Animation Revelation's Animation Blog

Arpeggio of Blue Steel: Ars Nova

20 years in the future, humanity has fallen into utter disarray due to ecological disasters and the appearance of the Fleet of Fog, mysterious boats that have cut off all communication and sea transport in most of the Pacific. Enter Gunzo Chihaya, captain of a stolen Fog submarine and his crew of Gecko State and Final Fantasy X-2 rejects. Also on-board (literally) is Iona, a strange cold aloof girl, who just happens to be a projection of the boat’s on board AI. Naturally her “sisters” (ie: the other Fog boat avatars) are not thrilled about the decision Iona has made to betray them and as such are drawn to her like magnets. There’s also something about an experimental warhead being developed in the States but that’s just a McGuffin. You’re only here for the moe vocaloid boats, right?

Basically Ars Nova is, when you boil it down, Rozen Maiden on the high seas. Artificial girls trying to kill each other with Iona as Shinku and Gunzo as Jun. The plot, what little there is, is pretty damn generic, spending much of the 24 minute runtime of Episode 1 on a flashback to how Gunzo got the sub that only accentuates how bizarrely suggestive the whole situation is (“board me captain!”). Its dull, its contrite, its pretty darn forgetable.

If anything, what the show does best is its naval battles (what few there are). Studio Sanzigen made a name for themselves for fast paced action animation with Black Rock Shooter and it carries over to Ars Nova rather well. However there just isn’t enough of it and the rest of the show elicit the same level of interest. — Lord Dalek

Second Opinion!

So, in keeping with my ‘give a fair share’ policy when it comes to current anime, I decided to check out Arpeggio of Blue Steel, the all (cel-shaded) CG anime of the season. Now, granted I have yet to read the manga, but from what I’ve heard its some good stuff. Anyway, opening scene: Thrill at the explosions!

In a future where Al Gore’s pipe dreams happened and Earth is practically a whole ocean world leaving the survivors of humanity adrift with a mysterious ‘Fleet of Fog’ patrolling the waters. The focus of the series is on Submarine I-401 and its bridge crew of about 4-5. This submarine has a computer android avatar named Iona, who looks like a Vocaloid; in fact every female character in this remind me of Vocaloids for some reason.

I love the battle sequences and backgrounds, where the CG work is actually impressive. However, it is slightly less successful is the rest of the animation, especially with the characters. Granted, it is still ambitious that they went this way with it, given the visual shortcomings. Characters are jerky in motion and rather uncanny valley at times. I am sure that this was great in concept, but falls short a bit in execution, which is surprising that the production studio Sangaizen has been known as the to-go team for 3D CG work in anime for the past few years. This is exemplified by several moments where I have to remind myself that this isn’t video game cut-scenes that I am watching.

The story rather amounts to a ‘in media res’ with an extended flashback. The main character is Gunzo Chihaya, a top student at a Japanese naval academy.  He awakens the I-401 and its avatar Iona one day when on a tour of its facilities. Iona, driven by the plot mainly, goes to see Gunzo and implores him to become her captain. He agrees to this and helps Iona to escape with the submarine, though the cost is that they are fugitives. Then, it cuts back to the present with Gunzo and Iona reaching temporary safety, and the bridge crew revealed to be some of school friends. Interesting, so far….

The episode ends with the introduction to several other ships in ‘The Fleet of Fog’ as they have been sent to track down Iona. They include: Takao (blue-haired babe), Kongou (elegant ojou-sama) and Maya (impatient loli) among others.

Overall, a rather good introduction to this story, and I am intrigued to find out more. It makes me want to check out the manga for sure. It will take some time to get used to the cel-shaded CG but its not too much of a bother. — The Eclectic Dude

BlazBlue: Alter Memory

Anime based on videogames tend to be a mixed bag. Oftentimes they’re overglorified commercials for the game(s) they’re based on and are only really entertaining if you’re familiar with the source material beforehand. In the case of fighting game anime, instead of doing the smart thing and making an adaptation of the games’ events and storyline told in a more cohesive and comprehensible fashion to compensate for their source materials lack of a sufficient method to tell a consistent plot, they tend to only take the most basic premise of whatever stories their source material has and take huge liberties with both the story and characters, often alienating fans and newcomers alike. But what happens when a fighting game that’s very much an anime in spirit and tone, that’s known for its in-depth  story finally becomes an anime?

