Hello, and welcome to my, somewhat delayed,
regular article as I bring you my first impressions of the (not so) new fall
season of anime. I apologize for being
late with this, but I just started a new job in September, and it has thrown my
schedule completely off in ways I never thought possible. Anyways, this has been a powerhouse season,
full of excellent shows that have surprised me on more than one occasion. But enough of this introduction, let’s get
right to the point, shall we?
Samurai Flamenco
I bet that title makes you imagine some
weird things, but the series itself is fairly grounded in reality. It follows a young male model who dreams of
being a sentai hero, to the extent that he makes himself a costume and goes out
every night to fight crime. Other
characters of note include his friend Goto, the police officer who knows his
identity but keeps it a secret because he silently supports what he’s doing,
and a trio of idols who don costumes and masks at night and go out to fight
crime as well. Our hero makes a name for
himself in his home city, and deals with all the problems associated with
living out his goal. As someone who
regularly watches Kamen Rider and the occasional dose of Super Sentai, I find this
show very entertaining. It’s like Kick-Ass,
except a lot less violent, more of a moral tone, and much more grounded in
reality. Well… until you get to episode
7 anyways… Let’s just say I’m waiting for them to reveal that the end of the
episode was just a dream. Otherwise,
that twist came right out of left field.
Anyways, this is a fun series about following your dreams, even if
society laughs at you while you’re doing it.
If you are at all into Sentai or superheroes, I suggest this one for you
to watch, it is totally worth your time.
Meganebu!
This is the series that was partially
responsible for this article coming out so late in the season, as it was the
one thing I had picked up that I had not actually started yet due to lack of
time. Now that I’ve started it, I’m
already starting to wonder why I even bothered in the first place. This show follows a club of five bespectacled
young men who form a high school club completely dedicated to glasses. Not just for the usual reasons, no, that
would be too simple, they are trying to develop working X-Ray glasses. Why?
Admittedly so that they can look through women’s clothing. That’s it.
That’s the entire driving force behind this dream of theirs. However, if you were expecting a
fanservice-filled romp, you would be totally wrong, as they go to an all boys
school, and there is not a single woman in sight in this entire show. In other words, the show consists of just
them, and their perverted goal that they work hard to complete. To summarize, this series is full of
annoying, generally unlikable characters who don’t really do much except
attempt to make X-Ray glasses (and generally fail to do so), and talk about
stupid stuff for an entire half hour segment.
On top of that, the music is intrusive, annoying, and repetitive to
boot. Rarely have I ever seen a show
with so few redeeming qualities to counterbalance the crap. I would recommend avoiding this one. Yeah, plain and simple. For once, I can’t even think of a group of
people that might potentially enjoy this kind of show.
Diabolik Lovers
Speaking of unredeemable anime, this show
totally happened this season. This
follows a young girl who is sent to live with a friend of her father’s, only to
discover that her new home is home to a family of vampires, all keen on keeping
her hostage as a periodic snack. Her
father apparently sent her there on purpose to, so there’s that lovely little
bit of dysfunctional family too. To be
honest, the plot of this show reads like the script for a bad porno. The characters are flat and boring, she gets
an episode with each of her captors, a couple of team-up episodes, and nothing
really happens aside from her being dumb and getting attacked by each of
them. It’s like someone wrote this as
some sort of vampire fetish hentai, and then took out all the sex. Not worth anyone’s time in the slightest, but
then again, if you like Twilight, I’m sure this may appeal to you.
Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai!
And while we are on the note of “rape-y”
anime, there’s this show. Don’t worry, I
promise I will get to the good stuff soon enough. This series follows a popular idol as she
enters the world of professional women’s wrestling in order to challenge a
wrestler that insulted her and her idol group.
Yeah, the premise is a bit out there, but what’s really noticeably off
about this is the direction and choice of camera angles. In most cases, during a match, if you turned
your head away for a moment, you could be easily forgiven for assuming someone
on screen was being raped. Hell, most of
the time you could be forgiven for assuming that even if you were looking. Don’t let the very sports anime style plot
fool you, this show is all about the fanservice. Skimpy wrestling outfits, camera focused on
very specific areas at all times, and yet, oddly enough, no general need for
censorship. This series is all about
angling things so that it looks like things are happening without actually
showing them. If you enjoy heavy
fanservice, and wrestling, this is probably right up your alley, otherwise I
would steer clear of it.
