"Mondai-Ji-tachi ga Isekai Kara Kuru Sou Desu yo" (Anime) Episodes 1-3 Thoughts

Well once again I have picked up an anime from this season to watch. Mondai-Ji-tachi ga Isekai Kara Kuru Sou Desu yo (translated Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren't They) continues with these past years of anime tradition; long titles and a all too familiar story. Essentially three people, Asuka, Izayoi, and You (errr not YOU but someone named You...) get sucked into a new world and are asked to help a faction. Sound familiar yet? Maybe a little similar to Dog Days? Well after the first three episodes I can tell you that it is Dog Days but with bigger boobs, real violence, and some actual characters with personalities. Now this anime is by no means a series toned one (Guilty Crown, Death Note, ext.) but if I keep up the comparisons to Dog Days it is by no means laid back. The show does a decent job introducing the characters and their powers. Izayoi can shoot fire out of his hands and is very athletic. Asuka can apparently command anything to do what she wants. The final main character You can talk and take the powers to/of animals. Out of the three, only You seems to be kind hearted while Izayoi and Asuka seem to have hidden agendas. The chemistry between the main characters is quite good as they do not agree on everything but when the time comes to work together, they do so very well. So keeping up with the references to Dog Days, the character in this anime playing Millhiore’s role as the “summoning princess” is Black Rabbit. She called forth to the three main characters and wants them to help get her faction back to the top of her world. The world she resides in uses games to acquire wealth, power, and in some cases life. Her clan was wiped out by another and she wants her people to live peacefully. Hmmm….SOUNDS JUST LIKE DOG DAYS. 

So all relations aside, the anime is actually enjoyable to watch. Each characters shows off how much of a badass they are and after being introduced to the remaining members of the clan, Izayoi is keen on helping them reach the top. There are hints of fanservice as well as a harem setting so hopefully the anime won't go too far off to the deep end and keep it at least watchable. The world seems playful yet serious at the same time which is good because in Dog Days (last comparison I promise) I would of liked the series more if the whole thing was a little less happy-go-lucky. It seriously got a little boring because no matter what I knew that no one was going to get hurt or if some country lost a war they wouldn’t go into a depression and die out. Hopefully this anime will shape up to be an interesting tale.  

"Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo" (Anime) Episodes ...-16 Thoughts

Two anime posts in one day...!?!?! The world must be ending.

So I finally got caught up on Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo and I have to say that it really is a light in the dark. It's overall premise and appeal is a slice of life drama (with some hints of romance) which have a tendency to be generic and unfulfilling. This show however has not once caused me to feel bored, lost, or feel any negative emotions. This show keeps exploring into the mysterious character Mashiro as well as helping Sorata find out what he really wants to do in life. I mentioned in a post last year that Sorata is much like myself in high school; I didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do in life until I started working hard towards one goal. Now that episode sixteen has concluded, he is very close to achieving his first step towards his goal. Now other than Sorata’s goals we have the love triangle between Sorata, Mashiro, and the oh too cute Nanami. It’s honestly too hard to choose who I would want Sorata to end up with because both Mashiro and Nanami have overwhelmingly great personalities. Nanami is a very hard worker that has had feelings for Sorata since some predetermined time. Then we have Mashiro who is well “special” (she cannot even take a shower like a normal person). She does however have the same hard working attitude that Nanami has as well as her own unique charm. She also plays the “I need you more” card since Sorata is pretty much the only way she is remotely normal. The scenes between these three start to get real interesting after episode fourteen when it is revealed to all parties that they all have feelings for Sorata. The good thing about this issue is that unlike in other anime, this whole love thing doesn’t feel forced or awkward. I genuinely like both female leads and I will be happy with whoever (or no one) Sorata ends up with. Assuming that this is going to be a twenty four episode anime, there is just enough time left to introduce another roadblock plot device and to resolve who gets the main character so I am very much looking forward to the coming episodes. This anime is very enjoyable and relaxing to watch so if you have not picked it up yet you can watch all the episodes so far on Crunchyroll.com. It’s really , really , really good so go watch it now!

IT'S A TRAP!

"Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT" (Anime) Episodes 2-3 Thoughts

Wait a second...this is supposed to be the other way around...

So Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT so far has been something its predecessor wasn’t; averagely funny. Now don’t take averagely in a negative way because this show is by no means boring to watch or has poor quality. The reason I used average as my way of explaining the show is because this season feels too much like the previous one and not really an improvement. Now some may argue that a follow up season should feel exactly like the first and I would agree 90% of the time. The problem I have with Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT at the moment though is that there really hasn’t been any funny skits or events in the first three episodes. So far all that has happened is a “king” game that almost ended with a kiss, the club sponsor spending the night at Kodaka’s house, and well…that’s it. The first season had some epic and funny episodes like when the club ventured into the Monster Hunter like video game and had to defeat the final boss or when the club went to the beach and Yozora treated Sena like dirt. This new season has not struck any overly funny notes with me so far and I really hope it improves. In my honest opinion it has kind of wasted the first three episodes on things that could have been well…not included (minus the king game which has repercussions heading into episode four). I mean it’s still enjoyable to watch; just seems to be a notch off of its previous season. I am looking (and hoping for the best) forward to the coming episodes; I haven’t read the source material so I am anxiously awaiting who will end up with Kodaka (I hope its Yozora…).

Was this scene really needed...?

MUSIC

This is not anime related but I just recently finished my first solo album and if you have the time you can check out the music here or at the top of this blog. It's mostly ambient orchestral/choral stuff with some distorted down tuned guitars in the mix. If you are not interesting in listening then that's fine thank you for stopping by my blog.

"Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru" (Anime) Episode 4 Thoughts

Alright it’s settled, I am now addicted to the long titled Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru. The show continues to pump out awesome episodes each week and I am starting to get emotionally invested into the characters. Usually slice of life dramas like this show have a couple female leads that all like the main character BUT only one seems perfectly fit for the role. In this show however, I just cannot decide on who is a better choice for Eita. Chiwa is super cute and has liked Eita for a long time; on the other side of the ring we have Masuzu who seems to have ligament feelings for Eita after all. Episode four touched base back onto what concluded in episode three (you know when Eita totally misunderstood Chiwa’s feelings and intentions). This episode hovers over Eita and Masuzu spying on Chiwa’s date which seems to take a turn for the worse when the other party arrives like two hours late. A fight occurs and Eita says some cool things to Chiwa and Masuzu. This episode brought Eita closer to both Chiwa and Masuzu but Masuzu took the initiative and struck Eita’s lips first. This scene showed that Masuzu is for sure starting to invest herself into Eita even if he doesn’t have a clue. I have also taken a strong liking to the animation style in this anime. It looks gorgeous with its super bright, lightly colored scenes. The characters models are very well defined and even the background characters have great detail. Overall this anime pretty much has the complete package at the moment; an interesting plot, great characters, good sound design, and awesome animation. There are apparently two more female leads to be introduced so fingers crossed this doesn’t turn into a generic harem. This show is very interesting to watch so head on over to where ever and go watch it.

"Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru" and "Maoyuu Maou Yuusha" Episode 3 Thoughts

Well this anime season is shaping up to be somewhat interesting thanks to Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru and Maoyuu Maou Yuusha. Both are laid back dramas that rely on the characters to put on a show. So have they started out of the gates in first or are they already trailing in the back of the pack?

Well let’s start by talking about Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru. It’s a harem revolving around the…idk the nice and average Eita? He is kind of a bland male lead but he seems like a honest and good person. We already talked about what happened in episodes one and two (Masuzu asks out Eita and uses a book Eita misplaced as collateral against his will so that people will stop bothering her) so what happened in the third? Well in typical anime fashion some tears were shed and some emotions went a little too far over the top (not Sword Art Online over the top but pretty close). In Masuzu’s quest to make Chiwa (who is adorable btw) the most popular girl in the school, she and Eita accidently trample all over Chiwa’s feelings causing her to get very emotional by the end of the episode. Masuzu’s plan consisted of trying to make Chiwa noticed by one of the boys in Eita’s class. The plan succeeds and she is asked out by said boy but in reality Chiwa wanted the plan to fail. It has become very obvious that Chiwa has no intentions of letting her feelings towards Eita disappear as she is being misinterpreted (oh anime male leads when will you ever not be so oblivious to a young maiden’s heart?). Other than that however nothing else really happened in the episode. There was a scene involving Masuzu showing some skin to Eita during a conversation between Masuzu and Chiwa that was interesting to watch. It showed that Masuzu may not have the social mannerisms as say a normal girl her age. Overall the episode was enjoyable to watch; cannot wait for the next one to air.

