Fall 2010: The Awards

Going into the Fall 2010 season was a bit of a renaissance for me. I'll be honest—I haven't really been too excited about animation prospects for a few years. My "collection" likely reflects more of my lack of interest, as I have more VHS copies of anime than I do DVD copies, but the easier access to material and a trip to Japan over the spring has rekindled curiosity.

It's hard to tell just how long that curiosity will continue to burn from the old hickory put on the fire, as this season really tested patience. With the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly putting stricter regulations on anime and manga near the end of the season, it was difficult not to notice the hard sell that animation companies were giving to the older crowd. Heck, the lineup for Fall 2010 would have been crippled if the government had its say on what qualified as "extreme".

That being said, it was hard to pick out what was truly the best and worst of the season—there really wasn't much middle ground to work with.

Best In Show (single-season)
Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
Honestly, it was hard to put Gainax's parody of the Cartoon Network in this spot for a number of reasons. Yes, the show was gruesome and grotesque with its treatment of bodily fluids and scat as if they were champagne and chocolate. Yes, there were shows that likely told its story better. And yes, the last episode chokes on Gainax's trademark "non-ending ending" cliffhanger that may have angered fans.

But how can you say that you will forget such a season? The styles so varied, the soundtrack so fuzzy from zizz, the characters both off-the-wall bonkers and satisfyingly likeable, the subjects of sin so close to our own without actually invading the fourth wall, Panty & Stocking pretty much hit us with everything from the ACME catalog and then some. It was sexy self-gratification with experimental silliness and tongue-in-cheek humor. If Gainax doesn't do the obvious and produce a second season, fans will be devastated.

Honorable Mention - Kuragehime, Invasion! Squid Girl, Oreimo

Worst In Show (single-season)
Yosuga no Sora
It didn't even merit much of a glance after the first episode, even with the premise of crowding four story arcs over twelve episodes through four different branching universes. The story was so distilled, the syrupy drama separated from the two-minute splash of comedy at the end. The characters were unexciting, and the visual-novel situations were brittle from too much exposure.

Left with no energy remaining to fuel it, the show basically tries to recover by pushing the taboo envelope further and clobbering the audience with the shock of "twincest" between the main characters. It just turns the show into a bizarre tragedy of relationships that don't cement a specific conclusion into place. Vague, unresolved and perhaps unintentionally offensive, Yosuga no Sora is a show that deserves no attention.

Honorable Mention (?) - Tantei Opera Milky Holmes, MM!

Best In Show (multi-season)
Shiki
Considering that it was in competition with the likes of Hetalia, One Piece, Black Butler II and assorted others on the Funimation website during the summer, the noitaminA series silently rode under the radar. A story about vampires just didn't equate to a unique feel, but once the show hit its halfway point and sold itself as a full twenty-two-episode show, it took off like a rocket.

While the show started to pick off the small town's population slowly, the midpoint of the series drove the human population into something beastly. Once thought to have too many characters for a plot, Shiki forced them into two sides of a war for survival and shocked the audience with horrific slayings of characters considered too bold to die in such minor situations. Without giving up too much plot, the main character Toshio perhaps pulls off the best psychological performance of the season, investigating the limits of okiagari vampires by experimenting on his own wife.

Honorable Mention - Tegami Bachi Reverse, Arakawa Under the Bridge*2

Worst In Show (multi-season)
Motto To Love-Ru
With all of the characters pretty much introduced in the first series, there was no need for Motto To Love-Ru to follow any sort of pattern or tell any particular extended story. One moment, our lucky protagonist Rito is feeling up one female classmate due to a misunderstanding. The next part, he's naked in front of the violent lolita and getting the tar beat out of him. The last seven minutes involve some touching moment with the uptight classmate, his school crush or the ditzy alien princess.

Was there a reason to really bring this show back if every episode is the same? Even the ending fails to deviate from the manga's ending, giving us the generic sit-com denouement of Rito surrounded by women reacting to his directionless admission of love. Harem show of all harem shows, Motto To Love-Ru lived up to its expectations of being a total disappointment.

Honorable Mention (?) - Sora no Otoshimono Forte, Amagami SS

Most Potential (continuing series)
Star Driver: Takuto of the Radiance
When it was announced that Bones would be the studio handling animation duties, there was no doubt that the mecha designs in Star Driver were going to be a work of art. Originally founded by Sunrise (Gundam, Escaflowne) members, Bones had designed some of the more vivid machines (RahXephon, Heroman) and constructed some of the more colorful stories (Fullmetal Alchemist, Wolf's Rain) in anime.

It wasn't expected that a story that wasn't based on a preexisting manga or light novel would work so well. Perhaps there are no expectations for how the story will unwind, but the conversations between the characters are lighthearted yet poignant, stoic yet comfortable like an episode of Utena. Takuto, Sugata, and Wako make perhaps the best trio in anime since Naruto met Sasuke and Sakura.

Honorable Mention - The World God Only Knows

Least Potential (continuing series)
Bakuman
So far, I have yet to hear a critical voice that has been pleasantly surprised by Bakuman, the animated adaption of the award-winning Shônen Jump manga about creating a manga. The first episodes of the show had nothing that really differentiated it from the manga (or the productions of the "manga" on YouTube), and the show is almost too relaxed to grab anyone new to the series.

It almost feels as if the show was to be gift-wrapped and presented to all of the fans that wanted to see it animated from Day 1, a reward for being so devoted to the comic, but I wasn't impressed with the show's first episodes. The fact the show will run more than the allotted 25 episodes tells me that it's popular enough in Japan, but for people overseas that may never experience the joy of being a manga star, it doesn't seem to translate into excitement.