This premiere episode follows the generically cool protagonist with the ridiculously awesome over-the-top name of Ragna the Bloodedge, a notorious outlaw with a large sword, an even larger bounty, and an axe to grind against the world order known as the Novus Orbis Libarium (N.O.L) oh, and he has a mysterious right arm that slowly drains the life out of anyone who touches it, that’s gotta be a pain.  After destorying one of the NOL branches, he heads out to destroy another branch in a city known as Kagutsuchi at the suggestion of  mysterious loli vampire Rachel Alucard. His venture in Kagutsuchi lead him into encounters with clueless yet well-meaning catgirl Taokaka, -An NOL officer with a startling resemblance to his long-lost younger sister who goes by the name Noel Vermillion, and a battle with his brother and rival-Jin Kisaragi. The episode ends as Ragna comes face-to-face with a mysterious armored samurai who introduces himself as Hakumen, who then unsheathes his sword and draws in to put an end to our anti-heroic protagonist as the episode ends on a cliffhanger. Oh, and timeloops are invovled and Ragna got killed by an eyepatch-wearing psycho loli in an earlier loop.

Viewers new to the Blazblue franchise will no doubt be very confused as to what the hell is going on. Other than establishing the main characters and setting, and a small bit of Ragna’s backstory, almost nothing is explained or elaborated upon. Terms such as “Azure Grimoire”, “Cauldron” and “Ars Magus” are thrown about wily nily as if the viewer would already be familiar with them. While this was the case for many first time players back when Blazblue was new, Alter Memory doesn’t have the novelty of prose text  to explain what any of these things are. Not even the backstory of the Blazblue world, which could have easily taken the place of the OP or ED, is given any detail. It’s more than likely they’re saving the exposition for the next episode, but it would be nice if the anime at least told newcomers some backstory before throwing out in-series terminology.  However, it should be noted that this was the case for many first time players who started with the original Blazblue. The fact that they’re going for a similar approach for the anime, when the story of the first game already has a retelling that would’ve have been much easier to adapt included in an upgrade to the sequel puzzles me, especially since the methods the game used to help players figure out the story wouldn’t work as well in an anime. Speaking as a fan of the games, the pacing felt way too fast and disjointed, even more so than the first game the anime is (supposedly) adapting. One minute Ragna is startled by the appearance of someone who resembles his sister, and the next he’s walking inside a large base without any proper transition. Likewise character introductions felt rather flat, with little to no fanfare. As a result, characterization suffers, and the charm of their game counterparts is largely missing. Dialogue also felt bland, lacking the wit and humour of the source material, no Ragna barging in on enemy territory while shouting out “Pizza delivery!” here! Granted some of this may be just be on Funi’s part, so I guess I can let it slide.

Despite how overly critical I may sound, the anime still has a fair amount of good points. The art and animation are decent looking, Prior to Alter Memory, Blazblue had anime openings and cutscenes done by different studios over the years, from Production I.G (who’s cutscene and opening animations were very good), to GONZO (who’s cutscenes and animation were…not that good). TeamKG and Hoods Entertaint are somewhere in the middle, a lot of room for improvement, but still preferable compared to past embarresments. The voice acting was pretty good, with all of the voice actor’s from the games reprising their roles here. The anime also didn’t  make the common mistake of trying to cram all of the cast into a single episode, which would have made the premiere feel more cluttered than it already was. And when all is said and done, the first episode managed to do one of the most important things a first episode should do: It made look forward to the next episode.  One thing of note is the soundtrack, which is mostly comprised of music from the games remixed by doujin-group Arte Refact, is excellent, and was easily one of the biggest highlights. If there’s one thing about Blazblue that I reccomend, it’s the soundtrack, and Alter Memory’s OST shows a lot of promise. If nothing else, the anime is already a contender for the best OST of the year.
Being an adaptation of a fighting game, the fights are obviously going to be important. There were only two fights in this first episode. While the first fight with Ragna and psycho loli was underwhelming, the fight between Ragna and Jin was decently animated aside from a certain brief moment, and easily the other big highlight of the episode.  Given the crazy things the Blazblue cast can do, one can only hope future battles will be more spectacular and over-the-top.

