Title: Re: Hamatora
Genre: Superpowers / Action / Fantasy
Preview Score: 7
Preview (By Happypiccolo):
First Season Recap:
This is the story of the Hamatora Detective Agency. A small group of “minimum users” that use their collective powers to solve crimes and hunt down criminals. Each user of the “minimum” ability has to perform a specific task in order to activate their power. Trouble starts when villainous minimum users start to cause trouble in town. The two lead detectives, Nice and Murasaki, immediately hop into action to solve a couple of contracts for money to run the agency. Deeper issues lurk around the corner when a murderer hunting down minimum users starts to leave bodies throughout the city.
Second Season:
Three years after the events of season one, the Hamatora Detective Agency is still in action. Although the cases they take are more like favors than anything, the next big case is in the works. Now that minimum users are more commonplace and accepted, other “problem solvers” have popped up to give Hamatora competition. While searching for a ghost on a job Murasaki and Hajime meet the Light-speed minimum user, Hikaru. He is an idol and a well known hero. Hikaru confesses to needing help to remain safe from his biggest fangirls. This case is anything but simple for there is more lurking under the surface of this beautiful idol.
Well Hamatora is at it again. I really enjoyed the comedy and detective action from the first season. I have to say that the second season seems to have caught on with the same momentum. Re: Hamatora still includes all of your favorite likable characters from the original. The art style and music hasn’t changed much to comment on but that isn’t necessarily bad. The first season was a hit from the start and I hope the second follows in ts footsteps. I enjoy the detective/case solving concept, similar to Detective Conan. I like what this season has done so far and I have high hopes for Hamatora. Definitely still a fan.
Title: Bakumatsu Rock
Genre: Musical / Action / Fantasy
Preview Score: 6
Preview (By Happypiccolo):
Bakumatsu Rock is a rock and roll tale set in the middle of the 19th century during the Bakumatsu era of Japan. A time when the government uses warrior idols to control the people of Edo and the capitol. Government appointed pop idols sing the Heaven’s Song, while anyone playing any other music is arrested. Ryouma Sakamoto is a passionate musician filled with inspiration and drive to become the next top idol using a new sound, “ROCK”. He meets Kogorou and Toshizou, a drummer and bassist respectively, and quickly pulls them into his antics. Together they will use the power of their rock to open the hearts and minds of Japan.
I enjoyed the first episode of Bakumatsu Rock and I think it shows a lot of potential to be a great musically themed anime. The animation is pretty good overall, though a bit iffy when showing anyone playing instruments. The music is actually rather enjoyable and catchy at times. I do find it odd that musical sequences are done in transformations similar to the magical girl genre. At first glance, this anime seems to be about a pretty boy rock band out of their time frame. But underneath there is some sense of an anti-government rebellion in the works led by the power of Rock n’ Roll. The mixture of an upbeat main character and a nice j-rock soundtrack makes for a pleasurable overall experience. I look forward to more comedy, action, and all around awesomeness from Bakumatsu Rock in the coming season.
Title: Hanayamata
Genre: Slice of Life / Club
Preview Score: 5.5
Preview (By Dash):
Naru Sekiya is the definition of “normal” and “average”. She has no stand out qualities and no real determination; however her friends all have strong points that help their characters stand out. Naru wishes to find her own strong quality to stand out (like elegant or cool beauty). One day on her way home she runs across a “fairy”. She makes a wish for the fairy to take her away and make shine (like the fairy). After a little misunderstanding, she finds the fairy is transferring into her class. The fairy is no fairy, but Hana Fontainstand. Hana loves yosakoi dance would like to share her love of the dance with Naru.
This is a squish of cute vs borderline boring for me. The characters are all “ok” when it comes to personality. I think Hana is adorable. But Naru and Yaya run a bit annoying/emo at the start of the show for me (granted it’s high school I get it) granted they will improve from what I can tell (as they overcome whatever is making them worry that day). The anime gets a bit better as the characters harmonize, but the initial take/feel isn’t exactly amazing or “pull you in for the win”.
The plot is very slice of life (the pure of pure). Most of the story line is a combo of daily life/friends drama/random comedy inserts and Naru finding the initial courage to try to learn yosakoi with Hana. The primary goal (from what I can tell) is to be able to perform a yosakoi dance/club with everyone (Hana really wants to share the joy of yosakoi). It really struck me as a very standard show, close to the point of dull (just the pace). I like Hana’s character of being earnest, energetic, and adorable… but I guess the teen “woe as me” mentality for the other two starting characters just ate at me. The overall show was a bit tough to get into honestly, although I can see the easy slice of life “friends and try hard” mentality be an easy watch with the right mood.
The overall design is very clean. They found a great balance of detail and cute making the characters enjoyable to watch. The music is also pretty solid. I though the opening theme (both animation and song) were very fitting and cute (Hanaha Odori Reya Iroha ni Ho – Team: Hanayamata). The VA seems solid and no one seeming like “they don’t belong” and again props to Hana’s VA (Tanaka, Minami) for the adorable sound.
Overall I see the appeal of the anime, but it simply is not my type. It’s a bit slow and Naru runs to the point of awkward insecurity (and I hate emo/insecure protagonist). I like Slice of Life, but I like Slice of Life/Comedy where it keeps the pace moving and light hearted (K-On is a great example). This one is more of a straight laced Slice of Life with a few comedy inserts that keep it intriguing, but you need to be in the mood for the pace. I do believe there are few people who will really enjoy this one and if you love Slice of Life you might want to give this a shot (or if you want to know what yosakoi is).
Title: Seiriei Tsukai no Blade Dance
Genre: Action/Comedy/Ecchi/School/Harem
Preview Score: 8
Preview (By Rising Sun):
Kamito Kazehaya is a 16 year old boy who has been called to go to Areishia Spirit Academy. In this academy, young girls from powerful familes come to this academy to learn how to contract spirits and become elementalists. The reason why Kamito is summoned over there is because he is only the second male elementer in the last 1000 years to make a contract with a spirit. While traveling to the academy, he accidentally encounters a young girl named Claire Rouge bathing. She of course gets angry and attacks him. He then accompanies him on the way to the academy. While on the way, they encounter a spirit and Claire tries to contract it. She fails and instead Kamito contracts it. They then reach the academy where Kamito all of a sudden starts to attend and becomes bascially the only guy at the school. What misadventures and drama awaits Kamito?
Ok I have to get to get this off my chest. This anime reminds me of infinite stratos in a fantasy setting. The other thing is that the main character is more ballsy and more of a playa with the ladies than Ichika from IS. I saw the first few episodes and I was really entertained. I like how the main character is different and more of a badass compared to the usual wimpy harem male leads. Claire is the hotheated but easily flustered loli tsundere. She kind of acts and is similar to Louise from Zero no Tsukaima. This show also has an interesting story that looks like it will keep on getting better as the show progresses. I like the art style which has that cutesy/ ecchi look to it. I can’t wait to see what awaits Kamito at the academy and elsewhere. If you like Infinite stratos or harem/ecchi comedy anime, then go watch this now!
Title: Rokujouma ga Shinryakusha!?
Genre: Comedy/Romance/School/Harem
Preview Score: 8
Preview (By Rising Sun):
Kotarou Satomi is high school freshman who one day decided to live on his own. He moves into these cheap apartments called Corona House because the rent was only 5,000 yen(About $50) a month. He moves in and he is all happy because he is living on his own with a cheap room to boot. All of a sudden the pandemonium begins. He meets Sanae , a cute ghost who has been living in his room and claims that the room is hers. Then a clumsy, cosplaying girl named Yurika also wants the room. All of a sudden a girl named Kiriha comes from the underground earth people needs the room to make a shrine to invade the surface. Just when you think this is finished another girl shows up! An alien human princess named Theia claims the room as hers and making everyone her servants. Now Koutarou and these girls have a dilemma and have to compete in different ways into settling for the room.
