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Mar 24, 2017
Being a fan of the franchise I really wanted to like this season. But I do know that I have to set my expectations lower since it's a whole different cast (cat group) and the web-ban is not as popular as the manga version (dog group). But boy I was still disappointed.
Working's comedy always have its ups and downs. The worst being the insane leaps of logic and flat humor the writer tries to force onto the show. And apparently that's all that this anime is about. The circumstances and situations are characters are in are so incredibly forced and unbelievable, it's painful to carry
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on.
The characters are also incredibly one-dimensional. Every character can simple be summed by one or two traits, and sometimes that trait exists solely for a gag for another character. Let me give it a shot:
Miyakoshi
- Energetic. Absolute idiot.
Higashida
- Exists for Tsukkomi, mostly for Miyakoshi's idiocy.
Muranushi
- Can see ghosts. Scary smile. (Why? Because story says so, that's why)
Adachi
- Solely exist to be scared of Muranushi's smile.
Shindou
- Bullied by Kamakura because he's poor.
Kamakura
- Bully Shindou because she's rich.
Kondou
- Teenage single mom. Doesn't work.
Kouno
- Who?
Saiki
- Speaks english (Yes that's his entire character)
Sakaki
- Useless pushover manager
Nagata
- Being mortified by everything
Yanagiba
- Being weird
I'm not saying that the original cast (dog group) doesn't suffer from one-dimension characters and jokes, but WWW.Working is all about it. I can't even finish this.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Apr 4, 2013
Everyone knows what to expect from Tamako Market even before it aired. Kyoto Animation's on a roll and churning out the cute-girls-doing-cute-things anime ever since K-ON became a smashing success and that their moéblobs literally oozes money. Plus, Tamako Market is an original; meaning they had free reign to stuff moé into the show in any way and every way possible.
So is it a cheap strategy that banks on a recycled stereotype? Shockingly, not at all. The gargantuan budget allowed superb production quality and a fair amount of creativity as well; the moéblob of the season, Tamako, proved that there still could be something new
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for this archetype. She's bubbly, but not clumsy. She's energetic, but not loud. She's mellow, but not air-headed. She's friendly, but not insensitive. She could have carried the whole show by herself.
Not that she has to. There's also the ridiculous obese talking bird of royal heritage, which is half of what made the show so funny. There's also the friendliness and homeliness of the shopping arcade, Tamako's quirky friends, the childhood friend that has a crush on her, and the tsundere dad. I ended most episodes knowing that nothing important has actually happened, but those factors made sure I never had a boring time.
And while endings has always been a weakness of these plot-less titles, Tamako Market has managed to end things on a surprisingly enjoyable high note. If I had to complain about something, it would be that their pinafore-styled uniform made then look like elementary students. Maybe that's actually the intention?
Once again, KyoAni delivered. Damn it, man. They're setting the bar too high for me to enjoy the other stuff. Giving something like this a full score makes me look stupid, man, but even if I try, I can't see it deserves any lower.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Apr 4, 2013
Right... so this is not a mecha anime. I was honestly expecting a Gundam-style battle right up till the end, but no. Despite being all high-tech and stuff, the "robots" are the same chunky, dumb and awkwardly moving pieces of metal you see every now and then on the 9 o'clock news. This is a show meant for robotics enthusiasts.
So, Production I.G. on a noitaminA slot, it ought to be good right? Not even remotely. In fact, it smells like the shit they cooked up exactly one year ago. Well, it wasn't that bad, but aside from the excellent production quality we expected from the
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studio, there's nothing positive I can say about Robotic;Notes. Except for Furugoori Kona, which may be one of the most interesting characters I've seen yet.
You won't have guessed it, but Robotic;Notes turns out to belong to the mystery genre. It started out like a ambitious high-school club anime or a romance drama, but the core of Robotic;Notes is actually mystery.
The problem is that the tiny bits of clues give us almost NO IDEA what the actual "mystery" is all about. The mystery that was supposed to be the core of the story. And if it affected the character in no way right until the very end, why are we supposed to give a fuck about it? Midway through the series, I honestly believed that the writer gave up and tried to do the ambitious high-school club/romance drama instead. It was the point where I thought that they really didn't have a clue or care anymore.
But no matter what, an anime will always pull through with good characters. Not Robotic;Notes. I've never seen a lead character that's quite as passive as Kaito. Aki has near non-existant sex appeal. Furugoori's potential is under-utilized outside of her episode. The other two club members didn't even need to exist. Misaki has the answers too all the questions in the anime, but is completely useless other than being a cheap villain.
I have a lot more things I could complain about, but I've already showed you a recipe for failure. I waited 5 months for an idea of what's going on, but the answer is a shockingly simple, mind-numbing and disappointing twist. The last couple of episodes were good and it ended well, but it certainly isn't worth pushing through 20 episodes. Hell, it isn't even worth 10. Take everything good about this title and boil it down, I'd give you 5 episodes tops. This is such a waste of time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Apr 4, 2013
Senran Kagura is one of those titles that doesn't pretend it is something high-quality; even the game it spawned from is all about clothing damage and huge jiggling breasts. Once you move past the unrealistic expectations, it becomes something you can, er, actually enjoy.
Titles like these banks almost entirely on the character designs. The huge success of the games proved their appeal somewhat (I even put up Hibari as one of the most likable characters of the season). Character like Yomi, Yagyu and Katsuragi are also pretty popular on the net. It's a pity one of the most well-received characters (and one of my favourites),
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Hikage, never really got a chance to shine.
It may be a good thing that no one expects any kind of story at all, because the anime actually managed to surprise us with some reasonable plot. True, having the bad guy revealing his plans at the worse moment possible, losing all his allies and doubling his enemies are evidence of shitty storytelling, but hey, when the "bad guys" put pressure on the heroines in the first part of the story, they really had something going on there. No one would have predicted that it could actually be exciting, at certain parts of the story.
They actually had a good ninja vibe there with the stealthy tactics and hidden doors and stuff, but they also ruined it with stuff like bulletproof umbrellas, ninjas that dress like they're going to a ball, hidden miniguns and fighter jets under a shirt, a giant fluffy summoned rabbit, and the girl who never wears a bra, never buttons up her shirt, and jumps around the most. Why did they even go for the ninja theme?
But it's silly to complain about the theme of Senran Kagura. People who would even approach this already knows what and what not to expect. There's a thousand and one things that are stupid or pointless, and the fans got what they want, and they the producers made a lot of money off it. Who's gotta complain?
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jun 4, 2012
Last Exile: Ginyoku no Fam goes from an interesting tribute to a snoozer and ends in a failure.
Throughout the early episodes of the series, I remember having favorable opinions for the show; it reminds me of the brilliance of the first season, the vast world, and even one of the first reasons I started liking anime, because Last Exile was one of the earliest shows I've watched. I hated Millia, but I liked Fam, and that Toyosaki Aki did a pretty good job on her. As long they keep this up and moving on to the real story, it would turn out really good.
It didn't
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have a good story. After the first, say, 1/3 of the story, one of the most prominent problems began to show up: the lead character Fam. There are many, many things said about her character, I think I can sum it up as having no depth, no variance in personality, and no character development. She wasn't unique in any way, and she doesn't have any kind of background except for being really good at piloting. She has a one-dimensional personality and only one approach to every single problem in the story. And she learned nothing and changed nothing throughout the entire story. As you would expect, things becomes really boring, fast.
Then... when it comes down to the important moments, the storytelling was pure shit. When did the primary enemy change from Sera to Luscinia? All that screentime on Orang just for his 10 seconds of fame? A single message from Sera to end all conflict, instantly? A single ship shows out of nowhere and starts shooting everything, and the battle ends right there? The pacing is also terrible. Episode 19 contain one of the most important battles in the story, yet they rushed through it so as to begin the next part.
And finally, the story, which also disappoints. The ending left me confused about Luscinia's real objective in the end. Was he trying a Lelouch here? If so, it was terribly executed, because both Liliana's and his actions were really unjustified. I found it so un-agreeable that I'm still hesitant to believe that was supposed to be the conclusion to the story. The final impression of the story almost always rests on the ending, and such an unsatisfying ending is pretty much the worst you can do.
