Well, the spring season is in full swing and I am fully behind! I realized I have picked too many shows to review. Starting in on the season I have also realized that there is a certain amount of shows that will have to be dropped as time goes on, some not quite making it past their two episode limit (every show has two episodes to make a good impression and get itself started). So, let’s get started on the Spring Season! As per usual, we’ll move from best to worst. I’ve had to split the season up again, simply because I’m starting to fall behind trying to watch everything and this post would be ridiculously long if I included another five shows. While the second episode of Deadman Wonderland is not available to me right now, I will say that thus far it is my favorite of the season.
Hanasaku Iroha
The animation quality alone made me look forward to Iroha and it certainly delivered with its plot as well. Masahiro Ando, an excellent director who has worked on several of the most popular anime (Gundam Seed, Wolf’s Rain, Evangelion), is doing yet another bang up job, especially since he is in charge of almost every aspect. The show itself is a slice of life, no giant robots or evil nobles are stopping main character Ohana from achieving her goal, which is really just to survive. When fanservice makes an appearance it is done in a subtle way, or serves some purpose (that’s right, fanservice can be relevant to plot). The characters all relate together well , and the music is subtle enough to carry scenes on their own. I can’t say this is surprising as Shiroh Hamaguchi is in charge of the music and he did the same great job in Final Fantasy VII. While not Wandering Son quality animation it is still rather nice to look at and not nearly as harsh as other shows this season. Hanasaku Iroha is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
+Character Design
+Music
+Episode direction
-Perverted author
-Cranky grandmother syndrome
-No clear plot
The animation quality alone made me look forward to Iroha and it certainly delivered with its plot as well. Masahiro Ando, an excellent director who has worked on several of the most popular anime (Gundam Seed, Wolf’s Rain, Evangelion), is doing yet another bang up job, especially since he is in charge of almost every aspect. The show itself is a slice of life, no giant robots or evil nobles are stopping main character Ohana from achieving her goal, which is really just to survive. When fanservice makes an appearance it is done in a subtle way, or serves some purpose (that’s right, fanservice can be relevant to plot). The characters all relate together well , and the music is subtle enough to carry scenes on their own. I can’t say this is surprising as Shiroh Hamaguchi is in charge of the music and he did the same great job in Final Fantasy VII. While not Wandering Son quality animation it is still rather nice to look at and not nearly as harsh as other shows this season. Hanasaku Iroha is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
+Character Design
+Music
+Episode direction
-Perverted author
-Cranky grandmother syndrome
-No clear plot
Tiger and Bunny
Imagine a superhero show. Now imagine a mech anime. Combine them and we get Tiger and Bunny, where perhaps the most hilarious premise is the product placement (boy, do I want a Pepsi Next now). Despite the product placement it is a fairly entertaining show and the characters are all quite amusing. The standard hero regime does not seem to be ever present just yet, and there is more of a focus on the pseudo-mech plot. The only female hero is, in fact, also an idol, something highly reminiscent of Macross. There is a reason for this, as director Keiichi Satou is fairly at home in the Mech world having worked on Big O, MazinKaiser, and several Gundam arcs. He manages to combine it with the superhero genre fairly well. Music is your standard superhero fanfares and helps carry the action quite a bit, something Yoshihiro Ike is quite experience having worked on mostly shonen shows. As a fan of both superhero shows and mech shows, I am quite excited to continue watching this show, almost as much as Heroman. Tiger and Bunny is currently streaming on Anime News Network and Hulu.
+Plot
+Superheroes in pseudo-mechs
+Fun characters
-Product Placement
-Reality TV show producers
-Random CG sometimes
Imagine a superhero show. Now imagine a mech anime. Combine them and we get Tiger and Bunny, where perhaps the most hilarious premise is the product placement (boy, do I want a Pepsi Next now). Despite the product placement it is a fairly entertaining show and the characters are all quite amusing. The standard hero regime does not seem to be ever present just yet, and there is more of a focus on the pseudo-mech plot. The only female hero is, in fact, also an idol, something highly reminiscent of Macross. There is a reason for this, as director Keiichi Satou is fairly at home in the Mech world having worked on Big O, MazinKaiser, and several Gundam arcs. He manages to combine it with the superhero genre fairly well. Music is your standard superhero fanfares and helps carry the action quite a bit, something Yoshihiro Ike is quite experience having worked on mostly shonen shows. As a fan of both superhero shows and mech shows, I am quite excited to continue watching this show, almost as much as Heroman. Tiger and Bunny is currently streaming on Anime News Network and Hulu.
