Yuruyuri – Review

In the medium of manga and anime, the term Yuri is implemented in material contained a lesbian context. Interestingly social attitudes towards homosexuality in Japan are (to put it politely) frowned upon, considering same-sex marriage/civil partnerships are not permitted under the law. But apparently twelve year old schoolgirls having lesbian fantasies are considered perfectly normal and not at all creepy. Not in the slightest. Go figure.

Typically the depiction of Yuri will tend to differ depending upon which gender the medium is primarily aimed at. Yuri aimed at a male audience will often play up the relationship for gratuitous purposes whereas Yuri aimed at a female audience will perform the opposite, downgrading the relationship to a natural platonic phase. And here is where Yuruyuri seemed to get its wires crossed. On the one hand the premise – four middle school students try to reform the tea ceremony club – has all the hallmarks of a watered down K-ON. The principle cast are bright, bubbly and shojo-ingly moe, complete with all the expected archetypes, Akari is the klutz, Kyoto is the lazy one, Yui is the straight-man and Chinatsu is the super-duper moe one. Did I say archetypes? I meant one-dimensional clichés. Nevertheless this done-to-death gimmick with stereotypical characters Yuruyuri is pedalling does appear relatively harmless. That is until the panty jokes begin.

Much like the recent A-Channel, another school girl, slice-of-life series, Yuruyuri could have been an interesting anime if not a decent one, had it even engaged remotely rather than relying on the lowest form of humour – panties, boobs and nosebleeds. The jokes are bad, repetitive and ultimately go nowhere. For example, one prevailing non-sexual gag is that Akari, the supposed main character leaves no lasting impression on the cast or the audience. Does anything actually become of this? Nope. Talk about wasting the potential of the one genuinely inventive joke. Not forgetting of course, how unsubtle the remaining sex jokes are. This is neither cute nor charming. This is disturbing, very, very disturbing. In the long run it raises the important question of which demographic Yuruyuri is primarily aimed at, young girls or older men? Presumably it’s the latter. This is fanservice, pure and simple.

Go watch K-ON! Or Lucky Star instead.

Rating: 4/10

May: In Retrospective

This month has been difficult, catching up has been a problem and so some shows have had to be dropped. I’ve not had time to watch either Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko or Hyouge Mono, but fully intend to continue with these shows.

16. Nichijou Rating: 3/10 Dropped

I’ve put up with the one long enough and it shows no signs of improving. Aside from slight adorable moments curtsey the professor segments, there is nothing remotely interesting going for it. One dimensional randomness for the sake of one dimensional randomness does not make an anime good or even funny, unfortunately Nichijou never cottoned on to this.

15. Maria Holic Alice Rating: 4/10 Dropped

There is no story, there is no point. Just mindless bullying of an obnoxious protagonist who is so annoying that is impossible to feel any sympathy for.

14. Hen Zemi Rating: 5/10 Dropped

I’ve reached the conclusion that the heroine is a moron. Why would anyone want to date her crush? Aside from the initial shock factor, Hen Zemi is rather flat. Its primary concern, to gross out the heroine/audience as much as possible, is predictable and tiresome.

13. A Channel Rating: 6.5/10

I didn’t think it possible but A Channel has really pushed itself this month. Considering that it doesn’t have a lot to work with, it’s almost impressive how A Channel has been able to pull of quaint drama without becoming stale.

12. Hana Saka Iroha Rating: 7/10

I’m really starting to struggle with this series. It has far too many ups and downs. The love triangle or square is a bit mundane. It feels like a source for more unnecessary conflict between Minko and Ohana. Minko is total bitch. This character just infuriates me. If and when Ohana has enough, I’ll start rooting for this show again. Until then, meh!

11. Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi Rating: 7/10

Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi had a weak opening, a problem with the format of the series, one similar to its predecessor, Junjo Romantica, is its sudden desire to feature unrelated characters in near identical dilemmas. It’s annoying that there doesn’t seem to be enough material for the main couple/cast, fortunately the latter two episodes brought the series back on track.

10. Gintama Rating: 7.5/10

Gintama wasn’t on form this month at all. I’m even more disappointed that the worse episodes featured my favourite character, Sa-chan and still felt lifeless. Through Gintama has a habit of breaking the fourth wall and reusing material, the following recap episode was the first time I took offence to this. It was lacklustre and lazy.

9. Ao No Exorcist Rating: 7.5/10

As one might expect from a tween series with a primary tween cast, the main environment becomes that of a school, so cue tweenage hijinks and dilemmas. While this does have several ups and downs, most notably downplaying the gravity of Rin’s heritance, it is still enjoyable regardless.

8. SKET Dance Rating: 8/10

Surprisingly SKET Dance has turned out to be a good series. So far there has not been one mediocre subplot, the main characters make good humour and are likable. However I wish the animation budget was a bit better, sometimes the cast look so basic, it’s a tad disappointing.

7. [C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control Rating: 8/10

Far from what I expected, C has really grown on me. It’s certainly imaginative, fast-paced and very intriguing, not to mention brimming over with potential. Please don’t fizzle out.

6. Gosick Rating: 8/10

Gosick has been floundering since the beginning, this month however something miraculous seems to have happened. The show pulled itself together and delivered, presumably because we are now entering the final stage, the big mystery surrounding Victorique. Let’s hope Gosick can end on a high.

