First Impression: Yumekui Merry

Yumekui Merry (or Dreameater Merry), a tale about a guy, Fujiwara Yumeji who has the power to view auras who meets a girl, Merry Nightmare, a dream demon stuck in reality for the past ten years. Considering this is your typical magical girl meet average guy plot, Yumekui Merry is surprisingly well thought out. Especially when compared to other animes this season, namely Dragon Crisis and Kore wa zombie desu ka? For instance, Merry does not automatically fall in love with Yumeji, nor invade his house while treating him like garbage, or indeed any such cliché. Not to mention that whereas in those other animes, the “protect the girl” scenario is more or less forced onto the male protagonist, in Yumekui Merry, Yumeji seems to genuinely want to help Merry find her way home. Usually I’m a bit down on male leads since they tend to be a little lacklustre but Yumeji Fujiwara is a good character shaping up to be a great one. In all, this is fantastic. Exactly how anime should be.

Rating: 8/10

First Impression: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica

I’ve always found large doses of magical girl animes nauseating. The same rehashed sparkly plot was tedious after Sailor Moon and the typical bumbling airhead heroine gets on my nerves. Magicial girl genres tend to stress the importance of self belief during battle, perhaps a reflection of society in that young girls are more likely to be self conscious. I can’t help but wonder that portraying female cartoon heroines as riddled with self doubt, immature and fairly whiny does in some way contribute to this stereotype rather then dispense with it. Ultimately the magical girl requires confidence in herself in order to access that special secret innate power that she had from day one but was held back by her low self esteem, and save the day. And of course win her love interest.

Mahou Shoujo Madoke Magica is not your average magical genre. It has the basics covered, the talking animal sidekick, the multiple coloured transformations, and the main heroine is kinda wimpy. But I guess that’s kinda unavoidable. Madoke maybe dragging her feet a bit with becoming a Mahou Shoujo, but she has good reason. And here is where the similarities end. Mahou Shoujo Madoke Magica takes itself very seriously. The two main characters, Madoke and Sayaka are given the option to form a contract and become magical girls in exchange for one wish. However there are risks involved. As if to drive this part home, magical girl Mami dies during a battle in the third episode and has yet to return. Already some pretty prolific reality checks for a couple of young girls.

The action itself is staggering. The girls fight within a trippy labyrinth setting, a nightmarish wonderland that employs a surreal animation that is absolutely mind-bending. Our heroines themselves are also quite stylish, adorning different fashions from the trademark pink and girly Madoke, to the streampunkish Mami. They also use actual weapons; Mami is packing a couple of hundred guns, while Sayaka prefers a set of swords and Sakura has a scythe. I highly doubt these damsels are going to need a prince to save them when things get tough. In all, Mahou Shoujo Madoke Magica is surprisingly dark, twisted and very sophisticated. It’s managed to capture a depth to this genre while not trying to hard to think outside of the box. Wonderful job.

Rating: 8/10

Spring Anime 2011 - Part 2

A Channel

Synopsis: The story revolves around the everyday life of four high school girls: the flighty Run, the reckless Tōru, the timid Yūko, and the level-headed Nagi.

First Reaction: They look kawaii.

Ao no Exorcist

Synopsis: Based on a supernatural manga. It focuses on Rin Okumura, a boy raised by a famous exorcist named Father Fujimoto. After an argument between the two, Rin discovers he is the son of Satan. Rin decides to fight his fate by joining the True Cross Academy to become an exorcist and defeat demons. However, when he draws his father’s sword, it releases a dark power within him.

First Reaction: *Drool*

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-tachi wa Mada Shirana

Synopsis: Six childhood friends grew apart in high school. One of them is Jintan, now a shut-in. He gets a request to fulfill a wish for Menma, the only one of their friends to have stayed the same over the years. In order to grant her wish, he will have to find and reunite their old friends.

First Reaction: Hmmm, not sure.