Overall, while I can’t say if Alter Memory is ultimately going to be a good adaptation or not, I can say that it’ll  be faithful to the source material. The screenshot pictured above shows that they at least want to try making a good adaptation. And hey, if Alter Memory’s success leads to more faithful fighting game adaptations over more haremshit light-novel adaptations, then that can only be a good thing in my book. If you’re a fan of Blazblue like myself, then you’re probably gonna stick around to see where this goes. If you’re a newcomer to the franchise who wants to get into the games, or just another anime watcher, I suggest giving it a couple more episodes before making a final decision on it. — Rynnec

Galilei Donna

Three of Galileo Galilei’s descendants are being hunted down by some mysterious organization, and this trio just happens to look like Asuna’s hellspawn. Pardon for being a dullard, but anytime anything vaguely futuristic appears combined with the familiar art style makes me think this is Sword Art Redux. A redhead appears late in the episode to rob the family, and I’m confused as to why Klein’s a burglar. Maybe the character designer is having Hirai syndrome. The art for the mecha is much more interesting though. Something about mecha resembling marine life makes the fight scenes look like fishes dancing in the water. It sucks that these scenes only appear for about a tenth of the episode though.

Call me a sucker for steampunk, but I’d give this one a shot. Who would say no to sky pirates, anyway? Yeah, the “Galileo’s descendants” plot sounds pretty dumb when you think about it—implying the Galilei bloodline never branched out for the last four centuries—but it’s as good a reason as any to make the main character a tinkerer. I know I shouldn’t judge a show purely on aesthetics, but a goldfish mecha is something that undoubtedly raises a show from okay to brilliant. All right, I can’t say it’s brilliant just yet. But as far as season premieres go this fall, Galilei Donna was one of the better offerings.

Also, I like the show avoids the dead parents cliché by making it a bit of a family drama between everybody. The mom’s established as stern while the dad’s more of a pushover, and I appreciate the anime for establishing them right off the bat instead of turning them into saints who were unjustly taken from their children’s lives too soon. Too many anime use that trope where the parents have to be the best people to ever exist on the earth, while having the downside of being buried beneath the earth. To me, that limits character relations and makes things too black and white. So having the daughters take issue with their parents as well as Galileo’s legacy can hopefully offer some nice tension.

And I could have liked the villain of this episode if not for the fact that he’s voiced by Araragi. His voice is so identifiable now that I keep associating him with endless introspection and spinal contortions. He has great dialogue though. Maybe I’ll like him more if I kill the part of my brain that remembers Monogatari. — Bloody Marquis

Gingitsune

I didn’t really care to know what to expect when I watched Gingitsune.  The only thing that stood out for me was that it would involve a Shinto priestess, and other than that it didn’t seem all too intriguing.  Then once the episode ended, all I can say is colour me surprised.

Most of the premiere revolved around establishing the dynamic between our two protagonists Makoto Saeki, the aforementioned Shinto priestess and Gintaro, an anthropomorphic silver fox she can only see who serves as a herald to the gods at the shrine Makoto and her widower father maintain.  Makoto listens to other people’s issues, fortunes, or what have you while Gintaro divines what may or may not happen and advises Makoto on what to say.  Judging from the events of this episode, involving a missing cat and botched relationship advice, it serves admirably in establishing the setting and tone for the show: one mystical, unequivocally sweet and lacking in cynicism.

Makoto and Gintaro come off as a markedly engaging pair, not so much as a set of mystic lovers but moreso a divine deity uncle looking after his favourite niece.  The former means incredibly well, is inordinately sweet-natured, while being flawed like regular people.  The latter while quite powerful is markedly lackadaisical and brusque, but maintains a strong sense of friendship to the young lady because of events that happened long ago.  They play off each other really well and you can tell their relationship is one of genuine trust and understanding.

That genuine trust and understanding helps permeate the show with the aforementioned sweetness and lack of cynicism.  There is a very distinctive Totoro-style vibe, where faith and the supernatural are present and not frowned upon, and that there is an innate goodness and innocence in human nature despite people’s flaws.  It may seem a bit saccharine and artificial, but based upon the performances of the seiyuu and the way the story is handled, it never comes off that way.  It will be interesting to see where this turns in later episodes, especially if the opening and presence of heralds in other shrines are any indication.

Yeah sure it lacks the peculiar bleakness of Coppellion or the over-the-top flair of Kill La Kill, Gingitsune’s gregariously good-natured attitude is endearing and makes me eager to watch more.  May good fortune smile upon this show indeed. — The Juude

Gundam Build Fighters

So we’ve finally come to it at last, the Gundam show about Gundam toy commercials. HOW COULD THEY DO THIS IS TO US?!? Thirty years of teen angst and apocalyptic mass destruction and what Sunrise give in return?!?