This anime is one of my favorite types of anime so I knew when I saw the preview that I was going to like it. The first episode started off kind of calmly but then when Koutarou moves into his new small apartment, that’s when things go crazy! you have a ghost girl, an cosplay magical girl, an underground girl, an an alien princess all vying for his room! That sounds like a lot of fun to me. I like the art style which has a harem/romantic comedy kind of look. I also laughed a good bit and was very entertained in the first few episodes. I also love the different and diverse cast of characters particularly the girls that are vying for Koutaro’s room. This show has elements of comedy, ecchinesess, and just randomness that makes this show a lot of fun to watch. I look forward to seeing each new episode every week. If you like Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka? or any of the above mentioned genres watch this!
Title: Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
Genre: Comedy/Romance/School/Shounen
Preview Score: 8
Preview (By Rising Sun):
Chiyo Sakura is a young high school girl who is in love with a young man named Umetaro Nozaki. She is always shy around him but one day she finds the courage to confess her feelings. When she confesses her feelings, he misunderstands Chiyo’s confession for her wanting an autograph. She also lets him know that she always wants to be by his side. He invites her to his house. The reason why he invites her over is because Chiyo has great talent at drawing and he has her help him with some of his drawings. It turns out that he is the mangaka(Manga artist) of the popular shoujo manga “Lets fall in love”. She then becomes an assistant to get close to him. They also use friends and schoolmates who they base some of their characters off of
Before I saw this anime, I was a bit skeptical that this was going to be a shoujo love story. Boy did I turn out to be wrong. I saw the first few episodes and I had a great time. I was laughing out loud at so many of the situations and jokes that happened in the first few episodes. When I first saw the artwork, it seemed so shoujo inspired that I thought it was going to be your typical pretty boys wants cute girl type of anime. it turned out to be anything but.
I like the characters in this anime Nozaki and Chiyo seem to be the most normal ones, but everyone else in this anime has more colorful and wackier personalities. I love how Nozaki and Chiyo search for friends or people they know at school for character inspiration in their manga. The first few episodes had a lot of laughs and I can’t wait to see what other kinds of hilarities and funny characters this show will have. If you like comedy, school, romance, or shoujo anime then keep up with this one.
Title: Zankyou no Terror
Genre: Psychological / Thirller
Preview Score: 8
Preview (by: tailsfanfulz)
Zankyou no Terror is a series about two teenage terrorists who go by the name Kokone Arata (Nine) and Hisami Touji (Twelve). One day, Mishima Lisa mets the two by what she deems fate. However, when Lisa tries to escape from a crashing building, she catches Hisami placing bombs in the building. Kokone gives her two options: to die or become their accomplice. By her strong will to live, she chooses to escape with Hisami and becomes their accomplice.
This seems like a series that has strong potential. The first episode left all the characters with some form of mystery that makes you just want to watch the next episode. It did a nice job delivering a strong first episode because of this factor.
The art is pretty nice. It is not really colorful, but it fits nicely. The music compliments the art very well, creating an overall realistic feeling. As for the characters, each one has a mysterious background that leaves everyone with strong curiosity. I feel that the two main characters being polar opposites working together will lead up to great development between the two and the series.
I will keep following this series. If you enjoy something with a serious mysterious feeling, you should try this anime out!
Title: Space Dandy Season 2
Genre: Adventure/Comedy/Sci-fi
Preview Score: 7.5
Preview (by: tailsfanfulz)
We have finally returned with our space trio, Dandy, Meow and QT! What new adventures and characters will we be able to see next?
Space Dandy was a highly excepted anime. Tons of fans hoped to see a resemblance to the classic Cowboy Bebop. However, many were disappointed that the series didn’t take a serious turn. Space Dandy ended up being a comedy series about an alien hunter named Dandy who goes throughout space trying to capture rare aliens to make a living with his two friends Meow and QT.
The first episode this season was brought in without much introduction of characters or the series. It was a tiny bit frustrating though. In the back of my head, I hoped that maybe something really important would happen. But that’s mainly because of my own tastes.
The art and sound are nothing to brag about, but they aren’t bad. Since each episode will probably consist of new arcs like the previous season, there isn’t much of a real solid plot to follow by. But one of the most outstanding qualities of this anime is the characters. There’s not much character development in the last season, but each character is unique whether it’s physical appearance or personality. The characters were the main thing that got me hooked into the anime.
Though the comedy genre isn’t particularly my favorite, this is a nice series that gave me a few laughs. Space Dandy is nothing to take seriously, but if you enjoy adventures in space with some good comedy, then you’re in for a treat.
Title: RWBY Vol 1 & 2
Genre: Sci-fi, Fantasy, School Life, Action
Preview score: 7.5
Preview by (Squish-chan):
(The opening is a recap-review of Volume 1. I give it a 6/10 [good but not particularly great, but clear signs of improvement and effort])
In the city of Vale, the Beacon Hunting Academy is abuzz with fresh faces from afar, but just outside of their walls, a war is building- fueled by prejudice and terrorism. While the students of Beacon study and prepare for the coming tournament, Vale itself edges ever closer to a massive battle between the oppressed Faunus, and the humans who previously enslaved them, and at the center a mysterious group of gangsters seek only to push the tensions to a fever pitch.
Rooster Teeth’s anime-inspired show RWBY is the story of Ruby Rose, a young student placed ahead in the Beacon Hunting Academy, and her growth with her team- whose members include the snooty Weiss Schnee, quiet Blake Belladonna, and the firey Yang Xiao Long- as they grow into the next generation of Hunters, warriors who fight against the creatures of the dark, who once pushed Humanity to the brink of extinction. It is a school drama in its most basic sense, and worked fairly well as a 3-D animated project.
RWBY was created by Monty Oum, a self-taught 3-D animator famous for his Dead Fantasy animation project, as a new youtube series for the channel/website Rooster Teeth. It is a Sci-fi/Fantasy High School Drama, with lots and lots of kickass fighting. From a storytelling point, RWBY Vol 1 was a bit of a rough project, choosing to introduce a lot of concepts with no context or explanations, forcing the watcher to just ‘go with it’ for a lot of the world’s mythos and science. As a High School Drama, it has all the key points down- journey of self-discovery, making friends, facing fears and shortcomings, finding a place where you belong, standing up to bullies, etc etc. And in that respect it does very well, but outside of the school drama, RWBY showed its weaknesses. From the beginning we’re told about the creatures of the dark, but they very rarely make an appearance, and outside of a few moments that feel like a videogame’s boss fight, the creatures of the dark remain largely unnamed and irrelevant to what’s going on in the world. In contrast, the Faunus –the animal people of the RWBY world- take a huge part of the show’s story, despite being introduced late in the first volume’s run. Because of this heavy shift in focus, RWBY’s story outside of its School Drama feels like a discordant mess, while the school drama is very well paced and built up.
The Characterization of RWBY is ultimately underdeveloped, with many characters not straying very far from their starting personalities, the main exceptions being Weiss Schnee, who has to cope with no longer being handed everything she wants and having to learn to accept others and herself, and Jeaun Arc, who starts out as a purely comedic character that develops into a leader who obviously cares deeply for others and accepts that he is in over his head when his past actions come back to haunt him, and then asks for help to grow as a warrior. Besides these two characters, the rest of the cast is fairly stagnant in their characterization, never going far from their established base characterization. However, the characters are all still very likeable, and Weiss and Jeaun becoming all the more so through their deeper development.
