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Meanderings
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Written by maehara
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Thursday, 02 February 2012 16:02 |
Two years ago, signing idols Tsubasa Kazanari and Kanade Amo, collectively known as ZweiWing, fought against an alien race known as Noise when the creatures attacked a concert they were giving. To protect a girl named Hibiki Tachibana, who had been severely wounded in the attack, Kanade sacrificed her life, leaving Tsubasa to carry on the fight against the Noise alone. Back to the present day, and Hibiki again finds herself once again caught up in a Noise attack - and when she's backed into a corner by the aliens, she finds that she now possesses the powers that Kanade once had...
Unusually for a "First Thoughts" piece, I'm writing this with the first four episodes of the series under my belt, which perhaps gives me a more rounded view of it than I'd usually get. Although that really doesn't help it. With Tsubasa being the cold and aloof oneesan type, and Hibiki the reckless, just-wants-to-help newbie on the scene, there are no prizes for guessing that there ends up being a certain amount of conflict between the two leads - teamwork this isn't. Different from the usual magical girl formula, perhaps (and it is presented far more in the style of magical girls than a mecha / powered suit show, no matter what you might think from the screenshots), but far from appealing. In fact, the show that kept springing to mind as a point for comparison when I was watching this was Cyber Team in Akihabara - and that's not a good comparison.
There's a lot about the way this is presented that just feels a bit off. The suits are powered by song, so the girls are often shown singing while they fight - except that the songs feel competely detached from the action. The alien Noise are disappointingly cheap looking. There's a whole conspiracy where the military base that Tsubasa works for is hidden beneath the girls' school, but it's criminally underused. And apart from one or two scenes deliberately placed to get a reaction (a young girl crying "I don't want to die!" as the aliens catch as kill her, for example), the whole thing feels strangely lifeless.
THE GOOD: I'm struggling to think, to be honest. There are lots of elements here that should work together well, but they just aren't.
THE BAD: Pretty much all of it. The whole of Sypmhogear is somehow less than the sum of its parts, if you know what I mean.
Writing this up has kind of crystallised my feelings for the series, to be honest - I've been hum'ing and ha'ing for a few days about whether to bother with episode 5 whenever Nico Nico ever get around to posting it, but given what I've written above: it'll be going on the drop pile. There's just nothing here that's appealing.
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Meanderings
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Written by maehara
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Thursday, 26 January 2012 01:37 |
When Madoka Kyono returns to the beach after rescuing a girl from drowning, she finds her school uniform missing. It's later returned to her by a strange girl who she runs into several more times over the coming days. Her name is Lan, and she eventually asks Madoka to pilot a robotic aircraft known as an Ovid at an offshore base. As Madoka touches the Ovid and experiences a flashback of sorts, an enemy Ovid from outer space appears and attacks the base, forcing Lan to reveal her true identity: she's an alien sent to protect Madoka and the Ovid.
Here's something unusual: "Chief Director" on Lagrange, Tatsuo Sato (of Nadesico fame), is also Director on Bodacious Space Pirates. Quite what the difference between 'Director' and 'Chief Director' is, I'm not sure (Toshimasa Suzuki is credited as Lagrange's director), but Sato's dual roles gives an interesting point for comparison: Bodacious Space Pirates has spent its first three episodes slowly and carefully developing its cast and world; Lagrange takes the opposite approach of dropping its heroine straight into the shit, armed with an instinctive knowledge of everything she needs to know, and lets you work the rest out yourself. Both approaches have their fans - BSP's world-building seems to bore as many people as it impresses, while Lagrange's approach drops you straight into the action but with questions unanswered left, right and centre, and mileage seems to vary widely on which is the "best".
It's an unfair comparison, though, as they're not quite the same beasts. Lagrange is going for a quick action fix with a limited amount of fanservice (what other purpose could Lan's "Wan" serve?), without the need to go into a lot of depth, and I suspect the truth behind the ability of Madoka and her comrades to instinctively pilot the Ovids will come out eventually anyway. There's a certain air of the mysterious about the Ovids and Lan anyway, and explaining too much up-front would take away from that.
THE GOOD: Visually attractive, upbeat, fast-paced. It's all very positive to start with (in feel-good terms, rather than quality). Although when a lead character is called Madoka these days, I worry what they're about to put her through.
THE BAD: Madoka's genkiness is overbearing, Lan's reticence is old, everything just seems to be a bit too convenient. It's not what you could call top-class storytelling.
A lot of things still out for the jury to decide on, then, but I did find myself enjoying Lagrange. I do hope it starts to fill in the blanks sooner rather than later, though...
