Review Non Non Biyori

 

Hotaru Ichijou is a fifth grader who moves from the big city of Tokyo to the countryside. The school that she now goes to is so small that there are only four other students there that share one classroom. They are the three Koshigaya siblings, Komari and Natsumi as well as their brother (who gets no lines) and a little kid named Renge who is also the younger sister of their lazy teacher. This is the story of their everyday lives.

 

That's one spicy rice ball

Non Non Biyori is a slice of life show pure and simple. Even though it looks like the standard show about four girls who do nothing, I found this show to be interesting and refreshing. For me the main reason is that even though the show sticks to the slice of life premise it knows to switch things up from the Manzai routine that seems to take center stage in most shows like this (even if it is still present with Komari being the Tsukomi and Natsume being the boke).

 

The funky fairy

This is a show that knows how to be cute without being cloying and does this mostly through Renge who is excellent in delivering wackiness with a straight face. She is also good for bringing a more human touch to some segments. Hotaru is also an above average main character for a slice of life show and her city mouse knowledge and obsession over Komari enrich the show. The use of nature in this show is also a nice touch and allows the show to fulfill the iyashikei premise that many slice of life shows have.

 

Yup all of the nature is in this show

Overall I found Non Non Biyori to be one of the best examples of what I slice of life type of show can actually accomplish and if you want to see a good example of that genre there are few shows better than Non non Biyori.

 

Rating The silver gondola (Aria) For being a well above average slice of life show.

Non Non Biyori short people got no reason to live

 

Perhaps one of the most odd things about anime is the continued existance of certain kind of show which goes by many names but usually centers around for girls who don't do much of anything. It is the bane of certain kinds of anime fans but obviously the favorite of some others since said shows keep getting made. I think it is a type of show not well loved by English speaking anime bloggers for several reasons not the least of which is that they are often lacking much in the way of plot giving episode bloggers little to talka about. Non Non Biyori is the fall season's example of this kind of show and it is something that I kind of like.

 

I think we overdid the merchandise a bit

Non Non Biyori is about a young girl named Hotaru who moves from Tokyo to the countryside. There are only four other students in the shcool where she lives. They are the the Koshigayas, older (even if she is tiny) Komari and younger sister Natsumi as well as their brother Suguru who never gets any lines. To round out the cast is the cute first grader Renge who is also the little sister of the schools teacher.

 

A slice of life show needs lolis that are space

To be completely honest I am not the biggest fan of slice of life shows but I have found that Non Non Biyori is rather enjoyable and perhaps a bit better than many shows of this genre. Even though there is the normal four girls you find in almost every show of this type but it does a good job of mixing up the flow of the show by omiting some of the characters allowing the character dynamics to be shook up. Shows like this often depend on humor so having a large selection of dynamics for characters is a definite plus for the viewers.

 

But no catgirl statues

However I have noticed there is one thread that runs through most of the show it is that Komari is the eldest of the four girls in the cast but looks (and in some cases acts) younger than anyone except for Renge. Perhaps this is the show's way of injecting comedy, as this clearly subverts the usual social hierarchy that especially pronounced in Asian societies (and yes I know this happens in Asian cultures that are not Japan). In fact the authority figures in this show (other than the mom) have no real authority but if they did it wouldn't be the laid back slice of life show that Non Non Biyori is.

 

Coppelion and the temple of lesbian doom

 While I usually try to talk about shows that I like rather than trash shows I don't like but every so often I should post some negative reviews to remind everyone that I am not some Pollyanna sunshine who likes everything. This is especially depressing given that Coppelion is a show that looked liked it could be a genuinely good show but it turned out that this wasn't the case.

 

That winning smile

The show has several problems and not the least of the fact that even though there are three main characters only Ibara seems to be capable of anything. Aoi is particularly annoying and useless in this respects, perhaps to the levels of Willie from Indiana Jones and the temple of doom. Thinking about it while I am all in favor abolishing traditional gender roles turning Aoi into a typical love interest character would actually make her more useful to the show in general. It almost makes want to look into Coppelion Yuri (guess who is looking into Sakura Trick next season).

