Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Spring Season I Part II

How is your spring going so far? Are you trapped in a never ending downpour like I am? I hope not, I really hope not…Moving along, out of the five other series I had to review, only one has managed to survive. I did add in one more show, simply because I completely forgot about it and how much I was looking forward to it. So we’ll save that as a surprise at the end. There was a certain amount of fanservice in each of them, which was a little annoying all in all. Perhaps the most frequent theme is the harem this season, or maybe even just how many perverted things they can get away with. So let’s see the mess that is the second half of the Spring Season Part I. With so many being dropped I may pick up some of the later premiering shows. This time in reverse order of worst to best!

A Bridge to the Starry Sky
Here is the obvious harem anime of the season. I was originally looking forward to it, just from the animation, but other than that there is nothing I particularly enjoyed about the show. It was the standard boy enters a town where his only classmates are apparently female…and fervently in love with his adowable little brother. This seems like Takenori Mihara’s first big job as he only appears to have been episode directors, but it’s a shame it had to be a harem anime. Animation director Koichi Monma seems a bit more prepared, having just gotten off of Madoka’s background animation. So while harem anime can be good, I’m not willing to sit around and see where this goes. A Bridge to the Starry Sky is now streaming on Crunchyroll.
+ Animation
+ Opening
+ Cute little brother
- Obvious plot
- Obvious ending
- HUGE Harem

Hen Zemi
I DON'T KNOW!

Also known as Abnormal Physiology Seminar, this is about as close as you can get to hentai without actually entering it. And yet it’s still comedic simply for the unexpected perversion that seems to happen everywhere, especially coming from director Takao Kato. While he did previously direct To Love-Ru this is an entirely different can of worms. I can’t complain about animation, however, as it is overall good, despite having three animation directors. To give it an accurate chance without jumping in with nothing to go on I did watch the OAV’s as well. As the show has no overarching plot and works mainly on the episode by episode basis there is no real reason for me to have done so, which is of course something I did not know at the time. Simply because I do not think I could take this kind of humor when other outlets are available (especially in the United States), Hen Zemi is being dropped as well.
+ Humor
+ Pop culture references
+ Animation
- Nipple conversations
- Awkward teacher
- Obvious Metaphors

Astarotte’s Toy
A succubus who is afraid of men, has to live by sucking the “life seed” out of men: That’s our basic plot for this show. And it ends up being really cute in a weird, fanservice kind of way. The show is not quite a reverse harem, but there is only one or two males, the main one being employed to go along with Astarotte. He seems to be only interested in her, which is why I don’t entirely consider it a harem anime. The animation itself is fairly crisp and adds to the playfulness of the show. It is reminiscent of Okamisan, and as the Chief Animation Director, Mai Otsuka, worked on that show it is to be expected. It is a little odd that Fumitoshi Oizaki should be the director for the show, but it also makes sense in the playful nature of the show which is almost similar to the sort of naiveté of Disgaea. Despite its enjoyable nature, I do not think I will find anything here I can find elsewhere, which is much the same problem A Bridge to the Starry Sky had, and so it is being dropped. Astarotte’s Toy is now streaming on Crunchyroll.
+ Cute
+ Clean animation
+ Disgaea-esque plot
- Harem?
- Overly silly
- Only one guy

Moe sensors activate!
Nichijou
As soon as I started watching this show I immediately thought of Azumanga Dai-Oh and with good reason. It is very much your slice of life high school comedy. Of course it does have it’s twists, but that’s what makes it so humorous. The animation style is light again, much like what we saw in Wandering Son but not quite as exaggerated. Director Tatsuya Ishihara previously worked on both The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Lucky Star and manages to pull off the same sort of humor seen in Lucky Star. There are multiple animation directors on this show as well, all of them doing a great job for each episode. Music wise the same sort of comedic effect from Lucky Star seems to be present, while still keeping the same sort of background sound one might expect in real life. As Yuuji Nomi formerly worked on Ghibli films and Bokurano this is no big surprise. Nichijou is now streaming on Crunchyroll.
+ Clockwork Robot
+ Highschool slice of life
+ Animation
- No plot
- Boogers
- Characters do not converge

I love anpan too, Shiro!
Deadman Wonderland
Almost as soon as I read the premise for this show I was hooked, and more than eager to get started in on it. I was looking forward to a Battle Royale style show set in a prison, and what I got was something far better. Director Koichi Hatsumi is doing a brilliant job of directing this series, just as he did with Lupin III and The Big O. There is the same sort of action mystery that chases the protagonist around and around, and art director Michie Watanabe is doing a great job at keeping everything smooth and crisp, just as she did with the backgrounds of Wolf’s Rain. If you’re looking for a decent shonen series that is not all guns and swords, then I highly recommend Deadman Wonderland. Deadman Wonderland is now streaming on Crunchyroll.
+ Shiro
+ Battle Royale
+ Animation
- Random plot device
- Evil villain

- Improbably cup size

C: The Money of Soul and Possibility of Control
Best. Mad Hatter. Ever.

The same people who worked on Fractale shine through brilliantly yet again with this thriller of a show. Thing Alice in Wonderland meets Wallstreet and there you have it. The show cleverly disguises economic lessons through the use of battles with “assets” and establishes a main goal fairly early on. And as of approximately five seconds ago (as of writing this), Funimation has picked it up for streaming on Hulu. How exciting is that (pretty exciting considering I’m on a caffeine kick now). The first two episodes essentially establish the plot and introduce to us the main characters in an exciting way most series do not. Thus far, C is the best anime of the season. C- Control is now streaming on Hulu.
+ Animation
+ Plot
+ Alice in Wonderland
- Soundtrack
- Batmobile
- Loss of future

So let’s take a look at the rankings so far [x=dropped]:
-C – Control
-Deadman Wonderland
-Hanasaku Iroha
-Tiger and Bunny
-Nichijou
-Sekai Ichi
x Astarotte’s Toy
x Hen Zemi
x Bridge to the Starry Skies
x We, Without Wings

I’m not planning on having a midseason review, as I still have to finish up the Princess Tutu input and review. However, know that those that are left are going to have to fight to the end to see who comes out on top (except maybe Sekai Ichi, which is really just a guilty pleasure). Also, exciting news! Pikko is holding a give away for a Zojirushi Umami Micom Rice Cooker which makes super tasty rice. You can find details on it here ---à http://www.aibento.net/2011/04/28/review-zojirushi-umami-rice-cooker-review-part-3-giveaway/#comment-29968
That’s all for now!

No comments:

Post a Comment