… a surprisingly entertaining, funny show that realizes its just selling toys and doesn’t care about it.

Not kidding, I liked it.

Our blue haired hero is Sei Iori, son of the legendary Gunpla Fighter Takeshi, who once wasted a Psycho Gundam with a single RX-78. Sei builds models that are as screen accurate (yes we’re in the real world here where Gundam is just a tv show) as the ones in the ads, but he’s terrible at actually using them in Gunpla fights. Things begin to change when he meets a strange foreigner named Reiji who gives him a leg up in battles despite not knowing what a Gunpla or Gundam is for that matter.

Oh and Ramba Ral shows up! No really!

Gundam Build Fighters is something I should hate considering its basically just Bakugan with Gundams. But… somehow… it works… it really works. The storyline is literally nothing yet its fun. Remember when Gundam was fun? Seems like soooo long ago… if ever (AND DON’T SAY SDGF!). Considering the mire the apparently now ended MBS-era fell into, we could use a little fun to usher in Gundam’s new home at TV Tokyo (I tend to divide periods of the franchise’s existence by what channels they were running on at the time). So turn your brain off and just take it for what it is. — Lord Dalek

Second Opinion!

Build Fighters is the most daring thing to come out of Gundam since Turn-A (AGE and SEED Destiny could’ve counted but don’t because the former fucked itself over big time and the latter because it’s Gundam SEED Destiny).   I could not help but feel a bit of joy while watching this.  You’d think Bandai/Sunrise would kinda skimp on budget, concept, etc., but the first episode was a very competent package with a lot of genuine love for those garish, aesthetically pleasing, marketable robots.

Iori Sei provides a nice change in the typical Gundam protagonist.  For all his passion for Gunpla, plus a dad who was 2nd place in the International Gunpla Battle tournament, he’s not at all good at the sport.  That changes when a strange boy named Reiji aids him in not only winning his first Gundam battle, but provides mysterious assistance whenever Iori needs him.  How this will develop I’m not quite sure.  The only thing I’m really worried about is if Iori doesn’t develop his skills and keeps utilizing Reiji as a deus ex machina in order to win.  That would not be cool, seeing as how the most awesome Gundam heroes eventually realize themselves in the best possible way.  Hopefully Iori ends up the same way.

Here’s to hoping the same joy I got out of this episode permeates throughout the rest of its run.  Also give us more awesome classic mobile suits in glorious HD.  Wing Gundam in HD?  Amazing. — The Juude

Koroshiya-san: The Hired Gun

Hoo boy another anime with nobody interested in streaming or subbing it for Western consumption.  I’d avoid but… it was only three minutes.

Wish I had those three minutes back because yegads.  Based on a 4-koma by the same name, the anime apparently revolves around a killer and his relationship with a number of other people.  Within that span of 180 seconds we waste it on a minute of intro, a minute of him faffing around cleaning up after a kill and chastising a boy for calling him old.  Then there’s about 30 seconds of him getting a haircut, then a promotion about possessed bento.  Then it ends.

This anime requires a termination of services for wasting its three minutes.  Don’t care if it’s based on a 4-koma, the Hired Gun needs to be fired. — The Juude

Magi: The Kingdom of Magic

Picking up where we left off from Labyrinth… The two Al’s (-addin and -ibaba) and ex-slave/tsundere Morgiana are back in Sindria, home of smooth guy and uber king Sinbad. Princess Dunya is also arround but dying a slow painful death due to the presence of the dark metal fragments she impaled herself with back in the Dark Djinn storyline. Aladdin tries to cure her with the wisdom of Solomon but it is all for naught. Depressed at his failure, Aladdin makes a surprise announcement to Ali and Morg that he is leaving, bound for the magician nation of Magnostadt.

Not wasting any time with any sort of recap, Magi 2 may actually be the biggest challenge for newcomers this season. True its only episode 26, but if you haven’t seen the previous 25 then A-1 isn’t giving you a life preserver with its in medias res approach to shonen show storytelling. This is especially complicated by the fact that Daisuki is now simulcasting this show despite never having run the first season at all (then again the dub is coming out in a couple weeks on Neon Alley which may explain the absence) so if you want to watch this show, then Kingdom of Magic seriously is not the best place to start.