I have to say that I am ashamed that I did not notice the similarities between Maoyuu Maou Yuusha and one of my favorites Spice and Wolf. Both series revolve around a mystical female and involves trade and economic like characteristics. Both shows even have the same feel and pacing; it’s a very striking resemblance. So what happened in episode three? Well time has skipped ahead as the Demon King’s harvesting plan has proven to be a success. The episode also brings up that in the past so amount of time the relationship between the Demon King and the Hero has not improved (errrr progressed). They both end up taking a trip to a church in order to show off one of the Demon King’s food ideas. While there, they meet one of the Hero’s old companions, the female Knight. She informs the Hero that after he went missing, the female Magician went on a search in the demon’s country. After hearing about this information, the Hero leaves to find the Magician. We also see a scene where a large trading company is planning something against the Demon King. She sent the company an invention (a compass) and they rather not have to pay any royalties to the inventor. So yeah not a lot happened in this episode but it was still enjoyable to watch. Hopefully everything keeps going according to the Demon King’s plan.

Overall these two shows are very enjoyable (especially Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru). I wish there was a good looking serious anime this season but I cannot complain too much since there are a couple good slice of life dramas.

"Da Capo III" Episodes 1-3 and "Little Busters" Episodes Who Cares-14 Thoughts

Well today’s post is going to contain the two currently airing anime that I honestly do not care for very much. Each season has their own generic and boring anime; this time it’s Da Capo III and by some miracle Little Busters is still airing…

So let’s talk Da Capo III first; it’s a high school harem that really has not provided any shred of excitement so far. It has three episodes out as of this post so it is kind of mean to poke at it so early on but what bothers me is that a lot of people actually like this show. It is apparently a product of a long running anime series since there are multiple OVAs and tv seasons before this installment. From whom I have spoken to they say this is the best one yet…which makes me feel very scared to even imagine how awful the previous installments are. This anime seems to have the same problem Mashiro-Iro Symphony: The Color of Lovers had; it’s just boring. There have been no plot elements introduced so far that have shaken up the characters or caused some sort of event/conflict. Yes there is a rivalry between the “legit” newspaper club and the “other” newspaper club but the characters in both clubs are just boring. If you have boring characters, no one will give a s#!t what happens to them. Even the main characters (you know, the ones that we are supposed to be rooting for) are generic, big boobed boring blobs. I hate just ranting on how boring it is but if an anime causes me to fall asleep…MULTIPLE times then I am sorry something is wrong. The animation is…ok and the voice actors seem pretty good…Yeah those are the positives. I’m not sure if I am going to stick this series out or drop it…just taking up space on my hard drive.

Now for an anime adaptation based off of a pretty enjoyable visual novel to be generic is quite a bold statement to make. Unfortunately this is the case (for me at least) for Little Busters. While the anime is following pretty closely to the game, it just does not have that “spark” the visual novel has. The anime’s characters seem like a shadow of what they are in the VN and the main character Riki is almost unbearable to listen to. His high pitched voice just makes me want to watch this anime on mute. But then I would miss out on one of the actual good things about the show, the music. The music is taken straight from the game which is a very nice touch. It’s a mixture of light piano songs with some orchestral stuff thrown in. It helps make the anime feel relaxed and carefree. Another positive is SOME of the supporting cast. Masato, Yuiko, and Haruka pretty much make the show watchable. Their interactions with Riki are the only highlights of the show with the other characters really bringing down the overall experience. Other than the sound and very few good characters, the anime falls very short of the VN (so far). I will stick with this series since I loved the VN so much but I’m not expecting the ending to bring this anime back from the dead.