Summer Anime 2010: Debut Reviews IX

High School of the Dead

This show wins a lot of 'best' awards this season. First, there's best direction: the whole first episode is like an exercise for director Tetsuro Araki to show his chops and create the most adrenaline-pumped atmosphere of any show I've seen in a long time. Let me tell ya, I read the first chapter of the manga awhile back and I was not impressed. Ol' Tetsuro here turned that around and created a rich dramatic atmosphere, elevating it from utter trash to solid entertainment. Even his 'pinky promise' flashback was waaay better than the original.

Also wins most conflicting imagery of the season (if this image does not impress, please keep in mind the gore-fanservice combo in all zombie scenes).

Secondly, it wins best animation from me. Although Shiki had style and Occult Academy had some nice animation with its supernatural battle, this thing keeps the action coming and there is never a moment where anything looks out of place or lazily done. The whole episode is dripping in production values from the writhing zombies to the shiny asses and bouncing breasts of our female characters.

Back Pain of the Dead

But while the show is certainly chock full of suspense, the most I've seen in years, it will never be anything more than pure, unadulterated entertainment. The characters won't become much more than stereotypes and the fanservice will continue even as the girls are being eaten alive (which will probably cause some confusion among the male viewers). At least it won't try to be; that would be awkward.

Overall: 7/10

Summer Anime 2010: Debut Reviews VIII

Shiki

To be honest, most of this episode was really boring. I watched the first 8 minutes, then ate dinner and watched the last episode on my Toradora! dvds, watched the next few minutes and then took a shower, and then I finally finished it up. But even while most of it was uneventful, the last few minutes were actually scary and really intriguing.

Take the main character of the episode, Megumi. She's really boring, annoying, and kind of a brat. I mean, I live in a small town. Sure, I'd like to see the world, but I don't stalk people from the city. That was really creepy and any attempts the show made to have the viewers sympathize with Megumi went straight down the tubes after that.

I guess she really does treat others the way she wants to be treated...

But at the near end of the show, we got treated to an awesome twist which not only brought up interest in the residents of the huge out-of-place mansion built in the village (one of the people living there has the stupidest hair I have ever seen in my entire life -- if it doesn't have something to do with his being a demon or something I will be very disappointed). The atmosphere became a lot creepier and we got to see that the story will revolve around the other characters rather than Megumi herself. I called her the main character of this episode because, well... SPOILER!

WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN

As for the plot itself, it has shown less of itself than Occult Academy. At least the latter had a naked man appear at the end to give us a hint of where the show is going. Shiki just had some mysterious deaths that can't even be linked to each other yet. If you're looking for me to compare Shiki to Occult Academy more, not gonna happen. The two shows are completely different in style, atmosphere, and (presumably) subject matter.

For a first episode, interesting but enough going on to completely win me over. Its nice direction gives it another half-point.

Overall: 7.5/10

Shiki is available streaming legally (!) at funimation.com

Summer Anime 2010: Debut Reviews VI

Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu (aka Legend of the Legendary Heroes)

I'm not going to be typing out the entire repetitious title of this thing every time, so we'll call is Denyuden from here on out. That's what the kids are callin' it these days, right?

Even if the title is long and tedious, the show was surprisingly fun and interesting. It made me eager to learn about the "Heroes' Relics" and the characters, although pretty stock so far, definitely have room to improve. The flashback at the very end of the episode was probably the most intriguing scene out of all the new anime I've seen this season, and it really got me interested in the show as a whole. Though of course there were some disappointments.

For a character named Milk she really doesn't live up to expectations, does she?

However, this episode was really heavy-handed in its messages. The king, although attractive, seemed boring as shit throughout the entire episode. Even though he obviously has kingly duties to attend to, he stops what he's doing and helps an orphaned kid find his sister. If that isn't just the lamest attempt to make him seem like a good person, I don't know what is. At least he wasn't born to make people happy. *cough*shukufukunocampanella*cough*

Most of the character designs are uninspired, to say the least. But honestly, I really didn't expect any better and at least they're mostly simple. Take the female lead for example: blond hair, blue eyes, laid back and calm... Wait, is this sounding familiar to anybody else?

LEICESTER-CHAN

The main character, Ryner, is also interesting with his "Alpha Stigma" ability. Not only do people openly exclaim that he is a monster when he uses it, but it also seems to be the root of the massive devastation shown in the ending flashback. The fact that Ryner has a sense of humor and isn't a cardboard box means that his potential conflict is automatically ten times as exciting as the conflict in Nura: Rise of the Who-gives-a-shit Clan. Also, the female lead Ferris has a big appetite for dumplings. Any female character who likes eating gets a thumbs up in my book.

She can eat my dumplings anytime.

Overall: 8/10 (though you might want to take into account that the last fantasy series I tried to watch was Arad Senki: Slap Up Party. Anything looks like a masterpiece when compared to that shit)

Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu is available streaming legally (!) at funimation.com under the name Legend of the Legendary Heroes

Summer Anime 2010: Debut Reviews V

Seitokai Yakuindomo

Stop me if you've ever heard this before: a kid attends a new school and on his first day he gets coerced into joining the student council (note: can be substituted with any other club or SOS Brigade) where he meets a variety of attractive young women, all of whom are eccentric in any way/shape/form. Sound familiar? If not, you've obviously never watched anime before.