Honorable mention (?) - Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector

Biggest Surprise
Hyakka Ryôran Samurai Girls
Yes, the show pretty much twisted samurai legend in order to put a whole bunch of half-naked women in the hands of an unwilling male, but the end product of Hyakka Ryôran actually managed to do better than expected. It took a little bit of bitter medicine to stand listening to Jûbei's ditzy split-personality, but the action was solid and exciting, and the climax was genuinely dazzling. Most important, the ending actually felt like an ending with some actual sacrifices to be made.

Considering the artwork was also so deeply rooted into the monochromatic ink of Japanese calligraphy, it was tempting to be overwhelmed by the use of stray drops as censors for the nudity, but the show slowly drew color for those spatters. (Besides, they're easier to cope with than BLINDING SUNLIGHT.) Hyakka Ryôran may have been Tenchi Muyô in Edo Japan, but it was still a surprise to see it work.

Honorable Mention - Otome Yôkai Zakuro, Fortune Arterial: Red Promise

Biggest Disappointment
Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru
Akiyuki Shinbo and SHAFT laid a few eggs this season. While Arakawa Under the Bridge*2 got a little too wrapped up in drama, Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru depended too much on impressing the audience with camera angles and art. The story was meant to involve a maid cafe, a high-school detective, and/or paranormal activity, but just ended up some sort of soupy mix of the three without ever making headway.

In short, the show left me complaining for more, much in the same nasal manner that Hotori hits the audience with every episode. It could have been so much better if we saw the show's objective by the end of the first episode; instead, we got a slice-of-life show that will never measure up to the likes of Sazae-san or Chibi Maruko-chan.

Honorable Mention (?) - Iron Man, Togainu no Chi

Best Overall Show
Shiki
Yes, this might be a bit unfair to shows that have already finished, but as Chris Beveridge of Mania.com expressed on Twitter regarding his own choice of Shiki as the Best Simulcast of the Year, "The strength of the first 21 (episodes) certainly makes it a given, regardless if it ends badly." We probably judge our shows too much on the ending of the series, so it was great to have a show out there that finally took its time, ignored any sort of high-school setting, and took a sledgehammer to everything we knew about anime.

Shiki was not only better at psychological horror than the likes of Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni and Highschool of the Dead, it took it one step further. It made each character, location, and occasion matter. It made vampire stories exciting by drawing out the tension over time and through dozens of people. It made the noitaminA block a definite must-see in the future. Shiki succeeded with its story, as old-fashioned as it may seem, by mixing European gothic style with the loneliness of Japanese life in the boonies.

If Shiki is released in North America, I will no doubt pay to see it again.

Honorable Mention - Panty & Stocking, Kuragehime, Star Driver, The World God Only Knows

We'll see you next season!

Facepalm 2010: Autumn Edition

We've finished with our informal poll on the best anime from Fall of 2010. While we're not sure what "Other" stood for in the minds of voters, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt took the cake with 7 votes, while Oreimo and Kuragehime scored 3 votes. The World God Only Knows got a vote, and Squid Girl was left without a vote.

Since there were so many shows that were apparently left out of the poll, we gave you a ton more to select for the "Worst Anime of Fall 2010". We have our personal preference for the show most deserving of a facepalm, so we'll keep our opinions to ourselves, but what made you sick to watch this season? (Bonus points if you actually are masochistic enough to watch it to the end.)

Of course, let us know why you selected the show you selected. Don't worry if you weren't able to make it through the pain; we're a support group here.

Monday Feedback Thread

If you hadn't noticed, there's a poll to your right. If you also hadn't noticed, I fudged by not including an area for people to tell us what "other" anime out there was better than those listed.

So I'll open it up to the readers of this fine establishment's blog: what was the best anime out there for the Fall 2010 season (if it's not listed in the poll)?

You go ahead.

The Fall 2010 Rankings (to the nth degree)

"I'm Kurara! This week's #1 show is..."

With the Fall 2010 season almost over and the reviews wrapped up for the year, I thought I'd take a before-and-after approach towards ranking the shows. Having seen every show's initial episode, I ranked the 25 new shows for the season from best to worst, #1 going to the best first episode and #25 to the worst.

It seemed a little boring to just list the shows, and it seemed a little redundant to add my opinion of the shows, since I've pretty much reviewed them all already. That being said, the logician in me (read: MATH NERD) decided to break down each show into its components and provide an equation that perhaps best explains the feel of the show. For example, Negima = Harry Potter + Love Hina. (I'm sure we were all thinking the same thing.)

Confusing? You bet your Pythagorean theorem it is.

1. Kuragehime = [(Maison Ikkoku + Ranma 1/2) / Rumiko Takahashi] + Cinderella

2. Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt = (Powder Puff Girls + Dirty Pair + The Misfits from Jem) - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

3. Star Driver = Revolutionary Girl Utena + Giant Robo

4. Invasion! Squid Girl = Mitsudomoe + Octopus Girl - The Ring

5. Arakawa Under The Bridge*2 = Arakawa Under The Bridge + Forbidden Planet - spaceship

6. Oreimo = Marmalade Boy + Cyber Team in Akihabara + (1 / Otaku no Video)

7. Tegami Bachi REVERSE = Tegami Bachi * Naruto

8. Psychic Detective Yakumo = Kindaichi Case Files + Gackt

9. Otome Yôkai Zakuro = (Taishô Baseball Girls - Princess Nine) * GeGeGe no Kitaro

10. The World God Only Knows = Excel Saga, Episode 4 + Pokemon

11. Hyakka Ryôran Samurai Girls = (Shin Koihime Musô - China) + Sakura Wars

12. Hakuôki Hekketsuroku = Fushigi Yûgi + Rurôni Kenshin + Vampire Hunter D

13. Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector = Super Robot Wars OG + Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture + (Jam Project)^10

14. Bakuman = (Hikaru no Go)! + How To Draw Manga

15. Fortune Arterial: Red Promise = Clannad + (Hellsing/4)

16. Hetalia World Series = Hetalia

17. Togainu no Chi = (Fist of the North Star - Jojo's Bizarre Adventure) * Comiket

18. To Aru Majutsu no Index II = (Chrono Crusade - Devil Man) * 2

19. Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru = (Maid-sama! + Encyclopedia Brown + Ramona Quimby) / Nancy Drew

20. Tantei Opera Milky Holmes = (Meitantei Conan - murder) + Ojamajo Doremi

21. Iron Man = Iron Man (U.S. TV series) + Iron Man (movie) - Iron Man (comic)

22. M.M.! = The sum of every harem anime you've ever seen - inhibitions - appeal

23. Sora no Otoshimono Forte = Oh! My Goddess + Urusei Yatsura - modesty

24. Yosuga no Sora = The Wonder Twins + kissxsis

25. Motto To Love-Ru = 1 / n, where n approaches infinity.

Next time: We actually RANK the shows!

