The strongest shows for this season are in this batch, and a few of them are quite good. That said, none of them quite reach the level of the true greats at this point, although both Kurozuka and Ga-Rei have the potential. Also noteworthy are the crazy comedy shows; I’ve classified them both under ’skim’, but make no mistake: they’re total riots. Pretty much everything else can be summarily ignored.
Watch
» Kurozuka. Forget Kuro Shitsuji; between this show and Ga-rei, there’s simply no room at the top for a butler, mystical or otherwise. Kurozuka is a return to the old school of dark eastern-style fantasy anime. The most obvious and immediate comparison would be to Ninja Scroll, which is unsurprising as studio Mad House is responsible for both, but I find myself reminded of a number of different classics, not the least of which is Clamp’s X, to which Mad House also contributed animation work. In keeping with tradition, the fighting is lightning-fast, gory, and absolutely no-nonsense. There are a few Matrix-style moments, tastefully done rather comically overblown; I could have done without those sequences entirely, but they don’t detract from the otherwise excellent animation. Character art is straight from the standard Mad House playbook, although the limbs are spindly to the point of being disgusting; it’s possible that Mad House has always done this, I honestly don’t recall. We don’t know enough about the main characters at this point to truly care about them, but they are intriguing enough and the plot has great promise. As I’ve said before, I’m actually an avid fan of well-executed romances, and this one seems to fit the bill perfectly.
Oh shit.
» Ga-Rei: Zero. This show feels like an OVA in its presentation, and its overall quality is certainly on-par with most of the OVAs I’ve seen. In fact, the art is perhaps its weakest point, and the art is actually pretty good – it simply lacks the sharp aesthetics and fine details often seen in high-budget series. On reflection, the CG is fairly weak as well, but the giant Category B monsters manage to look decent anyway, and CG isn’t used extensively otherwise. Character art is generic but attractive. Soundtrack is often ignored in anime, but it’s clear that significant resources went into the music for the first episode. The first battle theme is a high-energy techno vocal piece reminiscent of Noir, Madlax, et al., and there are several other good pieces throughout the episode. The entire first episode is essentially one drawn-out fight with a sprinkle of the obligatory flashbacks and plot interruptions. Combat animation is stylish and fluid, and while the male protagonist is a boring gunslinger/sniper, we’ve got both a combat motorcycle as well as NODACHI SCHOOLGIRL taking people apart at the end. In short, the studios pulled out all of the stops for this one; they’ve clearly taken the conventional wisdom regarding first impressions seriously. The main thing that worries me is plot: this episode has a dead-end conclusion unless we’re switching to an entirely different timeline or cast, and I’m not comfortable with either possibility. That said, this remains an easy recommendation – even in the worst case scenario, the first episode alone would have been well worth watching.
I came.
» To Aru Majutsu no Index. Another great show; high production values, engaging characters, excellent setting. Index is about a boy whose right hand dispels any kind of supernatural effects or abilities. He discovers the eponymous Index, a girl that contains sealed tomes of forbidden magic, and off we go. Supposedly, the two classes of supernatural powers are those of psychics/espers and those of magicians, but at this point I can’t really tell them apart; either way, they’re totally zomg h4x. Although the subject matter is serious and even dramatic, the show is quite funny at times, and the first exchange between Kamijo and Index is worth rewatching. This is largely due to how the artists play with facial expressions and selective superdeformation, as well as the excellent voice acting. Normally, a character drawn and voiced the way Index is would be intolerably annoying, but I rather like the character here. There isn’t much in the way of straight fighting, as our brave hero doesn’t really have any fighting skill, just the ability to cancel out others’ abilities. Nevertheless, J.C.STAFF has obligingly animated all kinds of awesomely flashy abilities for Kamijo to cancel, resulting in tons of eye candy for us. The third episode introduces eyecandy of a different sort, as the swordswoman Kanzaki Kaori should be making her entrance.
Innocentius: bringing the fires of hell to a dorm near you!
Skim
» Macademi Wasshoi! Random, ridiculous comedy anime meets Harry Potter. Don’t be fooled by the opening scene, there is enough TOTAL MADNESS in just the first episode to give SHAFT a run for their money. We’ve seen many of the jokes before, many times, but this show manages to be really funny anyway due to its frenetic and exaggerated presentation. The art isn’t particularly good, but that doesn’t matter at all in this case; as in Zetsubou Sensei, the entire point of the show is really just watching completely ridiculous things happen to random characters. There’s also an excellent extended fight scene near the end of the episode that features a spear-wielding nekomaid as well as DIMENSION SLASH. The combat was surprisingly well-animated compared to this show’s overall production quality. So why is this show a ‘Skim’, rather than a ‘Watch’? For one, the male protagonist is, as usual, extremely bland and possesses absolutely no entertainment value when he isn’t getting the snot beaten out of him. Second, the girl he summons acts like a fucking pokemon – she says “myu” repeatedly and clings adoringly to her dickless master. I’m trying to rein in my masochistic tendencies, so I’ll be twitch-skipping everything that isn’t straight-up comedy.