 

Like a less fun version of Outbreak company

In a more general sense Coppelion has a problem with matching the expectations that the show presented at first with the content the show has presented. To put it bluntly one should not expect a show that has a psychotic school girl with electric powers who plans to blow up the world with nearly as much seriousness as Coppelion expects the viewer to take said show. While I have heard several people complaining about the tone change of Samurai Flamenco, the tone dissonance of Coppelion is something that can not be explained by turning from a parody of a genre to a straighter portrayal of said genre.

 

It's not post apocalyptic until fashion sense goes down hill

As of this article Coppelion is clearly a tin rated anime show with few prospects of making it up to bronze. A lack of good characters and the tone of the show which presents itself as a hard science fiction show with the internal consistancy of a super hero comic.

Arpeggio of Blue Steel mid season review

 

The show so cool you have to wear a jacket

As it turns out the fall of 2013 is a rather strong season as I have found there are about a dozen shows than I am following and only a couple of them are shows I am even considering dropping. Arpeggio of Blue steel is one of those shows I am enjoying and perhaps more than I thought I would. Maybe you might enjoy it as well.

 

No one expects the yuri monocle inquisition

First of all I fully understand that the premise of battleship girls is kind of stupid and perhaps a bit pandering as well, with perhaps a lot of prospective viewers taking a look and dismissing it as just another harem show. I have watched the show and about halfway through it I can say that this is not really the case. Even though the female cast has grown It is actually kind of nice that only Takao acts like your traditional lovestruck girl as opposed to most of the cast.

 

The logical conclusion to defeat means friendship

This show seems to follow a pattern of one episode focusing on characters followed by a second episode that is mostly focused on a large battle, with episode eight being the exception so far. I have found these battles to be enjoyable as well.So far there has been two naval battles and  This is where the show's decision to go entirely cg has paid off the most in my opinion.

This brings us to the possible downfall of the show, that the fact that the show is animated entirely with computer animation. In truth I am finding it to be less of a problem than I thought. I think that part of this is due to the fact that everything is in cg thus making it less obvious than when it is contrasted with something else and partially because since everything is in cg the animators are getting more experience with how to make cg work well.

 

Hyuuga is every shipper ever

Overall I have found Arpeggio of Blue Steel to be a generally fun and interesting anime show. If I were to encapsulate it into a simple sentence I would say that it is "Like Infinite Stratos, only with less fan service.I give this show a solid bronze with the possible hint of silver if it gets even better.

Losing your head over Samurai Flamenco

(note this editorial assumes your have seen episode seven)

This wouldn't have happened if I was the star of the show.

This fall among my favorite anime shows has been Samurai Flamenco. It has been a rather fun comedic take on the Japanese super hero genre that can make you think from time to time. I did have one misgiving about the show, the question of where this show is going to go. Episode seven answered this in a big way introducing a villain organization, King Torture and whatever followers he has. However with one answered misgiving another arising, just how does one explain how a man can transform into a gorilla with guillotine in it's stomach.

Moe thinks the show will sort itself out.

In my mind one of the best comparisons to episode seven of Samurai Flamenco is the reveals in Madoka Magica. Both episodes radically changed how viewers think about the shows in question. However there is big possible difference in reveals in these shows. In Madoka Magica only two people knew about the true nature of what was happening before it was revealed to the viewer. In both cases made sense that they would hide what they were saying; with Kyuubey being truthful about the nature of a magical girl would have made his deal a harder sale and in the case of Homura it was shown that she already tried revealing information in another timeline and it didn't do any good. 

I like badguys with more guts.