That being said, its still Magi and Magi was one of the most popular shonen shows of last year for a reason. It manages to balance such lighthearted elements as Aladdin’s bizarre eating habits and sexfiend nature with moments of sheer utter hopelessness. A textbook example coming in this episode where Aladdin goes from fondling Dunya to fighting an ultimately futile battle to save her life. The setup for this season also has a darker feel with the dungeon clearing gone and the original trio broken up, perhaps for good.

I liked the first season of Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic a lot and the fact that it hasn’t lost much of a beat from the original series is a good sign that I’ll enjoy Kingdom too. Shame though that owner Aniplex seems completely disinterested on getting it a decent response in the US though. =/ — Lord Dalek

Meganebu!

Five young men who apparently shop at the same place as the Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure cast and go to the high school down the street from the Baka and Testers love their glasses. They love them so much that they have created their very own Glasses Club to extol the virtues of glasses not as a fashion item but as an important commodity in modern day living. To that end they spend the episode trying to build a pair of X-ray specs to look at naked women without taking their clothes off….this is a classy show people.

So basically Meganebu is what you get when a bunch of head honchos at Studio Deen see Animation Do’s infamous Sexy Swimming trailer and decide “Hey! KyoAni will never make Fujoshi bait this blatant! We’ve got this!” Then Kyoto Animation actually does make Free! and that show turns out to be actually good, which only highlights how bad Meganebu! is (and lord is it bad). The cast is basically two shota’s, one tsun, one sempai, and the leader is pimp-kun. This being Deen, they’re all idiots and they’re basically just spending the episode wasting time and their lives away. Hooray!

Visually the show is a clusterfuck. Everybody wears bright neon colors which the “artistes” at Dean can’t seem to fill in completely, so you end up seeing rectangular splotches all over the place in 1080p. Backgrounds are similarly inconsistent switching from that polka-dot shading motif popular in moe shows a couple years ago to just regular ones. Oh and the soundtrack somehow manages to rip off Gatchaman Crowds. No really!

I never thought I’d see a -bu show worse than Going Home Club but Meganebu! comes damn close. Let us never speak of it again. — Lord Dalek

My Mental Multiple-Choice Power Is Completely Ruining My School Romantic Comedy

This… is amazing.

No, not Noucome (a.k.a. Ore no Nōnai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen Love Come o Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru/ My mental choices are completely interfering with my school romantic comedy), God no.  It is the fact that I have never seen an anime just turn in quality moments after the opening ends.  It just…  Wow.  I cannot believe what I saw.

Apparently one Amakusa Kanade, is beset by a mysterious malady that forces him to make one of two absurd choices lest he be beset by pain.  BEFORE the opening, it involved an amusing choice that felt right in establishing the rather absurdist tone of the show.  Then, after a weird two-minute spiel about the magic of choices which baffles and amuses, the gimmick just wears off…

…No it doesn’t wear off as so much as it… dies.  The entire premiere involves nothing but classroom banter between him and two weird girls who he’ll definitely share screentime with, and then he gets into that choice dilemma three times or so and makes an ass out of himself in front of the class.  They all were incredibly forced, without context, and doesn’t propel anything forward.  “OH!  HE HAS TO PICK THE LESSER EVIL SO HE WILL AND MAKES ASS OF HIMSELF!  FUNNY!!!!!!”  seems to be the idea of the day, and it’s a bad idea since… it feels like it’s done for sake of being done and not at all establishing a deeper relationship dynamic with anybody of note (except the not-Becky Miyamoto who knows of his condition.  Best character of the show?  Possibly).

Then it just ends with him having to choose between having a girl fall from the sky and apparently getting crushed by a fat lady.  Obviously he chooses incorrectly, and now we have an elegant gothic Lolita blonde as part of the cast.  If anything he probably should’ve chose death, but the anime throws you another set of choices between continuing to watch Noucome or not.

May I suggest the latter five times over, and consign it to some dark recess of hell. — The Juude

Non Non Biyori

As quirky recorder music fills your ears with the nostalgia of youth, you’re introduced to a menagerie of girls.  Each girl is with their own quirks and personalities, and each play off each other with a modicum of intrigue and amusement.  Add a girl from a faraway place trying to adjust to life in a new setting, and you got a recipe for something swell.  It’s eccentricity within the banality of school life, and it gives rise into something that you can’t help but be sucked into as—

Wait…  That was the first episode of Azumanga Daioh.  Non Non Biyori’s first episode is NOTHING like that.  The anime about a quintet of girls living in the countryside is actually quite boring and inoffensive.  There lacks a certain self-induced kinesis to their day-to-day lives and none have much of a screen presence in its bucolic setting.  Not even the new kid provides a light of brilliance or intrigue when she enters into the fray.  The only real highlights of this first episode are that one of them has a tanuki, and the girls led the newcomer to a nice spot with a blooming cherry blossom tree.  That’s… pretty much it.  I do not really have much faith that things will pick up.

