One Outs

November 10, 2008 at 6:46 pm | In anime, fall 2008, guilty pleasure, ridiculous premise | Leave a Comment

Summary: Baseball as a gambling vehicle
Based on: 3 eps
Info at: Anime News Network (pic from there, too)

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Note: This is a guest review by Brendan Speer.

When found out about One Outs, I was very excited.   ‘Finally’, I thought to myself, ‘An Akagi where I’m familiar with the sport!  This is going to be great!’  Plus I can pretend that the Lycaons are the Cubs.  Thusly, I waited for 2 weeks for it to be subbed; begging and cajoling friends to do it for me.

Then I sat down and watched the first episode.

And I was really disappointed.  I figured out that one of the great things about Akagi is that I don’t know the first damn thing about Mahjong.  I could really follow Akagi play without the little nagging doubt in the back of my mind.   The prospect of an 120 kph (75 mph) pitcher with no breaking balls being able to psych his opponents out that much introduces an element of that ‘This is ridiculous!’ feeling.

And yet, I’ve watched 3 episodes, and will probably watch the fourth tonight.   First off, it’s still compelling to watch.  I _still_ want to see Toua beat his first challenger at One Outs Baseball.  Even if I know the prospect is preposterous.

What Akagi and One Outs do differently from traditional ’sports’ anime, like Hikaru no Go and Prince of Tennis, is that the latter play like ‘Japanese youth introduction to sport <insert sport here>’.   Prince of Tennis will spend half an episode talking about the Buggy Whip Shot, or try and illustrate the difference between an All-Arounder and Baseline Retriever.  One Outs doesn’t do this.  Instead the sport is only a vehicle to tell the story, quite well I might add.  You know what’s going to happen, you always know who’s going to win.  However, between the Narrator, the Music, and the situations, you’re still compelled to keep watching.   How will Akagi play out of this?  Will Toua get hit?  It’s quite ingenious.

As Ron has referenced in his paragraph, the character designed have been tarted up for the female audience.  In Akagi, the character designed were basically ugly.   Distinctive, and stylish, but unattractive.  The unattractive, gritty style fit Akagi well.  In One Outs both Kojima and Toua are pretty-boy anime arch-types, the former being the squared-jawed Japanese traditionalist, and the latter having that punky bishonen going for him.  Even the first opposing team’s pitcher has an Kaneda-like street punk handsomeness to him.

The first two episodes were very Akagi like.   Very slow paced, building suspense.   The third introduced another element, of the Owner of the team.  I’ll try not to give away too much, but I like the way this is turning from the Akagi formula.   I suspect when I go back to rewatch something like this, however, I’ll still turn to the Mahjong master.

To Aru Majutsu no Index

October 14, 2008 at 8:15 am | In adventure, anime, could be worse, fall 2008, fightfightfight, guilty pleasure, ridiculous premise | Leave a Comment

Summary: Action magic/drama in Young King Ours/Square-Enix style.
Based on: 2 episodes
Series Summary: at Anime News Network (picture stolen as well)

Okay, so this one has me conflicted after 2 eps. I’m going to tell you why you shouldn’t like it, then why you should.

First, it’s utterly typical of a style you find in Young King Ours magazine, which I subscribe to, and anything Square-Enix sponsors. An adolescent male appeal with violence, sexual undercurrents, and an emphasis on fighting and sheer coolness over plot. Of course there’s always magic/psychic powers involved, lots of fighting and explosions, and a young guy who’s sort of helpless (but not a totally weak despicable dork, thank god) but turns out to be the only way the world can be saved once his powers can be trained up. World Embryo is the epitome of this. So when I see it my reaction is to go ‘meh’.

On the other hand, given the formula setup, the characters in this are relatively well done, likeable, and believable (minus the loli teacher). It certainly delivers the action. I can’t fault the character design or animation or music. The heroine (?) out-Rei’s Rei for being white-haired autistic savant, but since the hero’s not even slightly romantically attracted to her (so far) that’s tolerable. The most eye-rolling thing here is that everyone believes in psychic powers but not magic, though they have a Justification for this.

So what am I saying? I’m not sure yet, but if Yozakura Quartet drops the ball this could be my action show for the season.

