Fall overview part five Fox and Glasses romance

Fall overview part five Fox and Glasses romance

Here we are at the fifth part of the season overview and the shows are still coming out strong. Not only are there a lot of shows coming out there is at least two good shows in this group. Even though they might not be conventional I think I might have found my favorite slice of life shows of the season.

Gigitsune

When Makoto's mother died she inherited the ability to see the shrine's protector, a large white humanoid fox named Gintaro. Even though she has known Gintaro most of her life she still has the occasional dispute with him but they do their best to make sure the shrine is running properly. Gigitsune is a somewhat unusual slice of life kind of show. The main reason I say that it is a bit unusual is Gintaro, in that not only is she a supernatural entity, he also has an usual personality for a slice of life kind of show and for the first episode at least it show that both he and Makoto are pretty interesting and play off of each other well. In my opinion this is the kind of show that I think will have a good amount of cross gender appeal.

Meganebu

In a certain high school there is a special club devoted to glasses. They are five bishonen who are dedicated (okay maybe Hayato isn't that dedicated)to furthering glasses beyond just something to correct vision problems or to use as a fashion statement. Meganebu was a show that I liked for about five minutes. I was willing to look beyond the bishonen cast and flow with the show's energy. There is just one problem with the show. It is such a puddle deep gag show that it starts wearing out it's premise in just a few minutes. Perhaps this show would have fared better if it was just one of those three minute short shows that pop up every so often.

Walkure Romance

In x high school there is actually a program for jousting. Takehiro used to be a knight in the jousting program until an injury made him quit. An unlikely circumstance places him next to Mio a woman in the jousting program. Walkure romance is an anime show that was very obviously based off of a visual novel. While the premise of a modern jousting show may sound interesting the show is loaded with flaws including a dopey and annoying female lead (Mio) odd looking cg armor and even horses and some poorly placed fan service. Even if you are in the mood for a harem type of anime show, I would recommend either Infinite Stratos or White Album 2 (see below)

White Album 2

Haruki is a student who is also a member of a flailing light music club band. One day he is asked to convince one of the school idols, Setsuna Ogiso, to join the school beauty pageant. He graciously lets her off the hook. Later when he is practicing guitar he hears a girl singing on the rooftop and finds out that it is Setsuna. I found this show to be slow paced romance story that feels more realistic than most anime shows of this type. I know that this show had a slow start to it but it was one that I liked. I know that this show has it is White Album 2 but there is no need to see the first season to understand this.

Fall season overview part four same old song

Fall season overview part four same old song

In this group of anime shows I start getting into anime shows that are on a second or third season. I know not everyone covers these types of shows but both were continuations of shows that I rather enjoyed.

Hajime no Ippo the fighting

If you are not familiar with this very long running boxing franchise here is the heads up. Ippo Makenuchi is a boxer and he won the championship belt for his weight class a while ago. Fortunately this season opener doesn't really expect much knowledge from viewers as the first half is about Ippo's dead dad and the second half is a boxing match. While the match is fairly standard for the anime, it is majorly hinted at that he is starting to get fatigued from fighting and thus in the second episode viewers will see how Hajime's no Ippo's battle pacing compares to other shonen battles, namely that it takes a realistic view on what pain and fatigue do to a person and builds the drama from there. Also I am hopeful that crunchyroll will eventually make the earlier seasons of Hajime no Ippo available as it is there tendency to do so when they license an advanced season of an anime show before the earlier material has been made available. As you can probably guess Hajime no Ippo is a show that I am rather passionate about and I hope you enjoy it too.

Little Busters Refrain

Riki and his friends (who have decided to call themselves the Little Busters) have just finished their first baseball game and have decided to have a pancake party but all is not well as two metaphorical dark clouds are looming overhead, Yuiko dark past and the nebulous secret to the world and how Riki's narcolepsy relates to it. If you haven't seen the first season of Little Busters it might behoove you to watch some of the first season but a lot of the basics for character dynamics are quickly shown in the pancake party. As for the animation it seems that JC Staff might just be stepping up their game for this season, possibly following the trend of Clannad After Story by being a better season than the origional Clannad.

Log Horizon

 One day Shiro and several thousand other players of the popular MMO Elder tale were trapped in the game and the log out button would not work. Perhaps the first thing every anime fan and their brother would do when seeing or hearing about this show is to compare it to Sword Art Online. On the plus side I can safely say that the character dynamic to the show makes it feel like it isn't entirely a copy. However this first episode fails to capture the feeling of horror that the first episode of SAO had which made it intriguing (at least until the second arc when things fell apart) and doesn't have another strong hook to replace it. The result is a somewhat bland show that doesn't have much going for it because most of the other shows this season aren't plagiarizing SAO as well.