As I said in my Aikatsu review, you can do better, you can do worse, or you can just do.  This series just does in spades, and it’s a shame since Non Non Biyori looks and sounds nice.  However that can only go so far, and it only makes it out the doorstep with barely a shuffle across the floor.  Wouldn’t say avoid but… wouldn’t say tune in so… dites-vous “Non Non” a Non Non Biyore. — The Juude

Samurai Flamenco

So a cop named Goto finds a naked kid in the alley. Then this scene plays again after the opening because the intended audience has razor-thin attention spans. After that, most of the episode is just the two main characters talking about wanting to be heroes in the middle of watching toku. Whereas that might sound a bit boring, seeing two guys watch people in spandex kicking each other while relating it to their own lives feels quite bittersweet. And be honest, I know some of you people have done that a few times recently.

Since the show is so intent on allusions to a certain Japanese superhero, I’ll talk about its spiritual forefather of sorts. The reason Kamen Rider is so grounded in modern Japanese culture is because of how he overcomes adversity. The first guy Takeshi Hongo gets taken by terrorists and turned into a cyborg, while having to duke it out with other unlucky victims of his adversaries. And despite that, he’s not a grim anti-hero, but a symbol of hope in ever increasing darkness. The idea that the lowest of us can become heroes is something that I suppose keeps the franchise going to this day, and Samurai Flamenco knows that. When Goto and his friend watch their show, they admire what it says no matter how outdated the fight scenes look or how cheesy the plots are.

I’m also intrigued by how the show contrasts the Showa type of hero with the modern, pretty boy version. While the latter is shoved into a world of photography and gravure idolatry, the main character genuinely wants to be a hero of the old days. That scene where he gets beaten up by a bunch of teenagers for his efforts really shows that contrast, especially when his words of justice get answered with a blunt kick. While both eras are heavily stylistic, the show argues that the present era yearns for the substance the past had. This is far from an alien opinion, but it’s odd for a show to actually say it out loud. Though it appears the show’s trying to say that trying to be old school is no match for the genuine article, I foresee a more optimistic tone in future episodes proving that old ways can still be passed on to new generations. — Bloody Marquis

Tesagure! Bukatsu-mono

I’m perplexed nobody wants to stream or sub this show for official release.  No, I do not really want to watch it raw, since unlike Gaist Crushers there probably isn’t much visually for me to glean the plot, never mind I’m rusty on most of my Japanese to decipher it, and yet…  watch it’s opening.

Yeah maybe my Japanese is a bit rusty but that minute-long opening is fairly accurate in its lyrics.  Nobody’s intrigued with a show so damn honest about what it is all about?  I reiterate that is perplexing.  Does it betray our expectations and the show is actually boring/obnoxious/stupid as hell or something?  Let me know.  Just… let me the fuck know, because this opening…  This opening! — The Juude

Tokyo Ravens

Ho boy, here’s an anime with a mysterious Japanese governmental agency who specializes in stemming the tide against dark magic and a reluctant protagonist with a complicated relationship between two girls.  Sure sounds like a real success story, I say with a hint of sarcasm and uncertainty, but Tokyo Ravens seems to do quite well with itself, despite not doing anything TOO spectacular from the get go.

Instead of throwing the viewer into the thick of things, Tokyo Ravens focuses on getting us to know the hero, Harutaro.  He fits the role of the reluctant protagonist to the T, for despite his connections to one of the biggest families in the onmyo mage business (what with this promise to be the ‘familiar’ to his childhood friend Natsume), he says he doesn’t have the skills or the wherewithal to be such.  However, despite this he thankfully is not that “Oh I don’t care”-style of character but an “I’m content with where I am so why change that”-style.  He interacts with his thankfully supportive friends very well, and… doesn’t really do anything to insult but doesn’t do anything to REALLY impress either.

It is hard really to have an opinion for this other than it has… potential.  Things get intense near the end where the onmyo mage battles arrive at his hometown, and it turns out one of the top mages is on the lam, but other than that I cannot really make a definitive on whether it should be worth anybody’s time.