Oh wait, just one more. Of the two most important, and most anticipated weapons our main characters can wield, one never showed up, and one blew up on a whim. What a good idea, right?
I could talk more about the things that this series did wrong, but I don't want to turn this more into a list more than it already does. The most enjoyable episode turns out to be a recap of the previous season. So, is this a complete waste of time? Well, the show does have several good points. The production values are excellent, being Gonzo's supposed flagship material after all. I never think that they quite captured the "steampunk" feel as compared to the previous season, but I supposed that's subjective. Since the animation quality often matters a lot more to me than other people, I must say that this isn't a complete waste of time; I did enjoy it a fair bit. If you would have me recommend this to people, I can only say that this is a huge disappointment; especially if you've watched the first season.
Plot/Concept: Bad
Story Style: Really, really bad
Audio/Visual: Excellent!
Value: 5
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Apr 25, 2012
Prior to the anime's airing, I gave the manga a quick preview, and quickly got hooked. It feels like a shoujo romance story at heart, but doesn't have any of the excessive melodrama I hated so much. I usually like shoujo short stories because it presents the novelty of the story without diluting it with character exposition arcs and unrelated side stories. Those methods works to lengthen the serialization (more profit) and adds value to the secondary characters, but it doesn't do much for the story, or for the people that just aren't that into shoujo.
Inu x Boku isn't shoujo, but it has all the
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elements of what I liked about it. With a powerful ending and an interesting back-story, all it needs to do is to work on the execution, and it did. It's true that Inu x Boku is full of bits and pieces that have nothing to do with the storyline, but these bits develops the environment where our protagonist Ririchiyo settled into, which is rather integral to the storyline. Most importantly, these bits never took itself too seriously; they mostly serve as a bonus content to our secondary characters, or provide light humor, a distinct style of Inu x Boku.
The characters are also the main draw of the series. There's not one character I cannot find something really unique about him/her, and most importantly none of them felt even a tiny bit cliché. The one that really stands our is our main character, Ririchiyo. She's not even a tsundere, she's a tsunshun! Which means she gets depressed after being a tsun, so says Nobara. (If I see one more loli tsundere, I would have to kill Kugimiya Rie) Her monologues aren't witty, but they certainly helped expressed her character differently. Some may say that her character is too unrealistic, but even I can see part of myself in her, so I can relate. Also, while I'm never really into lolis, she certainly is cute!
And like what many other bloggers have said, the awesome ending really deserves some recognition. I'm not surprised having read the manga, but I don't think other people would expect Inu x Boku to have one of the best endings this season. Or for the past few seasons, for that matter.
I won't give David Productions too much credit, because much of the value comes from the original material. I would say, though, that it's really rare that a manga adaptation was done so smoothly. They literally animate scene-to-scene from the manga, yet the end result is completely different from, say, Deadman Wonderland. DW turns out to be shit. Inu x Boku is ingenious.
But the show isn't without fault. The lack of content in the middle of the season was obvious, and the speed at where the story progress is god-awful. Not that they don't try to fill up the blanks with comedy, but it couldn't totally cover it up. Having awkward pauses isn't ideal.
The production values were good. Not exactly brilliant in terms of animation quality, but they got the comedic timing down very well. The OP is also definitely one of the best amongst the ones I've watched this season. And oh, I'm not sure if this was the intention in the original material, but cloning Hirasawa Yui into Chino was a stroke of genius. Don't tell me no, because someone somewhere down the production line definitely see that resemblance. Dammit, it's a same face and voice!
I'm way past the point where I remember the shows that I really enjoyed, but THIS... I'll definitely remember this.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Apr 25, 2012
To put things in perspective, I could summarize all of the story in all 11 episodes in a single paragraph, and still not spoil the show for you. This isn't really an exaggeration; quite a number of episodes have nothing to do with the plot of the Karen Bee and Tsukihi Phoenix arc, and those that does are mostly filled with dialogue, Nisio Isin style. Leaning on Bakemonogatari's success, I suppose Shaft realized that the fans don't need the story; they want the beautiful synergy between the animating genius of Shinbo and creative narrative of Nisio Isin.
