy the other 40% of the time, give it a watch.


The World God Only Knows

I really, really enjoy this series. This one’s about a high school kid named Keima, who pretty much does nothing but play dating sim games. One day he receives an email from a mysterious sender, and accidentally signs a contract with a demon. To fulfill the contract, he has to help a rather ditsy demon named Elsie collect escaped souls of the damned that have attached themselves to girls on earth. How? By wooing them and making them like him. Yep. It is so much fun to watch this guy try and use dating sim logic on real girls. Does it work, oh hell no, or at least not in the way you’d think. The only reason he succeeds is because he’s persistent, and has a decently smart head on his shoulders, and knowing exactly what to say at the right time helps quite a bit.

Oh, and if he tries to get out of the contract, a collar around his neck will explode Battle Royale style. Fun times. Definitely worth a watch.


Otome Youkai Zakuro

This is an odd one as far as I’ve seen, but in a good way. The plotline is original, and it doesn’t stick to the usual conventions for this type of anime. It takes place in Meiji era Japan, when the country was starting to accept more western ideas. In this case though, where spirits actually exist, this also means that spirits that were once revered are now being shunned for more Christian ideals. In order to keep spirits in check, under the guise of creating a peaceful existence with them, the government creates the Department of Spirit Affairs to handle them. The actual story revolves around those working in the department, mostly spirits themselves, with the exception of three soldiers assigned to it in order to keep an eye on things. The show has a major overtone of prejudice towards other races that you rarely see in anime, well, not shown as a negative thing anyways. It has a little bit of everything too, well done fight scenes, drama, romance, and mystery, and it’s all really well balanced. This is definitely one of the best this season, so you should give it a try.


Yosuga no Sora

Well, if you pay attention to Sankaku Complex at all, you’ve probably at least heard of this series, they certainly cover it enough. Yet another series based on a dating sim game, but it does it a little better than most. Like Amagami, instead of putting together a piecemeal plot made from every separate path from the game, it actually decided to pick a few girls, and do them as separate arcs in the series, restarting from the beginning every so often. Though unlike Amagami SS, which starts fresh each time, this show has a habit of starting again from a previous episode and just doing things differently from that point on. Thankfully it’s done in a way that minimizes confusion, so you always know where you are.

Now, the plot itself is about two siblings who move back to the country home they grew up, having moved to the city when they were younger due to the younger sister’s illness. The story follows the older brother and all the little romantic decisions he makes about which girl he’s going to end up with and helping solve whatever major issue may exist for them. The series got a lot of attention for the actual sex scenes that result from all this too. Very little censored in them as well, they just make sure the camera angle doesn’t show anything below the waist. The show seems to be going into its last arc at this point, and I must say, I called the subject of this one a few weeks ago. The conversation went something like this:

Friend: So who do you think will be after this arc? The class president? The maid?
Me: Only 3 episodes left, so I assume they’re just going with the main heroine of the game.
Friend: Oh? Which one’s that?
Me: The one the series is named after.
Friend: Oh. Oh… Isn’t that a little…
Me: Don’t worry, it’s anime, so chances are just for the one arc it’ll turn out they aren’t actually related by blood.
Friend: …but they’re almost identical…
Me: So? Won’t stop them from using the excuse.


Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai

Speaking of shows that get a lot of coverage on Sankaku Complex… Not a week goes by where you don’t get a plot summary and pictures for the newest episode of this show. Though they thankfully leave out the actual plot and focus on other things. Anyways, the translation for this title is My Little Sister Can’t Possibly be this Cute. So yeah, with a title like that you’re probably expecting a main character with a sister complex. Nope, you get an otaku little sister with a little sister complex. Yeah, figure that one out. Basically story revolves around the older brother in this family, who discovers that his supposedly perfect at everything sister is actually a closet otaku. He promises to help keep it a secret, though it comes out to most people anyways (it usually does in these shows), and helps her meet girls with similar interests. Other than that, the show is more or less slice of life involving this guy, friends, his sister, and how pretty much every girl in this series seems to have developed some sort of feelings for him… his sister included, though she very much denies that she has even a passing interest in any sort of relationship with her older brother. You know, despite all the h-games she plays that involve incestuous relationships between a brother and his little sister...

Overall the series is pretty enjoyable, so give it a try, you may be glad you did.