Come back to me after Episode 2 and maybe we’ll talk. — The Juude

Unbreakable Machine-Doll

I can’t say I really like the world-building in this show. It’s very barebones and relies on the viewer already having seen tons of supernatural media beforehand, which only hurts the show by being unfavorably compared to probably better works. I mean, the “guy goes to wizard school” plot has been done to death and then to being undead until after being reduced to some form of irreparable entropy. There are some interesting parts like the Joji Nakata dragon, but that’s not because of the writing but rather because it’s Joji Nakata. Everything is just bland and does nothing to entertain a fantasy fan. I couldn’t imagine why people would want to watch this…

Oh yes, the girls. You bastards will watch this for the girls. And they’re not very well-defined girls, with the blonde one talking to Kirei the Magic Dragon about how she can’t find a boyfriend who will lovr her. But that’s just progressive in comparison to Yaya, who always muses about her love for her master while speaking in the third person. Overall, it’s trash. Only works like these would have some poorly-handled fantasy story while peppering every element with fanservice antics. This show is for people who are too lazy to read Harry Potter fanfiction. Really, this reads exactly like those stories where Harry is some doormat self-insert while all the girls are interested in him. I can’t wait for the moment where he goes to the bath and meets the resident tsundere so will-they-or-won’t-they-but-probably-won’t fun happens between the two. I also savor for the episode where he falls and grabs someone’s boob, causing the dragon to light him on fire while he struggles to make an excuse. — Bloody Marquis

Valvrave The Liberator Second Season

The first season of Valvrave is memorable only for one thing: it’s by far the stupidest anime of the year that also brought us Sparrow’s Hotel. To summarize the “plot,” Space Nazi vampires are using giant flying waffle irons to attack a country run by mentally challenged children. To combat them, the kids use mechs powered by the protagonist’s sex drive. These robots will only work if he ingests another human being’s blood or has violent sex with them. I wish I was joking.

In the first season, Haruto (our “hero”), raped the only semi-intelligent character not named Eru-Erufu, and then they got married. Now, Saki, a once domineering go-getter, has become Haruto’s submissive waifu – her only wish is to be a dumpster for his angry vampire semen. That Elf guy aside, none of the other characters have intelligence quotients higher than 70, and are therefore not worth talking about. No amount of flashy, well-done space battles will change the fact that Valrvave is both insultingly stupid and disgustingly offensive. This show is only worth watching ironically, and even then you’d be better off with something that doesn’t think it’s being edgy. — Foggle

Voice Actor Force Voicetorm 7

This isn’t actually an anime, it’s more of a motion comic. A competently-made motion comic, with hilarious voice overs and music, but a motion comic nonetheless. The characters blink sometimes (at a stupidly fast rate), but that’s really about it as far as movement goes. As far as I can discern with my limited knowledge of Japanese and the lack of subtitles, this episode is about a bunch of voice actors hanging out at a bar who are convinced to become sentai heroes by the janitor when a sentient doujinshi-eating tree attacks Akihabara. They stop it with little effort and then there’s some weird live action part where the male cast talks to the audience. The end.

Even without being able to follow the dialogue, this series seems like it could be a bit of fun. It’s nice and colorful, and a lot of the artwork and audio are silly enough to be enjoyable on their own. That said, I can’t really recommend you check this out unless you speak Japanese (it will probably never be subbed), but there are worse ways to pass the time, I suppose. — Foggle

Walkure Romanze

Before watching this show:
I am the kind of dude who at least likes to give shows ‘a fair shake’, even if they turn out to be mediocre or just plain terrible. Well, when this show landed in my lap, I wasn’t exactly thrilled but eager for a challenge. Made by the creator of Princess Lover (another get-gal game adapted to anime) and produced by the same studio that is doing Infinite Stratos S2 this season (a get-gal LN adapted to anime which had a lackluster first season), so my expectations are uncharacteristically low to non-existent. Which is a shame, as the premise shows some promise: Guy goes to a school (Winford Academy) that specializes in jousting. The twist is that most of the knights are girls, or maiden knights, which should be evident by the title, roughly translated to Valkyrie Romance (cus anime has to have random german in it sometimes). So, I shall go into this with no expectation at all; let’s see if it can surprise me….

