Spring 2014 season overview part nine, twenty eight is enough

With this article I officially finish looking at show for three months. I know I haven't seen everything available but most people don't watch over two dozen shows and that I what I have done in the past week. This time I cover four shows that I couldn't watch on Crunchyroll.

Damidaler Prince vs Penguin Empire

A young man who is a giant pervert saves the earth with a mech. This show is a probably the closet you will get to a mecha show in the Go Nagai tradition in a few seasons, right down to almost Jam project . This a pretty perverted show so I wouldn't expect a wide audience to like this.

Selector Infected Wixoss

Ruko is a quiet girl who finds about a card game that can grant wishes. At first look this might be the second show desperately trying to be Madoka Magica (see This for the other one) However it looks like it might go in enough of it's own direction to be a worthwhile show.

Riddle story of the Devil

An Assassin in a class of assassins falls for her target. After thinking about this show I think that many people could easily be turned off by how all the characters in this show have two dimensional personalities; The cold protragonist, her ditzy and cheerful love interest and her collection of barking mad classmates slash antagonists. However this is a yuri show and not only that a yuri show with a plot so it has it's cadre of ready made loyal followers.

Soul Eater Not!

This is the story of three girls who live in a witch hunting school. This is another slice of life show. The fact that one of the main characters can transform into a halberd is a fact of little bearing on the show as a whole. There is a yuri undercurrent to this show but given that it is a slice of life kind of show don't go in expecting it to go much of anywhere.

Spring 2014 season overview part 8

As my season overview starts to wind to a close I cover three shows that have nothing in common. After all there aren't any shows about fives girls who live with a ghost and fight aliens in a mech, at least this season.

Is the order a rabbit?

This is the story of five girls who run a cafe. Every season there is usually a show about cute girls doing cute things and this show follows this criteria. Given the character designs this show is even cuter than normal and verges on being violently adorable. Only three of the five main characters have been introduced in the first episode but as slice of life shows go I don't see this show varying far from what is seen in the first episode.

Nanana's buried treasure

A boy transfers to an island sized school and ends up being the roommate of a ghost girl. While this show might look like your average harem show I have found that Nanana's treasure has a promise of having an energy that many shows of the genre lack. In fact this show may have a serviceable action or adventure theme to it although I can't really make that out from the first episode. For instance the protagonist of this show manages to have more motivation than the usual wet noodle that fills this role.

However it is still a harem type show in the end.

Captain Earth

A young man ends up piloting a giant robot to fight extra-planetary invaders. I am not the biggest fan of mecha shows and yet I find this show to be intriguing. I have found that this show feeling quite original and doesn't look like it is trying to be a copy of another show. On top of that this show looks quite pretty and hopefully there isn't an animation quality drop off. The first episode of this show gives out more questions than answers but I will probably be continuing to watch this.

Spring 2014 season overview part seven Let's play

This time I am covering three sports shows. The sports genre is a strangely maligned section of anime probably dating back to some ancestral jock vs nerd conflict. However here at Jeckyllcast and blog I am willing to put away old grudge and view all genres without prejudice. In this group there are two promising shows and one that is very different from most anything out there.

Baby Steps

Eichiro was a boy who took meticulous notes on all his studies and how he came to love tennis. Baby steps is a show that looks pretty interesting. This show looks like it is made for a male audience although I didn't see anything marks it as offensive to women. Although it isn't taking my place for favorite sports show (that would be Hajime no Ippo) it looks like it could easily be a fun show.

Haikyu

Shoyo is a short boy who loves volleyball. The first episode of this show is something that really shows the main character's love of the sport and complete unwillingness to give up. While he is only one component to a volleyball team he does make a strong impression. This looks like it could be a fun show.

The rowdy Sumo Matsutaro

Matsutaro is a strong man who eventually becomes a sumo wrestler. However in the first episode he is a gigantic jerk to everybody he meets and is probably the least likable main character most anime fans have seen for quite some time. This combined with a really old art style will make this is a rather unpleasant show for many anime fans to try.

Spring 2014 overview part 6 The cutest death of them all

As the season overview drags on (I am now in the second half of it, I swear) I cover another block of moe shows. However given that moe is such a nebulous concept you don't don't know if the show contains magical sniper rifles or not just by calling it moe (in one case here it does). So I will just have to review each show individually.

