Fall 2014 season overview part 1 Early Adapters

I never thought I would do a fall season overview before October but as things would turn out there are three shows out for me to comment on. One thread that I have seen in these shows is the prevalence of CG in them and like all tools there are times when it is used well and sometimes it is simply overused. There are no real classics in the making with this batch of shows but there is possibly some shows that you might well enjoy.

Teraformars

In the future humanity is threatened by a virus that has come from space. So a task force has been assembled to go to mars and not only find a suitable virus sample but also fight giant cockroaches. It looks like this show is going to be a hardcore mature show that revels in graphic violence. If you have ever wished there was another season of Gantz this is a show for you.

Karen Senkai

In the future robots have risen up and started to kill people and one woman named Karen fights them. This is definitely the weakest show of the bunch. Not only is the whole thing in CG but it has all the plot depth that you would expect from a show that has three robot fights in ten minutes.

Tribe cool crew

Haneru is a middle school kid who love nothing more than dancing. It is assumed he will gather a dance troupe together and have dancing adventures. This is show is rather nice in how it has a different art style than what most anime have. There is some cg in the show but that is mostly for the dancing (which would be difficult to animate normally) and blends well with the rest of the show. If you are looking for something different in a visual sense you should check out this show. 

I am on NTR radio

A little while ago I was lucky enough to get a guest spot on NTR radio and we talked about anime reviews.
You can listen to it here

Review Hanayamata

Yosakoi, just like you wanted

Naru was just another school girl drifting though life with no confidence or plans for her future. Then by chance one night she met a strange blonde girl who wanted to dance with her. As it turns out this strange girl is actually a transfer student named Hana. Hana wants to form a club for the Yosakoi dance and she has her eyes set on Naru to be one of the first members of the club.

 

The tsundere is always to be feared

At first glance Hanayamata is just another one of those cute girls slice of life kind of shows and while that is not entirely true I have a strong feeling that anyone who likes that genre will enjoy Hanayamata. The main difference is that while most shows of the genre will be nearly devoid of plot there is a fair amount of attention given to the individual stories of the characters giving the show a bit more weight to it than many slice of life shows.

double flying glomp

As if the to put icing on the cake of cuteness this show has really nice animation and an emphasis on making the colors in the show vivid and more noticeable than usual. If there is one complaint I have about the show it is that oftentimes setbacks or difficulties facing the group will disappear with little effort from the characters.

Overall I found this show to be one of the better slice of life shows out there. If you like this genre at all I warmly suggest this show.

Rating the silver gondola (Aria) for being a very good and engaging slice of life show. 

Review Locodol

Behold you new cute and loose dictator

Nanako was just another high school girl who wanted to buy a bathing suit but had no money. She was able to get the money from her uncle but found out there was a string attached, namely she was to perform for the opening of the community pool. There she meets a beautiful and talented girl named Yukari and the two of them form a group called Nagarekawa girls, named after the town the live in.

Come on we need to pander to out fans

Locodol is the summer seasons addition to the latest anime trend, the idol craze. The difference in this show is it is about some really low key idols who work together to promote their town. It is a slice of life kind of show in reality and manages to pull that off decently. Nanako and Yukari play off of each other well enough and the show as a whole is light and fluffy. Also beyond a slightly sketchy manager and a couple swimsuit scenes there isn't really all that much in the way of fan service.

See I told you the show isn't that exciting

However there is a major problem with the show and that it feels like the show amounts to a pile of nothing and that is even by standards of slice of life shows.Simply put I found this show lacking either the comedy or emotional impact that better slice of life shows have. Naming it's merits feels like damming it with faint praise and the show often felt boring. There isn't even that much music in the show beyond the opening and closing themes.

Overall I found this to be a disappointment of a show that doesn't really capture the energy of what idols and idol shows can be.

Rating the tin ear for being a rather lack luster and frankly boring idol show.

Review Nisekoi

Ladies and Gentlemen here is your tsundere

Raku Ichijou is the son of a yakuza family. One day he was summoned by is father to enter in a false relationship with daughter of another mafia head named Chitoge. From his first impression Raku and Chitoge get off on the wrong foot and start hating each other. However for Raku his one true love is a girl he met ten years ago and he still holds a locket to remember her by and waits for the day she meets the girl with the key to open it.