From an animation Standpoint, RWBY Vol 1 was a mixed bag, either being very good, or bordering on a level that seemed unrefined or unfinished. Several times character’s walk cycles were notably misplaced and they seemed to ‘float walk’ over the ground, and their lively animation was clearly focused on to just keep the viewer from noticing the awkwardness of the 3-D puppeteering, as the show uses little motion capture. However, I think this is mainly due to a relatively small team of amateur 3-D animators, being sponsored by a company to produce their show on their product, and not having quite enough time to finish all the fine-tuning by air date (something that seems to be improved upon in Vol 2.) If you notice in the background, NPC characters are mostly shadows that don’t have any recognizable features and clearly seem half-finished, more of placeholder animation than anything else.
However, from an artistic standpoint, RWBY is very interesting and dynamic, with lots of colors and a clear art direction that travels a fine line between sci-fi and fantasy. All the characters have a modern-swords-and-sorcery warrior theme, and their character design is top notch and very diverse when they’re allowed to dress in their own clothing. The sheer creativity in the world as well as their weapon designs and functionality clearly shows a lot of thought and focus, as everything seems to mesh together well and even the most bizarre design choices don’t seem out of place. It’s the sort of world where anything can happen and won’t seem too strange, which is fairly fitting to the world of RWBY.
But that was all Volume 1, let’s gush about Volume 2.
Volume 2 has improved by leaps and bounds. The storytelling finally seems to have a focus, going from square one to a clear building up of the coming war between the humans and the Faunus, while still allowing the main cast to grow in their studies and team fighting. Episode 1 is mostly a fight sequence as a food fight, and it really shows just how much more polished the animation has become in the intervening development time since Volume 1. Character animation seems much more fluid and natural, with nowhere nearly as much clipping and awkward placements, with even lip-synching becoming more polished.
In addition, just as a fight scene, the massive food fight was colorful and fluid, showing what kind of sheer destructive power would come from having such a heavily developed team fighting strategy being pitted at each other, which is obviously going to be brought up again later in the series. It’s a huge battle and it’s clear that Monty’s combat choreography and animation/direction talent for action sequences is still only improving.
New characters are still being introduced, with several new antagonists making their first appearances, and taking their first actions. While nothing can much be said about characterization from this one 15 minute episode, the new characters manage to eke out an intimidating presence, and will be fairly difficult to contend with later. Only one new protagonist is introduced, and sadly nothing is to be said for him.
Voice acting has also improved, the voice actresses and actors have clearly stepped up their game and the voice director is putting in extra effort to make everything even and well edited. Sound design is huge in RWBY and the epic score by Jeff Williams sounds gorgeous.
In addition, the background animation and directing has improved, with actual, fully modeled NPC characters walking and conversing in the background with little to no ‘float walking’ that can be seen, and the comedic timing and overall directing has shown a great improvement, as the show’s humor comes across a lot better in Volume 2.
How do I feel? For all its problems, RWBY is still a highly creative and well made show that deserves to be watched by fans of sci-fi and fantasy videogames. It’s truly a very diverse show that has a lot going for it, in spite of its flaws, and the short episodes make it a very quick watch, with a lot of details being noted on later re-viewings. In addition, most of the problems that were present in Volume 1 were fixed in the opening episode of volume 2, and it’s clear that much of the time spent since the end of episode 16 last November has been spent to improve the series. I give RWBY Volume 2 a 7/10 for its great creativity, likeable characters that still have room to grow, great action animation, and great story for its School Drama story. With most episodes averaging a run time of 10 minutes or less, RWBY can be watched in about 4 hours, so it won’t take up a huge chunk of your time and should be watched just for its spirit of creativity and effort.
TL;DR- while still rough, RWBY is a good series with a lot of creative effort put into it, it has a fantastic art design, a good school drama story, and outstanding action/fighting sequences. It is what amounts to an amateur work in a difficult medium, so it’s not going to look like a Pixar or Dreamworks- level production, but it does stand as a well-made work of love. Only give it a pass if you really can’t stand it. Otherwise, give it a shot.
Persona 4 Golden: The Animation
Genre- Seinen, Sci-fi, Comedy, Slice of Life
Preview Score: 7
Preview by (Squish-chan):
Even familiar landscapes will yield a different kind of beauty when viewed from a different perspective. I wonder… what new bonds you will create? I look forward to seeing where these new encounters will lead you, for these are the Golden Days.
Persona 4 is a very interesting thing to talk about these days. The 2008 video-game from Atlus has become an entity all of its own, surpassing all the other games in the Shin Megami Tensei franchise in sheer fan reception. Since its creation, Persona 4 has received many manga and light novel adaptations, a full stage production, two fighting game sequels, a remake, two spin off games, and now, a second anime adaptation, based on the game’s remake- Persona 4 Golden, which added new material into the already jam-packed game and story of the original.
Persona 4 Golden the Anime is not a traditional adaption of the Persona 4 story. However, this is not without precedent, as Atlus has often created adaptations that stray pretty heavily from the source material. The manga adaptations are a decidedly humorous bent to them, playing a lot on slapstick and puns to the point that they have a complete tonal disconnect from the really dark and foreboding murder mystery found in the game (as a side note, read Persona 4 Arena the manga, it’s hilarious.) So with that said, it’s not a shock to see Atlus take a more lighthearted approach to their new anime project for Persona 4. P4GA takes the story of the original game/anime and guts it, keeping only the opening sequence of events to set the world intact. After that, the story focuses on Yu Narukami, the protagonist, as he interacts with what is basically the new content that Persona 4 Golden added to the original story.
If you’d believe in such a thing as ‘anime DLC,’ Persona 4 Golden the Anime feels exactly like that- as added content. There is no overarching plot present, as the story is gutted to only contain the new material within a 12-episode run. Because of this, no details of the game’s story is revealed, only that the main cast are all friends, and live normal lives when not in the TV world shown in the first episode. With all this plot-heavy material cut, P4GA is nearly spoiler-free, and can be watched on its own without too much fear of learning anything that would ruin the experience of the story of the game (at least, as of episode 3.)
Because of the cut content, what remains of the game’s story in episode 1 feels like a hastily re-cutting of the first anime adaptation’s first episode, and not for the better. Yu had a quick, if definite character arc in P4A’s opening episode that ended with him accepting himself for who he was, after spending most of the opening episode as an awkward, shy student. In P4GA, Yu ‘Nice to Meet Ya!’ Narukami loses his development, shown from the start as a friendly, ‘jock type’ who makes friends easily, and that’s all we get for him. Instead, character development focuses on the new Character: Marie, an amnesiac who meets Yu during the first few minutes, and is shown at the end as a new resident of the Velvet Room, the circumstances of her arrival being shrouded in mystery and nervous uncertainty.
Marie, as a character, is pretty sweet and entertaining as a sweet-tsundere character, giving back-handed remarks that turn around into honest compliments, and writing poetry she finds embarrassing to her self-image. She grows a lot and seems to be following Persona 4’s habit of deeply developing a character’s psychosis and personality.
Outside of Marie, the new content in P4GA is either touching, or hysterical. The new scenarios are a joy to watch and made me personally laugh like a moron more often than I care to admit. It’s really very good and is easily accessible to new viewers, but benefits those already familiar with the story even more.
