So with +8 anime to keep up with (and also my recent
conclusion of both seasons of To Aru
Majutsu no Index), I have fallen a little behind on my anime posts. To
spice some things up, I am going to talk about my experiences with three very different
anime. The one I hate (Da Capo III),
the decent one (Maoyuu Maou Yuusha),
and the one that covers something I don’t give a damn about but still like the
characters (Chihayafuru 2).
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| Brace yourself for the super skinny but big breasted boring characters. Boobs...IT'S PLOT RIGHT? |
So let’s talk about Da
Capo III first since someone actually took the time to leave a comment on
my previous post. So far six episodes have rolled on by and not one has kept me interested for more than
two minutes. I do not know why so many people are just raving how awesome this
show is when the only redeeming qualities are the animation and the music. The
show is god awful boring because nothing happens….NOTHING. Every scene just
consists of Kiyotaka talking to possible romance option #1; five minutes later
we now have Kiyotaka talking to all possible romance options in the club room.
This would be fine if we had some character development going on but every conversation
is just a static progression and nothing important comes out of it. I want to
like the characters I really do but since Rikka and Sara are the only female
leads that have been somewhat explored, it’s kind of hard to root or even care
for the others. The music however is another story entirely. I absolutely love
the music they chose to put in the anime because it is so fun to play on top
of. In fact, if the music wasn’t so good I would have dropped the show. The only
reason I still watch the show is because while I watch some static characters,
I can play along to the songs on my guitar. So yeah I will definitely buy the
OST but there is no way I will financially support the anime itself. If you are
looking for a school romance try Clannad or
the Amagami SS series.
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| MORE BOOBS...ERRR I MEAN PLOT! |
Now for the decently interesting Maoyuu Maou Yuusha. Last time I spoke out how the initial episodes
make the anime feel like a spiritual successor to Spice and Wolf; that statement unfortunately praises this anime too
much. Six episodes have now completed and unfortunately it is starting to drag.
The main hook-line-and-sinker for me initially was the character development
between the Demon King and the Hero. The show unfortunately separates the two
after the initial episode and it is not until episode six that they reunite.
Another issue is the pacing of the show; one second it’s spring and a
conversation later it’s winter…? There is so much time skipped that I started
to feel a little detached from the world the anime was trying create. I know
that the whole purpose was to show how the Demon King’s plans were working out
(with the crop rotations) but fast forwarding too much will leave an undesired
effect on the audience. Another issue is the blatant fan service surrounding
the Demon King. There isn’t any nudity or suggestive themes but the whole G cup
bouncing physics is starting to somewhat get in the way of the mood the anime
is trying to set. But one thing that cannot be overlooked is that yes this
anime has striking similarities to Spice
and Wolf; economics and trade play a huge role, the wise non-human female
character is very clever, and a slow developing romance between both main
character slowly pans out. These are all things that made Spice and Wolf so enjoyable but it will take a lot more than these
traits to pull this anime out of the small rut it has dug itself into.
And finally the anime that brings in a sport that likely 90%
of the world has never even heard of; Chihayafuru
2. This season of Chihayafuru picks
up directly off of where the previous one left off so there shouldn’t be any confusion
if you haven’t watched it in some time. The show does a pretty decent job of
giving a very short explanation of what has been going on but you really do
need to watch the first season to get the full entertainment value out of this
show. The show revolves around a card game called Karuta which is a fast paced
game that utilizes the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu poems as a reference point. Each
player has a stack of cars (the poems) that they lay out in any particular
order they see fit. The object of the game is to match up the correct poem’s
read by the reader before the enemy player can. Cards are won when a player
reaches out and grabs (or in anime fashion bash the card clear across the room)
the correct corresponding card with the rest of the poem being read. So yeah sounds
interesting right?...no it’s really not but the show makes it interesting which means it’s doing a great job. If you
look at different anime in the past, you will find many of them make certain sports
look way too fun and interesting. Tennis had The Prince of Tennis, baseball had Major Season, racing had Initial
D and Capeta, and the pastime of
beating the crap out of people was glorified in the Dragonball series.
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| If this show doesn't make you want to go buy a racquet, then something is wrong with you. |
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| By far one of the hardest working protagonists I have ever seen. |
What each of these anime (including Chihayafuru) has done is make the
subject matter very interesting. Even if the sport being showcased somehow didn’t
appeal to you, the characters started to grow on you. If you have seen any of
the Major seasons then you know how charismatic
Goro is. Even if you did not like baseball, Goro made you want him to succeed. If you did not feel anything for Goro
and his dream then you have no heart. This is exactly what Chihayafuru
is also riding on, the likeability of the characters to present you (the
audience) with a story based around something that normal people would not care
for. I have kind of rambled on how sports anime work and not how and why Chihayafuru is worth picking up. What I
can tell you about this anime is that you will
like Chihaya, Taichi, and the rest of the Karuta club because they all have
ambitions and in typical anime fashion will do anything necessary to make them
come true. I promise to actually get in-depth to what is going on in the show
in a later post but I thought I would at least explain why you should give this
anime a shot. Most people read the synopsis and pass it off because they think
an anime based on a card game would be boring to watch. I strongly encourage
that if this show interests you that you start on the first season as this
season directly follows the events from the first.
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