Tag Archives: Series Introduction

UQ Holder! 01 – Journey of an Immortal Vampire

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This series has definitely caught me with the crowd. Although, honestly, I am biased about fantasy (much more to battle fantasy like this series) that it’s bound to fall short of my expectations unless there’s bits of blood and leaves no strict or poor censorship. Yet, this show, by its pilot chapter, has thrown me off the edge with my abrupt expectations for this manga. Just by that, this certainly is on my list of manga to watch!

Continue Reading “UQ Holder! – Chapter 1”

Spring 2013 Overall Impressions

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I can say frankly that this season isn’t very strong. It can only keep up with it from what I expect to be good and from what I’ve seen to be potentially great. While there may seem to be many strong potentials here, there aren’t really much to pick out.

Those with strong potentials are what I see fit to be at least worth the watch. They’re grouped together with the best, and some others that considered to be generic or just an ordinary anime but of worthy entertainment. These are Kakumeiki Valvrave, Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S, Suisei no Gargantia, DEVIL SURVIVOR 2 THE ANIMATION, Aku no Hana, Shingeki no Kyojin, and Karneval.

Those with decent or good potentials are either anime of standard importance or normal entertainment – say, for people who don’t really critique everything in & out and enjoys the show throughout the half hour. These are Arata Kangatari, RDG: Red Data Girl, Photo Kano, Zettai Bouei Leviathan, Date A Live, Hataraku Maou-sama!, and Ginga Kikoutai Majestic Prince.

Weak and poor potentials will never scale much, and if they do, they’ll limit themselves without going beyond the best in the seasons. They have senseless humor or fan-service. Generally, just poor conceptualized story. These are Yuyushiki, Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko, Aiura, Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Bride, and Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge.

The anime I’ll blog are generally all strong potentials (except Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S for the inability to watch the previous season and Aku no Hana because I’m picking up the manga) and picked decent/good potentials which are RDG: Red Data Girl, Photo Kano, Hataraku Maou-sama!, and Ginga Kikoutai Majestic Prince.

Hope you guys are in sync with my thoughts!

Spring 2013 First Impressions: Part 5

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Yuyushiki

Very short plot: three girls in comedy.

I wasn’t so sure what I was in for this show when I saw the blonde girl having weird chibi face on a seemingly normal teen body. Now that I’ve seen the first episode, I think it’s fun enough to see them. Maybe I was allured by the yuri scenes, but nevertheless, it was simply a fun-fun show.

Potential: Weak
Will I continue watching it? Most probably.

Kakumeiki Valvrave

High school student pilots a humanoid robot in the distant future.

It’s the typical teen drama of dying love turns to revenge, and it then so happens that the lead starts learning absurdly fast in learning how to use such complex robot (and so if we get even any explanations, it’s got to be either weak or lazy just to keep up with the lead being a high school student). The animation was good as well, nothing well worth saying it was bad. Mecha anime is always cool, and I like to keep my stereotyped image of it that way.

After-ED scene made me think twice about this show. A vampire-turned robot driver? It was like this show told me to think again.

Potential: Strong (Sounds a bit ironic considering what I said)
Will I continue watching it? I got to. (I mean, vampires? X-mark in the forehead?)

Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko

The perverted lead turns into a very frank and tactless pervert after praying to the stone cat, causing a catastrophe in his life. He’s in the progress of gaining his PR back.

I prefer shows like this than straight-off moe and perverting. It’s kind of more “morale” watching this comedy pervert than actually watching something in the borderline of p***. Also, I kind of like the choice of art for this types of show – so anime.

Potential: Weak
Will I continue watching it? Maybe. (I had fun, actually)

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S

The adventures of three girl-espers.

I think it would be inappropriate to make out the plot synopsis without actually watching the previous season, but I have to say, this is an eye-opening one for me. I’ve gotta watch this show, and I’ll have to give it a shot to actually appreciate this one.

I’ve always admired the concept of espers. The characters and their fluidity weren’t also a letdown.

Potential: Strong
Will I continue watching it? Definitely, but after I’ve watched the previous season.

