Written by Shiggins
Am I late?
I don't know days anymore! What year is it?! WHERE AM I?! The days go on and on and I'm stuck here in this void of time where misery and monotony skip hand-in-hand as this cycle never ends! ....Anyway, let's talk about some of the new anime that started this season and if any are worth sticking with! Yay, anime! I'm fine! Ha ha ha! I'm totally fine!
Uzaki-Chan wa Asobitai
If I had to guess why I went with Uzaki-Chan first, it's probably because I knew it was going to be completely inconsequential. It wouldn't anger me, it wouldn't engage me, it would be over and done with ease and nothing of value lost. Tragically however, that does make it rather difficult to talk about but I'll certainly do my best.
The story is as barebones as can be. Hana Uzaki is a student with big boobs and lots of energy, who sees her "senpai" Shinuichi Sakurai constantly alone with no friends or desire to make any. So she decides to take it upon herself to give him someone to hang out with by spending the day with him.
You can see why there's so little to talk about here. There isn't a plot, just two characters going from location to location and engaging in light-hearted humour. Oh look, she ate his food. Oh look, she's embarrassing him in public due to a massage chair and her boob-movements. Oh look, people keep mistaking the two for a couple. I'm not too proud to admit I got a few chuckles, but the animation is a bit too slow and quiet. For something like this to work, I feel a faster Baka to Test or Ouran Highschool Host Club pace would be better. Not painful by any means, but it's basically what I expected and I feel like I'd rather just binge through the chapters than sit through the episodes. Harmless enough though.
Gibiate
When an anime's first scene shows both a creepy spider and a girl in a bath, you're in for either a great or bad time. Gibiate is a bad time, which is extremely disappointing for me since this was one of the few on this list I knew about beforehand and wanted to check out. And it must be said that any story that comes out right now is going to feel very awkward to watch if it's main premise involves a disease that's wiping out humanity.
In the year 2030, the world has been almost wiped out by a new disease that turns people into different kinds of monsters depending on their age, sex and race. These monsters are known as Gibia. A girl named Kathleen Funada is one of the survivors fighting to create a vaccine, and help for her cause comes in the form of a samurai and a ninja from the Edo period who have somehow arrived in 2030's Tokyo.
The atmosphere is very off in Gibiate, constantly feeling weird and confused about what it's doing. For example, the two guys from the Edo period were on a raft which was attacked by a storm and sent them to 2030, which is fair enough, but everyone seems very unbothered by this fact as if it doesn't matter in any way. I swear, Kathleen acted like they came from a different city, not a different time period. The fight scene is another example, with these characters going against a spiky-pig Gibia, but everyone moves so slowly and the monster is made of horrible 3D CGI so it ends up looking absolutely awful, which happens so many times in anime these days. And between these odd scenes, the lack of anything resembling charm or wit, and the massive dumps of exposition, I can't recommend Gibiate to anyone. Despite how good the mascara on that samurai looks.
Kanojo, Okarishimasu
The funny thing about this series is that, unlike Uzaki-Chan, I went into Kanojo thinking it would be one thing and was immediately blindsided by the truth. The picture I saw was colourful and shining, and so I came prepared for this season's "pure" anime, all about love and romance and glitter and such... yeah, no this is way hornier.
Main protagonist Kazuya Kinoshita is dumped by his one-month-long girlfriend for another guy, and in his vulnerable state decides to sign up for an app that allows you to "rent a girlfriend" for the day. The girl he dates, Chizuru Mizuhara, is beautiful, friendly and practically steals his heart, which causes him to become unfairly upset when he remembers it's an act and tries to confront her about it. Thankfully, her real side isn't taking that crap! However, the situation becomes even more crazy in a hospital.
When I talked earlier about how Uzaki-Chan needed more speed, this is basically what I meant. Bigger expressions, faster animation! Kanojo's comedic timing and pacing is much more suited to anime, at least for me personally. I also liked Chizuru herself, as well as how quickly Kazuya was made to realise he was wrong. There's definitely some strong writing in this pseudo-Nisekoi story. So this one was actually fun, and I might check it out if I can deal with another harem-romance. If you are as well, this might be a suitably silly one to check out.
After the first three on this list, I was starting to worry about our anime season. I needed something big and fun and exciting and that I'd want to keep watching no matter what! And just as I felt like giving up, in comes The God of High School! Crunchyroll's newest original anime, and exactly what I needed to reinvigorate myself!