TL;dr On its own, P4GA is fair, above average in its animation, artistic direction, and voice acting, but doesn’t really show off its potential for the fantastic as its predecessor did. it’s good but not great, and is worth watching for how it develops Marie and Yu’s relationship as friends, but can be ignored and you won’t miss anything. It is ‘anime DLC’ after all.
2nd Take
Preview Score: 8
Preview (By Storm):
Yuu Narukami has just moved into town to start high school. He gets his life setup with his new home and school and things seem to be looking up with his new life. However when he rumors about a mysterious television program that only comes on at midnight during rain he looks into it to see what this is all about. Upon seeing that it is true heathen realizes that he can phase his hand through the the screen. When Yuu goes back to school he brings up the mysterious show to his friends Chie and Yosuke. They convince him to go to a electronics store with him where they would have a t.v. large enough to phase your body through. Skeptical at first they end up beliving him as he pulls them into an alternate world. Here they are save by a mysterious teddy bear names Kuma who keeps them from being devoured at first. As they try to get away they appear cornered when Yuu unleashes a powerful Persona. which is a being that fights on someones behalf, and defeats the enemies. What does this mean, what is this strange world, and does it link to the real world in some way? The friends will have to go and find out.
I was really excited for this as I am a huge Shin Megami Tensei fan so seeing the Golden Edition come out really made me happy. The biggest difference between this show and the one from a few years ago is the inclusion of Marie, a mysterious girl who randomly shows up in the velvet room. She winds up staying with Yuu and learning how to live amongst normal people in the world. This show up to this point has not done much in explaining the story or about the Personas at all, but they will get there in time and for now I actually really enjoy all the little side things they have going on which is really hard to do in anime so that is a huge plus.
This show is based on a game of the same title, and thus far this season has been really well in line with how the game went. I am really excited to see if this shows pulls parallels to the game or goes in its own direction.
Overall I will say people should definitely watch this shoe. The characters are fun and have a lot of interactions with them main characters and the story is going to be absolutely amazing. The fight scene that we have seen so far was also really cool so I am excited to see more, especially if it will be even half as awesome as Devil Survivor. So as long as you like good stories and characters you will really enjoy the show. If you love games then this is definitely your show and would say that you should watch it or will be severely missing out.
Title: Futsuu no Joshilousei ga Locodol Yatte Mita
Genre: Idol
Preview Score: 6
Preview (By Storm):
In a small town that is not known for much of anything, Nanako Usami, is asked by her uncle to do a job at the newly build pool that will help the town. When she gets there she realizes that she is not just cleaning or something she is performing on stage. Nervous at first she ends up going back stage to meet the other performer, Yukari Kohinata, who unlike Nanako is very outgoing and can easily deal with crowds and big situations. Once the event is over the uncle makes the descision to turn the two girls into Locodol’s, or locol idols, to help boost the town and get noticed for something.
To be honest there is not much more to the show then that. The plot is laid down pretty thin and you are literally thrust into without much warning. Even for the idol peforamances, that usually at least have some impact or aura about them. Here the performances are just bland and you kind of want them to get it over with in a hurry. They even have to throw fan service into one of the performances to get by because of no bigger reason then they good. There also seems to be a slight yuri is feel from Yukari, as she seems completely in love with Nanako at times. I feel that there is jus tthe show trying to push people to watch it for no more reasons then that.
Now the show could get better this is only the beginning and I could really end up liking this show. However for now it just feels really bland and tasteless and could use a bit more story and definitely a lot more idol presence. While it might not sound like a big deal, in Idol anime I feel like it is huge for performances and even events from the Idols to have some sort of impact or feel to them. Where as this show has none of that and you just kind of feel like they were forced into doing this without knowing. Which they were at first.
Overall you could skip this for now and wait till the end of the season to try and watch it. It can be hard to try and make it through an episode because they try and throw in random shots and things that have absolutely nothing to do with the story but are there to fill it up anyway. However you can always check it out and decided for yourself as well.
Title: DRAMAtical Murder
Genre: Action / Sci-fi
Preview Score: 7
Preview (By Storm):
Aoba works everyday at a junk shop and enjoys his nice peaceful life. Unlike his friends who all participate in a virtual fighting game called “Rhyme,” he prefers to just keep to himself. However when Aoba get trapped in a game of Rhyme that he wins he is curious as to what this game is really about. There are also rumors of disappearances that are happening around the island he lives on and Aoba along with the help of his friends are trying to piece together the secrets behind this game.
This show is very interesting in that I enjoy the game concept of Rhyme that is in the show and how it can directly interface with people in the real world as well. This show seems to be pretty much all based around male interactions too, which is not a problem but just makes the atmosphere for the show just odd at times. Then there is one thing that does slight annoy me about the show and that is this long ugly blue hair Aoba has. Apparently it cannot be cut because it hurts when anyone touches it. This leads me to assume that his hair will become important in future parts of this show. Okay first off if they do not do anything towards his hair it will be annoying that they used it at all in the show and two if they do use it, I feel like it would still be awkward and strange and just feels kind of like a fetish thing in a way.
The animation and style of the show is very nice and pleasing to the eyes. Each character has a truly unique design, rather then the same clothing slightly modified which I really think is cool. Also the way people get immersed in Rhyme and combat is fun because it shows social interactions in the real world as well as what they are doing on the virtual front. This show has potential to be very fun but it has some sharpening up to do to get there.
So final thoughts, it is a pretty enough show with unique designs that make it relatively easy to watch. However the story is so far a little bland and just seems heavily Shojo driven. So this is up to the viewer on rather or not to watch this one. If you like shojo this is all you if not, then this probably is not your cup of tea. So in the end you be the judge and you just may like it.
Title: Tokyo ESP
Genre: Action / Comedy / Super Power
Preview Score: 7
Preview by: (Dash)
Urushiba, Rinka is your “ordinary poor girl” who encounters some “a flying penguin” on her way to work. Like any smart normal person, she tries to chase down the penguin believing she can earn money off this anomaly. The penguin leads her to a swirl of floating/flying fish. There she meets Koumoto, Keisuke and the fish “pass” through her unlocking super natural powers. Believing she is sick at first, it is Keisuke to who believes such works are miracles. From there the two pursue to assist her father who has also had powers unlock and save him from “trouble” should his identity be discovered. From here the legend of the “Girl with the White Hair” begins….
Tokyo ESP opens up “some time” after the events of the early part of the show. The first episode introduces you to some villains, allies, and the overall standing of Espers in the city. There is a terrorist plot to take over the government in favor of Espers/Mutants (think X-Man). Its been some time since the “Girl with the White Hair” has been seen, although many believe she will always show up to help those in need… The second episode opens up with the actual start and proper introduction of Rinka. It will progress towards her becoming known “Girl with the White Hair” who always comes to save the day.
Yes, I know my description is horrid. Its actually a solid opening two episodes and I would recommend giving them a watch before you make any judgments on the anime. Tokyo ESP looks like it will have a good dose of action and insert comedy to keep the overall feel of the show enjoyable. I won’t lie the first episode is more action oriented as it is the “current”, but episode two will run off as slow giving it is the “intro start with day to day life”. I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy this one at first. I didn’t read much into it except the quick paragraph breakdown for the “upcoming anime” list and the art/ad didn’t sell much (I generally avoid previews). 3 Episodes in (as of today) and I am hooked. I was hoping to find a few gems this Summer that would fill the mid week gap (last season was bad at that) and Friday Anime is pretty win overall (Tokyo ESP & Rokujouma) situation leading into my weekends. Tokyo ESP seems to be a good balance of action, story, and comedy. It has some air that reminds me of Kaze no Stigma in terms of “action + comedy flow’. The fact that I am a pretty big Marvel fan (although no expert) also bumps this one up as the mutant/esp thing is always enjoyable for me to watch. I am curious to see what super powers pop up as the anime moves forward.