Yozakura Quartet

October 10, 2008 at 5:39 am | In Weekly Showing, adventure, anime, fall 2008, fightfightfight | Leave a Comment

Summary: shojo Bleach
Based on: 1 episode
Series Info: at Anime News Network (pic shamelessly stolen too)

For some reason this starts out with a hugely boring chunk of exposition about how the half-human half-demon town came into existence, which wouldn’t even need to be explained if you thought your viewers had two brain cells to rub together. The basic plot is about a town where humans and youkai (demons) co-exist, and the quartet is a group that hunts down bad guys. Think Geobreeders, Phantom Quest Corp, or Ghost Sweeper Mikami. The setup is pretty standard.

But once you get past that, I rather like this. It continues the trend of merging of shojo (girls’) and shounen (boys’) genres, and reminds me of nothing so much as a slightly more girly Bleach before Bleach jumped the shark. I absolutely love the character designs, especially Kotoha.

This could easily end up in the crapper if it just milks the premise as stated and turns into harem anime, but for now I’m absolutely grabbing the second ep.

Kuroshitsuji

October 8, 2008 at 7:31 am | In anime, fall 2008, ridiculous premise, shoujo cliche, yaoibait | Leave a Comment

Summary: Shojou Hellsing (again)
Based on: 1 episode
Series Info: at Anime News Network (pic shamelessly stolen)

[edit: I reread my initial review of this, and it came off far too harsh - sure, this is formulaic, but it's not as bad as I made it out to be.]

Sigh. It really is disappointing that anime/manga for girls are even more more generic than anime/manga for boys. Aren’t women supposed to be more subtle, nuanced, and intelligent than stupid brutish men? Then you look at Harlequin romances (and shojo anime) and realize this isn’t the case. Women prefer their plots even more formulaic and predictable than men do.

So now that I’ve got that ranting out of the way, if you liked Nabari no Ou this is the your shojo anime for you this season.  Ciel Phantomhive (eye-patched prettyboy) is the heir of the English Phantomhive toy dynasty. His butler, Sebastian, is an ultra-competent ultra-handsome demon lord. Everyone else in the household is comic relief.

I had a brief moment of appreciation for this show when it actually invoked some horror (the oven scene), but then it completely cheapened and nullified it. The best I can say is this isn’t as horribly bad as Trinity Blood.

But, for you people who need your formulaic prettyboys (and I have my own guilty pleasures), this is your show. And the production values are indisputably good.

Kannagi

October 8, 2008 at 7:18 am | In anime, could be worse, fall 2008, miko | Leave a Comment

Summary: Divine love comedy
Based on: 1 episode
Series info: at Anime News Network (picture shamelessly stolen from there too)

It’s hard to tell from only one episode, but given the horrible premise and opening animation this was actually better than I expected. We’ll see. Generally miko are just a rape-bunny fetish, so I’m skeptical, but I’ll be watching the second episode.

Schoolboy Jin (an interesting name in this context that can mean ‘person’ or ‘god’ depending on the character) carves a figurine out of wood from a sacred tree (nageia, a type of conifer). The local land-god, displaced from her habitat, animates the figure and suddenly Jin has a hot divine chick living with him. I’m giving this a chance since even with the obvious harem setup coming, the first ep resisted the obvious panty shot and other cheesecake opportunities.

This could could go straight in the dumper from here, and I suspect it will since it reminds me most of  Ai Yori Aoshi or Seto no Hanayome, but damn it I have some faint hope.

Detroit Metal City

October 8, 2008 at 7:00 am | In fall 2008, guilty pleasure | Leave a Comment

Summary: Low-brow death metal comedy.
Based on: 6 episodes, 5 volumes of manga
Series info: at Anime News Network

This series only has one joke, but I love it and it’s fairly bottomless. Negishi the nebbish just wants to write vapid jpop songs, but to make ends meet he transforms into Krauser II, lead vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter for death metal group DMC.

Negishi is the wussy super-ego, but when he dons the mask (or even lets down his mental guard), his Id takes over and he becomes Krauser II, who can sing ‘ten rapes per second’. Part of the fun here is that Krauser II isn’t just some made up persona, it’s really a facet of Negishi’s personality that he won’t admit exists.

The legend of Krauser says that he killed his parents then raped them then broke out of prison then raped them – then killed them. Got that?

And this is all animated by the super-fabulous Studio 4C in low fidelity Gag Manga Biyori style. The low quality visuals are part of the charm.