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Meanderings
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Written by maehara
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Thursday, 26 January 2012 01:12 |
Issei Hyodo's high-school life hasn't been quite what he'd hoped: he'd enrolled in a formerly all-girls academy in the hope of forming a little harem around himself, but nearly 2 years later he's still depressingly single. But good fortune arrive in the form of Amano Yuma, who's been watching him from afar and wants to be his girlfriend - but, on their first date, she turns into a devil and stabs him in the stomach. Luckily, he's saved by flame-haired Rias Gremory, the buxom president of the school's Occult Research Club. Which is when things really start to get weird...
Right. Off the bat: I was expecting to hate this, as the pre-season "hype" for it was not good. It's publicity also rubbed me up the wrong way, with talk of "normal, perverted boy" and "formerly all-girls school" invoking epic eyeroll before I ever got to see it. And then Funico picked it up for simulcast, honour demanded I at least check it out, and, y'know, it really isn't all that bad. With certain provisos.
Explanation. I was talking about fanservice on Twitter before I got to the series: specifically, how fanservice does not equal quality - but that fanservice can, occasionally, make up for quality. Highschool DxD falls firmly into that category. There is a story here that could even come into play in a big way - the three-way war between devils, fallen angels, and angels of the more heavenly variety, and how Issei's "Sacred Gear" could have an effect on that - but for now, it's all about the t&a. Which is fine - it's done in a visually appealing way, and since I appreciate a good dose of gratuitous fanservice from time to time (and this is the only fanservice show that I've picked up so far this season), it works for me. I hope it'll kick into story mode before too long, because the setup for that is clearly there but, y'know: I'll probably stick with it anyway.
THE GOOD: If you enjoy t&a shows, this should be right up your alley. It's heavy on the fanservice, but not in an entirely tasteless way.
THE BAD: If you don't enjoy t&a shows, there's not much else here (so far) to give you any sort of reason to watch it.
It's just a shame the Funico stream isn't the unedited version, but you can't have everything. In the "mindless fun" category, it's good enough to keep an eye on.
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Meanderings
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Written by maehara
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Saturday, 14 January 2012 21:55 |
Maison de Ayakashi is an exclusive apartment complex, where each tenant has their own Secret Service bodyguard. Ririchiyo has finally convinced her parents to let her live alone - but it's Maison de Ayakashi that she ends up living at, and when Soushi introduces himself as her SS, she's keen to try and get rid of him as soon as possible - but he's not so easily disposed of...
This is one of those shows that I went into cold, and really didn't know what to expect from it. All I had was the episode description while waiting for the episode to load, and that gave me visions of some sort of comedy series, with perhaps shades of Black Butler. Once Soushi appears and his annoying bootlicking of Ririchiyo begins, there's certainly a comparison there, but Inu x Boku turns out to play with the world of humans and demons in a slightly different and rather more interesting way - although you only get a glimpse of that, as this episode is far more about setting the stage and introducing the characters than anything else.
THE GOOD: Has atmosphere, and I always appreciate that. Visuals aren't high-quality, but they back up the overall atmosphere of the show very well. Some decidedly curious characters, including Riri herself.
THE BAD: Soushi (and probably the other Agents) will get right on my nerves with their servile attitudes towards their clients. Too much of that could be a problem.
First impressions pretty good, though, and looking forward to checking out a few more episodes...
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Meanderings
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Written by maehara
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Saturday, 14 January 2012 21:40 |
Kirishima Kaito, currently in his first year of high school, holds an 8mm camera in one hand and views the scenery around a lake through its viewfinder. At which point a strange light from the sky comes down, and a blast of wind plunges him into the nearby lake - killing him in the process. The next time Kaito opens his eyes, he's lying in bed in his own room, with a nagging feeling that something's not quite right. The same day a red-haired girl named Takatsuki Ichika transfers into Kaito's school - and there's something unusual about her...
This really should be Onegai Sensei - there are visual and thematic comparisons with Onegai Teacher that you just can't miss. (I'm also told that there's a healthy dose of AnoHana in there as well, but that's a series I haven't seen, so can't really comment.) OneTei comparisons are no bad thing, mind you - it and Onegai Twins were high on my list of favourites when they were on the scene, and since this seems to run with the theme, I'm liking what I see.
THE GOOD: Looong list of similarities to shows I really enjoyed. Looks good. Has a good sense of humour.
THE BAD: Never did like Kei - he was too bland for me - and Kai is a carbon-copy, personality-wise. All those points of comparison mean you can't really accuse it of having any originality.
It's kinda the comfort of an old friend, really - nothing that really makes it stand out, if I'm honest, but there are certain things I was expecting from it that it seems to be delivering on. Episode one is still early days, though - hopefully it doesn't screw up along the way...
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