In a modern setting where literal Gods just seem to exist, multiple characters that are all worthy to hold the title of protagonist are entering a martial arts tournament so they can get a wish granted by one of the Gods. Our main character is a literal-starry-eyed guy named Jin Mo-Ri, who comes across muscle-lover Yu Mi-Ra and super-serious Han Dae-Wi, while trying to stop a thief. And then the tournament begins!
Pretty much everything about this first episode made me happy. The modern soundtrack by Arisa Okehazama, the designs of every character we get to see briefly but who will surely be important later, and the amount of energy displayed by every scene. The bike chase through the city is hilarious and painful, and there is a fantastic near-one-shot featuring all theese unique characters and their fighting styles that has me intrigued for the future episodes far more than any exposition dump ever could. I'd say my only real complaint is that this is another "grant your wish" premise by Crunchyroll, which now means we might end up comparing this to Tower of God before the longest year of our lives is over.
The Misfit of Demon King Academy
Let's get the schools out of the way, and hopefully this is the last one. I hear a lot of people enjoy this series and, while I don't think it's as bad as Gibiate or many others I've seen, I really don't see the appeal of sticking with it either. If the other episodes are more interesting, let me know but this is purely about the first episode and... yawn.
In a world of fantasy, there was once an evil demon king named Anos Voldigord, who waged a war for hundreds of years. Now, he's reincarnated and enters the Delsgade School, while finding out that the world of magic has declined without his presence, and plans to bring back his domain and rule. And then he meets the main girl of the series, a bully who is the little brother of a royal, and then the royal himself tries to attack Anos.
A factor that stood out for me is how lacking in creativity this school for demons seems to be. Anime love their demons and their schools, and the two have mixed multiple times with some proving more successful than others. The World God Only Knows and Mairimashita! Iruma-kun immediately come to mind, and Misfit just has nothing else going for it. And honestly, that's basically how the rest of the episode feels to me. Not awful to sit through, but pretty boring. And the main protagonist is that trope I hate, where he's perfect and can win everything without even trying thanks to his "Everything-Proof Shield" crap. Lastly, the world is just poorly thought-out, and the parents feel like they're from a completely different anime. By the end, all this series managed to do was make me want to put on Devil is a Part-Timer again.
Deca-Dence
As I watch yet another anime about our world that was torn apart by monsters suddenly appearing and killing off the population, I start to get very worried about the creativity of anime right now. Between the countless piles of isekai, the fact we've had two "of God" anime by the same company in a row, and now this premise again, things are really starting to look bleak. Thankfully, unlike Gibiate, this one is actually enjoyable to watch.
Once again, humanity is nearing it's extinction because a random assortment of monsters, this time called Gadolls, and the survivors are living inside a moving fortress like that one from the Peter Jackson film that nobody saw. Main character Natsume dreams of joining the Gears so she can be a soldier, but her missing arm makes her unqualified so she is assigned under the care of a cleaner named Kaburagi, who is yet another gruff older guy who smokes a lot and has a secret past in a media that seems nearly populated by them.
It's clear that Deca-Dence has at least put a lot of effort into the tired premise it's stuck with. Some of the monsters are actually decently designed, the Attack on Titan-esque action is given a contrived but effective reason to exist, and I like Natsume a lot. She's spunky and quirky and has a lot of movement going on in her expressions, which isn't surprising since the studio behind this also made FLCL Alternative and we've clearly got some influence going on here. I'm sad at how little there is going on here that's unique and gives Deca-Dence an identity of it's own, but it does at least work and was fun while it lasted. Also, the soundtrack has fiddles. And let me as blunt as I can... Fiddles are awesome. Use a fiddle in your story, and it's guaranteed to be 60% better at the very least.
Ninja Collection
This one was five minutes long, and I didn't even finish it. It moves like a visual novel. It's got a filter over it. It looks like crap. It sounds like crap. The plot? Who cares! I don't! What an awful display. Get me out of here!
And what a way to end this damned season...
Shiggins:[Admin]
.
Born under the stars of the Dark Gods, Shiggins owns the power of the Great Eye and is utterly magnificent in his omniscience. If you dare to discover more about someone as great as him, then go ahead. And to all my friends and family members, YOU are wrong and I should be disappointed! Not the other way round!,. You can find out about him or ask him stuff on ask.fm/shigginsishere or go to his tumblr page http://otakugajeel.tumblr.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment