Season overview part 6 tricks of the trade

In this penultimate article of my winter 2014 anime review I cover four new shows. We finally get the first girls who do nothing show without subtext, grimdark digimon and exploding butts. It's one hell of a ride.

 

Sakura Trick

 

Haruka and Yu are two girls who have just become high school girls in a school that will be closed in three years. They decide to do something special and so they share a kiss. Sakura Trick is a slice of life romantic comedy that is about girls in love with each other. It seems that almost every four girls who do nothing seems to have some vague lesbian attraction going on but this show makes a point of making it deliberate. I found this to be a fun show although it might not be for everyone.

 

Z/X Ignition

 

Three years ago monsters appeared from five portals and nearly destroyed the world. Now there are people with card devices that can control monsters which are the possible salvation of humanity. After watching the first episode of Z/X Ignition I found it to be a postapocalyptic digimon cum magic the gathering with political deception, I think. In truth this is a very confusing show and not in a way that makes me think it is intelligent in any way. One of the major problems is that the prologue sets up a monster invasion scenario and then the first episode has only person with monster vs person with monster conflicts.

 

Strange +

 

Kou and Takumi are brothers that are now working in a detective agency with some other people. Thus they take on various assignments. This is another one of those three minute long shows and thus there isn't enough time for much more than a couple of jokes which may or may not include exploding butts (it did in the first episode).

 

Hozuki no Reitetsu

 

Hell, is a place with over two hundred subdivisions and thus requires it's own bueracracy. This needs experts that can smooth over the rough patches and in the case of hell that expert is Hozuki. This is are rather interesting comedy as Hozuki is one of the smarter protagonists that I have seen in comedies recently. The art includes more classic Asian drawings of hell and

Season preview part 5 for the love of brother

Hello again with the fifteh part of my winter season preview. This time I am taking a look at four shows, two of them being short shows and definitely not everything that aired on Thursday. Honestly trying to do that in one article would be madness.

 

Pupa

 

U and Yume Hasegawa are two normal siblings until Yume encounters some strange things in the park and contracts a disease that makes her eat human flesh. Pupa is a show with a fair amount of dubious hype and it was a bit of a disapointment. It is a four minute long show that is different from other four minute shows by instead of a stand alone joke you just have enough time to watch one or two beings explode into gore.

 

Magical Warfare

 

Takashi was just another average high school student until one day he ran into Miu who looked like just another cute school girl but was in fact a magician. With some contact with magic Takashi and his two friends become magicians as well. As far as the first episode of Magical Warfare goes the first episode doesn't reveal all that much about the show except for it might be kind of average but it will require a couple more episodes to make a more educated opinion of the show.

 

Onee chan ga Kita

 

When his mother remarries Tomoya gains a new older sister Ichika. As it turns out Ichika is totally in love with the idea of having a new younger brother. This show is another four minute short show about a step sibling sort of couple but I found that this is a show about an older sister and an unwilling brother makes it somewhat interesting.

 

Engaged to the Unidentified

 

Kobeni was just another girl who turned sixteen and finds out that she is engaged to a boy from the countryside.Yet she finds that the boy she is engaged to is quiet and reserved and nowhere near as much of a handful as her new stepsister Mashiro. I found this show to be a rather entertaining slice of life comedy which in the first episode is held up mostly by the little sister Mashiro although the other characters are worthwhile as well.

Season preview part 4 everyone rides

At this point I have seen over a dozen shows this season and with this batch there are a couple of hopeful good shows but nothing that blew me away either. Hopefully it isn't show fatigue just yet because I still have the Thursday rush to go through.

Buddy Complex

 

Aoba is a fairly normal high school student that is until one day he got dragged into a giant robot fight between his classmate Hina and someone who is trying to kill Aoba. To make things even weirder he is dragged through a time vortex into some war unknown to Aoba.While there may be some interesting things in the show's future right now Buddy Complex feels like it is just another mecha anime show.

 

The Pilot's Love song

 

Kal el Albus is going to pilot school (apparently this Kal el can't fly on his own, probably no heat vision either) with his sister. There is some future story with a possible war and class struggles but those will be further discussed in later episodes. I found this to be a rather good show that seems to stradle the line between slice of life and drama (although It will probably get heavier as things go on). I found a lot of attention was paid to the backgrounds to be a definite plus.

 

Witchcraft Works

 

Honaka Takamiya is a fairly average high school student who seems to be a frequent proximity to the school idol Kagari, much to the disapproval of her fan club. One day a school building falls on Honaka and he learns that Kagari is in fact a witch who has been tasked with protecting him as her princess.Witchcraft works had the potential to be just another forgettable magical girlfriend show but the interactions between the two main characters really caught me off guard. I am looking forward to this show.

