"Sasami-san@Ganbarani" and "Kotoura-san" (Anime) Initial Thoughts

A lot of people from various sites have been criticizing how this anime season looks to be the most generic and “Moe” heavy one yet. At first I agreed because my first impressions of some of the anime were not that great but just when I thought there was no other anime worth picking up this season, Sasami-san@Ganbaranai and Kotoura-san revealed themselves to me. The site I use happened to showcase these two on the home page and after reading various comments for each series I decided that it wouldn’t hurt to add two more anime to my watching list.

Let’s start out with Sasami-san@Ganbaranai. The first episode made me very interested in what this anime is trying to achieve. The only way I can describe this show is that it is trying to have the randomness and witty conversations of Bakemonogatari while also having strange and likable characters such as the ones in Humanity Has Declined. The main character Sasami seems to be able to change the world around her based on her current feelings. This sort of plot device is just like the one used in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya…in fact it almost completely mirrors it in many ways. The main character is a likeable but pushy female lead and her surrounding “friends” have to do various things in order to keep the surrounding world in check…yeah sounds exactly like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya…Well anyways the show is interesting, good looking, and has a really good soundtrack. This anime has the potential to be the good non-“moe” anime of this season.

Finally we have Kotoura-san, my favorite new anime of this season (pending more consideration). This show does something that I think a lot of anime tend to forget; first impressions can be almost more important than the whole show’s running. If you are not initially drawn in by something then it doesn’t matter that the show has an amazing last arc or ending (like Guilty Crown). Every show/movie needs to grab your attention at the start so that you are emotionally invested and actually care what happens in the show/movie. Kotoura-san’s first episode will pull on your heart strings and make you want to seriously rough up some messed up parents and kids. While I will not ruin the experience for you, the first episode does an amazing job setting up Haruka’s unfortunate situation while also introducing her new best “friend” Manabe. While the first episode has a very serious tone, the second (and from what I can tell every episode for now on) shows the anime’s true form; a romantic high school comedy/slice of life. Now don’t go and immediately write this off as a generic copy like I did at first, there are a lot of things Kotoura-san is doing correct. The show quickly introduces all the main characters and sets up where Haruka and Manabe will be spending most of their time; at the ESP club. The very pushy club president Mifune will most likely be a source of bringing Haruka out of her shell because in the second episode she pushes Haruka a little too far with the fortune telling booth. The animation and sound of this anime are both very good so far. Overall this might be my favorite anime of this season so far (or a close tie with Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru). This is an anime you want to pick up regardless of how you feel about high school “moe” series. 

"Oda Nobuna no Yabou" (Anime) Review

Have you ever started watching something with the intent for it to fail? This might sound strange but after having this show recommended to me by so many people I wanted to come here today and just rant on how horrible it was just so I could stick it in their faces that they were wrong. Unfortunately I ended up liking Oda Nobuna no Yabou a lot more than I wanted even with its various faults.

Story: 6/10
Understand this if you are interested in watching this anime; this is not a serious action/adventure show. I was lead to believe after the first couple minutes that this was going to be a storytelling of how our average Joe was going to help lead Japan to peace. While that is the underlying focal point of the show, this show tries to do exactly what Campione! and High School DxD tried to get away with; being a smart harem. This show is a harem first, historical action drama second. The show feeds off of those awkward fanservice scenes that have been recycled throughout anime’s recent history of garbage. Just to note however that this show does not go as far as either Campione! or High School DxD in terms of its fanservice level; I’m just pissed that this aspect really ruined what could have been a great story. The story starts out with our main protagonist Yoshiharu somehow being sent into the past during one of Japan’s civil war struggles. It just so happens that our “hero” is a historical game nut that knows this time period very well. He then uses his knowledge to take Hideyoshi Toyotomi’s (apparently someone really important that ends up dying in the first minutes) place in history to help Nobuna Oda (the head of a noble family and ruler of a part of Japan) unify Japan and end the civil war. The events that take place in the anime are actually pretty interesting to watch unfold because the more Yoshiharu helps Nobuna the more the past begins to change.  He must then learn what has really happed compared to what he remembers from his games. There is also some slapstick comedy thrown in here and there making it pretty funny in some cases. Overall the anime is quite interesting to watch it’s just unfortunate that the fanservice scenes really ruined the overall mood of the show.

