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Sounds like a ridiculous premise? Well, it is; there's no pretending on that one. It's not even explained why an organisation called 'DES' decided to ban entertainment, where they come from, or how they get the money to build weapons to fight the idols whenever they show up to hold a concert. But still, in part in spite of its ridiculous premise, and in part because of it, AKB0048 works.

The first few episodes of the show are concerned with the main characters' route into becoming 'understudies' - girls who train to become 'successors'. The successors have the right to bear one of the names of ... the original AKB48 members and sing as them in concerts, while the understudies have to content themselves with practicing and occasionally putting on much more minor concerts.The series is largely plotless, and that's a good thing rather than a bad thing. There's no real enemy besides the faceless DES, who are mostly just there to add some kind of tension to the concerts, which would otherwise bore anyone who didn't already have an interest in AKB48. The individual episodes generally fit together very well, though. There's generally a couple of mini-plots that focus on a few individual characters and some development of the relationships between all the girls. In general, the pacing is very solid.

Of course, it's very much a character-driven show, so the characters are the important thing. Not all of the characters manage to sidestep the stereotype hole that all-female casts so often fall into. Sonata is very much the 'childish character' and Suzuko very much the 'glasses girl'. But in general, they do a pretty good job with that. Chieri and Yuuka were both obvious candidates for 'the tsundere', but the fact that the writers resisted stuffing them unceremoniously into that stereotype makes their interactions with the other characters much more interesting and less predictable. The tension of them all both being friends and being in competition with one another for a spot amongst the successors also adds an interesting tension between them. Furthermore, the fact that for the understudies to become successors, the successors might have to 'graduate' and leave AKB0048 creates a level of tension between the understudies and the successors, something that's quite rightly explored in greater depth in the latter half of the series. It touches on serious issues a couple of times, and there are a few emotional moments, but it never goes too deep into drama or stays there for too long.

The show's probably still really entertaining even if you're not an AKB48 fan, but if you are a fan, it's going to be a whole lot more entertaining, and you're probably going to feel a lot more involved with the characters. Knowing the personalities of the most popular members of AKB48 will mean you get a whole lot more of the jokes and references, and there's (obviously) also a lot of AKB48 music used throughout the show. Most of the successors get a couple of scenes where the focus is on them, which is something you can look forward to if your favourite member is someone who appears in the show (Harunyan for me~). You'll also identify a bit more with the understudies' awed respect of the successors, and you'll enjoy the concept of the heroic WOTA (rather a far cry from actual otaku, I fear, and I speak as someone who could not unjustifiably be accused of being one).

All in all, I'd wholeheartedly recommend AKB0048, although I do so with the caution that I'm not sure what it would be like to watch it without already being an AKB48 fan. I'm not the kind of fan who would buy up multiple copies of their election single, but I do know about most of the popular members and most of their popular singles, which I think really added to my own enjoyment of the series. If you're looking for a fun series that doesn't take itself too seriously and doesn't outstay its welcome, it's a fantastic one to go for.

http://james-neve.com/blogposts/5-anime-review-akb0048

I'm unusual in that I'm really not a fan of Gainax. I think they did a good job with Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and to be fair, I did really enjoy that, but in general, the fact that their shows are so over-the-top puts me off watching something when I see they're producing it. Still, Medaka Box is by the author of Bakemonogatari, and as much as I hated Nisemonogatari, that still gave it enough weight for me to want to try it.

In general, though, I think they did a good job this time. I'm not actually a reader of the Medaka Box manga, so ... I can't say much about how closely it follows the manga. Still, I thought it was well-paced (both the individual arcs and the series's progress through them). The 'high school student council' setting isn't particularly original, but the suggestion box gives a really nice twist to it, and the fact that Medaka herself is so powerful makes it quite a good match for Gainax (although I'm glad to see they tone it down a bit in the few serious moments that there are).

The characters are generally pretty interesting, and a good match for each other. They're also pretty three-dimensional, with characters who initially seem two-dimensional becoming more willing to show their other sides as they get closer to the other characters as the show progresses. That's quite unusual in anime, and very unusual in this kind of action-packed romp. The co-dependent relationship between Medaka and her student council members is interesting and not terribly straightforward. Usually in anime, strength is better than weakness, but in Medaka Box, strength is also weakness, something that's touched on in the early episodes and explored in a little more depth later on in the series. I'd expect to see more of that in the next series.

It's not that I don't have my niggles about the show, of course. I know that Medaka is well-endowed in the manga, but that isn't really a reason to keep pointing the camera at her breasts and panties. This is more than a fanservice show; trying to make it into one to appeal to the teenage-boy demographic is going to put off the slightly more mature demographic who are more interested in watching it for what it is. I also felt like some of the comedy could have been a bit more subtle. Gainax really do always feel the need to stick humour right in front of one's face, but often that isn't as amusing as implication or sharp dialogue-based humour (hey there, Bakemonogatari), which there could have been more of with a cast of characters whose personalities clash so unusually.

Medaka Box isn't a masterpiece (and it could have been). But it is very good, and I'd recommend giving it a try even if it doesn't look like your usual sort of thing.

http://james-neve.com/blogposts/7-anime-review-medaka-box

Imagine for a moment that you're a Japanese schoolgirl. And imagine that you've just fallen into a room with a magic circle and a bright blue light. And then you wake up, and you're surrounded by people fighting with swords and lances, all of whom just happen to bear the names of the people in your history textbook on the Sengoku period. Can you guess what your first thoughts are?