I think we are surrounded by sparkles

Nisekoi is a romantic comedy that starts off of as love triangle but progresses into a harem as the show wears on.The first primary love interest is Chitoge, a blonde girl who doesn't admit to liking Raku at all and generally adheres to the character trope of tsundere. The other love interest is a girl next door type named Onodera; there is quite a few hints of mutual attraction between the two but her overwhelming shyness gets in the way of progress in the relationship. There are other girls that show up but they appear later and have less of an impact on the overall show.

While this does sound like the show is not all that original (and I wouldn't fault you for thinking that) it doesn't mean it is without merit.Chief among those merits is the directing which is by Shinbo who peppering the show with various visual tricks.There is also a fair amount of comedy (as to be expected given the genre) and most of the jokes are decent. Also even though this isn't the most original of shows it's doesn't mean it is the worst romantic comedy I have seen by a long shot.

Overall Nisekoi is just another romantic harem comedy even though it has a nice coat of directing paint covering it.

Rating the Fist of Naru ( Love Hina) for being a decent enough show with a tsundere focus even if it is romcom #2572

Review Nanana's buried treasure

Nice ass, learn to fight next time

Nanae island is an island that is a huge school with over one hundred thousand people living there and the whole thing was built by seven extraordinary students. Juugo Yama is a new student on the island who just wants to get away from his family. He finds out that his new apartment is inhabited by the ghost of Nanana one of the founders of the island.

Given your moves no wonder he would challenge you every day

Nanana's buried treasure is a adventure series based off of a series of light novels. For a show that is only eleven episodes long it has a rather expansive setting and in breadth of cast. It feels like the the show was trying to replicate A certain magic index with an Indiana Jones twist to it. It has a nice blend of plot, world building and action to it.

Yuugo and Tensai live on an island full of traps

However there are some flaws to the show and most of them center around the main characters. Nanana often acts like an obstructive video game npc rather than someone with coherent motives. There is also a rather lackadaisical plot that largely stems from a main character being mostly avoiding goals and being reactive.

Overall I found Nanana's buried treasure to an okay sort of show but in many places just feels kind of flat and not as good as it could be.

 Rating the bronze habit pin (Index) for being a decent enough light novel adaptation

Review Chunibyo

This umbrella vs ladle battle is intense

Yuta Togashi is just a normal high school student. He would like that everyone forget his days in middle school when he pretended to be the "dark flame master" and did all sorts of embarrassing things and it seems that no one is left that knows of it. That is until one day a mysterious student with an eye patch shows up. She is Rika and claims that she works for the terrible lord Shingan. She is also interested in Yuta's past as the dark flame master. 

Sometimes these things just don't need a caption

Chunibyo is a romantic comedy lasting twelve episodes although there is a second season that I have not seen yet. The gimmick of the show is the ridiculous fantasy life that Rika and other characters create for themselves. For the first half of the show things are generally quite lighthearted and the show is mostly devoted to comedy and setting up the characters. Things take a darker turn in the second half when the reason behind Rika's behavior is revealed and the cast has to deal with the implications of her past.

cheerleader Rika is not impressed

I found the show to be really solid for the most part. The cast for the most part centers around the ad hoc club that Rika created (the far east magical napping club) and it's members and the play off of each other well. Even the characters that were created entirely for the anime are woven well into the overall scheme of the show to the point that they feel natural. 

Overall I found Chunibyo to be one of the better stories of young romance out there and something to watch for any fan of the genre.

Rating the silver Sos badge (Haruhi) for showing that as late as 2012 Kyoto animation can make a really fun light novel adaptation. 

Emma a Victiorican romance season two

The titular Meido

Love between people of different classes can be difficult, especially in nineteenth century England, The difficulties were enough to drive Emma and William apart. Emma now works in the countryside with another family and all of their servants while William is being courted by a noble lady. Yet fate might bring the two lovers back together?

The best character takes a puff

Emma is a period piece which works as a romance and a laid back drama. This is the second season of the show and is more or less as good as the first season pretty much everything I say here applies to the first season as well.

Mr. Will be played by Hugh Jackman in the live version

Emma is a rather subtle show as it deals with a period that had rather complicated manners and thus the characters act in a subdued manner. If you are used to anime romances it is a nice change from a cast of  melodramatic teenagers or generic main character and their harem. The show is rather subdued as this show is about characters is a more reserved time than the modern era and the characters reflect that. This is not to say that the cast feels wooden at all, they very warm and human, just different from what most anime characters are like.

And the professor and Mary Ann (I mean the male lead)

Overall I have found Emma to be subtle but very emotional look into another time period and the people that lived then and there.

Rating the silver tea cup for being a really nice anime show about 19th century England with a likable cast.