See how this might ruin a battle scene's mood?

Animation: 7.2/10
I was able to watch a blu ray copy of this show (I promise I’ll buy it…eventually) and I have to say that even though it looks great I feel as if Studio Gokumi and MADHOUSE could have done a better job. Compared to other 2012 anime (K, Fate/Zero 2, Nisemonogatari, ext) it falls a little short of what I have come to expect especially from MADHOUSE (not sure how involved they were in making this anime). All the characters, backgrounds, and textures are well defined and have great lighting but there just isn’t anything that makes this show stand out of the crowd. The anime did however do a fantastic job with keeping the heavy action scenes free from any artifacting or loss of quality. Overall a great looking anime but expected more from these two studios.

Sound: 6/10
With the exception of K, this past year of anime has really not progressed very far in terms of using sound as a way of enhancing the overall experience. Some people do not realize how much a perfect score/soundtrack can make even the worst show redeemable. This show does exactly what every other harem anime has done before it; just throw some generic sounding music in with the dialogue and action scenes and as long as the anime looks good it will work. Well it doesn’t. In fact some of the music really distracted me from enjoying the show. It sounded like accurate music for the time period of the show but overall it wasn’t done very well. The only reason I am giving the sound category anything above a 4 is because the voice actors did do a pretty good job. Each character’s emotions are amplified by their respective voice actor’s performance.

Characters: 7/10
The characters of Oda Nobuna no Yabou actually do a pretty good job of providing some interesting moments throughout the entire anime. The relationship between Nobuna and Yoshiharu seems to escalate a little too quickly but this in the end helps provide some funny scenes with all the misunderstandings Yoshiharu gets into. The other main characters of the anime are pretty interesting and help make this war drama work even if every serious moment it ruined by Yoshiharu quest to have the most beautiful women in Japan. Now that I think about it even though Yoshiharu is a perv in most cases, he is actually a breath of fresh air compared to other harem leads. He is somewhat intelligent, caring, and bold. The fact that he is a more dominant male lead is a welcome compared to the generic no balls male lead we usually get in harems. Overall the characters help make the show more interesting but like I said earlier on I really think this show could have been one hundred times better if they just took the fanservice out and kept it an action/adventure with some comedy.

So cute :P

Overall: 6.6/10
Even though I ended up ranting on about the fanservice ruining the overall experience of the show, I did end up enjoying it. Heck I even rated it 4/5 stars on my profile because although the unnecessary stuff does hinder the series, the characters and plot helped make it an enjoyable experience. I do not hate fanservice if it is in say a romantic comedy placed in the present and maybe in a high school setting but when you try to mix it with a war drama it doesn’t always work out the same way. I wanted to hate this show just so I could say “Hey guess what, it sucks!” but I cannot tell a lie; this is an enjoyable show. Far from perfect but by no means unwatchable.

"Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru", "Maoyuu Maou Yuusha", and "Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT" Initial Episode(s) Thoughts

Well I had quite a surprised feeling after finishing the first episode(s) of Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru, Maoyuu Maou Yuusha, and Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT (these anime names are getting longer and longer…). Never had I been so excited and anxious for the next release for the next episode to air the following week. Let’s talk about Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru first:

Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru is from what I can tell a light drama/slice of life that revolves around the fake relationship of Masuzu and Eita. What has me so interested in this particular series is the character Masuzu. She is bold, unique, manipulative, and a whole bunch of other things. She sets the premise of the show by asking out Eita to be her fake boyfriend so that the other boys at her school will stop bothering her. At first Eita declines the invitation but when she presents a long lost book of Eita’s he quickly changes his mind. The character interactions between these two characters are so fun to watch that the episodes fly by so quickly. When you enter Chiwa (Eita’s childhood friend) into the equation you receive a very fun looking love triangle in the works. The initial two episodes do a great job of setting up the plot and introducing the characters and their intentions. I am looking forward to this anime’s future releases.