The Top 15 Best Themes of Fall 2010

A cracking soundtrack doesn't necessarily need to be in place to make an anime good, but a really good opening and closing theme will have people talking for years. People are still dancing to the Haruhi Season 1 ending theme, and I'm convinced that DNA2 became a smash anime series thanks to the addition of a blossoming band known as L'arc-en-Ciel to its opening sequence. Produce a catchy song and grab the audience with 90 seconds of power, and you'll be sending them to karaoke boxes over and over. Guaranteed.

Here is a listing of the fifteen TV-cut themes, either opening or ending, that I think deserve some praise for lifting their shows. Heck, send some of them overseas for an award tour if you can!

[All CD cover images come courtesy of CD Japan (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp). OP = Opening Theme. ED = Ending Theme.]

15. "HELP!! ~Hell Side / Heaven Side~" - Mio Isurugi / Arashiko Yûno (M.M.!, OP)

Well, not much to write about the animation, as it's pretty much just an assembly of the M.M.! crew displaying their idiosyncrasies, but the song sung by the main heroines, voice-actresses Ayana Taketatsu and later Saori Hayami, is at least peppy enough to lift spirits. Its double-sided nature ("Go to Hell!" becomes "Go to Heaven!" in mid-season) is notable enough to be a above-average start to the show.

14. "Bakurock~Mirai no Rinkakusen" ("Contours of the Future") - YA-KYIM (Bakuman, ED)

The limping opening theme from Kobukuro gives the slice-of-life show a little too much sappy romance, so at least the ending theme from the hip-pop unit YA-KYIM has a little more joy to it. The animation itself isn't much of a stretch, silhouettes of the main characters running along with panels of the supporting cast, but the up-tempo song keeps the atmosphere breezy enough for the next show.

13. "Rose-Hip Bullet" - GRANRODEO (Togainu no Chi, OP)

Surprisingly absent from the opening animation scene are Visual-Kei bands. With Buck-Tick still affiliated with the Shi Ki animation, the only other band that provides some good Vis-K rock is GRANRODEO, a duo comprised of veteran guitarist Masaaki Iizuka and voice-actor Kishô Taniyama. The opening animation is nothing exceptional, but the music really clobbers the listener like a cinder-block and sets a decent stage for the show.

12. "Last vision for last" - Faylan (Hyakka Ryôran Samurai Girls, OP)

Faylan is one of those singers in Japan where her voice just demands a sexy song for accompaniment. While the decision to use her for the ending to Tantei Opera Milky Holmes is perhaps questionable, she adds plenty of J-pop power to the opening for Hyakka Ryôran. Add to it the female cast strutting their stuff with a clash of swords, and it's a nice punch to begin the show.

11. "Akai Kôto" ("Red Coat") - Suneohair (Arakawa Under the Bridge*2, ED)

The ending theme to the second Arakawa Under the Bridge series has two different versions. While the original is a live-action presentation of its more cartoonish characters in realistic scenes, the second is an animated version with the heroine Nino exploring the world around her as if she were coming alive from a coloring book. The acoustic guitar finishes the episode appropriately, leaving a wind-swept feel to the story.

10. "God Only Knows (Part III)" - Oratario The World God Only Knows (The World God Only Knows, OP)

KamiNomi provides perhaps the most bipolar of the opening themes for the season, using just a fraction from a medley on the official soundtrack as its opening. The first half of the song drowns itself in digital and dances through circuitry like Tron, only to end in the tinny sound of a harpsichord and our main character's mind buried in a handheld video game. Appropriate, considering the main character's tendency to bounce between 2D and 3D mentalities.

9. "Fallen Angel" - Aimee B (Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, ED)

Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt has, hands down, the best soundtrack of the season with plenty of electronica to follow such a bizarre series. The ending theme tones it down by bringing the viewer back to earth with a slow English-language R&B dance number, while bobbleheaded versions of Panty and Stocking are subjected to slow-motion doomsday scenarios. A great way for the audience to exhale.

8. "Metamerism" - Kanae Itô (Shinryaku! Ika-Musume, ED)

Sometimes simple is better. Although some minute details vary according to the content of each show, the ending animation covers only a shot of Squid Girl gazing longingly at the night sky and the waves on the beach. Kanae Itô covers the song gracefully like a boat drifting on a sea of violins. Possibly the best ending theme of the season.

7. "Downtown" - Maaya Sakamoto (Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru, OP)

I'm a bit surprised that the opening theme for Soredemo was so upbeat and catchy that I often spent more time listening to the song and watching the opening than the actual anime itself. Maaya Sakamoto has such a range with her vocal talents as both a singer and a voice actress, and she pulls off a brilliant Broadway song, while Hotori and friends dance along in a cabaret number.

6. "Shinryaku no susume" ("Let's Invade") - ULTRA-PRISM with Ika-Musume (Shinryaku! Ika-Musume, OP)

Nothing needed to be said here but...

SHINRYAKU
SHINRYAKU
SHINRYAKU
SHINRYAKU
SHINRYAKU
SHINRYAKU
IKA-MUSUME! (chu!)