Gingitsune
A series about a girl who has lived at a
shrine her entire life interacting with the spirits that live there, this story
is all about faith, friendship that surpasses the boundary between mortal and
the divine, and just generally not being dick.
This is a slice of life series, so don’t go expecting any major sort of
plotline behind this one. Girl lives at
shrine, can see the herald of the gods that lives there, treats him like a
member of the family, goes about her life while dealing with all the many
facets of faith and life in general.
This may not be one of the best things out this season, but it
definitely is a good watch nonetheless.
It is something soothing to relax you between awesome mech battles and
nail-bitingly suspenseful basketball games that keep you on the edge of your
seat. If you enjoy slice of life anime
that are more on the serious side, you should definitely give it a try.
Gundam Build Fighter
Not quite your standard Gundam series,
though frankly, after AGE that may be a good thing. This series, made by Sunrise, the original creators of Gundam, is
like a weird cross between Gundam, Medabots, Angelic Layer, and Beyblade. In this series, a new game has been invented
that allow plastic Gundam models to come to life and fight each other in epic
battles for fun and games. Modellers
from all over the world compete in tournaments to see who can build the
greatest custom model and become world champion. Honestly, after the steaming pile of crap
that was Gundam AGE, this is actually a welcome break, and a good attempt at
renewing interest in an almost 35-year-old franchise. It is a fresh take on the whole thing, and
that is honestly what Gundam needs right now.
Instead of a serious, horrible war, the entire series is set against the
backdrop of a children’s game, so the stakes are lower, and everything is a lot
more relaxed. Yet somehow, they still
manage to make things incredibly tense when the need arises. Now, I have heard that a lot of the more
hardcore Gundam fans absolutely hate this show, but personally, I am enjoying
this one quite a bit. Oh yeah, did I
mention one of the regular side characters in this show is Ramba Ral? If you have seen the original Gundam or
played any of the Dynasty Warriors Gundam games, you know why that’s
awesome. He even uses a Gouf for his
model, it’s wonderful. Anyways, if you
like Gundam, and don’t mind something that parodies it a bit, give this show a
shot. You will not regret it.
Machine-Doll wa Kizutsukanai
Otherwise known as Unbreakable Machine
Doll, this series follows a young Japanese boy with a tragic past as he attends
a European school for mages, specifically mages who use mechanical puppets to
fight. The main character has come to
take part in a tournament that, with the prize for first place being a position
that will allow him the ability to take vengeance on those that killed his
family. However, he has to start from
the bottom, as his own magical ability lands him as second worst in the
school. Now, this series has been
surprisingly fun to watch. The plot
flows well, the twists aren’t immediately obvious, and the characters are
likable, if not down right interesting.
Aside from a handful of moments that just have you wondering “what the
hell?”, it’s a definite fun watch. If
you like action, magic, and mystery, this is the show for you this season.
Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova
Completely animated in CG, this show is
about a distant future where mankind has been trapped on the mainland by a
mysterious fleet of unmanned ships.
Unable to defeat this fleet, mankind becomes unable to traverse the seas
or skies above them, and all communication between landmasses is jammed. Just when mankind believes that all is lost,
a high school student named Gunzou gains control over one of this fleet’s
submarines, and so begins mankind’s offensive.
While I can’t say I’m a fan of the animation, it isn’t exactly bad
either. I have definitely seen worse
(Ironman anime, I’m looking at you). The
plot is good, though the presentation is a little weak at times, spending a bit
too much time on pointless things.
However, the battles are where this show really shines. The animation during combat is incredibly
well done, and focuses more on the strategic end than on brute force. Battle
scenes are tense, and suspenseful, and it gives the show a very nice tone. I just wish there were more of them, and less
of the filler stuff in between. If you
like naval battles, this is definitely the anime to look into, and even if you
don’t, you can probably appreciate how well done they are.
Kyoukai no Kanata
A series about a girl who hunts evil
spirits and a boy who is half human and half one of the creatures she
hunts. It follows these two characters
as they meet and interact with one another, coming to discover that they have a
lot more in common than meets the eye.
Now, this is a pretty endearing, heartwarming series complete with some
incredibly well done battle scenes. For
the most part, it strives to yank at your heartstrings while still managing to
keep the tone of an action series. Now,
that isn’t to say that it doesn’t have its offbeat, weird episodes that aren’t
there for much more than fanservice, but hey, what show doesn’t these days? This seems like one of the must-watch shows
this season, and of course, it’s made by Kyoto Animation, creators of such
classics as Haruhi, Lucky Star, Clannad, and one of my top shows from last
year, Chuunibyou. I swear, everything
those guys do is either amazing, or absolute crap… not much middle ground
there. Anyways, give this show a shot,
you will not be disappointed.