Outbreak Company

Shinichi is an otaku who has just landed a job just because he is such a great Otaku. Namely he is tasked with bringing Japanese culture to a fantasy land that Japan can access through a portal. I found this to be a somewhat decent show as it has it’s moe elements but doesn’t seem to go overboard with the fan service or stupidity so far. Also from watching the opening and ending there seems to be only two or three main girls in the show so hopefully the character development pie won’t be sliced too thinly. The animation was also pretty decent as well.  I will be watching a few episodes at least.

Fall overview part three I couldn’t think of a good title so I just made a bunch of boob jokes

So here we are at the third part of the fall overview and I am still going strong. I have run across my second bad show of the season but we will get to that later. With this article I am ten shows into to the fall season and I am glad that I have found one really good show with this group.

Strike the Blood

There have been several rumors surrounding the appearance of an especially powerful vampire known as the fourth progenitor. The truth of the matter is that he is just a high school student. A teenage girl with demon hunting powers is sent out to monitor him. Overall I found this to be a paint by numbers urban fantasy with slightly stock characters. However I didn’t find it to be terrible and the characters could grow to be more interesting.

I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job

There was a fantasy world that was threatened by a demon lord. However that demon lord was defeated and that left all of the prospective heroes out of a job. One such guy named Raul starts working at a general store. This show is a stupid fan service show. This doesn’t look like it has any quality behind it so it isn’t something like a Strike Witches or Pet Girl of Sakura sou. 

Nagi no Asukara

Due to a history with a sea god there are some people who can live under the sea. However there are not enough of them to keep their school open so they have to transfer to a school on the surface. There are several small problems and misunderstandings that occur as a result. Nagi no Asukara is a new show by PA works and it looks to be another one of their special brand of slice of life dramas. Features such as animation that really takes advantage of undersea scenery and a slow build up of characters look like hallmarks of what could be a great show.  

Fall season overview part two killing time

Fall season overview part two killing time

If there is anything I am surprised by this season it is just how fast everything is coming out. This time there are four shows that debuted in the past two days and I will have to three similar posts in the next three days just to keep up. This time I am short reviewing the new darling of the western anime community and three less well received shows even though I am probably going to stick with all of them for a couple of episodes at least.

Coppelion

In the future a nuclear disaster caused Tokyo to become uninhabitable to normal human beings. However there are three high school girls who have been genetically engineered to withstand radiation. They have been tasked with recovering people trapped within the disaster site. Overall I found this first episode to be a bit of a head scratcher as I can tell this is supposed to be a somewhat intellectual show although I can’t really get a bead on exactly how intelligent this show is.  While I am still a bit ambivalent about this show I can that it will turn out better than Sunday without God so I will stick with it for a few episodes at least.

Kill la Kill

Honoji academy is a police state ruled by an iron fist and super powered school uniforms. Enter one drifter by the name of Ryuko Matoi who wields half of a giant scissor blade which can cut the super uniforms apart. This show is a hyper kinetic action show that is really popular with certain sections of the anime community. While it does seem to have a strong hook to it the show has difficulty modulating tone and having any sort of depth of character. However this is only episode one and this could be added later.

Golden Time

Banri Tada is a new college student who is eager to start a new life. He runs into several students including Mitsuo and his childhood friend Koko who has followed him all the way to law school. I will have to admit that this show didn’t start off to the strongest beginning. However there are small hints of what the show will become and this is where the source material being by same writer as Tora Dora that the transitions could be pulled off believably. I will keep watching this.

Infinite Straos season 2

There isn’t much to say about this as it is a continuation of a show that wasn’t much of anything other than a fan service show. There are hints at new girls which will probably be fully introduced in a couple of episodes. However the majority of the show was dedicated to moving Charlotte and Laura up to a one or maybe two on the Kinsey scale. I will keep watching although not for good reasons.

Fall Season overview part one Beyond the Pale

Hello dear readers, it is that time of season again when everyone who writes and podcasts about anime talks about the new shows. If for nothing else it gives us something to talk about for a couple of weeks every three months.

Miss Monochrome 

Miss monochrome is a slightly robotic girl who longs to be an idol. So she gives all of her money to a girl named Mana who runs off. She finds a new manager and starts working at a convenience store. This show is only four minutes long so that is all there is. This is a random sort of short comedy but there isn’t much to say about it yet.

Diabolik Lovers

One day Komori Yui is sent to live in a mansion. No sooner does she arrive there than she runs into the Sakamaki brothers one by one. She quickly learns three things, one they are vampires, two they are all very abusive and three she is their prisoner. Let me say this up front unless you really want a show about vampire bishonen you should probably stay away from this show. There is a good chance you will be turned off or offended by this show.

Beyond the Boundry

One day while Akihito is walking home from school to find a girl standing on the ledge looking as though she is about to commit suicide. He tries to save her ultimately saying that a girl who is as cute in glasses as her shouldn’t die. In response she back flips over the fence and stabs him with a sword made from her blood. Good thing he is immortal. The first episode of anime show is mostly spent setting up the relationship between Akithito and Mirai (the girl on the ledge) even though it is abundantly clear that there will be some action in the future. I for one really enjoy the character dynamic and look forward to seeing more of it in the future.