5. X-Men Rating: 8.5

I’m still disappointed with the lack of Magneto but at least there has been a single reference to the Master of Magnetism. The storyline is a tad choppy for my tastes. It seems to fumble back and forth with no real direction. Again the series would have been much better as an episodic platform rather then dragging out this one plot for 12 episodes.

4. Deadman Wonderland Rating: 8.5/10

From a shaky start, Deadman Wonderland is going from strength to strength, in particular with the additional cast members. There is still a problematic formula nevertheless the series is doing its best to get around these minor discrepancies.

3. Tiger & Bunny Rating: 8.5/10

What is awesome about Tiger and Bunny is the heroes themselves. Each character is complex, rather then standard superman cookie cutter, each has ulterior motive for being a hero, whether it be to find their parents murderer or launch a pop career. Finally an actual villain seems to have grace the scene, but as with the heroes, our villain is no necessarily an all out bad guy. Still, it has me on the edge of my seat.

2. Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shirana Rating: 9/10

AnoHana is unbelievably powerful. Of course it has a very sad undercurrent, it’s dealing with some pretty heavy themes, notably the death of a childhood friend, and yet it’s kinda uplifting at the same time. Still, I’m crossing my fingers that this is all a bad dream and Menma isn’t really a ghost girl. I doubt this anime will cut the viewer a break through, I have a feeling the ending is going to be a tear jerker for sure.

1.Steins; Gate Rating: 9/10

There has been a halt to Steins; Gate this month while I wait for anime-on-demand to catch up on episodes. I’d always prefer to watch anime from a legal site anyways. Nevertheless the two episodes I have watched have continued the shows rich subtly in plot and character development. Steins; Gate is really good at crafting context above anything else. Top notch sci-fic

First Impressions: Hen Zemi & Ore-tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai

Hen Zemi

Wait a second, this is fanservice, this is definitely fanservice, how am I enjoying fanservice? How indeed, well in actuality Hen Zemi isn’t your typical show for perverts, it’s a show about perverts. The difference is subtle, it could easily be overlooked. Rather then outrageous, in your face and for no apparent reason, perversions and fetishes are the very core subject matter of Hen Zemi, thus neither pointless nor out of place. Nor is there unprecedented focus on panties and boobs. Needless the content doesn’t need to be sexual to be pretty weird as our heroine demonstrates when she attempts to fit in with the bunch of perverts by making embarrassing claims. In all more thought seems to have gone into Hen Zemi, more so then your average fanservice anime, however at the same time there does seems to be a degree of restraint. At the end of its 12 minute run – yes 12 minutes, I’m left wondering, hey is that all?

Initial Rating: 6/10

Ore-tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai

Total fucking crap.

Initial Rating: 0/10. Dropped.

Hana Yori Dango

Boys over Flowers probably doesn’t need an introduction, it’s a pretty popular live action with Jun Heartthrob Matsumoto, with a sequel and a movie to boot. Not to mention an equally as good Korean remake. The less said about the Taiwanese attempt the better.

Unfortunately the anime falls into the latter category. Granted it was made in 1996, the production is terrible, the characters look tragically dated and the only available version I could find was the God awful English dub. If the plot wasn’t so naff, it would be easy to forgive these faults as simple victims of circumstances, but wowzier it’s bad! I mean Rui is an attempted rapist and Shizuka is flattered? I am so relieved that the live action took liberty with the script and Korean simply copied and pasted. Because I doubt I’d own a copy of DVD if it had stuck to the original plot.

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.

First Impressions: Beelzebub and Gosick

Beelzebub

One dimensional delinquent gets a crash course in parenting.

This isn’t funny. At all. Bad form, considering this is supposed to be a comedy. There’s pretty much nothing likeable about the main character, he’s just a douchebag, surrounded by a bunch of thugs. No wonder the punch line to most gags is a brawl. Hilarious, I’m sure. Enter the demon baby. Not in the least bit cute, very annoying and really needs to be wearing a nappy. Not interested. Surely if the opening is this bad, the rest of the series can only pick up.

Initial Rating: 3/10

Gosick

Creepy-chan living doll solves blatantly obvious mysteries while male sidekick acts as personal skivvy.

Despite an underwhelming start, I still have high hopes for Gosick, probably because I’ve been channelling European-gothic vibes akin to Rozen Maiden. Leading lady Victorique does a splendid, haughty Shinku impression while Kazuya has the vanilla sidekick down to an art form, with the exception that Jun is more of a brat. Kazuya on the other hand has been designed to fit the noble, white-knight archetype complete with flashbacks reminded him of his duty to serve and protect. In short, he is a doormat. And pulled the short straw in terms of character design, take into account the guy with the hair! Ridiculous enough for two characters, I suppose. As for the plot, it’s a little ropey to say the least. Victorique and Kazuya meet under very tenuous circumstances, there’s no real direction other then the plot requires it. The first mystery is solved fairly quickly and isn’t much of a testament to Victorique’s powers of deduction or actual skill. It’s just obvious. The second mystery seems to have the same problem as well. On top of that Victorique is more like a child psychic than a detective, she just happens to know the correct answer all the time. Still, she is so adorable!

Initial rating: 6/10