If that doesn't get lodged in your brain for hours on end, you are one hell of a clear thinker.

5. "Cosmos vs. Alien" - Etsuko Yakushimaru (Arakawa Under the Bridge*2, OP)

For the most part, Arakawa Under The Bridge has depended on surrealism in its story and comedy, so Studio SHAFT has saved a lot of its creativity for its openings and endings. Since the collaboration worked so well the first season ("Venus and Jesus"), Etsuko Yakushimaru donates her wispy voice to the second opening amongst a jaunty Wonderland-inspired tea party interrupted by explosions in space.

4. "MAXON" - Jam Project (Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector, OP)

Come on. If it's got robots in it, it's gotta have the thunderous voices of JAM Project! Serious power charge from the quintet, and the animation sells the sizzle pretty nicely. Any excuse to yell "Revolving STAAAKE!" is as good an excuse as any.
3. "Koko Dake no Hanashi" ("Just Between You and Me") - chatmonchy (Kuragehime, OP)

Kuragehime is meant to be a fluffy geek story, so it's only appropriate for the theme to be light and buttery like popcorn. Speaking of popcorn, the animation does a terrific job in presenting the characters in their own movie parodies, finishing with a sunny morning wake-up call around the apartment. Surprisingly, chatmonchy's influences stretch from Thee Michelle Gun Elephant and Hi-Standard to Dave Grohl, but they pull off a nice mellow sound.

2. "irony" - ClariS (Oreimo, OP)

With such clear voices joining the upbeat background music, ClariS may surprise you—the duo is reported to have been in middle-school at the time of their debut this year. While the opening sells a lot of itself through Kirino's tsundere behaviors, the actual animation changes from week to week and remains fresh. Get to know ClariS—they're slated to sing the opening theme for Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

1. "Gravity ø" - Aqua Timez (Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto, OP)

There is no song or opening sequence that could reasonably replace what Star Driver has offered this season. Instead of providing cuts to the various characters and mecha in the show, Studio Bones goes off the beaten path by having its hero Takuto running across two-dimensional solid-color scenery and past his classmates, his speed matching the pace and crests of the song. Aqua Timez had performed some good songs for Bleach, but there is nothing but inspiration coming from their blend of pop and rock before Takuto takes off for the skies in his mecha. If there was an opening that ever rivaled One Piece's first OP ("We Are!") in terms of the spring of youth and hope, this is it.

There you have it, folks. The Top 15 songs of the season. Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the soy sauce.

Fall 2010 - Rest of the Rest (Tsundere Ver.)

What else do you want from me? I told you that I don't have enough time to watch everything, but you're still here! I've already said I'm sorry!

Fine! I'll review these shows, but don't misunderstand me, you dummy! I just...I just have time to finally get these done! I mean, they weren't exactly the best of shows out there, and the first episodes really disappointed me, almost to the point of not watching them anymore! But I'll review them already!

It...it's not like I'm doing it for you! Dummy!

Iron Man: The Anime

Synopsis: So this Tony Stark billionaire guy decides to go to Japan to set up a power station in cooperation with the Japanese government. While helping with the research and acting as his own press agent for his lavish events, Stark comes across a rogue pilot who has hijacked a prototype armor meant to be his replacement as Iron Man. At the same time, he has to cope with the attacks from the Zodiac, a band of androids and robots that have targeted Iron Man and the Stark Corporation.

Why wasn't it reviewed?: First of all, there isn't a rush to review the Japanese version of the show, as it will be released soon enough in the United States. This conversion to a dubbed English language may make the show a little easier to process and believable; Stark shows little to no problems with speaking in Japanese in the first episode. A little believability, if you will!

Second of all, there wasn't much appeal for the series when the first episodes were weighed as an entity. Each week, Zodiac poses a colossal threat to the nation, whether it be in a natural or digital form, but once that threat is neutralized, it seems to be forgotten. The only things that tie the episodes together are characters that aren't that interesting, and for some reason Tony keeps bumping into the same nosy female reporter. Aren't there any other people in Japan? And if there are, must they be inexplicably brought into the show? (Wait, what's Wolverine doing here?!)

Bakuman

Synopsis: Moritaka's got the artistic ability that his uncle used to exhibit when he was a mangaka in his own generation, but his uncle's death from overwork has been considered a "suicide" by Moritaka's family. While Moritaka would rather just join the working class, his classmate Akito, a bright guy with a knack for writing, would rather risk it to succeed as one half of a manga tandem with Moritaka. Moritaka's motivation to become a mangaka, however, comes from an urge to see his crush Azuki succeed at her goal of becoming a voice actress and for her voice to be paired with his animated creation.

Why wasn't it reviewed?: Okay, so Bakuman is an anime based on the manga about two guys making a manga in the hopes of making it an anime. It seems logical and ripe for tearing down some of the walls separating the industry from its readers, but the first two episodes just didn't feel like it was worth animating. It was as if the inclusion of time didn't really make a difference—there's no real gripping factor that differentiates the anime from the manga. It's a bit of a disappointment to consider there to be more drama in the manga than the anime.

The other big problem I had was actually with the opening theme, "Blue Bird" from Kobukuro. You have great harmony and play a mean ballad, guys, but way to seriously put the audience to sleep. Maybe things might pick up with the next half of the 25-episode series, but I couldn't get past two episodes. It's a serious shame, because the manga was solid.

Yosuga no Sora

Synopsis: Derived from the visual novel from Sphere in 2008, Yosuga no Sora tells the story about the Kasugano twins, Haruka and Sora, while they return to their grandparents' old house in the countryside. Having lost their parents to a car accident, Haruka is very protective of Sora, especially due to her own frail constitution, but life must go on. They attend the town's high school and befriend some past acquaintances and new faces, only for Sora to exhibit a fierce jealousy each time.