After watching this show:
Well, that wasn’t as bad as I thought. The opening scene with the jousting match is brief but amazing. To this show’s credit, the animation is rather solid for this kind of show and the music is quite good (i.e. Its at least noticeable and not wallpaper like most music in other harem series). The faint praise ends there as with the story and characters, it essentially boils down the episode to an introductory piece for the story and characters. First, there is the typical bland male main lead: Takahiro or Mr. Blandy McMehPants as I like to call him as he does next to nothing in the episode. There is some backstory on him” He ended up winning a tournament, but got injured at some point so had to switch over to other curriculum, being a begleiter akin to a squire of sorts.

Next, the harem of 5-6 girls appear with a few scenes what flimsy characterization they got. They have names, but I don’t bother to remember except as nicknames, which I shall list off here:
Pink meido carrot obsessed ditz (main girl to get on this route no doubt)
Gorgeous Student Prez Blondie
Dark-haired Lesbian handy with a sword (best kind of lesbian imho)
Sly Tomboy Brunette
Self-Confident Blonde Beauty (the haughty ojou-sama)

They are or will be competing for him to be their squire or something (begleiter cus it’s German lol). There is fanservice (plenty of T&A shots) to be sure, mostly caused by a rather antic-ridden horse, and certainly will be a mainstay for this show. The episode ends with Self Confident Blonde Beauty challenging the Pink ditz to a jousting duel: EHHHH?! (Said pink ditz is total noob it would seem). To be fair, it was a brisk first episode.

Overall, Walkure Romanze is OK: average and barely competent, light-weight fare. It certainly follows the cliches and tropes of almost every harem series from the past 10 years, but I think the romance along with the jousting (in more ways than one) will go hand in hand as opposed to being separate elements within the series. It has certainly some good animation and music, though I can dream that they can use some Wagner. With harem fanservice show like this, it being OK is a good thing. You could certainly do a lot worse in this genre. I shall see if this show can maintain my interest. — The Eclectic Dude

Wanna Be The Strongest In The World

Huh, a series about women’s wrestling… I guess that could be coOF COURSE IT’S A FUCKING FANSERVICE SHOW. No one’s watching this for the plot or an authentic representation of the sport, they’re watching it to see scantily clad women grope each other and moan a lot. Like, a lot. Seriously, this episode alone probably has more sexual moaning than most porn. The camera zooms in from the absolute worst (or best, depending on your POV) possible angles, making it look like the girls are about to eat each other out or something. The story is as stupid as they come (a pop music idol wants to become a pro wrestler just because, you know?) and there are no characters – only hentai archetypes. It’s not even sexy, just dumb and tasteless. If you’re legitimately thinking about watching this show, well, go ahead… just know that I’m very ashamed of you. — Foggle

Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta

I have no idea what to think about Hana no Uta, a 2013 remake of a 2010 remake of a 2008 anime based on a 2006 manga named Yozakura Quartet (or so I hear). I found the first two-thirds of the episode an absolute struggle to watch, groaning many times at the characters and dialogue, but I enjoyed the last part quite a bit. What’s good is certainly great; the animation during the action scenes is fluid and energetic, the background music and sound effects are amazing, and the abject silliness of having a superhero team fight giant bouncing fish as their first on-screen villains definitely hit the right notes for me. The show is very attractive due to its expert usage of color as well, though I can’t say I cared much for the actual human designs. Unfortunately, I did not like the characters at all – they were too “kawaii” for me, or something to that extent. I found the majority of their voices, mannerisms, and dialogue try-hard cute to point of being grating. There’s also that one enigmatic kid who does nothing but grab his maid’s chest and lay down on her lap. No idea what the point of that scene was other than to make me roll my eyes.

The world of Yozakura Quartet is inhabited by both humans and “Beasts.” Beasts have crazy awesome superpowers like the ability to create any object just by imagining its physical form and saying its name. Of course, no superhero is complete without a supervillain, so there’s some weather wizard guy attacking the city because that’s just what supervillains do, y’know? He turns all the fish at the summer festival’s fishing game booth into monstrous meat blimps since obviously that’s the best way to exert your dominance over the weak and innocent. Our heroes defeat the uber fisch without breaking a sweat, and then a new bad guy is revealed in a stunning plot twist that will likely surprise no one.

As much as I thought I’d hate this series at its outset, the final act really redeemed the episode for me. It’s goofy and fun with little in the way of pretense. It’s also worth noting that I quite enjoyed the previous OVA series, Hoshi no Umi, in spite of similar grievances, so there’s a good chance this one will turn out well too. I’d say Hana no Uta is probably worth a look for any action fan able to tolerate a few cringe-worthy moments. — Foggle