+Plot
+Superheroes in pseudo-mechs
+Fun characters
-Product Placement
-Reality TV show producers
-Random CG sometimes
Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi (World’s Greatest First Love)
Here it is. The yaoi of the season. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, seeing as the plot for it is a fairly typical love story. The only exception being, of course, the fact that the couple is two males. Chiaki Kon is well experienced in the world of romantic anime (and even non-romantic if you don’t consider Higurashi to be), and it certainly shows. Nothing is too rushed, and when the little instances of fanservice designed to make fangirls giggle with glee occur, they are done superbly (if you oversaturate anything with fanservice it loses all value). The music is fairly upbeat, as it should be seeing as it is also a comedy, and Hijiri Anze does a good job of bringing it subtly in. Of course, this show is not for everyone, because I said it is yaoi, and unless you enjoy that you will not enjoy it here. What makes the plot good outside of it is the sheer ridiculousness of some scenes: a literature editor who ends up working for shoujo manga is something that could only happen in Japan. Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi is not streaming on Crunchyroll.
+Plot
+Character Design
+Comedic Effect
-Yaoi [if you aren’t a fan]
-Strange character shifts
-LOOK OUT IT’S THE EMERALD TEAM!
Here it is. The yaoi of the season. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, seeing as the plot for it is a fairly typical love story. The only exception being, of course, the fact that the couple is two males. Chiaki Kon is well experienced in the world of romantic anime (and even non-romantic if you don’t consider Higurashi to be), and it certainly shows. Nothing is too rushed, and when the little instances of fanservice designed to make fangirls giggle with glee occur, they are done superbly (if you oversaturate anything with fanservice it loses all value). The music is fairly upbeat, as it should be seeing as it is also a comedy, and Hijiri Anze does a good job of bringing it subtly in. Of course, this show is not for everyone, because I said it is yaoi, and unless you enjoy that you will not enjoy it here. What makes the plot good outside of it is the sheer ridiculousness of some scenes: a literature editor who ends up working for shoujo manga is something that could only happen in Japan. Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi is not streaming on Crunchyroll.
+Plot
+Character Design
+Comedic Effect
-Yaoi [if you aren’t a fan]
-Strange character shifts
-LOOK OUT IT’S THE EMERALD TEAM!
 |
| She'd be adorable if it weren't for this. |
We, Without Wings
There are so many things wrong with this show I’m not even certain where to start. Let’s start with the summary Anime News Network has: It's winter in the big city of Yanagihara, and young people will meet and fall in love. Takashi is a boy who plans to escape to another world, but is held back by thoughts of his younger sister Kobato and girlfriend Asuka. Shusuke is a poor part-timer who has to work with student-author Hiyoko in spite of their initial dislike for each other. The antisocial Hayato makes his living as a handyman until he is visited by a girl name Naru. Within the first two episodes there is , at no point, a mention of this plot. If it’s in there, I missed it amongst all the fanservice. The characters should not be all that suprising considering Kumi Ishi, the same character designer for Rozen Maiden is also the chief animation director. The amount of jiggles and panty shots are ridiculous, and is even more so when its compared to the amount of fan service in Highschool of the Dead. Yet it’s not the animators fault, as Kumi Ishi also worked on several excellent animated works (Cardcaptor Sakura, Perfect Blue), its largely Shinji Ushiro’s direction that is leading this show astray. I have not seen any of his other works, but given the fact that I saw seven characters named in seven seconds, I’m not sure I want to. Not even music acts as a redeeming quality, as there is just a lot of random genres thrown together, and there isn’t even a musical director listed. Almost everything I can say is basically summed up in the screen shot. Unfortunately, this series is being dropped, though perhaps I will visit it again later to see how it turns out. We, Without Wings is streaming on Crunchyroll.
-Excessive Fanservice
-Poor Music
-Confusing exposition
There are so many things wrong with this show I’m not even certain where to start. Let’s start with the summary Anime News Network has: It's winter in the big city of Yanagihara, and young people will meet and fall in love. Takashi is a boy who plans to escape to another world, but is held back by thoughts of his younger sister Kobato and girlfriend Asuka. Shusuke is a poor part-timer who has to work with student-author Hiyoko in spite of their initial dislike for each other. The antisocial Hayato makes his living as a handyman until he is visited by a girl name Naru. Within the first two episodes there is , at no point, a mention of this plot. If it’s in there, I missed it amongst all the fanservice. The characters should not be all that suprising considering Kumi Ishi, the same character designer for Rozen Maiden is also the chief animation director. The amount of jiggles and panty shots are ridiculous, and is even more so when its compared to the amount of fan service in Highschool of the Dead. Yet it’s not the animators fault, as Kumi Ishi also worked on several excellent animated works (Cardcaptor Sakura, Perfect Blue), its largely Shinji Ushiro’s direction that is leading this show astray. I have not seen any of his other works, but given the fact that I saw seven characters named in seven seconds, I’m not sure I want to. Not even music acts as a redeeming quality, as there is just a lot of random genres thrown together, and there isn’t even a musical director listed. Almost everything I can say is basically summed up in the screen shot. Unfortunately, this series is being dropped, though perhaps I will visit it again later to see how it turns out. We, Without Wings is streaming on Crunchyroll.
-Excessive Fanservice
-Poor Music
-Confusing exposition