Why wasn't it reviewed?: I understand that the show contains an interesting way of unfolding, as each "arc" involving Haruka and one of the other girls in the show develops as if chosen through the alternatives presented in a visual novel. However, I found myself unable to get past the first episode after understanding that Sora totally has the hots for her twin brother. So far, shows have managed to dance around actual incest, but Yosuga no Sora doesn't sugar-coat. Actual brother-sister lip-lock here, folks.

Too creepy to really continue the story, even with the ridiculous cuteness that comes from the episode:

And that's all! No more reviews for the fall! If these reviews aren't good enough for you, then that'll be the last time I ever do them for you!

Baka.

Fall 2010 - Rest of the Rest

When I reviewed bad anime, I apologized.
When I didn't review the anime at all, I said nothing.

This is an ode to all of those we offended by not reviewing what we considered average. It wasn't the fault of these shows; it was our own fault. We just didn't have enough time for everything, and these shows just didn't charm us at the time. In lieu of flowers and monetary compensation, we provide snips of these middle-of-the-road anime shows from the Fall of 2010.

Hakuôki Hekketsuroku

Synopsis: Based on the "reverse harem" otome game of the same name, Hekketsuroku is a continuation of the first series, Hakuôki Shinsengumi Kitan. Chizuru, the daughter of a prestigious doctor of Western-based medicines, is taken in by the Shinsengumi during her trip to find her father. The protectorate of the shogunate vows to protect her from a scourge of demon-driven samurai called "Rasetsu", only to discover that Chizuru herself is one of the "Demon Clan" that contains the purest of blood, making her the ultimate prey for the Rasetsu for its continued lineage.

Needless to say, the good doctor may not be as good as considered. The medicine he has created, labeled "ochimizu", has the power to heighten senses and power, but its side effects are devastating to the drinker, as it turns them into a bloodthirsty Rasetsu in the process. The second series, treated more as a continuation of the first, chronicles the plight of the Shinsengumi as it tries to both protect Chizuru from the demon forces and deal with their own troubles as demonized humans who drank the medicine for its own survival.

Why wasn't it reviewed?: The show has some good moments, but there just hasn't been much exposure from the series in the US. Hakuôki is to be treated as a pretty good show in terms of its artistic aesthetics, but it requires a start at the beginning. The other burning problem in my mind is that this series seems to just use the famous name of the Shinsengumi in order to tell a story about vampires. Can't say I'm a big fan of revisionist history, so the interest to follow the show was never there.

(Also see: A Certain Magical Index II. I'll get to this shows in time, but it just didn't hit my senses enough to return to "Go". In due time, in due time.)

Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru

Synopsis: A "slice-of-life" show produced by the creative eye of Akiyuki Shinbo and Studio SHAFT, Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru (And Yet The Town Turns) covers the high-school life of Hotori Arashiyama, an aloof maid-cafe waitress who has a thing for detective stories and a thing against her math teacher. The show covers the various situations Hotori and her friends find themselves drawn into, most of them revolving around the operations of the cafe itself.

Why wasn't it reviewed?: There's...nothing to really review.

The opening and ending themes are rather fun and catchy, and the shifts in perspective that Shinbo emphasizes in his shows are quite pronounced, but Soredemo is a show that even his talents in direction can't float. The plot seems to wander aimlessly from episode to episode without really building direction towards a reason for its animation. Most of all, the whiny voice of Hotori, no fault to her actress, makes the show grating to follow. I've heard that some others have found charm in her annoying personality, but her lack of maturity gets me as mad as her math teacher gets.

Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector

Synopsis: This show follows the plot covered in the Super Robot Wars: Original Generation 2 video game, but basically follows the timeline from the previous SRWOG series, Divine Wars. The war between the humans left on Earth after a series of meteor strikes and an alien race known as the Aerogaters unfortunately presented the opportunity for a rogue faction, the "Divine Crusaders" to challenge the Earth's government. While most of the civil war between the two factions has ended, there's now the reemerging threat of the Aerogater fleet...

Why wasn't it reviewed?: There is still quite a lot of potential for this series to be covered in the next few weeks, as it is being run online on Crunchyroll's website. The opening theme is a powerful force from the notorious "JAM Project", a unit that always cranks the volume of the show to eleven, and if that was the only reason to watch the show, I certainly would watch it daily. The flip of characters—a substitution of the main characters from the first series with its backup team—is also a pretty clever change to its format. I never would have considered seating the starting line-up for the bench players.

The show is directed by veteran Masami Obari (remember Voltage Fighter Gowkaizer?), so I should have been expecting the breasts to be polished to a brilliant gleam (even on the mecha themselves!), but a lot of the disappointment comes, once again, from the substituted characters. Emotionless Lamia Loveless can't seem to get her Japanese straight, and ATX member Excellen comes off as a ditsy pilot that just rubs against all standards of mecha shows. SRWOG: The Inspector's bound to have the action and energy mecha shows always exhibit, but I can't get into the mechanics if I can't get into the characters themselves.

Next time: We're sorry for not reviewing the disappointments!

Fall 2010 - Rest of the Best

Sumimasen! Sumimasen!

(We're sorry! We're sorry!)

We can't do it. AniMaybe cannot review everything.

There's no way that one person can watch ALL of the shows from the fall anime season. It's impossible. You find someone who can watch hundreds of hours of anime over a three-month span, and I'll show you a skeleton of a person who is trying to claw his way through the walls from either too much anime or too little sunlight. Moderation for all, and until AniMaybe manages to get a second reviewer, you won't see me going through hell and brimstone to get this all done.

What we can do is review what we could watch. The next few entries in this blog will be a review of the shows we were able to catch, along with those shows we just couldn't continue to watch, no matter how much tape you put over our eyelids to keep them open.

Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto

Synopsis: "Southern Cross Island" off the shores of Japan is not frequented by many visitors, so the arrival of a new student, Takuto Tsunashi, makes a serious splash, especially when he is discovered washed up on its shores by two high-school students. While Takuto instantly becomes friends with Wako and her proposed fiancee Sugata, the friendly environment between himself and the rest of the student body is only a mirage.