[ C ] THE MONEY OF SOUL AND POSSIBILITY CONTROL

Synopsis: The Japanese government was rescued from the brink of financial collapse by the Sovereign Wealth Fund. For its citizens, however, life has not improved, and unemployment, crime, suicide, and despair are rampant. Kimimaro, raised by his maternal grandmother after the disappearance of his father and the death of his mother, is a scholarship student whose only dream is to avoid all this and live a stable life. One day, however, he meets a man who offers him a large sum of money if he’ll agree to pay it back. From then on his fate is radically altered as he’s drawn into a mysterious area known as “The Financial District.

First Reaction: Sounds intriguing, not overly interested through.

Deadman Wonderland

Synopsis: Ganta Igarashi has been convicted of a crime that he hasn’t committed, and sent to a new, privately owned and operated prison, where the inmates are the main attraction in a modern day twist to the gladiatorial coliseums of ancient times. Throw in a healthy dose of weird little girl, some new-found super powers, and a little conspiracy theory, and you have Deadman Wonderland.

First Reaction: Looks 100% awesome.

Gintama 2

Synopsis:

Edo-period at Japan suffers a big cultural shock. First, the aliens invaded the earth, overpowered the nation’s government, disbanded carrying swords for the once proud samurais. moreover; these aliens took the people’s jobs and are currently running a sweatshop using them as laborers. going with the flow, Sakata Gintoki, an enigmatic vagrant samurai whose personal trademark is not only his naturally permed silver hair but also his love of anything sweet and addiction to Shonen Jump is making a life out of this chaotic era. He is self employed in a do-it-all shop named Yoruzuya Gin-chan who offers any job for any amount of money. Their jobs range from searching lost kittens and saving the world

First reaction: HELL YES!

Hana-Saku Iroha

Synopsis: The story centers around Ohana Matsumae, a 16-year-old Tokyo native who ended up working at a onsen ryokan (hot spring inn). Matsumae has yet to decide her future.

First Reaction: I bet this one will be interesting.

Hen Zemi

Synopsis: Nanako Matsutaka is an innocent university student who is participating in a sexual perversion seminar led by the deviant professor Kenji Meshiya. She desperately tries to keep her morals as well as her sanity while amidst the strange group of students in the study group.

First Reaction: Pah!

First Impressions: Level E

Sometimes I could just kick myself. This season so far, I’ve been digesting so-so animes, Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka? Animes refusing to acknowledge their potential, Dragon Crisis! Or animes that are only just starting to show their strengths, Gosick. All the while completely obvious to Level E, shame, shame on me! Easily Level E is the best show on the winter schedule and I’m only one episode in. Here’s the synopsis: our main character is a high school baseball star, moving from Tokyo to a quieter town in order to attend a new school and play baseball for a national team. Nice, simple slice of life premise. Except when he arrives at his new apartment he finds that it is already occupied by a man claiming to be an alien with amnesia. And hijinks ensue. Oh please more puppet antics, those were hilarious! Despite a relatively small opening cast in a relatively small situation, the story doesn’t feel forced or contrived. The characters don’t act as the story requires them to. Clearly they are the ones pulling the strings. In all, it was refreshing, creatively appeasing and holds so much potential. I’m sold. One hundred and ten percent. I just hope this series won’t be as short as it is rumoured to be.

Inital Rating: 8/10

First Impressions: Seikon no Qwaser

Let’s start with the positives. Despite evidence to the contrary, Seikon no Qwaser is not a simple fan service anime, there is a decent enough storyline to make for a solid action series. You have your good guys and your bad guys both trying to get their hands on a holy icon – the Theotokos of Tsarytin. Both organisations have superpowers, namely the ability to control certain elements, which makes for some visually pleasing amounts of violence. Enter the main character, Oribe Mafuyu, quite a sound heroine to be honest. She isn’t a dainty princess, or an inept bint, that position having been already filled by Yamanobe Tomo, the worse character in the show, or indeed devised. Mafuyu is the shows down-to-earth character (in all regards) and they’ve done a satisfactory job.