Well, if you guessed, "I've time-travelled!" you'd be way off the mark. "How do I get home?" is a little closer, but by no means the most prominent question for Yoshino Hide, for whom the immediately ... important problem is that her cellphone has no reception, closely followed by the fact that she's hungry. To be sure, she may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but readers who are paying attention may already have noticed the connection of her name to Hideyoshi, the lord responsible for unifying the warring factions at the end of the Sengoku period. This gives some indication of her importance in the episodes to come.

The most immediately obvious quirk of Battle Girls is that, with the exception of a talking dog (no, really), absolutely everyone in the series is female. Sacrificing the dignity of prominent historical figures by turning them into moe girls has, of course, been done before (Strike Witches and Koihime Musou as the obvious examples), but Battle Girls' idea of removing men altogether adds a touch of self-mockery that makes the whole situation even more amusing.

Moreover, it's actually written very well. Its style of over-the-top comedy is reminiscent of Kampfer, and is very well executed. There's a good dynamic between the three central characters, and there's a brilliantly colourful cast of side-characters. The fights are short and punchy, simultaneously displaying some nice visuals and choreography and poking fun at every other shounen fight you've ever seen. And in general, it's very well-paced, introducing characters, conflict and plot twists in succession, and tying everything up efficiently at the end.

The series' main problem is its mid-section, where the pacing breaks down a bit, and it gives way to a couple of episodes which advance the plot very little, and don't add much to the characters. If you mind about animation, it's also not terribly beautiful - the series was clearly made on a budget. Whether the subtext (and at times, text-text) yuri is a good thing or a bad thing is personal preference, but there's enough of that that it could affect your experience of the series if you're completely against the idea of girls pairing up together. As far as fanservice is concerned, there are a few obvious attempts to appeal to a male audience, but nowhere near as many as, say, Koihime Musou, and it doesn't really feel unnatural or mess with the flow of the series.

Battle Girls - Time Paradox won't make you think, and it won't teach you something new about life, but if you're looking for a really funny series that you can relax and enjoy, it's a pretty good bet. Best watched in company.

(Original: http://james-neve.com/post/Anime+Review+Battle+Girls++Time+Paradox/41/ )

Ikoku Meiro no Croisee is by the director of Aria, and the preview made me think that I was going to get something similar to Aria. So far, I haven't been disappointed. Ikoku Meiro no Croisee is a light and sophisticated slice-of-life series. Like Aria, there's occasional tension, and also like Aria, the tension exists only to be broken down into something more relaxing and positive. The cityscapes of Paris that we are regularly treated to are very reminiscent of those of Neo-Venezia, although the art doesn't quite match up to Aria at its best.

So, how is it different? Well, there's a definite potential for ... them to do things with romance that never really existed in Aria at all. Fans were happy to ship Akari with Akatsuki, and some attraction crept in between Al and Aika near the end, but really, the three central characters were girls, and the story was very much focused on them. On the other hand, the two central characters of Ikoku Meiro no Croisee are very clearly a single guy and a single girl, with all the potential angst that comes with that. Frankly, I'm rather hoping they don't do anything along those lines. As I get older, I find the usual pattern of a guy and a girl who get together at the end of the series increasingly frustrating; I always find the relationship itself more interesting than the lead-up. In any case, the angst that comes with romance inevitably detracts from the relaxing atmosphere that a healing series is trying to create. But I'll reserve judgement on that for now; it isn't clear where they're going with the two central characters yet.

What has it done well so far? Well, the best thing about it is the amount of scope they've given themselves for character growth. Aria had character growth, but only very slow, gradual growth. With the possible exception of Alice, all the Aria characters mostly finished the way they started: perfect. On the other hand, the two (three? I imagine Alice will become a major character pretty soon) central characters of Ikoku Meiro no Croisee are clearly well-meaning but imperfect, and still find it pretty difficult to relate to each other. Changing the characters as the series goes on could add a really interesting extra dimension.

And could it be better than Aria? Well, call me premature, but I'm going to go ahead and say probably not. Aria was the best because Aria was the first. Both the characters and the setting were incredibly original, and this gave the author unlimited scope for what they could do with it. You could tell that Aria had ideas absolutely spilling out of it, and every single one is fresh and new and unexpected. Ikoku Meiro no Croisee is going to have to work very hard to both improve on it and be original, and I don't think it's going to manage it. It's possible I'll be eating my words. The first time I watched Aria the Animation, it didn't make it into my top ten series of all time - it was only by the time that I had finished The Natural that it reached that level, and only by the end of The Origination that I considered it my second favourite series of all time.

So, I'll give Ikoku Meiro no Croisee time, and I'm pretty sure I'll continue to enjoy it (because I definitely did enjoy the first three episodes). I don't think it will top Aria, but I will watch with interest. It's the first time I've seen a really concerted effort to copy what Aria did so directly, and it does a pretty good job of that, but what will be even more interesting is if it finds any ways to improve on Aria (even if it can't be better as a whole). I can certainly recommend what I've seen so far to other fans of Aria, but probably not to anyone else.

(Original: http://james-neve.com/post/Ikoku+Meiro+no+Croisee+Another+Aria/39/ )