BlazBlue: Alter Memory
Based on the fighting game series of the
same name, this show follows Ragna the Bloodedge and a number of other
characters during a major turning point in the fate of their world. Now, in my opinion, BlazBlue has one of the
best storylines of any fighting game I have ever seen. In fact, it is the only fighting game I can
say that I play for the story itself.
The game itself uses a time-loop setting to explain all the multiple
endings, eventually all congregating in one final ending where they break free
of the loop. To that end, I was
incredibly happy when I heard that it was being directed by someone with one of
the Higurashi OVAs in his credits.
Unfortunately, the first two episodes of the anime covered the final,
“true” ending of the first game, and then moved straight on into the second
game. Also, with only 12 episodes for
the series, there is no time to develop all of the characters properly,
reducing most to simple cameos (Hakumen and Arakune may as well have not
existed, and it’s a strange day when Lambda-11 gets more character development
than Jin). All in all, if you’ve never
played the game, I don’t suggest you watch this anime, because there’s too much
missing and it may ruin the game for you, and I don’t wish that on
anybody. If you have played the games,
check it out, it’s kind of cool despite all the stuff cut out.
Log Horizon
Getting in on the genre of anime about
people stuck in a video game comes this new gem about just that. One day, with no explanation or warning,
people all over the world suddenly became trapped in an MMORPG. Unlike Sword Art Online, where they attempt
to give you a logical reason, which is inherently flawed because of all the
little holes in the logic that arise, this show makes no such attempt. You never see the real world, the show starts
with everyone being confused as hell, suddenly finding themselves in their favourite
video game with no explanation. Somehow,
I find the whole “It’s magic and no one understands what happened” a lot easier
to swallow as a premise. This show
follows the players trapped as they try and adapt to their new lives, with no
clear way out in sight. Now, this is
like Sword Art Online with the consequences ramped way the hell down. If you die, you respawn back in town, which,
of course, leads to its own set of problems in such a situation. A very interesting take on the idea, with a
lot less of the crushing despair that you find in other such shows, I find this
one rather enjoyable. If you liked Sword
Art Online, give this a try, and hell, even if you didn’t, I find that the same
people who talk badly about Sword Art seem to give this high praise. So, it may be worth your time either way.
Ore no Nounai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen Love
Comedy wo Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru
A series starring a guy who suffers from a
curse he calls Absolute Choice, a mystical issue where suddenly multiple choice
options appear before him. When this happens,
he is forced to choose one of them or else suffer an ever-worsening
migraine. Whatever he chooses will come
to fruition, no matter how impossible it may be. The worst part of this? That there is very rarely a GOOD option among
them. A consistent string of weird
things all around him, his reputation at school is in the dumps because of the
things he has had to say and do, he struggles to find a way to lift the
curse. A mildly entertaining series,
though pretty light on plot and packed with fanservice as you can imagine. There really isn’t anything special about
this series, aside from a number of characters going out of their way to be
terrible human beings to each other. Add
to that an ending that suddenly just brings up a number of dumb plot points up
out of the blue, and you have an entertaining, but generally forgettable
series. Give it a watch if you have the
spare time, and can stomach the fanservice, but don’t expect too much out of
it.
Walkure Romanze
This series follows the students of a
school that is well known for its program in the most popular sport in this
show, Jousting. Students study Jousting
and compete in annual tournaments, but the main story follows one girl who is
not part of that class, but a member of the normal classes as she begins to
Joust and learns to love the sport, and makes friends with others who love
it. Now, this is one of those series
where only the first couple, and last couple episode have any actual
significance to the plot, the rest are just kind of superfluous fluff episodes
with maybe a little character development at best. Once you get to the actual Jousting though,
this series becomes pretty decent to watch, so there’s that. Heavily fanservice-y, light on the plot, but
decent on the action, this show manages to evoke a solid “meh” from me. Not bad, but not exactly good either, I would
only give this show the time of day if you had some time to kill.