So I've gotta say, if it's the story you're
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looking for, you're in for a disappointment. The length of the story itself is one thing, but the endings to the two arcs are extremely anti-climatic. And I could also draw a lot of similarities from the arc endings in Bakemonogatari, too. There is actually a single moment where I find our protagonist Koyomi really cool, but other than that, there's not much to offer in this area.
So in place of story, what did we get? Lots and lots of fan-service. In fact, fan-service is the answer to the question in the post title. The scenes above are just a small bit of what you'll expect in the show, and the amount is outrageous enough to spawn the term "pornomonogatari" (I can't remember where I've heard this term, though).
Depending on your tastes, the fan-service can be quite a treat. Unlike the blatant in-your-face fan-service of Queen's Blade and Qwaser no Seikon (which I met with disgust), Nisemonogatari has been very... clever in their deliverance. A lot of them does this without even stripping the clothes of the females; a style I would like to call "suggestive fan-service"; and the infamous episode 8 is a good example of that. I actually think that Nisemonogatari is a bid for Shinbo to see how much of his creative juice he can work into this "suggestive fan-service", and judging from its reception, there's no doubt it worked.
Unfortunately, like some of the others, I can't hide that I find the show pretty objectionable. It feels that the direction of the show implies that it's totally okay for Koyomi flirting around and groping other girls while actually remaining faithful to his girlfriend. Kanbaru actually has no problem being naked in front of a guy, and Hachikuji actually wants to be groped? Well, at least that's a far cry from the fact that Koyomi actually did kiss both his sisters, groped one of them (without consequences) and (suggested that he) went too far with the other. Not that I don't get the thing Japanese people had for incest forbidden love, but what feels wrong is that all of these seemed completely normal in the show. Perhaps they wanted the controversy to be part of how unique Nisemonogatari is, but come on, if these are true, I'm returning to Japan and never coming back.
But still, Shaft delivered entertainment that probably only KyoAni's over-budgeted productions can hope to match. I feel like such a sheep for liking a fan-service anime, but Shaft can shut up and take my money.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 25, 2011
Darker than Black is one of those popular series I find hard to like. By no means I find it a lousy show, but despite the number of praises the series received, I can't seem to find myself really enjoying the show. I've finished watching this series ages ago, but I could only find so little to write about. Hence the review the delayed until now.
Let's start with the stuff that I really do appreciate. The songs are awesome; the animation remain high quality and consistent; the writing and pacing is solid; and the character's roles are well played and developed through the course of
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the series.
Here's the problem: I find it really hard to relate to any of the characters, and actually liking them. I guess the most likable guy for me would be Huang, for being more humane, thoughtful and mature than most of the other cast. I feel that most of them either too one-dimensional (the main characters, mostly) or developed too late in the series for me to care about them (the key characters late in the story).
The plot, as it turns out, it actually incredibly simple, because most if it turns out to be needlessly complicating. Why keep feeding us bit of information about the events of the Hell's gate and Heaven's gate when what we really want to know is our main character's motives, background and relation to the other main characters? I mean sure, he's pretty cool and had an awesome fighting style, but that itself doesn't make him stand out amongst other anime protagonists without the story, which comes almost too late in the series. The series is also irritating in a sense that we kept learning about the supporting characters who are half as interesting and care about even less.
I did find the series enjoyable, really. But it seems like every time I anticipated something interesting to happen, I find myself saying "oh great, what now?" because some ELSE boring happened instead. It feels like they're not really interested in selling the main storyline, and that's probably not very healthy for an anime production.
Plot/Concept: *Groan*
Story Style: Excellent
Audio/Visual: Great
Value: 7
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 22, 2011
I guess I got convinced to give this series a try, even if it's totally not to my taste. With everybody talking about how good the series can be, how can I not give this a chance? I mean, look at how many perfects scores there are; all of them practically screams "WATCH THIS".