 

Hamatora

 Nice and Murasaki are two freelance detectives that work out of the cafe nowhere. Together they solve crimes and use a special power called minimum. To be honest I found this show was trying way to hard to be cool and ended up feeling incomprehensible to some extent. This might be just be being tired when watching but hopefully next episode the director will let up on the confusing directing tricks.

Winter season preview part 3 Girl's got to accesorize

For about the third day in a row I, your faithful and diligent anime blogger Jeckyllgeek, bring you my thoughts on the new shows of the season. This time I give some quick thoughts on a slice of life show about a mascot character, as supernatural romantic action comedy, and a high energy comedy show.


Super Sonico

Sonico is a busy girl. She not only goes to college but she also works as a model and a waitress and even finds time to play in a band. I found this show to be a slightly off beat slice of life show with a fair amount of fan service (puberty was quite kind to Sonico) and she wears headphones at all times. With her jobs it appears that this show could go in some interesting directions as well.

Noragami

When Hiyori tried saving a guy by pushing him out of the way of an oncoming truck she was hit herself and placed herself in between the realms of life and death. The guy she saved was actually a homeless god named Yato and offers to help her for a cost. This is a show with some promise although it looks like it could be your average supernatural show as well.

D Frag

At a certain high school there is a game creation club and they are short a member needed so they do their best to dragoon Kazama into their club. While the show sounds like it might be a slice of life show with Otaku jokes it is in fact a crazy and high energy comedy show. It is also one that I recommend.

Winter 2014 season overview part 2 Just add Nobunaga

Every culture has their own personal figures of interest and for some reason Japan can't seem to get enough stories about the feudal warlord Oda Nobunaga. At least this season he is male in both of his showings this season.

Nobunaga the Fool

In an alternate past the the heavens are divided between east and west. The destiny of the heavens and earth might just change when an connection between two people, Oda Nobunaga and Joan of Arc, is formed. Normally I am not the most fervent of mecha fans but I found this show to be just the right combination of gonzo world elements and a protagonist with promise. Of the shows I have seen so far this is my favorite of the season.

Nobugun

Sio is a awkward girl who is a big military nut but doesn't have any friends. One day while she is on a school trip the city is attacked by aliens and she finds that because she has genes from Oda Nobunaga and thus is able to summon a magical Gatling gun. I found Nobugan to be a fairly bog standard action show but one with some promise. It is something that I will keep up with.

Tonari no Sekai kun

Seki is a student who loves to waste time in elaborate ways. He somehow manages to escape the attention of his teachers his classmate Yokoi sometimes manages to be caught simply by commenting on Seki's antics.This is one of the short shows that are generally comedies. I found this episode fairly funny although I could easily see this show repeating the same humor. Anyways it is only eight minutes long.

Winter Season overview Lately My Space is acting unusual

Welcome to 2014 and the new winter anime everyone. I you friendly neighborhood anime blogger is here to give you my views and opinions about the latest anime shows. I hope to watch all the anime shows that air on crunchyroll as well as some other ones as well. Unfortunately in this first batch of shows has no real stand out shows even if one of them is supposedly the show that is going to save anime, this season at least.

Recently My Sister is Unusal

Yuuya and Mitsuki have just recently become step brother and step sister. One day the sister Mitsuki is possessed by a ghost named Hiyori who has to fall in love with Yuuya in order for her to pass on. Let me be clear this show is aiming to be the ecchi show of the season. Although the show technically isn't incest I for one feel that the excuse that this show is about a step sister possessed by a sexual deviant of a ghost driving the sexual hijinks is quite pedantic.

Space Dandy

In the future there are whole bunch of aliens in the big wide universe and there is an alien collector who is there is a man who is there is explore stuff for money and his name is Dandy. This was and maybe still is the show that has had the most hype surounding it. After watching the first episode I found Space Dandy to be a visually flashy but narratively empty show. I feel that the show isn't headed to be one of the greatest shows of all time but I think that can still be a fun show to watch.



Saki the Nationals

After the regional tournaments the girls Kiyosumi High have gone to the nationals in Tokyo in pursuit of their dreams including Saki's dream of meeting her sister again. However they still have to make it through the best players in the country. This first episode is mostly a reintroduction to the characters, including over a dozen new characters. It feels at the show is trying to be the moe version of Legend of the Galatic Heroes with the amount of characters in it.

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.