Coffin Princess Chaika

This show is about the adventures of a girl wizard and a brother and sister team of saboteurs. This show looks like it could be a really fun fantasy adventure show. Even though there is a magical girlfriend in this show the main male character still has some competence which is a nice change of pace. It doesn't look like there are many pretensions in this show so if you are looking for some lighthearted fun this could be a good show for you.

No game no Life

Sora and Shiro are a pair of game freak siblings who are transported to a game world. No game no Life is an interesting looking show but it is hard to figure out where this show is headed. I find Sora to be one of the more interesting male protagonists that I have seen in a while. There is a clearly strange relationship between the brother and sister but I am unclear to where they are headed with it as well. So far I give this show a hopeful positive review although I am a bit uncertain about it.

Kanojo ga Flag wo Oraretara

This is the story of a boy who can see people's fates as small flags on their heads. Even though this show only has two girls the opening and ending show that this show will be more of a traditional harem show. The three characters that have bee introduced so far aren't that particularly interesting. If you like a brainless fan service show you might like this show.

spring 2014 season overview part five Island of little girls

While I usually like to choose my title to be something that spans several titles the last scene from black bullet to be something that really takes the cake for me. In this batch of shows there are two that I might continue watching and a short show.

The comic artist and assistants

This is the story of a perverted manga artist and the women who work with him. Although this show last about twelve minutes watching it made me fell like I watched three episodes of a four minute long show back to back. As most of the jokes center around on how the manga artist is a pervert I wonder exactly how varied the jokes in future episodes will be.

The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior

Usa (just a guy not the country) is a high school student who stays in a crazy apartment complex because I girl he likes lives there as well. While this looks like it may be a Love Hina knock off at first glance I found this show has enough good humor and good animation to make the show worth watching. I find it good that there are also some decent characters who aren't love interests in the cast.

Black Bullet

 It is ten years after an insect apocalypse Rentaro is a gun totting mercenary with a super little girl side kick. This is a show with a little bit of everything as the first episode contains both a battle with a giant monster spider and weird high jinks between the two main characters.  I found this show to be rather fun and looks to be fun in the future. 

spring 2014 season overview part four friendship through cockfighting

One thing that has been a bit of an oddity is that this season I have been able to theme my previews for some strange reason even though I wasn't planning on it beforehand. This time I am covering kid fighting shows, the genre that teaches about friendship through magical cockfighting.

Dragon Collection

This time the protagonist get's trapped in a fantasy video game about collecting dragons. While I will say that it isn't the most thought provoking of shows this show is probably the least painful of the three here to get through if you are above the age of ten. It is nice in that it is tightly paced and vibrant. I would almost call it a poor man's One Piece in a way, but there is real rubber pirate action anywhere you care to check so this is probably going to be my last viewing of the show.

Oreca Battle

Another little kid collecting and fighting show. Just about anything you could say about Dragon Collection you can say about this show as well, that is unless you consider snide remarks about how this kids parents let him dress like a cat in pubic.

Hero Bank

A young boy is saddled with an enormous debt and forced to pay it off in the gladiatorial ring. This show is a bit different from the others in not only is the kid fighting himself (albeit in a super suit) it is about the length of most anime shows. This show also has a strage Scrooge Mcduck-esque facination with money. I might decide to continue with this show if there is something I feeling like watching Ironically.

Spring 2014 season overview part 3 dead and forgotten

I know I planned to have this episode up yesterday afternoon but few things can ruin the plans of mice and men like an unexpected retro gaming binge. However I have a brief overview of three more shows and this time they have a common theme of magic and girlfriends because the coming of age story of boy meets girl just almost needs some sort of magical twist.

The irregular at magic school

In the future there is magic used for wars and thus schools to teach magic. This show is a light novel adaptation with harem elements (in the first episode there is a clingy little sister and three other possible girlfriend types. Way to much of the first episode was set up so there is little indication of where it will be heading although it gives me not that much faith in the writing.

Brynhild in the darkness

Ryota had a childhood friend who died but a new girl who just like her who knows his possible death. I found this movie to have some pretty decent set up even though it still is your standard girl with magic powers shows up and hangs around your average high school boy. From the looks of the opening there are other elements that haven't been introduced yet and the show looks like it may take a dark turn.

One week friends

Hase wants to become friends with Fujimiyai but there is one problem, Fujimiya forgets her memories every Monday. This is a show that gave me a great sense of hope for future episodes. I find it hard to tell if the show is more of a romance or slice of life show but either way the show feels a lot more heartfelt than many anime shows of either genre. The art style of the show is a bit offbeat but I found it works with the show. I will definitely be watching future episodes of this show.