Spring 2013 First Impressions: Part 4

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Suisei no Gargantia

The lead character is part of the Human Galactic Alliance. After fighting all-out against aliens they call “Hideous,” he is soon separated from the ship and falls to earth.

A very interesting plot and a strong contender for one the best anime this season. This is a must-watch. The graphics are fine; I just like mecha that much. It doesn’t fall under the common stories where the lead would go into war such that, for this case, he goes outside the war and falls in a seemingly forgotten planet (as such, humans originated from this planet). The buildup should be very good most especially as to how he could go back to the Alliance, or the Alliance may find him.

Potential: Strong
Will I continue watching it? Definitely.

Mushibugyou

The protagonist becomes a part of the Mushibugyou with all the potential he has and other common ideas you could wrap up in a story.

Honestly not very satisfying if you’re up for the story, but the action is well worth the watch. The opening theme song seemed so misleading about the character designs. In fact, I was happy they didn’t choose that toony type of art.

Potential: Fine
Will I continue watching it? Maybe.

Arata Kangatari

Just as the Arata is in a dire situation of being accused in killing the maiden, the Arata from Earth and the Arata from who-knows-where have their places swapped.

Interesting story, poor development. The story was nice; they could work around it, but it was very disappointing that it became so weak despite the bricks they could start building with it. It’s well worth a chance to watch it, but surely this can’t be well-prioritized.

Potential: Would-be Strong
Will I continue watching it? Maybe.

Aiura

Not sure what to make of this 5-minute comedy, but, err, I’m not going to expect much. Five minutes can’t hurt anyway, so I’ll just go ahead and watch this without any feel of criticizing it.

Potential: Weak
Will I continue watching it? Yes. (Because 5 minutes can’t hurt.)

Spring 2013 First Impressions: Part 3

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It took me time; I had to balance my days in playing Pump It Up and League of Legends since school is getting nearer. (Among the three, if I had to pick and prioritize one when classes are starting, I would have to pick blogging.)

RDG: Red Data Girl

A girl who manages to contact her father in Tokyo and soon has a manservant. The details are all too small.

The first episode was downright weak. I am not even too sure if there is anything I could make of the plot just by the beginning. However, the poster had me when I saw there more characters to be introduced. If there’s one thing that would explain it, it’s the pace they’re keeping up. There’s a lot to go on with the first episode and left unnecessarily unanswered, but we’ll see how it goes.

Potential: Good
Will I continue watching it? Decent chance.

Photo Kano

An ordinary guy attains a camera that seemingly changes his whole life (or at least his perspective of it). He was apparently soon recruited by two clubs: the Photo Club and Photography Club. The difference, being, the Photography Club’s interests are in borderline eroticism and Photo Club in – unsure about this – scenery and whatnot.

The image was misleading, at least based on prejudged impressions. I thought it would be all girls, less boys – well, it does live up to that – but if I weren’t so attracted by this, I wouldn’t have given this show a chance to watch. What’s more is that I’m apparently starting to like it. Perhaps it was sparking my likes for photography, but this show’s going to be nice to feel some little slice-of-life.

Potential: Fine
Will I continue to watching it? Definitely.

Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Bride

Ecchi, so there has to be girls with some peculiar plot. Let’s keep it short: dojo is losing funds, the guy surrounded by girls is back, and dojo so happens turns into a maid cafe. Everything else weirder follows.

I had to give this show little attention. I’m not quite a fan of ecchi, but at least in times like right now. I’m just not feeling it, and ecchi doesn’t just fit right into the bill when I want to be entertained. There are just times, know what I mean?

Potential: Weak
Will I continue watching it? If ecchi feeling sets in.

Zettai Bouei Leviathan

In the planet Aquafall, strange creatures have started appearing after the fallen meteorite incident. A fairy attempts to save the world, but first recruit a team – the three girls.

First and foremost, the names are splendidly well-chosen – Leviathan (sea monster), Bahamut (vast fish) and Jormungandr (world snake). (Jormungandr has had my interests bearing such great name.) The plot was not to my taste taking a slow take in the story. To feel the fantasy-set world may be a plus, but it almost appears like a terrible filler. Though I’ve got to say, if it weren’t for the names, I’d have my doubts if I were to keep watching this show. For such a low reason, I’m going to watch this.