Galilei Donna
This series follows a set of three sisters
on the run from the law, even though they’ve done nothing wrong. An evil corporation is after a secret they
believe to have been passed down in their family for generations, even though
the girls themselves have not a clue, and made them international fugitives in
order to make capturing them easier. The
girls go on the run in a giant airship shaped like a goldfish that was designed
and built by the youngest sister, a mechanical genius. This show is pretty fun. It’s your standard tale of a family on the
run from the law while trying to prove themselves innocent, but with enough
originality in the designs of the mechs to make it interesting. Also, Ironfish made me laugh so hard. The little girl built a suit of Ironman-style
power armour that was designed after a goldfish. If you like whimsical anime about family
bonds, or just enjoy mecha designs and airship combat, this is the one for you
this season. Give it a shot.
Coppelion
After a nuclear power plant melts down in Tokyo, creating the worst radioactive disaster since Chernobyl, the Japanese
military turns to genetic engineering to create a number of teenagers immune to
radioactivity. These Coppelion are then
sent into the disaster area years later to look for survivors after a distress
call was received from the old capitol.
The show follows a squad of three of these girls as they see the
aftermath of mankind’s folly, and try and save as many lives as they can. This show is a major example of a series not
living up to its potential. Though it
has a really good setup for a plotline, despite rather obviously taking a shot
at a certain major incident in recent memory, it fails to make full use of it
with a set of fairly bland, one-dimensional characters. I sat through the first episodes and went “Oh
hey, it’s the gung-ho leader that hides her tears from her friends, the useless
scaredy-cat, and the uninteresting friend to all with only the one trick that
makes her useful on a very rare occasion”.
While the plotline at least starts off well, it quickly devolves into
complete ridiculousness. If you like
post-disaster stories, this is probably right up your alley, but otherwise I
wouldn’t call this a priority.
Tokyo Ravens
The story of a boy from the branch family
of a major house of magicians as he becomes his cousin’s familiar and delves
into a world of magic and demons that he never thought he would ever be part
of. Initially refusing to have any part
in any of this, his mind changes when a power magician arrives in his town and
kills and old friend, initially for revenge, but in the end he just went for it
and begins attending school to learn more about it. Now, I think it’s pretty obvious why I’m
watching this. I feel like the title
left me very little choice in the matter.
As a whole, the series is alright, if a bit slow to go anywhere. It shows promise, but I feel as though it
will not get really good until the last quarter, if at all. I am going to keep an eye on it, but I’m not
sure what to expect, and if you like anime about magic, you should too.
Strike the Blood
Quite possibly the best vampire anime to
come out in a while, this show follows a high school student who was suddenly
turned into one of the most powerful vampires in existence. While the reason for this is still somewhat
shrouded in mystery going into the new season, this causes all sorts of people
to gather around him, both friend, and those looking to take advantage of
him. Amidst all this, he is slowly
coming to the realization that his desire for a normal high school life is
probably not going to be granted any time soon.
This show has been a pretty solid series this season, full of all sorts
of twists and turns, and some fairly well done combat. The characters are all fairly likable, and so
far it has not revealed too much about what appear to be some pretty major
background dealings that I’m sure will come up in part 2. All in all, this show is a great pick this
season, and I look forward to seeing where this goes from here. If you aren’t watching it already, give it a
shot.
Outbreak Company
This series follows a young hikkikomori who
has just recently come out from his seclusion to join the working world. While trying to find a job, a difficult
hurdle for someone who never finished high school, he comes across a job ad
that seems far too good to be true.
Being exactly what these people are looking for, he finds himself
whisked away to a fantasy world filled with magic. The Japanese government had recently
discovered a portal to this world, and had been attempting to open trade with
it, but the only thing the locals seemed to be interested in was anime and
manga. Cue our main character, who
arrives on the scene with one goal given to him, to spread the love for anime
and manga in this world in order to facilitate trade. Now, aside from all the issues with that
premise, this show is actually really funny.
If you’re anywhere near as into anime as I am, you understand every
single reference being used, and trust me, there are some big ones. The series is a fairly solidly written comedy
with jokes that made me laugh big time, and it deserves a good watch. Give it a try, especially if you enjoy shows
like Lucky Star.
Golden Time
This series follows an amnesiac named
Banri, who just got into a university in Tokyo
in their Law program. It follows his student
life, and how it is affected by his new friend Yana, and Yana’s
arranged fiancée Koko. Now, when I say
amnesiac, I’m sure that tired trope got a groan out of a lot of people,
however, I think this show brings a bit of a new twist to it. He does not want his memories back. He remembers nothing before waking up in the
hospital after graduating high school, and as far as he is concerned, the
person he was before that was someone else entirely. He feels that getting his memories back would
mean that the current him would disappear, and that idea terrifies him. The entire show is about this struggle, as
well as dealing with school, and romance.