NxC Valkyrie's Bunshin no Jutsu
» Kemeko Deluxe! Pretty much the same situation as above, only more fucked up and crazy like. With much better fighting (lawlz). And really bad art. Just watch it. I guarantee fleets of roflcopters and epic lollercosters – but keep your finger on the FF button.
lolwut
» TYTANIA. This season’s space opera, based on a series of novels later adapted to manga. The plot is supposedly complicated, which is good news, and open-ended, which is not. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a show with plot as its alleged strong point, so I’m looking forward to seeing whether Tytania can deliver as a space epic; at the same time, I’m worried that the director will try to write his own ending, as that sort of meddling has destroyed otherwise decent shows. Given that this show is plot-driven, it’s difficult – impossible, even – to predict the success or failure of the show given only the first episode. That said, the first episode is decidedly mediocre. While I’m a sucker for large-scale space battles and beam cannon salvos, the combat scenes in this episode were simply too contrived and boring to really enjoy. The CG is terrible, frankly, and having seen shows like Macross Frontier and played games like Homeworld, I can’t tolerate the dull craft designs and sub-par detailing in this show. It doesn’t help that the mixing of Victorian dress and decor with futuristic space themes looks ridiculous and idiotic; why the anime industry likes to persist in these sorts of moronic mixed stylistic themes is beyond me. The final strike against this episode is that it’s a suffocating sausage party. Anime with no real female characters is instant fail; and no, the princess doesn’t count because she didn’t do a damn thing.
lol@ion cannons
» Tales of the Abyss. I’ve not seen a good game-to-anime adaptation in quite some time and this one is certainly no exception. Tales has received the most attention from fansubbing groups this season, but having watched the first two episodes I’m frankly not impressed. The first episode was, in a word, boring; I’d actually recommend skipping to the last five minutes or so, as there’s really nothing to see before then. The second episode could almost be ignored altogether. I’ve never played the game, but I can’t imagine that anyone who already knows the plot could be bothered to actually sit through these opening episodes. After all, I don’t know the plot and I could hardly stand it. The only real enjoyment I’ve gotten out of this show so far is watching Tear fight, but there’s only a minute or so of that entertainment. I’m also not judging this show on its characters or plot, since they’re largely outside of the studios’ control. If I were, however, I’d have dropped this show without much comment, as the male lead is simply too irritating to watch.
Thundaga? At least the spell animations are okay.
Skip
» One Outs. This is a baseball show revolving around gambling on how many strikes and outs a pitcher can throw. I’ve never enjoyed sports anime, so although this actually seems like a decent show it’s difficult for me to care. Character art is fairly good, although the main character looking like something out of DBZ is a bit quaint. There’s not much in the way of real animation because very little happens; there’s some pitching and hitting, but the first episode is mostly talking about gambling and characters being shocked about how much money they are losing. There’s also a great deal of voiceover narration, which has always irritated me and works no better here. Overall, I don’t think this show is a complete failure, it’s simply not my style.
zomg SSJ
» Kyo no Go no Ni. A remake of the 2006 OVA of the same name, which I never watched. This is a slice-of-life comedy show about fifth-graders, but I fail to find it particularly interesting or funny. I actually skipped very little while watching the first episode, and I never laughed, or even had the urge to do so. The kids are fairly typical kids and their lives are fairly typical lives; since I’m not at all interested in kids or their lives, I can’t think of a good reason to keep watching. Perhaps I would have been more interested if I were either half or double my current age, I don’t know. Some might be tempted to draw comparisons with shows like Ichigo Mashimaro or even Minami-ke, but the main difference here is that those shows were actually quite funny, and specifically used interactions between younger and older characters to provide more engaging comedy. In contrast, there’s nothing about Go no Ni that stands out, for better or for worse. It’s interesting to note, however, that the OVA supposedly contained a lot of innuendo and random slapstick humor, so this remake could become somewhat more adult in its presentation over time. I don’t think I’ll stick around to find out, though.
A swift kick to the nuts is always a good time.
» Chaos;Head. The semicolon isn’t a typo; the stupidity of the title is well in-line with the rest of the show. The first episode is a classic fail train with periods of grotesque and supposedly creepy imagery. I could barely stifle a yawn at these points, because I didn’t find any of it scary or mysterious – just stupid. The protagonist is one of the sorriest little fucks I’ve seen in a while, and given the amount of terrifyingly shitty harem shows I’ve skimmed in the past few months, that’s a serious achievement. The girls are so generic they were probably copied directly from some random eroge; as such, they’re likely to all be brainless whores. The only hook this show has is that the harem comprises schoolgirls wielding HUGE BLADED WEAPONS, so I’m waiting for a combat scene to assess whether these girls can actually use them and whether the animators can take the awesome setup and not completely fuck it up. It’s also possible that this show turns out somewhat like Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, with a bunch of psycho schoolgirls taking pieces out of people, which is about the only other way this show could be any good at all.
Swords are for serious.
» Kurogane no Linebarrels. Strong Zegapain vibes here, but it’s not even as good – which is saying something, given that Zegapain wasn’t exactly stellar either. Granted, from the first episode it doesn’t seem like this show tries to be as existential or pseudo-philosophical as Zegapain, which is probably a plus, but the other elements are mostly there. The premise should be familiar to anyone who has ever watched any mecha anime: some random and unremarkable schoolboy finds some unique and amazingly powerful mech and must pilot it to save the girl/world/universe. Try not to yawn. The art fails, the characters are both hideous and irritating, and the mech designs are wholly unremarkable. CG isn’t terrible, but the combat is simply too boring for the CG to matter at all. There’s really no reason to watch this show when Gundam 00 is airing a new season, though I’m not watching either one because I hate idiotic shounen mecha anime, and I’ve seen enough mechafail in my years of anime viewing to last me through the next century. There’s a naked girl halfway through the episode for those of you that care, but as I said, all of the characters are hideous.
Ride mech, beat bad man, save girl. We get it already.
Next week I start on the various sequels. I’ll probably skip a few (e.g., Gundam) as I didn’t like – or more importantly, didn’t watch – their prequels. I’m not looking forward to Clannad as much now that I’ve got Ga-Rei, but we’ll see if KyoAni hasn’t lost their touch.