And now the inevitable negative. It’s almost as if the creators knew the plot was not a particularly original one and decided to give it a ‘sexy’ edge (I’m using that term lightly). The fighters gain their abilities from drinking a substance known as soma, aka breast milk. Let that just sink in for a moment. Yup, every shred of credibly was just pissed away. No matter how good the show is, or could be, this cringe worthy oversight will always be the main focus. Sasha’s chauvinistic side pretty much sums up how dumb this concept is when he tells Tomo to be proud of her breasts. Uh huh, okay thanks for that, just remember to constantly make eye contact, Sasha.

At the moment I can tolerate the predictable fan service, maybe it’s because I have the cut version, or maybe its not as bad as other reviewers have lead me to believe. Well, fingers crossed I can make it to the end. In other words, don’t let the fan service get worse!

Edit: It got worse. Dropped.

Spring Anime 2011 - Part I

Honto ni Atta! Reibai-Sensei

Synopsis: The story revolves around Kibayashi-sensei, a teacher whose hobby is speaking with the dead and whose special talent is exorcism. Kibayashi-sensei knows everything about the other world, but nothing about our own world

First Reaction: You have my attention.

Kämpfer für die Liebe

Synopsis: Senou Natsuru is your normal, everyday high school student. However he´s been chosen to be a Kampfer, who’s objective consists on fighting other Kampfer with either guns, swords or magic, however, there’s catch; first you can’t chose if you’re a Kampfer or not, and second, you must have the body of a girl to use your powers.

First Reaction: The abridged series is hilarious!

Maria Holic Alive

Synopsis: The story centres on a sophomore named Kanako who enrols in all-girls school because she has a phobia of men and wants to find her destined Yuri partner. She meets a captivating freshman named Mariya who fits her criteria — except her seemingly ideal mate happens to be a cross-dressing sadistic boy.

First Reaction: Not seen the original, sounds like it could be interesting, if handled right.

Seikon no Qwaser II

Synopsis: In St. Mikhailov Academy, Oribe Mafuyu meets a silver haired boy called Alexander. He is a Qwaser, a being who can manipulate iron and draws his power from breast milk. A mystery surrounding an Icon transforms the academy into the setting for conflict between the various different Qwaser.

First Reaction: I’m sorry, he gets his power, where???

(Side note: I couldn't even find a PG13 image :S)

Sekai-Ichi Hatsukoi

Synopsis: The story follows the tension between a newly recruited manga editor and his tyrannical editor-in-chief — who happen to share a common past.

First reaction: This looks EXACTLY like Junjo Romantica. So, yeah, I'm gonna watch it :P

Steins;Gate

Synopsis: Steins;Gate is about a group of friends who have customized their microwave into a device that can send text messages to the past. As they perform different experiments, an organization named SERN who has been doing their own research on time travel tracks them down and now the characters have to find a way to avoid being captured by them.

First Reaction: Wow. Looks fantastic!

X-Men

Synopsis: Does it need one? Oh, okay. This is the third adaptation from Madhouse, following Iron Man and Wolverine. Through little has been officially announced, it seems it will focus on the first class x-men. Take that and eat it, film of the same title.

First Reaction: Please no more Wolverine. Cannot wait! Of all the adaptations, this is the one I was most looking forward too.

Soranowoto Review

Soranowoto (Sound of the Skies) is a relatively quiet anime, not what one would expect from a war drama. Lavish action is rare aside from the occasional flashback sequences, even then physical conflict is held at arms length from the viewer. The purpose is obviously not to glamorise warfare, but to focus on the devastation it brings. While Soranowoto presents a crisp concept, it simply lacks pragmatism, its daring but it doesn't fully commit, and as such the end result falls rather flat. That being said, Soranowoto is not without its charm. As a slice of life show, it’s pretty superb.