The main character will now spend his school days with three attractive young women? What a shocking turn of events. ... *snore*

But for all its obvious clichedness, it still holds a good amount of humor in it. Granted they are all of the same type (short joke ---> sex joke ---> short joke, etc.) but at least they are all well-timed and have the desired effect.

Figure A: The original harem. As you can see, the girls' averageness demonstrated a firm grip on reality which is why they had to be substituted for dream girls, thus resulting in today's monstrosity.

And, well, to be honest? There's not much to say about Seitokai Yakuindomo that hasn't been said before. I can't make insightful commentary about this show because there is zero, and I mean ZERO chance that the show itself will ever have anything important to say. Call it otaku pandering, call it funny popcorn entertainment, but it will certainly never become anything more. Unless, of course, the show pulls something out of its ass. Which is doubtful.

After the initial effect of the joke, whether it be about the girls' inexperience with men or a random reference to their opinions about the sole male character, it becomes clear just how repetitious and gag-based this show is. While that's not a bad thing, and the jokes to elicit a few laughs, I can see this formula becoming verrry tiring in the near future.

Oh look! A sex joke. Pretty funny, ha-- oh wait, another one? Well, they just keep 'em comin' I guess, ha-- wait, more? That's jumping the shark a little, don't yo-- oh fuck it.

(For the record I sat through the entire Princess Lover series, which only went from mediocre to downright boring as time went on; I really don't expect Seitokai Yakuindomo to be any better and won't be surprised if there is a significant drop in quality somewhere down the road. I guess what I'm saying is: don't get your hopes up, kid)

Overall: 5/10

Summer Anime 2010: Debut Reviews IV

Nurarihyon no Mago (or Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, apparently)

This show is seriously lacking in yokai clan risings. That's one reason why I liked the Japanese title better: it kept me in the dark about what it was supposed to be about. I could fantasize about how it was actually much more fitting to the show, like something along the lines of "Nura: Rise of the Unoriginality Clan" or "Nura: Rise of the Interesting-beginning-but-kinda-got-disappointed-half-way-through Clan".

The ending theme is uncreative and way too cute for a show about yokai; basically, a perfect representation of the show.

There isn't really anything special about Nura: Rise of the Unspecial Clan. In fact, I would even venture to call it annoyingly mundane. Everything about it screams standard; even the main love interest isn't exciting, but just as dull as the main character, Nura. Which brings us to our next topic.

You see, dear readers, Nura is destined to be the next heir to a clan of admittedly not very exciting yokai. They just sort of follow him around and act like his lap dogs, which, to be honest, sounds pretty damn cool. A group of super-powered monsters at my beck and call, ready to do whatever shit I come up with? Sign me up! ... Right?

You're just afraid of commitment! *sob sob*

Well, apparently not, because Nura thinks it would be cooler to be a normal human. Pussy. But even with his obvious shittiness, Nura would be cool if his yokai side would come out more often. Red eyes, a rather sexy deep voice, and a decided lack of boring make him much more interesting than regular Nura, even if they do call him Night Nura (I told you this show was unoriginal).

But even though everyone seems to want his yokai side to come out, so he can claim his throne and all, two of his bitches (one of which is obligated to become a love interest) keep protecting him from outside dangers. Come on guys! Have you seen his awesome side? He can protect himself! He can do his own shit! They're all like "oooo we will protect you as we have been doing for the past four years ever since your yokai side appeared" and I'm all like WHY? He gets his powers so he can do stuff by himself and then you protect him? Why didn't you protect him when he was, gee, I dunno, a vulnerable infant or child or whatever? What's up with that?

"For this show to make sense... I cannot allow it!!"

Even with my gripes, the production values in Nura: Rise of the Unreasonable-guardian-yokai-justification Clan occasionally transcend mediocrity and I am slightly interested in the overall conflict, even if the characters hold no appeal whatsoever.

Overall: 6/10

Available streaming legally (!) at vizanime.com

Summer Anime 2010: Debut Reviews

Ookami-san to Shichinin to Nakamatachi

Ookami-san to Shichinin is this season's cold, calculating hit. While there are some shows, such as Toradora!, which start off as generic otaku fodder and gradually move towards an emotional drama which manages to set the characters apart from their original stereotypes, Ookami-san is not one of those shows. It instead attempts to stick together everything that's popular in the anime market at the time, including: ridiculously wimpy lead, tsundere, spunky loli, and more.

But while it is obvious that the creators are really trying to create a hit here, it is also clear that they know what they're doing. For example, they use the main character, Ryoushi's, extreme fear of being stared down to their advantage and actually manage to come up with a hilarious sequence of Ryoushi failing to complete his mission because of his problem. It is also interesting to see how as much as Ryoushi is an incredible coward, he still worked up the courage to confess to Ryouko. I think that says a lot about his personality and as such he has now become to the most interesting character in the show so far, for me. The creators also came up with a unique scenario in the Otogi Bank system, which lends out help in return for favors later on. Come to think of it, it really doesn't sound all that different from the mafia.

I'm gonna make you an offer you can't refuse.

The fairy tale this episode took its scenario from was Cinderella, with a quirky ending that actually worked well. Although the creators did a good job with the twist on the classic story, it would be slightly disappointing if the entire show were episodic. Hopefully, the show will drift away from its episodic tendencies and become a more character-based series as time goes on. With seven 'main' characters, god knows they have a lot to develop. Oh yeah, and the narrator sucks.

Ringo-san stares into your soul. She sees the dark otaku tendencies which live within your very being.

Overall score: 7/10