The overall artwork is a solid. The action sequences were clean and easy to follow. The added effects and auras all flow with the pace and energy Tokyo ESP puts off. The character design is not my favorite, but isn’t bad by any means. I honestly didn’t pay attention to the music, which could be good as pace seems to match, seeing I was just pulled into the overall ambiance of the anime. The voice work doesn’t seem to have anything to make me cringe or feel off place, but it all ran as “the standard” (and the standard VA work in Japan is high). The plot as of now seems pretty straight forward and I am not expecting anything “OMFG original”, but more of “sit back and enjoy” mentality. It seems to be serious enough to hold my attention, but paced that I am not turned off because of mindless violence.
So far Tokyo ESP has my seal of approval. It appears to be an anime that will appeal to the general anime audience looking for a solid action fix, especially if your a fan of super powers. I have a hard time seeing this one go bad. The opening episode pretty much dictates the final route and the in-between seems more about building the cast than mindless “fun time episodes”. I am not placing this one on a pedal stool, but more a solid anime to watch that should finish in my Top 10 of Summer if it keeps up the current flow.
Title: Ao Haru Ride
Genre: School / Slice of Life / Romance
Preview Score: 8
Preview (By Storm):
In junior high Yoshioka Futaba was the outcast of the girls because of how cute she was. While most of the boys really liked her she only loved one. When that boy overhears something she says on day he never is seen at school again. This takes a major impact on Futaba and causes her to want to change and reinvent herself and her image so she would not be alone anymore. Fast forward to high school, the cute lovable girl is now a constant eater with messy hair. She has some friends and is part of a circle that she thinks is where she wants to be. However all that changes when the one boy she loved comes back into her life. She is forced to realize that maybe this change is not rally who she is, and maybe she the help of Kou, the boy who she loved, to push her towards being her own person again.
This show is a lot more then just love interest and slice of life school based things. This gets that out of the way instantly when they both admit that they once loved each other. Instead this show is about finding out who you are in high school and whether to go with the crowd, or find out who you really are. I think it has a great setup as well as a great animation style the highly resembles Kimi ni Todoke. With a story that is more the just the standard high school romance, I feel this will hit a lot more interest points for people since it is not the same old song and dance as all the other shows of this nature.
Within this show they also put in some points that force the main character to have to choose whether to keep going with the tide, or stopping and going in her own direction. They do this with a very sweet girl who is very much how Futaba was in junior high. While other girls make fun of her for getting guys attention, Futaba sees herself and realizes how hard it is and how you should not be ashamed of who you are. So as well as herself Futaba also tries to help other characters stand out so that they are each seen in a certain way. That is what this show is to its very core, it is society and how it views people by just outward appearance without looking at the whole picture, and that is why I really enjoy this show so much so far.
In the end I would say please watch this very cute show. It is more then you would expect from a show of this type and will make you happy you are sticking with it. We could use more shows like this that are not just base plot and story, but rather a deeper meaning, with characters we care about and somewhat relate to. So overall very good show and I know people will enjoy it as much as I did.
Title: Free! Eternal Summer
Genre: Sports, High School, Comedy, Slice of Life
Preview Score: 8
Preview by (anime-nympho):
This is the second season of Free. The story resumes at the start of Haru, Rin, and Makoto third and final year of high school. Spring has just started, though it is still looks like winter. The Iwatobi High Swim Club has been invited to attend the going away party for the graduating seniors of Rin’s swim club at Samezuka Academy. Upon arrival Mikoshiba, the departing captain who is in extremely high spirits, incites Haru, Makoto, Nagaisa, and Rei to join the festivities by challenging them to a relay. During the captain’s farewell address, he makes Rin the new captain of the swim team. After all the fun has been had, it is now time for the Iwatobi Swim Club to recruit new members. However their radical club assembly presentation puts off any potential new members.
The boys seek the advice of their coach, Sasabe, who has decided to reopen their childhood swim club. Coach invites the boys to participate in the public tournament he is putting on to advertise the comeback of the swim club. Lots of people turn out for this splashing event, including some members of the Samezuka team. The boys are happy to see the pool once again filled with smiles and laughter, as well as a few calling outs of playful rivalry. After the swimming is done Haru invites Rin to meet him at his school pool that evening. There Rin ask Haru one of the most important questions of his life.
Ok so I’m going to give this review in three parts from different prospective. I am writing this as someone who as seen the first season. If you don’t like the content of any part of the following do not continue to read on; it will only offend you further. Now moving along.
My thoughts on the first episode, the feeling of it was much more light and happy then the first season. This was not a very good episode to convey that regular sports anime feeling, but it did highlight the important bounds that can be made while playing sports together—yet another underlining sports anime theme. I thought it was a good place to begin this season giving the conflicts of last season. Seeing everyone simply race for enjoyment instead of competition was refreshing. However, I don’t believe things will stay laid back. The allure of Nationals will somber this crew, as tournament draws closer. Both schools are aiming for nationals but only one team can be on top.
Now that plot is out of the way next is what every girl has on her mind, the fanservice. Ladies I have to say I have never seen fanservice on this level before. They came out big and hard for this opening of this season. This ab pack episode had twice the amount yums from angles that have never been drawn before. They really went all out with the first real FS moment at just 1 minute 42 sec from the start of the show. And though Haru does not pull his famous strip tease in till 4 minutes 40 sec in, he does pull it off three times in this one. And his striping must be contagious because the rest of his team has joined in the action for this one. This season looks to be more scrumptious than the last.
Still with me? Lastly I’m going to cover certain romantic implications of the fangirl variety. Though most things stayed pretty plan on the surface, there were a couple of exceptional shippie moments with my favs being of Rin and Haru. Nevertheless, there are other blowing winds needed to sail most ships. It looks to be a very fun season.
Overall Cretic: The carefree playfulness of this ep. might make a die-hard sport anime fan question where is the “sport” in this anime. But someone looking for an exciting anime for purely entertainment would find it quite fun. And if you’re one who is looking for the bishi, its will deliver.
Title: Majimoji Rurumo
Genre: Fantasy-Magical / Comedy / Ecchi
Aired: July 2014 – September 2015
Review Score: 5
Review (By Dash):
Shibaki, Kouta is an “outcast” guy due to his intense interest in ecchi things and girls. Due to his interest he now known as the perv of the school and only real associates at school are the Occult Club. Upon trying to “prove” magic is real, Kouta is suckered into performing the ritual and wishes for a pair of pantsu (be careful what you wish for). Low and behold his wish comes true, when he gets home is a fresh pair of used pantsu given to him by the witch (Rurumo). The catch to getting your wish answered by a witch is your life. Rurumo (through some events) decides not to take his life and returns to the witch world. A few days later Kouta wishes to see Rurumo and again his wish is answered. This time Rurumo needs to grant 666 wishes for Kouta, however unknown to her is that every time Rurumo grants a wish Kouta loses a “piece of his life”. Will Kouta use the wishes and help Rurumo become a full witch again or will he hold on to the wishes for his very life?