All in all, I would compare this show to Toradora in the way it is
executed. It just has the same feel to
it, a set of people all with their own problems, interacting with one another
in a slightly realistic, and yet often funny way. If you like romance in your anime, this is
definitely the way to go this season, and I look forward to more of it going
into next year.
Miss Monochrome
A set of shorts following an android named
Miss Monochrome, who is an aspiring idol, and her manager who is also the
manager at a convenience store. Not
exactly heavy on plot, it follows them as Miss Monochrome gets involved in a
number of different types of jobs that idols would usually take on, and fails
miserably at them due to her lack of actually being human and understanding how
humans do things. A decent comedy
series, worth the five minutes you put into watching each episode. Give it a try.
Yuusha ni Narenakatta Ore
wa Shibushibu Shuushoku wo Ketsui Shimashita
Translating quite literally to “I Couldn’t
Be a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job”, this show is exactly what it
sounds like. The main character was training
to be a Hero, when one day the Demon Lord was slain and the war ended. Now, with all of his training useless in a
peaceful world he eventually went and got a job as a sales associate at a
department store called Leon’s…
Yeah, I’m not sure whether that was intentional or not. Anyways, he had been working there for a few
years by the time the series picks up, when a new hire arrives. The Demon Lord’s daughter has come to work at
the same store as him, and it’s all pretty much a sitcom from there. The show follows as the two of them work
together, learn to get along with one another, and all the other issues that
follow. All in all, not a bad series, a
bit fanservice heavy, but not too bad if you can get past that. It was definitely one of the more enjoyable
shows of the season. Give it a try if
you enjoy fanservicey comedy, lord knows it made me laugh.
Non Non Biyori
A slice of life series about a group of
students of varying ages living in the countryside of Japan. It follows their daily lives without most
amenities that people from the city take for granted, and highlights all the
differences between country and city life.
Not a bad series if you’re into slice of life anime, and this is coming
from someone who generally finds most of them hard to stomach. Not much to say about this, not great, not
terrible, it certainly was… a thing that happened. Give it a try if you are so inclined.
Nagi no Asukara
A series about a town of aquatic people who
live at the bottom of the ocean by the grace of sea god himself. Mostly, however, this show follows a set of
kids from that village as they go to school on the surface, and all the issue
that result from it. First and foremost,
the visuals in this show are absolutely stunning. Think, character wakes up in the morning,
gets up, opens their window, and suddenly the camera zooms in outside the
window, and pans across a beautiful seascape with schools of fish everywhere. Well written plot as well as good character
development, definitely something to take a look at if you have not
already. This is one to watch no matter
your tastes, so give it a try.
Kyousougiga
Anyone paying attention for the last year
or so should already know what this series is to some extent. Based on the OVAs of the same name, this
series continues on and expands upon the story we have already seen and brings
it to a pretty awesome conclusion. Essential
plot? Gods being dicks to each
other. That’s about it, but it is a
pretty awesome show regardless.
Technically a continuation of another show, so I’m not going to stay on
the subject too long, but even if you never saw the OVA, give this a try.
Kill la Kill
Now, unless you have been living under a
rock, or disconnected from the internet at very least, for the last 3 months,
you’ve seen images from this show. This
series follows a girl named Ryuko as she looks for information on her father’s
murder, and fights her way through a school full of enemies that confront her
in this quest. Now, this show is one of
those ones where you either love it or hate it.
There is very little middle ground here.
In my case, I’m one of the ones who love it. It feels like a throwback to older anime like
FLCL, Dead Leaves, all the awesome stuff that got me into anime in the first
place. I enjoy the hell out of this
show, and I know I am just one of many.
If you liked Gurren Lagann, FLCL, Dead Leaves, Panty and Stocking, you
do not want to miss this one. Give it a
watch, you’ll be glad you did.
That’s it for the fall season, and hopefully it
will not take me this long to get any other articles up. Look forward to my top ten of the year, as
well as my first impressions of the new Winter 2014 season that is getting
started as I post this. See you soon.
To counteract all of this snow happening in Toronto lately, we're focusing our recent and upcoming releases on putting otu the rest of what we've recorded of Super Mario Sunshine. Following that, we have a very special six-part Night at the Theatah episode, so look forward to that.