The island itself houses many secrets. The organization known as the "Glittering Star Crusade" is investigating the legendary mysteries of the "Cybody" machines and attempting to destroy the maidens of the island that keep the Cybodies from escaping a neutral war ground known as "Zero Time". With their destruction, the Cybodies can be piloted in real time and space, but the arrival of Takuto signals the fated conflict with the "Galactic Pretty-Boy", as he has his own Cybody that he can pilot to battle the "Crusade".

Thoughts: Dare I say it, possibly the most interesting mecha show since Giant Robo? Star Driver is a fantastic new approach to mecha that deserved to be animated. Not only are the machines inventive in their design, but they are inventive in their operation and battle simulation. The characters are colorful in their school setting, yet vicious and vain when turned against each other. Takuto has just enough youthful energy and suspicious background to make him an excellent main character, and his association with Sugata and Wako could make for an interesting relationship.

Why wasn't it reviewed?: Simply put, outside of its premiere at New York Anime Fest in October, there just hasn't been enough exposure. Funimation, Crunchyroll, and ANN have all stepped away from streaming the show. Considering that Aniplex has ventured to release their own materials on DVD, they could be sitting on this series for an non-streamed release, but it's a shame that we haven't seen more of this online. The tease in NYAF, however, does make me hopeful we'll see Star Driver in some form in the US.

Arakawa Under the Bridge*2

Synopsis: Once again, Kô Ichinomiya is wrapped up in the absurd community utopia on the shores of the Arakawa River through his proclaimed relationship with "Nino-san", a blonde Venusian who approaches life through a childlike perception. Straight-laced Kô finds himself suddenly faced with a variety of oddballs, including a star-faced guitarist in love with Nino, a war-scarred male "nun", and a kappa in charge of the community who denies he's wearing a costume (despite the zipper).

While Kô's situation in the first season of the show forced him to butt heads against his demanding father, the second season switches the focus onto Nino's nature as an alien. While the cast of the bizarre increases, Nino is told of her imminent return to Venus. Kô finds this to be an opportunity to get to know Nino more, while of course, the cast of characters sees this as a free trip to Venus.

Thoughts: Once again, Arakawa jabs and needles its viewers with small absurdities before it drops the punch line on them like an ACME anvil. However, we may be seeing the extent of its ability to rib people with surrealism; the new characters don't grab enough attention with their quirks, and the existing supporting cast has their own background held in check. This is definitely good for the Kô/Nino dynamic, in order to build their relationship, but I can't see this series going further than a second season.

Why wasn't it reviewed?: Again, most of it is due to the lack of exposure, but the show doesn't really step away from what made it so good in the first season. That's not to say that director Akiyuki Shinbo and animation studio Shaft have revised the formula that made the first season so great, but considering the show really has not improved or devolved, there's just no need to review it. Seriously, it's still the same and still good, perhaps to the point that a revision of the show's title was unnecessary.

Psychic Detective Yakumo

Synopsis: Yakumo Saitô is a college student that doesn't appear to have much interest in college at all, hiding all day in the Film Studies room. Although he clearly doesn't have much direction, he still draws rumors from the student body, leading to a visit from Haruka Ozawa. Haruka has heard about Yakumo's extraordinary ability to use his red eye to see the souls of the dead bound to victims. Considering her friends have been either killed or hospitalized after they all trespassed into an abandoned school, she needs answers from someone who can interact with the supernatural.

This then leads Yakumo and Haruka onto an awkward partnership—Haruka wants to make Yakumo more of a social creature, perhaps even one more helpful towards criminal investigation, but Yakumo appears to have too much past baggage to comply. The rest of the series involves Yakumo's apathetic involvement in cases, all while a man with two red eyes follows in the shadows...

Thoughts: Psychic Detective Yakumo was originally a novel and a live-action television series before it was animated, so there are very realistic parts to the animation and story, sometimes to the point of drowsiness. There is certainly a minimalist approach towards the show, but considering the detective-show competition, Yakumo looks pretty decent in comparison to Tantei Opera Milky Holmes. It's interesting to see where things will go with the antagonist lurking in the shadows, and I'd watch this a bit more...

Why wasn't it reviewed?: ...if access was easier, and the show had just a bit more impact. I won't go as far to call the series "bland", but Yakumo's personality clashes with the program. His relationship with Haruka almost feels forced, a positive female with a negative male, but there still seems to be direction with the show. I'd watch some more of it if Psychic Detective Yakumo was made available as an alternative to some of the online shows out there.

Letter Bee REVERSE

Synopsis: Lag Seeing is a "Letter Bee", a postal carrier who risks his life to deliver messages to and from the people of AmberGround, a cold and dark society that must operate on the warmth of an artificial sun. His job is a dangerous one, considering that the giant spirit insects called "Gaichû" that fly about the land want his letters for the "hearts" that reside inside them. Along with his "dingo" partner Niche, Lag fights to be as brave as Gauche, the Letter Bee Lag had met when he was a child and who had rescued him from the Gaichû.

However, the first season ended in a cliffhanger, as Lag was actually betrayed by Gauche himself, the latter stealing away the letters Lag was to deliver. Apparently, there is an organization called the "Reverse" that wishes to stop the Letter Bees from making their rounds, and Gauche's amnesia has left him vulnerable to their manipulations. Lag's new mission is to stop the Reverse and rescue Gauche in the process.

Thoughts: Letter Bee REVERSE is a very imaginative anime, no doubt. At times, the show is so imaginative that it becomes a little cumbersome to its own story and requires a solid mind to follow the trails. Now that a counter-organization has surfaced to oppose the Letter Bees, there is a lot more urgency towards a conclusion and a motivation for Lag to become a better employee.

