Summer has started for a good while and I FINALLY caught up. ^_^
Alright. Took me awhile but I have the excuse that it was time for my semi-annual Nanoha viewing (along with a marathon of something else before that) in the beginning of July. I was alone at home for a week, so I could really drive up the sound... Ahem. Over the weekend and this week though, I finally caught up with almost everything I felt somewhat interested in this season. This in no particular order yet as I have to get used to the airing schedule first.
New Anime
Rokka no Yuusha: A fairly straight but engaging fantasy series so far. Considering this has actually become rare, I am enjoying this so far. Of course these first episodes were at most setting the stage and a portion of the characters. This was done well enough but the real meat of this anime starts now as we have reached the point where there are now seven instead of six Braves. I'd say: Goodbye to any chance of trust and teamwork... ^_^
Gate: It's an interesting take alright. Having a grown man (as an otaku) as the male lead makes for a good bit of originality with a female fantasy cast of stereotypes. The interaction is nice and the visuals enjoyable as well. The glorification of the JDSF against the rest of Earth is hard to miss but I can live with it (or ignore it). Nothing that hasn't been done before and that other country's media don't do constantly.
Senki Zesshou Symphogear GX: Trust me... I still don't know why I am still following this series, it is a mystery to me. Yet... For now I am mostly glad I do because the third season started out A LOT better than the previous ones. This series had always had problems with plot. It's still jumpy, flimsy and sudden most of the time but with the action continuing to be impressive, it can be ignored easier. I definitely got reminded though why I have always been vexed by Hibiki as a main character.
Overlord: I didn't want to look at this at first but the unique setting makes this actually rather interesting. It's neither SAO nor Log Horizon and the cast is compromised of only one (as far as we know) stranded real player and suddenly emotionalized NPCs. Also the world the MC is stuck in is not even that of the original game, only his hideout/base/tomb is. It makes for a nice twist and shows that as overloaded as the genre seems, there are still ways to make it different and interesting.
Joukamachi no Dandelion: This is fun. I admit I was expecting something a little different, more like a royal reality show or something. It is at that in some ways, only that it involves the entire city! Akane makes for a compelling lead to focus on as the middle ground between all the siblings, although it is still up for debate and final judgment as the high abuse of her shyness may not wear off at some point and start to be grating.
Kuusen Madoushi Kouhosai no Kyoukai: Eh, it's another one of those. Male lead, cute girls with powers reminiscent of shows like Infinite Stratos etc. packed in a scenario where Earth is facing some faceless, alien threat a la Strike Witches or the recent KanColle (meaning we'll probably never learn ANYTHING meaningful about the enemy). Yes, we've seen all this before. And then we have the tsundere, short-fused redhead who conveniently runs into the male lead with her bread in mouth which inevitable leads to the accusation of perversion which spirals out of control and to the other characters, the shy and insecure girl and the incredible, uber-level narcissist... Gosh, what a dysfunctional team, you just want to turn off, right? By the end of Episode 4 though we got a good handle on at least 2 of them though and suddenly they seem more likeable and relatable. It helps that the male lead is competent and doesn't let the girls walk all over him. Judgment is still up for debate but for now I can only say I have seen worse executions of these settings.
!Extra Spoiler Warning!
If you have not seen Gakkou Garashi! (or School-Live!) yet (and you should), then do not read further.
Gakkou Garashi!: Let's put it this way. Don't click away the first episode until you've seen it to the end. It's not what it seems. And that makes this show so splendid. The duality of pretending a happy, normal "life at school" (literally) contrasted against the grim reality is extremely well-done. Zombie stuff (be it films, anime, media etc.) are usually one of these typically hyped genres I'd probably fall in but could really care less about (like mecha) but the execution here has me hooked, especially since it's not so much focused on the horror and splatter but on issues like coping amidst seeming hopelessness. Central to this is, of course, Yuki's delusion as a form of coping mechanism that seems crazy but is actually understandable and heart-wrenching to watch at the same time. The contrast between the seemingly cute and normal interaction and the constant danger and reality outside their little bubble works splendidly. As much as I like Rokka, in terms of sheer execution value, Gakkou Garashi! seems like the candidate for top anime this season and somehow I doubt it will derange like Plastic Memories did last season.
Continued Shows Comments
Kyoukai no Rinne: First off... give me back the old opening and ending sounds. Those were good. These are terrifying enough that I actually click forward on the bar which I hardly ever do these days! Otherwise, all I can say is that the latest episode definitely made me laugh. The way Tsubasa got himself into this trouble without really wanting to was simply grand.
Go! Princess Precure: Okay after the utterly predictable midway "twist" I have a few things to say about Towa as a character and her impact. First off... Best transformation of the series, perhaps even best transformation in all of Precure and that's not even speaking about her final attack yet... She calls a freaking Phoenix! I am amazed. At least now we know where stingy Toei poured most of their budget (it can't be for an altered opening, Towa got only 1(!) shot standing among the group of students and then is even still shown as Twilight(!) at the end... WTF?). Character-wise I am swinging back and forth whether to like her or not. It is almost refreshing to see the sheltered princess role played straight for once. It got annoying for a bit though but the last episodes seeing her interact with Kirara and Minami helped. Not just herself but our two Mary Sues as well. Towa's arrival has probably done them more good than it did Towa herself.
Fairy Tail: It has become very good lately. I really love that Wendy is getting an important moment although the transformation at the end of last episode definitely was rather rushed, especially considering the type of show... It's a little sad, considering most girls aside from powerhouses like Erza don't get much spotlight, so they could do with some embellishment when we are at it.
One Piece: It's flashback time. Flashbacks within flashbacks too. ^_^ But seeing as this is rather important, the sequence does not feel boring. I'll comment on it further when I've seen the whole thing.
Other Anime
There is To-Love-Ru, of course... but... Frankly, no. Not with the censor. I wait for an uncensored version. I recently read the manga and know where this is going at the end. I am afraid it could get rather annoying in the long run with the censor.
Chaos Dragon didn't really get a good reception so far, so I am doubtful whether I should or not and God Eater sounds too much like Attack of Titan for me to be interested in. So, I think I'll stick with the above for now.
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