So the question is who knew about Guilotine Gorilla and when? How Samurai Flamenco answers this will determine how the show will be viewed. There are currently a few factors in the shows favor. The first is than in the previous episodes the world has become slightly more fantastic, especially the heroes armaments. The show has evolved from a man being beaten up by middle-schoolers to a man with office supplies that allow him to mimic spider man. Secondly there is the fact that said gorilla transformation was only able to occur because of police interference. It is fairly understandable that King Torture wanted to keep his organization secret. So if most of the super science can be confined only to his organization some sort of plausibility can be maintained. At least as much as need for a sentai show parody.

See this drove our hero into a despression

Of course at this point all of this is speculation and hope. So far Samurai Flamenco has been a fun exploration of the human condition and morality. I can only hope that the last fifteen episodes. At least it can't be as bad a Coppelion. 

Gundam build fighters, I accept this selling out

 

When I first posted about Gundam Build Fighters I pretty much said that it was a pretty bold faced toy commercial. I continue to hold this position but even though I dropped over half of the shows I saw I continue to watch this show rather happily and will probably continue to do so. How can I do this?

 

Come on kid you could try and through the het shippers a bone here

I think it is somewhat important to note that Gundam build fighters is a different genre than most Gundam or even most mecha shows. It is more of a sports show than a war drama like other Gundam shows, even G Gundam. Mecha is a genre that is most definitely on a downturn since 2008 and maybe one of the reasons is that many of the conventions that are staples of the genre have become stale. Even some of the more prominent mecha shows such as Guilty Crown and Valvrave tend to behave like poor copies of earlier shows. Gundam Build Fighters, at least right now is a simple show about a few kids who enjoy playing a game but still has much of the feel of a mecha show. Not everything has to be some sort of artistic masterpiece in order to shake up genre conventions.

 

Ral is buried in no sand zaku boy, no sand zaku

The other thing holding this show up is the amount of references that are dropped in the show. Ever since I living through the Lucky Star Hype I know a show can stand almost entirely on references. Perhaps the idea of references to another show is the show appealing to prospective fan the same way that one anime fan could appeal to another. This is how a show as kiddified as Gundam Build Fighters can appeal to an older crowd of mecha fans.

 

Even with leg breakers the show never steers away from it's genre.

Even though I find Gundam Build Fighters to be fun it is still a rather shallow type of fun. While the right kind of fan might really dig the heck out of this show I know it's not for everyone. Right now this show is a solid bronze for me.

I was too harsh with Log Horizon

 

When I was reviewing the first episodes of nearly every anime show I watched the first episode of Log Horizon and pretty much panned it as a somewhat ripoff of Sword Art Online. It was not an uncommon opinion as the accusations of psuedo plagiarism are thrown about with wild abandon. However if you might guess I have watched the show further and am about to recant my old position. Although to lavish praise upon this show is still a bit premature things are looking up for the show.

 

The horror of cosplay

First of all Sword art Online isn't the best comparison to Log Horizon, Maoyuu is. It may seem a bit obvious given that they are both adaptations of novels by the same Author,  Mamare Touno. This is made all the more apparent in episodes five and six of Log Horizon as the show takes a turn into the social engineering that Maoyuu was so known for. My only real worry about Log Horizon at this point is the possibility that it gets too wrapped up with Shiro's grand plan to make the world a better place ignoring things such as character development and action.

Your nightmare but possibly Ron Paul's dreamland

 

There are some things in anime that seem rather stupid on first glance and only when you get further into a show does the reasoning become apparent. This of course applies to the resurrection scenario in Log Horizon. When I first saw it in episode two I thought it was an utterly stupid idea as it was something that drained the tension out of the show like few things could; for after all when the characters no longer have to fear death there is little dramatic tension to the show. However as the show progressed this helped with the show' main theme, asking if people just wake up when you kill them, what is the real consequence to murder, and thus facilitating Elder Tale's descent into a world of chaos and oppression.  