Maoyuu Maou Yuusha kind of caught me off guard because I actually stumbled upon it on accident. When looking for another episode of another anime, I found this series and thought “Well one more anime couldn’t hurt”. The plot of the show starts out with the Hero confronting the Demon King. He shortly finds out though that the Demon King is actually a very beautiful and normal looking female that wants to bring peace to the world. After telling the Hero her goals, they decide to mutually help each other out. The initial premise of the show first made me think that this might be another boring adventure anime. There were also hints of early romance being instigated by the Demon King with the Hero missing a couple bites. What I found out after two episodes though is that this anime does have some good quality points. They go into detail on why the humans and demons wage war so that countries without a food source will receive financing from the government. They go into great detail on how these countries would starve and die without war. The Demon King (or should I say queen) is very knowledgeable of many useful things such as the state of the war and agriculture. She plans on helping a small village thrive in order to start her conquest of peace. I have to say that Maoyuu Maou Yuusha has started out very well and I am eagerly awaiting next week’s episode.

Finally we have Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT, an anime that I have somewhat been waiting for since finishing up its first season. Its predecessor was by no means a masterpiece but was still entertaining to watch. This season starts off pretty much where the first one left off; Kodaka, Sena, Yozora, Rika, and Yukimura are all part of a club that meets after school each day. Their club’s goal is to make friends and although you can say they are all friends, many strange events happen between each character. For one thing, one reason the show is enjoyable to watch is because each character is essentially socially awkward. Each character is either putting on a fake personality, used to being alone, ore is just plain weird. The interactions that follow are amusing to watch because the characters are always playing pranks on each other or doing something strange in public. The back and forth conversations between Sena and Yozora are especially entertaining to watch because they both are very close to being on the same wavelength. Overall the first episode follows the same flow as the previous season so basically if you want to know if you would like this show, just watch the first season first. If you skip the first season you might be a little lost.

All three of these shows started out great; I do not really know what else to add so I’ll say only this, “GO WATCH THEM NOW”.

Pokemon X and Y brings my Pokemon Trainer days to an end

So it was just announced recently that the next generation of Pokemon games will not be available for the DS. The next games will require a 3DS which has continued to let me down with horrible games to accompany the system. I have loved Pokemon since I was a child but I refuse to dish out +$200 for a system just to play one game. The new direction of the game also has me a little worried for the future of the franchise. The game will sport a new 3D environment with an isometric camera angle. This will replace the camera and animation styling of all the games that came before it. Also the title, “X and Y” (representing the X and Y axis) is clever but in my honest opinion not suitable names for a Pokemon game.

 I am sure many people are happy with the charge to the 3DS but this marks the end of my Pokemon journey. It all started with Red version then Silver followed by Ruby, Diamond, Platinum, Soul Silver (my favorite out of the bunch), White, and Black 2. It has been a great run and I thank the developer for providing a quality game for each release. I wish the best for the developer, Nintendo, and Pokemon. I will just stick with the amazing Pokemon Adventure Special manga that takes the characters and settings of the Pokemon games for my entertainment in the Pokemon universe.

Goodbye you crazy kids who enslave creatures against their will and force them to fight your battles!

Coming Soon: "K" and "Oda Nobuna no Yabou" (Anime) Reviews

Just a heads up reviews of K and Oda Nobuna no Yabou are coming as soon as I go back to school next week. I picked both of these series up on a whim a week or so ago and decided to finish them off before I leave. I was surprised at how much I ended up liking Oda Nobuna no Yabou and was astonished at the visual presentation and amazing sound of K. I have also been looking at the currently airing anime to see what might be worth picking up and so far the only ones I have decided to invest my time in are Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT, Initial D: Fifth Stage, and Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru. I am also thinking of picking up Da Capo III but I have heard a lot of negativity about its previous installments.

"Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne" Anime Review

Well now there are many ways to approach this anime review. I could review it based solely on the anime or I could compare it to the light novel and inform you what was lost in the “translation”. For the sake of giving the anime a fair shot, I will score it based only on the anime itself but I will be injecting notes on what the anime could have done better in comparison to the light novel.

Story: 4/10

So the anime does a pretty piss poor job of explaining what is going on and keeping your feelings invested towards the characters. The plot is essentially a reuniting of Akito and his sister Akiko after a long separation. They end up living in the same house along with the student council at their high school and the usual boy x girl events happen. The anime unfortunately comes across as a generic harem while the light novel feels more like a serious drama. The anime has all the typical harem scenes that we have experienced in the past; the shower scene, the mall scene, ext. I hate to say it but the anime really looks and feels as if it was put together very half-hazardly and was trying to ride on the success of the light novel. Please understand that this is NOT a faithful adaptation of the light novel.