Now, this review is written in 2011, and this anime came out in 2002. I feel that anime standards (at the very least, animation-wise) has increased a lot since then, so my score might not do justice to it's formal glory. But think about it, if you're reading this, you would have
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access to 2011 titles and the score reflects the value of this show amongst the titles available in 2011. Just so you know.
So, the review proper. Princess Tutu's defining trait is fairy-tale-like. It's rare nowadays since the genre pretty much got relegated to crappy shoujo mangas, but a decade ago it was more common. But I could hardly find a series that could exhibit the trait of "fairy tale" as well as Princess Tutu, even if it's like twice as long and much more dragged out. That's the concept of the show, to play out the story's unique charm and innocence in a very pure and straightforward way. This setup created a lot of one-dimensional characters (except for Ahiru, of course) but in particular case it can be forgiven, because protagonist Ahiru's flamboyant and comedic personality helps create a good break from the otherwise dull character scene.
On the not-so-good part... everything is solved with DANCE BATTLE! What's this, Step Up 2D?
Sadly, from the start of the second half, the series starts to have problems... Firstly, while the character gained more depth and became more interesting, the show began to lose its originality and uniqueness. Strange, huh? Secondly, the story dragged out too long without any kind of resolution, which made it a pain to watch. Lastly, although it's very subjective, I find the breaking down of the episodes into 2 parts is a little irritating, as it tore down the continuity in the episode. Budget problems or lack of popularity I guess?
The animation quality was sadly below average. I don't know about the standards back then, but I think it surely could have been better. I never liked any of the songs, but maybe it's just me. Ahiru's VA is awesome! (although she's the only one deserves any recognition) but too bad she never got anymore major roles after this.
Overall... it's an interesting show to check out, and if you didn't mind the kind of flaws I point out, it should be pretty enjoyable. Otherwise... it's just average.
Plot/Concept: Great and unique
Story Style: Great... but not so much in the latter half
Audio/Visual: Fair
Value: 7
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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May 25, 2011
I'm gonna come out and say that Fractale isn't that bad... and all the hate people have for it is kinda unjustified. The problem is that the show didn't manage to become the kind of masterpiece Yamakan wanted it to be, and that failed promise put the show in a very negative light. At least he's a man of his word, and "retired for the time being". It's a pity if he actually goes away for good because I still think he's still someone with plenty of talent, and even some of that does show in the flop that is Fractale.
I've said this on more
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than one occasion, that I'd like to compare this series with Last Exile or Allison to Lillia, because I strongly feel that that is Yamakan's vision for Fractale. It isn't so much about the story, but it's about the fabulous combo of pre-industrial age technology meets young man's (or girl's) adventure. Series like these usually focus a lot more of the setting of the story, like the common people's way of life, community relationships, the environment, the history than most other shows do. This is probably Yamakan's take on the cincept, with a little furturistic element to it. And I really like that. Fractale shows the fun in a frugal and simple way of living, clean and honest community life, its conflict with furturistic technology, and a young man's adventure in his role and approach towards this conflict.
Whereas the show fails hard on its execution and characters. First of all, there is too little revealed about the Fractale system itself, and we the audience are left with too many questions about practically everything that is going on. That won't be a problem if the characters are interesting enough to drive the show along, but they aren't. Clain is constantly being led by the nose by everyone around him, and his actions are always a result of how the story drives him, when it should be the other way around. Phyrne and Nessa are as mysterious as the Fractale system itself, and everyone else is there just to fill up the screen time. In the ending, there's wasn't a resolution or anything. It feels like it all happened as a matter of course. I'll keep this spoiler-free, but it's a happy, but really dumb ending.
Another thing that's sorely missing from Fractale is satisfying animation, which is something I'm expecting to see from an anime using this concept. I'm totally expecting spectacular backgrounds, detailed characters or equipment, or at least smooth animating, but Fractale delivered none. I can't explain how disappointed I was.
So in all, Fractale is okay. If you understand and love the concept of animes I was talking about, you'll enjoy Fractale to a certain extent. Otherwise, it probably isn't something for you.
Plot/Concept: Great
Story Style: Miserable
Audio/Visual: Fair
Value: 6
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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