Review Engaged to the Unidentified

No don't leave us

Kobeni was just a normal girl living with her mother and older sister Benio. One day two people come to live with Kobeni. One of them is Hakuya who has been betrothed to Kobeni for quite some time and it has been decided that the two should start living together. The other person is Hakuya's younger sister Mashiro who is there to look after Hakuya and make sure he can adapt to city life after living in the mountains all of his life.

 

That's right, it's all about Mashiro

Engaged to the Unidentified is a show that is oddly wedged between the slice of life and romance genres of anime. There is also a small supernatural element to this show but that manifests itself as nothing more than a plot device and a couple instances of really good jumping. In a sense It is something like a shoujo anime with a few changes like the extra sized role for the male character’s little sister. In fact I believe that the viewer’s impression of Mashiro is something that will make or break this show for most viewers.

 

I know she is the most important character

I found the other characters to relatively entertaining to watch. There might be some small concern over how the older sister character (Benio) is a bit of creepy stalker but her behavior is not something the show expects the viewer to sympathize with.I found that the main problem with the show is that even though it tries to be a romance at times the main couple tend to be quite lifeless. At least it works as a slice of life show.

 

Benio being Benio

Overall I found Engaged to the Unidentified to be a pleasant if generally average slice of life show.

Rating the bronze Onigiri (Fruits Basket) for being a nice laid back show with a supernatural twist.

Inari KonKon Koi Iroha

What does the fox say? Quite a bit in this show

Inari Fushimi is a shy school girl who has trouble making new friends as well as telling her feelings to a boy she likes. One day she makes a prayer to the local shrine and her wish is granted in the form of transforming her into another girl. When she finds out that it isn’t what she wanted Uka, the local god, gives Inari a fragment of her divine power which allows her to change forms. Thus begins Inari’s new adventures in dealing with the gods.

boys, in a slice of life show, le gasp

Inari Kon Kon is a show that is a slice of life show with a rather obvious supernatural twist being that it has gods and taking foxes in the cast. It is different from most slice of life shows in that romantic relationships are a significant but not overwhelming presence in the show. In this aspect this show is something like the shojo anime shows that used to air. This is not to say that Inari’s other relationships are given the short shrift as much attention is paid to most of the characters.

Friendship is divine, in more ways than one

 This show only lasts ten episodes and spends a good part of the later episodes wrapping the show up so there is no real hope of a second season. This means that there are several plot lines that feel like they have been cut before they really had their chance to really play out. Such is the fate of many anime shows that are adapted from an ongoing manga. However said manga is currently unlicensed in English so that avenue is closed to most people reading this blog as well.

Overall I found Inari Kon Kon to be a rather sweet and fun anime show that it is an offbeat slice of life show that can be about slightly more than four girls eating cake all the time.

Rating the silver Undine (Aria) for being a great slice of life show.

Review Witchcraft works

Takamiya Honoka was just another normal high school student until the idol of the school Kagari Ayaka started to pay attention to him much to the chagrin of the rest of school. However Ayaka is more than just pretty, smart and athletic, she is also a powerful fire witch. As it turns out other witches have reasons to want to hunt down Honoka and he needs to have Ayaka protect him from all sorts of arcane threat. Can Honoka manage to survive now that his life has turned into a dangerous and magical mess even though it comes with a wonderful new girlfriend?

Ayaka and Honoka's relationship in a nutshell

At first glance Witchcraft works might look like just another show were your average boy picks up a magical girlfriend. However there is a bit of a deconstruction here in that the girl with the magic is the one wearing the pants in the relationship (only figuratively though). Even though Ayaka is a different from your average girl in the role I found her a bit too stoic to be all that believable or compelling. Fortunately there is a rather quirky cast of side characters that take up some of the slack from the main characters.

This show can be down right weird in places

This show has a rather sizable action component which naturally expands as the show wears on being that the show starts off mostly episodic and then grows something more of a plot arc about six or so episodes in. Even though Ayaka can pretty much curb stomp many of the foes in the show (including a group of five witches that hang around and even sing the show’s ending song) the action scenes are fun to watch. 

Normally I don't use ED clips but I couldn't resist

Overall I found Witchcraft Works to be a decent show with a fun action show with a romantic subplot. 

Rating the Bronze Belldandy (Oh My Goddess) for being a worthwhile show with a magical girlfriend.

Review Super Sonico the Animation

At least this show tries the music

Sonico is a girl with a very busy life. Not only is she a college student but she also has a job as a model. She also helps her grandmother out with her restaurant. However her biggest passion is rock music and she is in a band called First Astronomical Velocity with two other girls. How she manages to do this and take care of five cats is anybody’s guess.

What do you want for Christmas little boy?

Super Sonico is a slice of life show about the Nitroplus mascot character, Super Sonico.  As the previous sentence says the show follows whatever Sonico happens to be doing that episode whether it be the school festival or being chased by weight loss zombies. Unlike most slice of life shows there is a main character as opposed to a set of four or five girls, even if there are other reoccurring characters. 

The best character in the show, however

Super Sonico is a bit of a failure as it comes to being a slice of life show. It doesn’t have enough comedy to be worthwhile as a show and I found it usually unable to attain the soothing mood that is a main draw for this genre. To the show’s credit Sonico’s music career is well used as there are several songs in the show and even a new song for every episode’s ending. 

however it isn't a show without a robot loli with an eyepatch

Overall I found Super Sonico to be a disappointment as a show and one that I suggest skipping in favor of other slice of life shows. 

Rating The Tin Hokago Tea Cup (K On) For being a lackluster musical slice of life show.

Review Log Horizon

Our hero, the villain in glasses

Elder Tale was just another MMORPG until one day when a new update to the game was supposed to take place the players of the game were placed inside the game for real and unable to escape it. Among the thousands of people stranded by this  event is Shiroe, a brilliant but reserved person and his companions Naotsugu and Akatsuki. As time wears on the situation slowly degrades as living in an MMORPG all the time isn't conductive having a civil society. Could Shiroe be the person who can figure out how to make a working society out of the chaos of a giant game gone haywire?

It wouldn't be a political show without bickering politicians

Log Horizon is a twenty five episode anime show with a second season coming in the fall of 2014. Even though this show has the well worn premise of being trapped in a video game I would warn you that this is a show that manages to take said premise and go in a direction not covered by it’s predecessors. Instead Log Horizon is a show that has a strong theme of society running through it. It also manages to pull off it’s philosophizing while remaining a mostly lighthearted (although it can be serious as well, usually around action segments of the show) and generally fun show.

This show contains nation building and ninja dressing

While this show is fairly unique and has good characters I would be remiss if it I didn’t mention that Log Horizon suffers from some really odd pacing problems. While this show is thoughtful in building conflicts for itself, there is a trade off in that much of the show is devoted to set up of said conflicts leaving it looking like it’s spinning it’s wheels for many episodes. 

Overall I found that Log Horizon is a good and unique show but it is a bit it requires some patience to really get the full effect of the show. 

Rating The silver Parn (Record of Lodoss War) for being one of the better and more thoughtful fantasy anime shows in recent years.