I am honestly not sure where to place Majimoji Rurumo (MR). I did enjoy the series enough to complete it. But I am not sure I could “recommend it” to someone off the bat. Minus her fun outfit, it runs a bit “forgettable” as a whole. The story starts to make a turn as Rurumo starts to awkwardly enjoy her life as a human, but to the point the tickets become less and less important. The tickets are the primary starting plot point that seems to fall by the way side. I found it hard to connect the important of his “life” when using tickets as it falls to a secondary catch. Losing that device, made the whole “helping Rurumo become a witch at the cost of my life” a bit lame. Most of the anime focuses on some of the characters and Rurumo adjusting to life (or failure to) as a human. Those moments add comedy, but honestly never evolve to something better. They stick to that gag to the point of “oh just another moment”. In short I felt there was very little evolution of plot or characters making MR turn into a basic Slice of Life.
Minus the plot holes, MR really came off as “run of the mill”. The animation and VA were both very dry for me. Chiro (voiced by Misato Fukuen) was the only real voice work that had me going. The music (OP and ED) were cute, but nothing amazing of a Top 10 list. I’d define most of the characters a bit annoying as a whole, none of whom really pull me into the anime. I felt it was a Moe Slice of Life that never really took off after giving you the base plot line in episodes one and two.
All in all if you are looking for something cute and simple (with a hit of ecchi), you’ll probably enjoy this. If you are looking for a solid well written anime with an animation upgrade, avoid this one. It is worth one watch if you find yourself in the mood.
Title: Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 2wei!
Genre: Fantasy / Action / Comedy / Magical Girl
Aired: July 2015 – September 2015
Review Score: 8
Review (By Dash):
Illyasviel von Einzbern is your normal elementry school student. She is in love with her older brother figure (Shirou) and loves magical girl anime. One day a magical wand appears before her giving her the chance to become something she only thought existed in anime, a mahou shoujo! This story takes place in an alternate Fate/ reality where Ilya lives a normal life and gone through the sage of Fate/Stay. A little over a month has passed since the events of Fate/kaleid and now a new challenge awaits our young Magical Girls!
So I thoroughly enjoyed the F/K2. I do love the Fate/ series, but as many of you know the series as a whole is pretty serious. F/K2 inches back a few notches in terms of violence (although the action they do have is very entertaining), they pick it up with a pretty good story and well communicated humor that plays on a lot of the magical girl anime out there. This is a big win in my book. I am not a huge fan of super serious anime (at least as it is “ongoing”) and always prefer a lighter more comical anime in comparison. F/K2 balances a lot of what I particularly look for in anime into one neat bundle.
Aside from fan love, the series is colorful and different animation style in comparison to its Fate/ counterparts. The animation is clearly to be made more “kids” style with the character design, but still clean and enjoyable. I really enjoyed the music for F/k S1 and from what you hear in the second season, it stands to par. The VA talent returns, leaving no down drop on the cast talent and adding Nabatame, Hitomi (Saori – Oreimo / Mikoto – School Rumble / Kouta – Elfen Lied) as Bazett (a character not seen in the main anime to date).
Characters are another big sell for me. F/K2 has several characters that would normally follow post-Fate/stay (Fate/hollow). This is big because there is no current announcement or plans for the follow up, instead they are work the “three” full routes of the original. I was happy to at least meet Bazett and Caren (outside of Carnival Phantasm) and hope to see them at some point in the future. As of now F/K2 will get its third arc (Spring 2015) which focuses back onto Miu and her past. The next arc is really good and I am looking forward to it.
I have very few complaints for the execution of F/K2. The story remained solid and the animation was well done (given it may not be to your liking style wise). I do feel the second arc (of the three) gives you the most background into the “what if…” situation of the Fate/stay world. F/K is a world where the 5th Grail War never happens and “if” Kiritsugu and Irisviel manage to “escape”. Adding to some of the info you receive in Zero, you learn a bit more of Illyasviel and the “host of the grail” situation she was born into. I find this “what if” (cause Fate/ is all about what if…) very interesting as a fan. The primary point of season 2 is creating “Kuro”, the Illya that was never born as a result of the Grail War ending. The third arc will go into detail pointing out that even if they escape their fate in Zero, Illya will still have to face “The Grail War” in her own right at some point.
All in all, do not let the comical happy go lucky mood fool you. F/K2 still carries some of the serious undertones of the Fate/ series (when you look at it carefully). The third arc will provide more depth into this situation (in 2015). Unlike many magical girl anime, F/K is short and straight the point only airing ten episode seasons (so if you like ’em longer you may want to wait for the third arc giving 30 episodes in total). If your a fan of the the Fate/ series or like a solid magical girl I would recommend giving this one a go. Although I love the series, it wasn’t the champion of the summer. Fan glasses off, I would still place this in the Top 25 of the Year! If your looking for a solid story with good comedy (with that Magical Girl touch), pick up F/K2!
Title: Barakamon
Genre: Comedy / Slice of Life
Aired: July 2015 – September 2015
Review Score: 7
Review: (By: Dash)
Handa Seishu is a talented, but traditional calligrapher. At his last show he punches another famous calligrapher for calling his style “textbook” and “lifeless”. Unwilling to apologize and infuriated that “no one understands” his style, his father sends him to the remote town on a small island. Here he encounters the slightly “go with the flow” village chief and an energetic little girl (Naru) who will continue to “impose” upon him (like it or not). After meeting and talking with them (and some of the village), Handa starts to see the fun and laughter that surrounds him. Will he be able to see what his father is hoping to show him? Will be able to break the mold that he holds himself to? Find out by spending some time with Naru and Handa in Barakamon!
I enjoyed Barakamon. I watched the new episode every week with my Subway in hand. I didn’t have to follow any complicated plot or worry about it turning “super serious”. This may have been the easiest watch of all the Summer anime. I would also add the air time fit the Summer mood perfect.
Barakamon is cute and simple. The main plot circles around Handa finding beauty in the world around him and not just sticking to the “fundamentals”. They point out the fundamentals are important, but with no emotion or vision those basics are lost. You will follow Handa (and Naru) as he learns more about this small town and its population episode to episode. Every interaction is well written and crafted as is each character. Barakamon does a great job of pulling you for twenty minutes every week to introduce you to the town.
The voice work was very well done. I didn’t feel any discrepancies for the characters, types, or ages. The artwork was simple, yet expressive. As a whole the work was appealing and relayed emotion and small town feel. The plot is followed through by the end and you are not left “needing more” to get the completion of the story. All of this combined earns a solid “7” rating from me.
So why “just a 7” if I enjoyed it? Barakamon seems to lack some re-watch value. One or two shots is the most I can sense minus a “feels” moment. I am not sure if it’s just the execution or if the story runs a more one time tell feel. I think the comedy and other lighter life points will lose some effect upon re-watch. Unlike some major series, there is very little need to go back to “catch” the minor details. Barakamon presents a very “what you see is what you get” story. The pace felt a lot like “Aria the Animation”.
All in all, I may find myself (like Aria) putting it on when the mood feels right (I do this a lot). I can sell a single watch of this to any Slice of Life fan or someone looking for an overall easy going anime. Anyone looking for super sexy fun or action needs to stay away. I enjoyed it and can say it was one of the Top 10 (in my mind) of the Summer.
Title: Momo Kyun Sword
Genre: Fantasy/Action/Ecchi
Preview Score: 6.5
Preview (By Rising Sun):
Momoko is a young and beautiful swordswoman who was born from a peach in ancient Japan. She is accompanied by her three friends Inugami, Sarugami, and Kijigami. Everything is all peaceful until one day the demon army attacks the land Momoko lives in and steals and destroys an important and powerful jewel. It’s up to Momoko, her companions, and new acquaintances to recover the jewel.