 

Attack on boars covered in vegetables

Currently Log Horizon is an interesting show that is finally starting to stand on it's own two feet. It manages to have some fairly interesting characters and possibly a good plot. It is hovering around a bronze rating or it maintains it's upward trend of quality I could see giving this show a silver rating. Hear is to being hopeful for this show.

Infinite Stratos is the Guiltiest of Pleasures

 

After the fall previews are over I was left witth figuring out what material I should write for the next two and a half months. I figured that one thing I would rather not do is put on the airs of pretension and attempt to lavish praise over whatever shows appeared to be the most intellilectual or artistic simply to make myself appear to be more intelligent. If there is one thing that I have learned it is that you can learn as much or more from a silly entertainment show as one that is trying to be intelligent.

 

Half of all anime maids kick ass like Laura

Infinite Stratos is one of those shows that is rather popular in Japan but is relatively obscure in the English speaking anime community. I big part of this is that Infinite Stratos a rather decent amount of fan service and this turns off the anime snobs like little else. However I found that even so not all fan service shows are created equal and Infinite Stratos is a better than a lot of them.

 

New girl is totally awesome when it comes to fighting

A big plus for this show is how it can handle action scenes. While including action elements to a show with a different genre is never a guarantee of quality Infinite Stratos is something more Akin to Nanoha or Negima (manga only) being a type of moe show that will bring the action when there is an action scene. In fact I might just say that post 2008 this is perhaps the best mecha show other than Star Driver and Gargantia. Part of this is that there isn't fights in every episode which could allow for the animation staff to concentrate their budget on a few good fights as opposed to mediocre fights every episode.

 

And here is how you subvert the damsel in distress trope

There is also the simple fact that this is a harem show. While I know that this turns certain people off, there is a simple pleasure to such shows for many people. Something that I learned long ago when following Shuffle when it came out is that Shipping is definitely not a female only activity and sometimes it is just fun to watch a show aimed at that social activity among the fans of said show. While there are some shows that can obfuscate the final pairing the general rule of thumb in these types of shows is that the first girl to show up on screen is usually the winner. While there is always some people that will always find a secondary character to be their favorite Infinite Stratos has one rather prominent dark horse in Charlotte Dunois.

I never said this was a particularly classy show

However I am in no way implying that Infinite Stratos is in anyway some work of high art. All I am saying is that it is a show about stupid fun that I enjoy and maybe if you can have an open mind you might enjoy it too.

 

Mid season review Fantasista Doll

Well I don't want to commit myself to the arduous schedule of being an episode blogger I feel the need to talk about some of the shows I've watched. I was thinking the first show I should talk about is Fantatista Doll one of the shows I've been watching this season. I'll be honest in saying that it isn't one that shows that I have seen recently or overall but I can say is an interesting show.

Girl is Panzer

Fantatista Doll Stars Uzume Uno the prototypical normal schoolgirl who one day happens upon some amazing powers just like in most Anime in this case being a magical cell phone which allows her to summon five girls to fight for her. Most of the show so far has centered on either Uzume and her new magical friends called dolls fighting the villain of the week or Uzume bonding with said magical friends.

Almost every magical girl show has some sort of team attack. I think it is a rule or something.

To be honest I don't think this is a really good show and if I would have to rate it right now I would hover around either a bronze or tin rating. However I'm not watching the show entirely for the quality but for how the ID very idea of the show place out. When I first saw the show I was suddenly intrigued in the fact that it was a show that attempts to look like it is a show for girls while in fact is aimed at the male audience.

Somehow I don't think she would make it into a normal magical girl show.

This show has a strange amount of fan service as there is it not enough to properly label it as a fan service (and the fan service is definitely aimed at guys) show but there's definitely too much to really call it a show designed for girls. Other than that this show tries to emulate a straightforward magical girl show and for the most part does so. I would probably say that I am more intrigued about the idea of the show than its actual execution. However I find the show mildly amusing and therefore I will probably stick with it until the end.