Animation 6.5/10

The animation is somewhat a mixed bag; it looks great in some scenes but the overall quality is somewhat lower than what I would expect from a 2012 anime. The characters are visually appealing but the show lacks a certain visual aspect that sets itself apart from all the other anime. This lighting is not done very well, you see many instances where proportions do not really match up, ext. The animation just comes off as generic for eighty percent of the time. 

There are some brief moments where the show tries to parody other anime; it kind of fails at that

As you can tell the animation isn't bad but the studio's way of trying to show comedic events is not done as well as some other anime.

 Sound: 7/10

The only redeeming quality for this anime in the sound department are the voice actors' performances. Each character’s voice actor did a superb job injecting their feelings into their characters. Anastasia has a cold, monotone personality that is expressed well by her voice actor. Even the annoying and too cute Akiko’s voice actor did an amazing job making Akiko a loved and disliked character. Other than the voice acting though the anime falls pretty low on the bar as far as sound goes. The background music is forgettable and generic but the intro and ending songs are quite catchy. 

Characters: 7/10

The cast of this anime work very well with each other even if most of them are forgettable. Akito, Akiko, and Anastasia were for me the stars of the show. Akito’s strong will and intellect, Akiko’s annoying but super cute personality, and Anastasia’s cold and cool attitude created so many funny and unique scenes throughout the entire anime. My personal favorite character was Anastasia because even though her personality with held most of her true feelings from everyone else, it was easy to always tell what was on her mind.Also her interactions with Akito were the most fun to watch. The other characters however were either boring or just not appealing. I especially found Arashi just out of place and a bother to the whole chemistry of the group. The young house leader was also quite annoying and off putting. Overall the main three characters really helps make the show shine but a couple others bring it back down.

She's just too cute :P

Overall: 6.1/10

Overall the anime adaptation of Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne (what a mouthful) isjust generic. After reading some ofthe light novel a couple months before the airing of the anime, I was very excited to see the brother sister romance issue unfold with the student council. What unfortunately occurred here was taking a great drama with very thought provoking and witty conversations and turning it into another generic and barely passable harem anime. I advise that you steer clear from the anime and just read the light novel. It is much better than the anime and it will have you craving for more.    

Currently Watching Anime (Jan 2013)

It's the new year which means new anime!! So far the only new anime I have picked up is Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru (man what a mouth full) but I will be researching the other newly airing anime. Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, Initial D Fifth Stage, and Little Busters! are all continuing on (looking forward to Initial D and Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo but I am not sure about Little Busters though...). I have picked up Dog Days and Guilty Crown due to some recommendations by some users on Anime-planet. Hopefully they turn out to be worth the time.

Kotoura-san 3 out of ?
Sasami-san@Ganbaranai 3 out of ?
Chihayafuru 2 3 out of ?
Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi go Shuraba Sugiru 3 out of ?
Maoyuu Maou Yuusha 4 out of ?
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT 3 out of ?
Initial D Fifth Stage 4 out of ?
Little Busters! 16 out of ?
Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo 15 out of ?
Da Capo III 4 out of ?
Seto no Hanayome 10 out of 26
Guilty Crown 22 out of 22 FINISHED!!!
Dog Days 13 out of 13 FINISHED!!!
K 13 out of 13 FINISHED!!!
Oda Nobuna no Yabou 12 out of 12 FINISHED!!!
Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun 12 out of 12 FINISHED!!!
To Love-Ru: Darkness 12 out of 12 FINISHED!!!

Edit: I have now also picked up K (no idea how I missed this one last anime season...) and Oda Nobuna no Yabou which is surprisingly fun to watch.
Edit 2: Finished K, Oda Nobuna no Yabou, and Dog Days. I enjoyed all three and plan on reviewing them. Also picked up Seto no Hanayome because a lot of people have said it is uniquely funny. Kind of stalling on Guilty Crown but I intend on watching some more over the coming weekend. Just a heads up school is starting up again so there might be periods of time where I will not be able to get content out. Don't hate!
Edit 3: Just picked up Kotoura-san and Sasami-san@Ganbaranai; both look like they will be very interesting to watch. Kotoura-san especially got me hooked within the first ten minutes.