Oppai Oppai Oppai, This anime has lots of it. This anime has a good amount of fanservice so if you don’t like then steer clear of this. I thought the anime was Ok, It was pretty cutesy which is something that I like most times. This anime also has a good amount of magical girl references. One example would be Momoko transforming using her MomoKyun possession where she fuses with one of three friends.
I do like the art style which has a magical girl combined with ecchi type feel. There are a few moments where I was reminded of Inuyasha especially when they have to search for sacred jewel shards. lol. Even though this is not my type of anime, I am being entertained by watching it. If you like ecchi/action/cutesy anime then watch this.
Title: Fuun Ishin Dai Shogun
Genre: Action/Historical/Mecha/Ecchi
Review Score: 6
Review: (By: Rising Sun)
Keiichiro Tokugawa is a young man working in his grandmother’s bathhouse in an alternate Edo Period(1603-1868) Japan. In this alternate Edo Period, foreign ships started to appear but a legendary mecha named onigami took out these foreign ships and basically Japan remained secluded from the rest of the world. These Onigami protected Japan from foreign ships or any other threats. Due to this, The Meiji Restoration of 1868 never happened.
Keiichiro’s hothead personality constantly gets him into fights. There is something that is really bothering Keiichiro. He is a virgin and he wants to get rid of his virginity immediately. The problem is that when any girl touches him, sores appear throughout his body. His virginity is if utter importance. Due to his Tokugawa lineage, he needs his virginity to pilot his clan’s onigami.
When I first saw this anime I thought that it had a lot of potential, unfortunately it didn’t live up to it. It had a very promising beginning but afterwards the anime fell off. The comedy was pretty decent overall but the story basically went down the drain. This anime was very similar to an anime that aired around the same time called Kenzen Robo Daimidaler. The art style was ok which at times reminded me of Sengoku Basara.
The action scenes were pretty decent. It was your usual giant epic mecha battles. The characters were so-so. Keichiiro was less cooler version of Issei from High school dxd. Kiriko is a ninja who has to protect Keiichiro’s virginity. She is basically like Kagome from Inuyasha always calling out Keiichiro’s name. Hyaksuke is the annoying and prevy friend of Keiichiro.
One of the few things I liked about the anime other than the mecha battles was the character relationships. I was shocked to find out that some of these characters had feelings for one another. When the anime ended, I felt unsatisfied and empty. What should have been a good anime turned out to be a bit on the mediocre side. That’s not to say that I had an ok time watching it. The comedy made me laugh from time to time. This is only a one time watch for me. If you really like ecchi mecha anime then watch this.
Mid Season Reviews for Spring 2014 – Summer 2014
Title: Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei
Genre: Sci-Fi, Romance, Supernatural, Magic
Airing: April 2014 – Ongoing
Preview Score: 8
Preview (By: Blue)
Synaposis
Magic – When it was systematized as an actual technology it resulted in a race to develop magicians due to tenuous circumstances.
Both Shiba, Miyuki and her brother Shiba, Tatsuya enrolled into the National Magic University Affiliated First High School. Here, groups are divided into two districts. The “Bloom” who demonstrate the highest grades are enrolled into “First Course” and those who demonstrate low grades are enrolled into “Second Course”.
Shiba, Tatsuya who has good test scores but low magic scores enrolls as a “weed”. While his sister who has high magic enrolls as a “Bloom”.
This has to be my favorite action Anime this season. While Shiba, Tatsuya looks weak, he is extremely smart in combat situations. I wish I can say the action is amazing, but it’s somewhat log horizon where it was a bit slow and you’ll have to wait about a full episode to get 30 seconds worth of action.
There’s not much comedy, well there is but the main character’s expressions are so dull you will not know he is joking >.<
I love the brother/sister relationship, and it’s an added bonus that they’re the same voice actors from “My Sister Can’t Be This Cute”
All in all I’m loving the Anime and would recommend it to anyone who likes magic and action. However, like I said before you have to watch this in chunks since it’ll leave you in a cliff hanger at every episode.
Title: Captain Earth
Genre: Mecha, Sci-Fi, Shounen
Aired: April 2014 – Ongoing
Preview Score: 8.5/10
Preview by (Squish-Chan)
(official synopsis)
One night right before summer vacation, Daichi Manatsu, a second-year in high school, sees a weird round rainbow floating in the sky above Seed Island (Shuushi/Tane Island) and ventures there alone. He has seen this rainbow before. With the memories of his father’s mysterious death and an encounter of a mysterious boy and girl, Daiji arrives on the island while the alarm of a building labeled “Earth Engine” is going off. Someone asks him “Are you a captain?” just as robotic intruders from Uranus called “Kiltgang” arrive. The battle around the shining stars is about to begin.
I would like to say I kept my composure watching Star Dri-I mean Captain earth. But I would be a horrific liar. Captain Earth is the new sci-fi mecha anime done by the same crew who made my all-time favorite anime Star Driver, and boy, does it feel like it! Captain earth is ridiculousness in all the best ways possible, but it already has far less outright stupid than the last two shows I’ve reviewed that had this same sort of bombast(Space Dandy and KLK.) Captain earth is literally written and directed by the same crew who made Star Driver, and if you’re a fan of that show like I am, you’re probably as excited for it as I am, or if you haven’t seen it, you’ve hopefully stopped reading by this point to go watch it. Even if you’re not a fan, go watch it anyway for its beautiful visuals, glorious soundtrack, great voice acting and sense of fun. I’ll wait for you to come back.
Ok, if you’re still reading: Captain earth is a brand new mecha anime produced by Studio Bones, and the Star Driver team, as I’ve said before. While this first episode is mainly build up in what seems to be a two-part opening episode, it does set up a fair amount of backstory, teases the coming plot, and manages to tie in the two symmetrically so it’s easy to compare the actions of past and present. It hints of running in the same vein as Star Driver- being a sort of ‘battle of the week’ anime between the main character Daichi, and the Approaching-Earth Objects, remote-controlled mecha piloted by a group known as “Planetary Gears”. And if any of this sounds like Star Driver, that’s cause it pretty much is! For real, though, copy/paste/reword the plot to Star Driver and you get Captain Earth with very little tweaking- Planetary Gears even pilot their mechs via an energy source called ‘libido,’ a blatant shout out to the power source of Cybodies in Star Driver. In that sense it’s derivative of its predecessor, with one big difference: Star Driver was from the outset an action-comedy, where as Captain Earth seems to making a middle ground between comedy and serious storytelling, and the promotional art paints it as more of a team effort than a lone hero, possibly a sentai-like cast of main characters. But that’s mostly speculation.
Visually, Captain Earth is downright beautiful, its color palette is bright and colorful, but mixes darker colors and gorgeous lighting and plays on light sources that really work fantastically together, combined with gorgeous, painstaking animation throughout the entire first episode, and you have an anime that works really well on a visual standpoint alone. It really is a lovingly animated first episode, and there are very little shortcuts taken to cut down on the frames it needed to showcase the gorgeous visuals, if you have the ability to watch Captain Earth in HD, do so, just to be able to take it all in.
From an audio standpoint, the first episode of Captain Earth has some really strong voice acting that works well for every character and gives you a good instinctual feeling of what kind of character they will be based on their voice and tone alone. The music also does a Star-Driver thing and features the voice of a main character singing during climatic, blood-pumping sequences, which actually works really well, believe it or not! It also has a very cinematic soundtrack, that conveys a lot of emotion at the right times. So it stands out very well on that front.