Why wasn't this reviewed?: It will be reviewed at some point, but the series needs a thorough review from Square 1, not Square 26. There's just too much in terms of previous episodes, and since Crunchyroll is content to call Letter Bee REVERSE a continuation of Letter Bee, so shall I be content to start it at the very beginning.

Next time: We're sorry for not reviewing the half-decent shows!

Fall 2010 - Hyakka Ryôran Samurai Girls

I'm not exactly sure what to think when I'm faced with the rehashing of history. I've been told to respect my elders and learn from the successes and mistakes we've made in the past as a country. This includes honoring our forefathers with reverence when it comes to their sacrifices for the sake of nationalism, but it also means being able to laugh when it comes to satire of those figures. I don't mind comedy that pokes fun at war, politics, and history—ask me about Bob Newhart's phone call between Abe Lincoln and his press agent.

However, there seems to be some fine lines being drawn regarding the re-imaging of historical figures in Japan. We've already seen what happens when the parody goes a bit too far into situational comedy (Tono to Isshô). We've also seen recent forays into portraying Chinese historical figures as females (Koihime Musô, Ikkitôsen), sending the storyline careening into a less-violent and decidedly feminine direction. Battles were still waged, but they usually involved some stage of dizziness and undress.

Hyakka Ryôran Samurai Girls, the lone Fall 2010 series that The Anime Network has obtained for online viewing, steps away from Chinese history and opts for yet another interpretation of Feudal-era Japan. Instead of taking the viewer into the past to retell the story, however, the timeline is allowed to unwind without the upheaval of the Tokugawa shogunate. Rather, Japan has become "Dai-Nippon", a unified and isolated country that trains its samurai warriors in an academy at the base of Mt. Fuji.

The newest arrival, Muneakira Yagyû, called to the academy to attend its classes with his childhood friend Sen, is suddenly thrown into an unstable situation when he moves into his dojo. His confrontation with the underdeveloped Yukimura Sanada and her bodyguard unravels an underlying plot by Toyotomi forces to take down the Tokugawa lineage, but it also draws Muneakira to their side when Sen's own forces mistake him for the enemy.

The confrontation with Sen's maid-servants turns out to be a major event, although not as much from the sword-clashing itself. In mid-battle, a naked girl falls from the heavens into Muneakira's arms before kissing him. The girl, who calls herself Jûbei Yagyû, ends up displaying the swordsmanship of a "Master Samurai" and overwhelms the others, only to pass out, later unable to remember how she transformed.

Much like any other harem anime, Muneakira's confidants are all female derivatives of historic figures, and each seek to capture his lips in order to turn into a Master Samurai. The modern setting allows for anime stereotypes—for example, Jûbei is a bubbleheaded ditz, Hanzo Hattori is a meganekko ninja in maid's clothing, and even the legendary Musketeer Charles d'Artanian makes an appearance as a foreign blonde swordswoman. As clues fall into place, the group realizes more and more the real motivations of the Tokugawa government, with Muneakira as the general for the opposing forces.

When you consider past efforts, yes, Jûbei has been female before (reanimated through the "lovely eyepatch" in Jûbei-chan), but that story was strictly parody. On the other hand, in much the same way that Sakura Wars took on the enemy by assembling a female resistance around a male protagonist, Hyakka Ryôran ends up trying to mix comedy with romance and drama. The story is there, but the comedy occasionally drags its level down towards that of a Tenchi Muyô—the show is bound to be remembered for its sexual situations and trips to the beach rather than its swordfighting.

Despite its heavy emphasis on titillation, Hyakka Ryôran does have its saving grace, mostly through its art style alone. Each scene is drawn with the thick ebony stroke of a calligrapher's pen, giving the show a feeling of something more cultural than mere eye candy. There is no escaping the sexual energy of this show, whether intentional or comic, but the art itself provides a unique sort of self-censure—while shows like Sora no Otoshimono and To Love-Ru have depended on cumbersome rays of sunlight, Hyakka Ryôran spatters ink on its nudity to hide the naughty bits with a bit more modesty.

There is no denying that the show is meant to thrill its viewers with the tried-and-true formula of the harem comedy, but the attempt by animation studio ARMS at developing a worthy story with imaginative artistic devices actually overrides the sex jokes and makes Hyakka Ryôran more watchable. It is still ridiculous to imagine the tough sneer of Jûbei coupled with the flash of panties and a vapid giggle, but we're still rewarded with a show that has an overall objective for its main characters, and the artwork allows the eyes to focus on both the action and its background.

In short, there are boobies and butts in Hyakka Ryôran, no doubt, but there are also plenty of other things to look at, you pervs.

Fall 2010 - Fortune Arterial

Belated birthday wishes go out to Vampire of the Coast, the silent movie that spawned a genre that has been haunting theaters for a little over a century. It is all thanks to its release in 1909 that we got the likes of Dracula, Rasputin, and Edward Cullen romancing female victims into submission for...

Actually, hold the phone there, chief. The first "vampire movie" was Nosferatu in 1922, followed by Dracula in 1931. The earliest "vampire" movies were actually misnomers, as they involved the Kipling definition of the term, referring to "femme-fatale" characters as "vamps". Perhaps that slight misunderstanding of the definition was much more pronounced in Japan, as the manga and television series Vampire, a story developed by Osamu Tezuka himself, was actually about werewolves and other humans that change into animals.

That's not to say that Japan hasn't been able to provide their interpretation of the creature from European folklore—the first Japanese vampire film Onna Kyûketsuki ("Vampire of Women") was released in 1959, seven years before Vampire. However, the concept just hasn't seemed to catch on completely in Japan—as Daryl Surat pointed on the Otaku USA website, vampires in anime "(mostly) bite and suck". We've already seen a handful of vampire-based anime shows in the past year alone (Bakemonogatari, Dance in the Vampire Bund, Shiki), and these haven't been half-bad, so it has given some hope towards Japan finally getting the point about vampires.