Sora no Otoshimono Forte

Those who were around for Starhill Productions might remember my Top 12 Anime of 2009 list. While the first season of this didn’t quite make that list, it got a special mention from me for being so entertaining despite how bad of an anime it was. It was a bad anime, but it was what all bad anime should aspire to be. The second season picks right up where the first left off, and manages to maintain the same sort of spirit as the first, though in my opinion the ending themes are nowhere near as awesome as the first season’s. Anyways, I don’t talk about second seasons too much in these reviews, so that’s all I want to say about this one.


MM

This series kind of came out of left field. It’s about a high school boy (aren’t they always) who is struggling with a serious case of masochism that’s ruining any chances he has at a normal life. He requests that a senior from the Volunteer club help him to cure it, and she promises she will succeed, somehow… eventually… okay, mainly she just finds new ways to torture him in hopes that one day he’ll find his tolerance limit and be so scarred by the experience that it’ll go away. Not looking likely by this point. Anyways, throw in a love interest that is afraid of men, a cross-dresser with multiple personality disorder, a genius loli inventor, a lolicon, and a mother and sister duo a little too obsessed with their son/brother, and you have the odd little freak show that is MM. Now, I went into this fully expecting it to be creepy and hard to watch… but I find myself pleasantly surprised by it instead. This show is actually kind of fun and enjoyable. I don’t know how they pulled that off, but still good going, and keep up the good work. Also, the successful Kamen Rider/Super Saiyajin parody/fakeout was very much appreciated.


Super Robot Taisen OG: The Inspector

Okay, you know you’re doing your Super Robot series wrong when even I’m not all that fond of it. I’m usually all over this stuff like a drunk in a brewery, but even I have issues with this series. There’s little to no character development, the characters are kind of bland, missing even the standard badass character screaming at the top of his lungs all the time. I think the main issue is there’s too many characters in this series, so no one really gets any decent amount of screen time. The “Main Character” seems kind of cool though, I wish they’d focus on him a bit more than just having him come out of nowhere in the middle of some melodrama and punch someone in the face.

This series doesn’t seem to be able to decide whether it wants to be Real Robot or Super Robot. Just remember, Real Robot anime focuses more on the pilots, and their feelings and experiences being involved in the war. Super Robot focuses more on the machines, and how powerful and awesome they are. This show has so far done neither of the above. The characters get no real time for development, and the battles are so quick, and have no many new machines popping up every few seconds that you can’t really focus on that either. A lot of the machines are pretty stock too, some resembling mechs from other shows in more ways than one.

Anyways, enough griping from me, the plot is… hmm… There’s a war going on between two human factions for control of the earth. Aliens show up, tear things up, I assume a team-up is more or less imminent. Only one side of the battle has anything even resembling a mass produced machine, while the other seems to work on the logic that any pilot worth sending into battle is worth their own special machine. I know the title Super Robot Wars kind of denotes many machines… but usually it works because we already know who everyone is, this one’s kind of pushing it. Still, lots of mindless mech fights in this show, give it a try if you’d like to watch mechs beating the crap out of each other without making you think for once.


Panty and Stocking with Garter Belt

Oh god… why am I watching this again? I blame Erich… Anyways, this show is about two Angels sent down from heaven to defeat evil ghosts that threaten mankind… and that’s more or less it. Best way to sum up this show? Powerpuff Girls with sex and swearing. Honest to god, that’s all this is. From the creators of Gurren Lagann comes a series with animation so flat you’d think they blew their entire animation budget for this show on the hookers and drugs that were the inspiration for the writing. It’s random, bizarre, and often times just plain weird. The English cursing just sounds awkward when mixed into Japanese sentences, and the writing is nearly nonexistent aside from a few clever moments here and there.


Psychic Detective Yakumo

A series about a boy with the ability to see ghosts who aids other people, as well as the police with cases they are involved in. No one really expected this show to be all that good, I mean, even I glossed over it at first when picking my shows for this season. However, I must say it really surprised me with how good the writing was. Yakumo himself is actually a really good character, likable despite the fact that he acts like a total ass half the time. You really get the sense that he’s been through a lot in his life, and yet he was moving on and coping with everything as it came. I can also really see the romance developing with him and his sidekick Haruka, it just works somehow. You can really see why she’d be attracted to him, and why she’s probably the best thing to ever happen to him. Anyways, great show, give it a try, especially if you’re into mystery anime.


Anyways, that’s all for this review, hopefully the first of many. Look forward to my Top 10 of 2010, which should be up by the end of the month, and my first impressions review for the Winter 2011 Anime season in the first few weeks of January.