How do I feel about it? I’m freaking screaming cause I’m so excited for this anime. It’s overblown and ridiculous at all the right points. Just like with my Noragami review, I went from zero to fanboy really really fast, and I am so pumped for this season cause of Captain Earth alone. I can only hope that it doesn’t get stupid and keeps the same sense of fun Star Driver had and I personally will be very happy. I laughed and dropped my jaw at the design for the Earth Engine, it’s so overblown it almost hurts, but it’s amazingly over-the-top and amazing, and it’s start up sequence was a pulse-pounding build up of pure adrenaline in the last three minutes of the episode. I’m not kidding, it’s so goofy, but SO AMAZING IT HAS TO BE SEEN TO BE BELIEVED(just like Takuto’s Magical Boy scene in Star Driver.) I should say I’m sorry for quoting Star Driver throughout this preview for Captain Earth… but I’d be lying. I’m not sorry at all! I give Captain earth an 8.5/10 for it’s gorgeous visuals, amazing soundtrack and acting, fantastic animation, and a personal bias cause it’s basically my favorite anime of all time, told again in a different scenario. If you haven’t seen it, go do so! Seriously!
Tl;Dr: Go watch Captain Earth. It has fantastic visuals and animation, amazing mech designs, the hints of a good story, and great acting. If you’re a fan of Star Driver, or just mecha anime in general, go watch Captain Earth, It’s amazing. I’m looking forward to the Spring Season already.
Title: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures : Stardust Crusaders
Genre: Action / Shounen
Aired: April 2014 – Ongoing
Mid Season Review Score: 8.5
Mid Season Review by (Storm)
The Joestar family line has a long a strong family history. However where there is a Joestar the evil Dio Brando is not far behind. A self turned vampire, his history with the family goes back over a hundred years . This generation we meet the new member of the Joestar line. Jotaro Kujo. He is in a jail for doing things that are beyond his comprehension, His grandfather, Joseph Joestar, teaches him that what is happening is he is in control of a powerful being known as a Stand. Stands give their users incredible powers and are invisible to anyone that does not have one. When Dio is awakened from his slumber stands of the world know it and that is why they are now coming out of hiding. Jotaro’s mother, Holly, ends up acquiring a Stand as well, however the power that come with it is too much for her control. Now Jotaro along with his grandpa and other companions travel to Cairo to defeat Dio, meeting many Stand users along the way who they must defeat if they wish to save Holly.
Jojo’s is a manga that has been around for many years, the anime is pretty much lifted directly from the manga. I really enjoy it like crazy and am glad I started reading the manga as well. The show and mange are laced with pop culture references and just obscure humor and characters that I just love to see come to life. The whole series in general is really great and has a huge following and renown in Japan. With this much history and great amounts of story and characters to back it up it is really hard to not like this show.
Overall I would say watch it, that is the best and easiest thing to say. Some people won’t like it because some of it can be really violent, but for older audiences I really feel they will appreciate this show. With a great back story and long line of other stories in the universe to boot, it is really fun to get into, not only this show but the whole series in general. I really hope people watch this and then go and watch the other Jojo shows to see just how ridiculously awesome and great this show really is.
Title: Aikatsu!
Genre: Idol / School / Shoujo
Aired: Oct 2012 – Ongoing
Mid Season Review Score: 6
Mid Season Review (By Dash):
Aikatsu follows high school girl “Ichigo” as she joins her friend “Aoi” for tryouts at the Starlight Academy! This focus of this academy is train and polish young girls into becoming professional idols. Aoi has always dreamed of becoming an idol and requests Ichigo to come along. Low and behold they both make it into the school where their idol adventure begins!
So I have to review a few very similar anime types this season. Aikatsu is very similar in premises to Pretty Rhythm Rainbow Live and falls in the “transformation sequence every epsiode” of Precure. Having to watch a lot of them in one go, Precure fell to sidelines for a bit. Not in Aikatsu they use “Dress Cards” to choose their wardrobe. They use these cards (which come in different rarities) on a machine that transforms their cards into their performance outfit. No I don’t know how clothing is saved on a card and magically works, I don’t care to go into the “common sense” of anime and just accept it for what it is.
The story follows Ichigo on her development as an idol along with her best friend (and number one fan) Aoi and eventually their third team mate Ran (the cool beauty). Each episode deals with a problem one or two of the characters are facing as they prepare for their next tryout or challenge. Along the way they will meet and make friends, granted there are no real villains in this anime. Yes seemingly in a very competitive show business they all get along even though they compete for gigs, the anime is meant for young girls not the WB. It is a simple plot to see how Ichigo and her friends overcome adversity and how far they progress into the idol industry. The show ends to perfectly setup its “second season” (it ran 50 episodes) airing this Fall.
Overall Aikatsu! is what it is, an anime designed for young girls. It is light hearted and fun to watch. Each episode or arc has a challenge that the characters will have to overcome in order to shine. They don’t always win, but they always take away a lesson learned. If you like super easy going anime or more kid geared anime Aikatsu! isn’t a bad choice. Of the anime in this “genre” that I did watch, Aikatsu was my favorite. I did have to skip the “Transformation Scenes” as they get a bit old over and over. The songs fall into the same category, granted none of them were really bad. The VA was fitting and I actually did like Ichigo’s voice which is done by the young fourteen year old (Morohoshi, Sumire). You may know her from supporting roles as Seira (GJ-bu), young Misaki (Kaichou Maidsama), or Arisa (Onii-chan Dakedo Ai). The artwork and 3D concerts follow the norm. The shoujo style character design was fitting, although I can see why some people may not agree.
All in all Aikatsu! is cute and well executed for its genre. I don’t personally see myself re-watching this anime short of a “rare mood”. I enjoyed it enough that I will watch the second season. Given what it is, I rank this a solid a “6” (not bad, not best of all time). If you like Shoujo anime or really like the Idol genre, go ahead and give this one a try.
Title: Ace of Diamond
Genre: Comedy / School / Sports
Airing: October 2013 – Ongoing
Mid-season Review Score: 8
Mid-season Review (By Happypiccolo):
Ace of Diamond is the story of Eijun Sawamura and the challenges he faces on the baseball diamond. Eijun is a pitcher with potential, endless amounts of personal drive, and little to no real training. As a result of the spirit he shows during yet another losing game, Sawamura is invited by a scout to attend Seidou High School and pitch for their baseball team. Though Eijun is devoted to his friends and teammates, he accepts the invitation to Seidou High School. While working to join the Seidou baseball team’s first string, Eijun hones his skills as a pitcher and team-player.
I was surprised to enjoy Ace of Diamond as much as I did. It has comedic and intense moments that surprise the viewer, similar to the original Naruto. The animation leaves nothing to be desired and the cast seems quite likable. Eijun makes for a great main character because he isn’t necessarily the most skilled at what he does but he makes up for it with an endless amount of heart. Other players fight for positioning on either the first or second string teams. Ace of Diamond does a great job of giving you many different views and personalities from quite a few players. I think baseball translates well into dramatic plot driven anime.
I would suggest this one to almost anyone, honestly. The entertainment value is just broad enough that you won’t get bogged down by nothing but baseball. And I think this is a great quality to have as a baseball anime. Just as with Eijun, I think this anime has a large amount of potential to be really very good. My only concern is that Ace of Diamond will somehow fall into the redundant pattern of baseball shows. I’m looking forward to more head games and intense moments of strategy, as with most action/fighting anime. So far that is what I’ve seen and I hope it continues to surprise me and set itself apart. If you enjoy baseball or just likable characters, give this one a watch.