The submission from software company August and animation studio Zexcs, Fortune Arterial: Red Promise, is surprisingly not the only vampire-themed show that originated from a visual novel this year (Hakuôki). The show, currently running on Crunchyroll, centers its story around the final move of Kohei Hasekura, a fifth-year student at Shuchikan Academy who once lived in the area as a child. His arrival reunites him with childhood friends Haruna and Kanade, but Kohei has garnered the most attention from the student council and its charismatic president Iori.

Like most visual novel games and shows, Kohei ends up befriending plenty of females, ranging from the sweet and innocent Shiro to the cold and quiet Kureha, all while trying to live his high-school days to the fullest. However, his friendship with the popular Erika is one of the most tenuous in the show—while he has been able to work well with Erika when it comes to council activities, he's shocked to discover that she and Iori are a variety of vampires who have survived dozens of classes.

And...that's about it. Vampires in the classroom? No big whoop.

Sure, there is some conflict in Erika as she worries she cannot repress her urges for blood and some initial fright when Kohei watches Iori dine on some maiden's neck, but Fortune Arterial lacks the panic that ought to come from a vampire story. Instead, we get filler that has no place in advancing the story, and there's no emergency from the initial discovery. Kohei is all smiles as he becomes a B.M.O.C. by helping plan the sports festival and swimming meets, but there is so much nichijô ("every-day") to this show that it makes it appear mundane.

Despite the lack of concrete direction, this show can be saved by a twist, especially with Iori and the student council pulling the strings so easily in the background. The show is good as an adaption of a visual novel—the vivid color in the characters is there, the stable personalities are there, even the possibility of everything collapsing on itself is there. However, as a story about vampires, it seems that there just aren't enough...vampires.

Does Fortune Arterial want to be a dark drama? Does it want to be a lighthearted comedy? Considering the show involves aspects of both, it's trying too hard to be both. The comedy does not get funny enough, and the drama is neither emotional nor emo. Fortune Arterial needs to target its audience and give that majority what they want to see; sitting on the fence will just lead up to disappointment.

I won't go so far as to say Fortune Arterial is unwatchable. There is potential for a good story under the average script, but if it continues to fiddle with stories that have little to do with vampires, I'll find myself agreeing with Daryl in the end that vampire shows suck.

Fall 2010 - Togainu no Chi

The barrier of social organization is usually the one hurdle standing in the way of a story without inhibitions. Mad Max saw its dystopia through the end of oil supplies. Rollerball, Deathrace 2000, and Demolition Man required economic uncertainty and global corporatism. Ultraviolet required a virus to get out of hand, while Tank Girl needed a comet to create its wasteland.

Regardless of the cause and despite the need for survival, the outcome often results in a new playground for humanity. Japan's entries have usually involved more of a duty towards reconstruction (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Appleseed), but we've also seen moments where any rehabilitation attempts are damned by gang warfare (Battle Angel Alita, Fist of the North Star). We've also seen recent shows and movies that require survival over all other counts (Battle Royale, Highschool of the Dead).

The visual novel franchise Togainu no Chi, however, uses the battlefield as a playground for neither recovery nor exclusion—it's all how the bishônen play with each other.

Developed into an animated series by Aniplex, Togainu no Chi (running at the Anime News Network website as "Bloody Curs") still takes the idea of post-apocalyptic nihilism as a means of competition. In this interpretation of the Third World War (called the "Third Division"), Japan has been split by war and the resulting anarchy. Tokyo has turned into an abandoned wasteland known as "Toshima", occupied by seedy gangsters and drug lords.

Steely-eyed Akira is one of the silent fighters in Japan's legalized "Bl@ster" fighting rings, but his freedom is revoked when he is framed for a murder. His price to pay for escape is an entry fee into the corrupt Igra fighting game, a loosely-organized competition in Toshima where competitors wear dogtags branded with playing-card decals as a sign of participation. Once the competitor completes a winning hand, he can challenge the declared "Il-re" for the position, and the victor becomes the "king" of the competition until the next challenge.

Unsurprisingly, Togainu no Chi's story develops much like the visual novel—Akira is the central figure, forced to figure out how to clear his name, while also involuntarily drawing attention from the other characters like a yaoi magnet. His friend Keisuke tags along despite his lack of involvement in the game and fighting prowess. Akira's reputation also brings challengers to the fold—a katana-wielding non-participant, an effeminate fighter, a chain-smoking bystander, and the judge/jury/executioner of the game itself, personified by the drug kingpin Arbitro and his lackeys.

With all of its pieces laid out for battle, you would think that Togainu no Chi would move at a war-march pace that Kenshiro moved in Fist of the North Star, the battles defined by the finishing moves of the fighters. However, the show seems to play more like a chessboard, the pieces moving slowly while the experts contemplate movement. Perhaps it is a lack of real character development that is at fault—we manage to get some concern from Keisuke for his friend's safety, even some one-sided attraction towards Akira from the boyish Rin, but it seems that all of the fighters are just sitting around, waiting for something to happen. Akira himself is probably the weakest of the links, shrugging off help and conversation from all comers and letting the sub-characters define what his role and personality will be.

This isn't to say that Togainu no Chi is devoid of merit—the undermining plot is put together with some interesting angles, and the dramatic tone of the show has the occasional ability to trump the lackluster art. Fan service is held back in order to let the drama take over. However, an unemotional star can really drain the plot dry, as Akira gives a performance that is more Schwarzenegger than it is Bruce Willis.

It's probably fitting, since Togainu no Chi comes out a lot like The Running Man—man is blamed for a crime, man is introduced into a game for his freedom, man fends for his life. However, the end is guaranteed to have no kiss between hero and heroine, which is probably what will draw its target audience to the show. Togainu no Chi is a yaoi love story set in a dull slab of concrete—unmoving and gray to most, appealing to those who came to the museum to see it.