Set in post-war Europe, in the country of Helvetia, speculated to be either France or Switzerland, through the precise location is never specified. Their enemy is equally perplexing, known only as the Romans and ruled by an Emperor, yet their mother tongue is German. This almost feels parallel to the allies and axis division of the Second World War. Interestingly the surroundings are akin to war-torn Europe, were it not for the advanced military technology, the reasoning seems to be excessive war has regressed all other forms. Soranowoto triumphs in crafting a world of its own, a rich, multi-layered universe, ingeniously sophisticated and intriguing, it’s really no surprise that so much of the series is spent exploring it.

And this is where the first problem occurs. The pace for the first half of the show is slow and light-hearted, focusing predominately on the main character, Kanata as she and the viewer are introduced to her new life. From a slice of life perspective, this is wonderfully told and genuinely entertaining. The mood then quickly shifts as the imminent threat of war becomes the main theme in the last couple of episodes. Not entirely unexpected, but not quite as impressive as it could have been. Not to mention too much is crammed into the final episode, that the conclusion ultimately seems far fetched and thus disappointing. In all, a capable show, it just seems to miss the mark.

And then there’s the issue of the main heroine, Sorami Kanata, an entirely improbable and unbelievable protagonist for a military-themed drama. First of all, she is too young, I mean what half-baked army is this country running when you allow underage children to enlist? Secondly she blatantly has received no formal training, she doesn’t even know how to fire a gun, and again, this is the army, isn’t it? Furthermore her motivation to sign up leaves a lot to be desired. In Helvetia, music is reserved exclusively for the military and Kanata really wants to learn to play the trumpet. It’s a fool proof plan, except for the little fact that her country is a war! Finally Kanata herself, her nativity, her over enthusiastic personality is completely unsuited for her occupation, a soldier. That being said, her comrades aren’t much better in this regard. When they are finally involved with direct conflict, they prefer to protect an injured enemy and commit treason. Albeit very noble, but not very convincing.

Unfortunately Soranowoto does have more interesting characters, the sleepy genius Noël Kannagi, for example. It’s just too bad that her development is reduced to a few measly freak-out scenes during the final episode. Rio Kazumiya is another overlooked character, her back story as the illegitimate heir to the throne is ripe with potential yet the instance it seems to be going anywhere, Rio is whisked away to the off screen peace talks. And then returns with some flimsy excuse. A waste of a perfectly good character.

Despite its faults, Soranowoto is still worth the watch. The production is incredibly smooth and stylish, while not groundbreaking. It’s certainly a cut above the average anime. The slice of life drama is dazzling, taken outside of their context, the main characters work splendidly together on par with any other inside the box friendship unit, notably K-ON! Still while the overall concept is certainly imaginative, the end product doesn’t quite fulfil the brief. Good but had the potential to be great.

Rating: 7/10

First Impressions: Dragon Crisis!

Dragon Crisis!

Cute dragon girl has whiny teenage boy fixation!

I should have reviewed this one long before now, my bad. Or rather it’s the anime’s bad. Dragon Crisis is just dumb. It’s a clichéd hand-me-down series, absolutely no thinking required. Yet, I kinda like it, especially after episode three (no spoilers). Dragon Crisis doesn’t pretend to be any more then it is, light hearted and fun. As for the characters themselves, they vary. Ryuji is your standard, generic, angst ridden tween with two girls digging him (don’t ask me why), Rose is perfectly adorable and annoyingly obsessed kid sisterish rolled into one fire breather. While cousin Eriko seems to be plugging the fan service element of the show. In all, the plot hangs very loosely amongst terms “breaker/brokers”, “lost precious” with very little substance and gapping plot holes such as why Rose was hiding in a suitcase to begin with. Hopefully the anime can be executed neatly and even rise above its initial impression.

6/10