Fall 2008 Anime

October 8, 2008 at 6:37 am | In fall 2008 | 4 Comments

It’s that time again – Fall 2008 season. So far this is a much better season than the last one was! Here’s Joe Chan’s List of Fall 2008 Anime.

Updated: Nov 17, 2008

Mini-rant: I guess I need to reprise my mission statement here after some outraged mail. This is not for people who love anime in general. You’ve just discovered it, it’s soooooo much better fthan South Park and you love it all, bless you for your enthusiasm. But this is a list of anime for jaded old people who’ve seen most of this crap a hundred times before, have read Nietzsche and Pollan and  Wolfe, and are desperate for anything truly new and exciting (though we’ll settle for Yozakura Quartet if the world won’t give us more goddamn Moyashimon).  Yes Toradora is cute school romance, but that is no longer sufficient, just as Terry Brooks or Robert Jordan are not a sufficient replacement for Tolkien.

So Far So Good:

  • Detroit Metal City -Low-brow comedy about a Death Metal band. Centers on the disconnect between the lead char’s nebbish persona as himself and his king of demons persona as the lead singer/guitarist of the band.
  • Hyakko – This looks to be the high school girl comedy this season. I like the designs a lot, it’s understated, and nothing happens but that’s okay. Think Maria-sama crossed with Best Student Council. Actually, something does finally happen but I won’t spoil it. Sadly, ep 2 has one of the worst cases of animation degradation I’ve ever seen. Seriously, I could draw better keyframes than that. Ep 3 is back up to snuff – for schoolgirl comedy anyhow.
  • Michiko and Hatchin – This is trying overly hard to be the next Cowboy Bebop, including Kanno wannabe music, but it’s been so long since Bebop I’m willing to take that. Reminds me of Robert Rodriguez as well. After three eps this is still excellent. Imagine Bee Train stuff (Noir, Avenger, Madlax) done by someone with talent.
  • Skip Beat – We haven’t had a good shojo love comedy since Love Complex. It’s a Cinderella story, with hard working plain earnest girl in love with a beatiful, talented(?) dickhead. That would have been hard to take for long (LoveCom was too straightforward), but there is a Twist.  This is definitely our new weekly shojo comedy series.
  • Tentai Senshi Sunred – This came out of nowhere. This is a deranged little half-length gag show about a Sentai character. It’ll fill the gap nicely now that DMC is over.

Could be Okay:

  • Ga-Rei Zero – Supernatural action that’s trying way too hard to be cool, but the ending guarantees you’ll at least watch the second episode. Update: Gah. Okay, so the 2nd ep doesn’t exactly cheap out, but doesn’t resolve things either. One more cliffhanger! By ep 4 this has calmed down into pretty standard school stuff. They’ve cheaped out by starting at the end.
  • Kannagi – with the subtitle ‘Crazy Shrine Maidens’ I’m actually quite surprised the first ep was as good as it was.  The big risk is it degenerates into typical Seto no Hanayome domestic comedy.
  • Toaru Majutsu no Index – This one makes me conflicted. The writing and music on this are both great. At its core it’s just another generic Square-Enix anime, but I hold out hope it can escape that.  Better than Shikabanehime anyhow.
  • Yozakura Quartet – Supernatural action comedy.Think a more shoujo version of the early non-sucky Bleach. And I’m good with that. For some reason the first couple minutes are very forced exposition, but then it gets better. Still a little formulaic.

Special Circumstances:

  • Kameko DX – This is your Pani Poni Dash for the season. A non-stop mix of non-sequiturs, fanservice, anime in-jokes (and even a Westworld reference, good lord!) and shallow insanity. Wherefore art thou, Excel Saga?
  • Kuroshitsuji – If you liked Nabari no Ou, this is your token shoujou drama/comedy show for this season. Think girly Hellsing. Not as wretched as Trinity Blood at least.
  • Kurozuka – There’s one of these every season. Loosely based on historical events, high quality dark art, Noh music and stylings, Drama, and injected supernatural elements (to me it’ll always be ‘Gasaraki style’). When the big guy dropped out of the sky and started hitting people with his staff I thought ‘I bet that’s Benkei’ and sure enough. So Yoshitsune with vampires. You know if you like this.
  • One Outs – Baseball, but the (beautiful) players are (reluctantly?) after each others bats and balls. Then it turns into high gambling drama. Brendan Speer compares this one to Akagi with ‘the exact same snail’s pace pacing’.
  • Tytania – Did you like Legend of Galactic Heroes? You must have this, now. If you’re unfamiliar, think giant space battles fought in 2D planes. They haven’t invented 3D space or computer targetting in the future, which is good because the ships have only token shields. The bridge of the Imperial flagship is a Victorian tea room (no, really!), everyone is impeccably attired, and the second thing mentioned about the Empire’s general is is how beautiful he is. Really, you’re in this for the political drama. Update: The LOGH fanatic I know calls this ‘LOGH for Dummies’.