Potential: Good
Will I continue watching it? Decent chance.

Spring 2013 First Impressions: Part 2

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DEVIL SURVIVOR 2 THE ANIMATION

This has a very interesting story. A mobile application called “Nicaea” predicts death of people, and soon predicts the death of the protagonist, his friend, and a classmate. They’re now involved in events leading to a strange incident after the another after choosing between “life” and “death” when they “die” in a train station. They now possess the ability to summon demons. That’s who their newly-given second life begin.

I was honestly in a state of confusion that this is a second season anime due to that number ‘2’, but now that I know this is an adaption, I’m looking forward where the story is leading to. The plot is very solid, the characters were great – in terms of design, and I just hope this doesn’t become like PERSONA 4, which I found to be a poor adaptation (or the story was simply poor for me to begin with).

Potential: Strong
Will I continue to watch it? Definitely.


Aku no Hana

Uh, well, the pacing for this was very slow as I can’t say much about the first episode. Basically, the protagonist leads a normal bookworm life. Just that, one day, he forgets his book, goes back for it, and the creepy stuff just start to set in.

I found the first episode to be poor as the plot was not clearly dictated or the vagueness was poorly depicted, but there’s one thing this show has got to boast: it’s atmosphere. Even the simple depiction of how the first episode went had got me gripped and captured. The cinematography was perfect as well. I couldn’t say that anything was out of place, but instead, say that it’s fantastic! The director here must have good tastes, and I can’t let this show pass by. I’m quite interested where the story is leading to without showing much of it, and clearly developing the atmosphere & setting more.

Potential: Strong
Will I continue to watch it? Definitely. (It was a “maybe”, but looking back, the show was too good to be dropped.)

Date A Live

This is one of those beyond-impossible type of stories where the character personalities seemingly don’t fit their role or have a huge change in role that just keeps you in a state of disbelief. Soon, because of this, you end up disliking it. A very typical protagonist has a sister who’s actually a commander of an organization that’s against these so-called ‘Spirits’. The protagonist, who seems to do badly when it comes to romance, was told to “capture the hearts” of the Spirits, and maybe, make use of them.

Comedic, I guess, but really not my type of shows. Some may go against me and perhaps I am more bias to my tastes than I thought, but this is a good show to kill time anyway.

Potential: Fine
Will I continue to watch it? Maybe. (If only I have a real long time without having anything else to do.)


Shingeki no Kyojin

This is a runner-up for the best anime this season. Humans are caged in walls against Titans, who possess the physique of a normal human being (a male) and devour humans not for food but for slaughter. Here’s where it gets better. A 100 years of peace has passed, and soon, Colossal Titan, taller than the wall of 50 meters, attacks and the Titans invade their city.

A very interesting world, that’s an A+. Protagonist and team actually are a good match-up. I know what’s gonna go around the story since I’ve read the manga till the latest chapter before watching the first episode. I know what’s in store, but the anime just outdid the manga. The animation was amazing. The characters were, although not quite crisp, a bit more natural than I expected.  Titans were well-depicted to be scary, and the atmosphere that surrounds them and throughout the show was maintained very well.

Potential: Strong
Will I continue to watch this show? Definitely.

Spring 2013 First Impressions: Part 1

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I’ll be frank: it was torture watching every single anime show as it always is. My passion for anime may have started to fall apart as my days are numbered when I step in a whole new different field in my life. I refuse to waste my time when I find something isn’t entertaining, but nevertheless, reviving this blog as is has always been my goal beyond, so I’ll endure the 20 minutes of watching shows unbearable for a first episode. I’ll try to keep this blog alive (again, as I’ve always tried to promise myself that), and to start it off, let’s go with my first impression in the first four anime shows I’ve chosen with medium expectations. (On a sidenote, I’ll start cleaning this blog after I’m finish with the first impressions in Spring 2013.)


Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge

Hard to understand this show, really. It’s, well, romance between two cursed people – one with hair that can never be cut off and one with a knife which was used to seemingly murder people. At least that’s what the first episode showed us. The ending had tried to grab my tastes back with a short scene depicting that there’s more to that, and they’re probably after the Hair Queen, but unfortunately, ti failed to grab me there.

The first episode was very poor. This may be because I did not intend to read the plot synopsis and give the first episode a try that I have reached to such conclusion. The entire show may be better if what I’ve further read in the plot synopsis will happen. A shorter plot synopsis for the whole anime: The Hair Queen is against people who seek her death as part of a century-old game that rewards the murderer for freedom and power.

I had to endure the thought that calling the girl Hair Queen and the romance that, by the beginning, has started to break apart thanks to the caused by a number of people. The two people, who are caretakers of the Hair Queen, are people already messed up in their ways. They’re not very admirable unless you have some bias towards their personality. The lead character is worse, I can’t seem to like him.

Potential: Poor (Slightly better if you have read the plot synopsis for the whole anime and not just the poorly-directed first episode)
Will I continue to watch it? Maybe. (But only if I have nothing else to do because I honestly think it isn’t worth the time)


Karneval

The poster, or at least the image I had seen as reference to the show, was too bright and considering that there were five people in it, four of which are men, it was, from my first impression, that it had to do with harem or yaoi or the typical romance where most of the guys chase one girl. Too many bishounen? I guess girls would scream for their beauty.

Continuing… the first episode was fairly well done. I guess they can’t contain all the possible character development in one episode, but it was all too weird watching a show knowing too little of them. I know, I know, the mystery around these characters are suppose to coat the atmosphere that entices the viewer to keep watching the show, but I think they’ve left too many things behind. Perhaps they had taken the direction into showing action, and I think it was great. With weird-but-awesome people, magic, and some guy who wants to get hold of someone with superhuman hearing power, yes, I’m in for this show because there should be more than just what I’ve said.

Potential: Strong
Will I continue to watch it? Definitely.

Hataraku Maou-sama!

This was one show I was glad I never read the plot synopsis to keep my reaction pure and this has to do with the entire story. On a fantasy-set world, the Demon Lord tries to conquer the world, the Hero and team counter-attacks, and the Demon Lord is forced to retreat. The Demon Lord, in order to perhaps make a good recovery, transferred to a different world, or maybe a dimension, and ends up in the modern-day Tokyo. This is where the interesting adventure begins, and this may be the reason why I was just attracted to this show.

Before I say something about the first episode, there was an anime of similar premise where they begin with the typical Hero winning but further continue the story differently and in a better sense. I absolutely love it more, even if action would be foreign to the show. It seems to have been overused already since one anime after the other has started this sort of trend or adaption, but it’s always interesting to see what’s next with these sorts of plot.

There’s perhaps nothing I could say about the first episode in particular. Umm… well, I did like the action, the quick presentation of the prologue (which is the Hero winning against the Dark Lord), and their animation (body appearance, in general, because for some reason it is to my taste). The ending also had me go for the next episode immediately.

Potential: Decent
Will I continue to watch it? Definitely.

Ginga Kikoutai Majestic Prince

Uh, well, I was so sure about this one being good with a mecha-themed action anime, but I wasn’t so sure what I was in for when I forgot what the poster/image reference looked like. What may have topped my doubt that this would be a good anime was the title. I mean, seriously, Majestic Prince? What’s up with that.

Though it does become reasonable in the first episode, I think it’s fine, now that I’ve gone past the first episode. What may have turned me off a bit were the personalities of the lead characters. They were too different, too weird, or simply too awkward. The appeal was poor to me, though some may find it funny, comedic, or natural, I may have found myself too inclined with serious characters. Uh, well, they’re suppose to suck and I guess that’s the point, but hey, the cinematography of this show had me going. The splitting of characters appearance in one scene was a plus for me. Something unique but natural at the same time really goes well for my taste. Much as the action has satisfied me, I’m looking forward to what’s next.

Potential: Decent
Will I continue to watch it? Definitely.