Pass:

  • Akane-iro no Somaru Saka – Not quite as bad as CHAOS: HEAD, but it’s every h-game and visual novel cliche rolled into one.  Complete with an ending ’surprise’ plot twist that makes it even more banal than I thought possible!  And girls whose hair has more personality than they do.  If there’s anything non-cliche about this it’s the fetish it has for girls’ knees.
  • Akiba-chan – stop-motion maid dolls in Akihabara. This is painfully bad pandering. Yes I end up using that word a lot, but a lot of this crap is just so cynically aimed at stupidly hardcore otaku.
  • Bihada Ichizoku – I actually rather liked the first ep of this over the top ridiculous anime about a family dedicated to having the best skin in Japan, but while this recognizes its ridiculousness, it doesn’t manage to surpass it, which would be necessary to keep watching.
  • CHAOS: HEAD – Worst. Anime. This. Season. Porn game conversion. Most pathetic and unlikable male character ever (yes, worse than Welcome to the NHK). Yet all the beautiful girls (who happen to be serial killers) love him and are huge anime nerds. Hint: Even if you know the plot and execution are pathetic cliches, it doesn’t make it better when the hero constantly points out how pathetic they are.
  • Earl and Fairy – This would be the Vampire Knight of the season except there’s already Vampire Knight this season for your generic bishonen action. Girl who can see fairies and dangerous beautiful angsty men with bare chests (add your own fairy joke here). You’d be far better off watching Natsume Yuujin Chou instead.
  • Inazuma Eleven – Digimon meets Shaolin Soccer for young boys. Based on a video game.
  • Kurogane no Linebarrels – So in this anime the huge dork who deserves and encourages the bullying he gets summons the giant robot by touching her breast while porn music plays. This is pretty typical GONZO – awful (meaning hugely obvious) 3D CG plus hi-res backgrounds plus high frame rate but crudely drawn 2D animation which will get progressively worse with each episode.  There’s some hint there might be more to the plot, but ugh.
  • Kyou no Go no Ni (TV) – ’sexy’ fifth graders. No seriously, they took the exact same jokes from the OVA series and uglied up the character designs and pedo-ed up the characters. Say what?
  • Macademi Wasshoi – Magical Pedo Harry Potter Academy. This one reeks of UFO Princess Valkyrie (including the obligatory nekomimi combat maid), so if you liked that you’ll like this.
  • Mouryou no Hako (Box of Spirits) – Creepy, beautiful horror set just after WW II. Actually, it’s a bit hard to tell what’s going on from just the first episode, but I definitely want to see more. Update: wow, ep 2 was one of the worst letdowns ever. No more creepy, and the second half is just them driving around the entire time while name dropping people you don’t know at a half-assed attempt at exposition.
  • Quiz Magic Academy OVA – this is just fanservice if you already like Konami’s game. If not there’s nothing for you here.
  • Rosario to Vampire Season 2 – You know what you’re getting here. Panty shots and bad plots. Amusingly, half the stations that showed the first ep censored it due to the sheer number of crotch shots. Hadn’t they seen Strike Witches?
  • Shikabanehime Aka – How do you fight dead people? With hot dead teen chicks, of course!  Again, well done but absolutely typical Square-Enix setup. I have to admit I love the OP.
  • Tales of the Abyss – Yet Another Forumlaic Conversion of a console RPG to anime. I liked the game (Tear 4 Lyfe) and I still can’t watch this.
  • Toradora – formula school romance about a guy with a mean face (but a heart of gold!) and a tsundere girl who happens to look just like Louise from Zero no Tsukaima. Pass unless you can’t resist sitcoms about misunderstandings or tsundere.

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