As usual I would go into the new season not really expecting much of the lineup. Considering the only thing I had really been looking forward to, I ended up discarding (or putting aside for now) because of censoring (yes, I mean you To-Love-Ru), there was some nice entertainment this summer, coming from various directions. Only one really made it fully to the top though (and this one came as even more of a surprise) while a lot of the rest stayed in that comfortable good but never really more category. Unfortunately there were also a whole lot of anime that look entirely too much like Light Novel promotion material that never move beyond a single season and as such leave a much worse impression as a standalone as they would with a simple and actually realized To Be Continued.
But all in order. Like always I will keep up the order from my weekly reviews. All on-going series' scores only reflect what is there to this point.
Joukamachi no Dandelion
It is true that a lot of the series this year that I really enjoyed came out of left field and for the most part were a shaky "Let's watch a little of it and see if it is somehow enjoyable" in the beginning before managing to surprise the hell out of me. Joukamachi no Dandelion fits right in there and going against much more widely acknowledged staples this season, I find this anime deserves a special mention and much more interest.When I first read the summary I was somewhat curious but more in a bizarre sense. It sounded like a reality show with supernatural people in anime form... and in a way it is and yet not. The basic premise certainly sounds a bit like something from the Big Brother team drank too much (which... no, I leave ranting aside here). A family of 9 royal children, all with special abilities, living a normal life because their Dad wants them to. Oh, and they are constantly under observation through cameras, news, public events etc. because one of them will be chosen to be the heir by public election. Joy.
However, that's just the outside package. Inside are characters that begin defined by their abilities but grow to be very likeable as individual people with their strengths and weaknesses. The election pushes them all forward and through that everyone learns their own place in the world, to overcome their personal problems and what they want to do in the future.
Dandelion tells its story in short segments, usually two per episode which each focus more on one (or two) of the characters a time. This works extremely well in the beginning as we get to learn about each character bit by bit and the more we do, the more the segments tend to flow into each other. The red thread tying them together is mostly Akane, even if just as a background presence or observer. In the end all the individual character threads begin to come together and make up a much more harmonious and relaxed group of siblings compared to the chaos of the first episode. They all grew, both as individuals and as a group.
Dandelion's biggest strength is how well-composed it is. The individual half-episodes allow for a great variety of themes yet very little of it seems boring, at the very least being fun all the way up to introspective. While some characters do have a bit more focus than others (especially the younger siblings), this way enables Dandelion to handle its huge cast much better than other anime in its place who already struggle to handle half of that much main characters in a one season run adequately.
Simply put Joukamachi no Dandelion is a very solid anime that can be fun, engaging and at some points actually quite deep. It also wraps up nicely, leaving little to be desired after its completion. I will miss these characters nonetheless because they REALLY grow on you.
Rating: 8.75/10
Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri
Gate is another solid entry this season. It takes a tried premise of mixing modern with fantasy world, some cute girls from the other side with a rather unique protagonist. As a rule, male main characters in this setting would be young, usually good-looking guys, at best young man. Itami is a dedicated otaku over thirty who views his job with the military as a means to support his hobby... Never mind that he is actually extraordinarily good at the job he is not taking seriously.Itami's uniqueness aside, Gate also has a strong military focus which can get a little ugly at times in how utterly nationalistic the view of the JDSF, especially in comparison to all the other "evil" countries is. It has been pointed out though – and rightfully so – that this is not exactly a flaw that isn't present in other media or exclusive to Japan. One just has to look as far as Hollywood productions. Yet, it still remains a flaw because a truly good writer would not need to glorify their own nation's army and bash everything else to make a good story.
That's probably the only thing that can really be said in negative about Gate. The interaction between the different world's is mostly done through Itami's squad, the three natives to the other world and eventually the Empire's princess and her entourage. Rory especially shines in her role but Lelei also gets a fair bit of screen time. Our elf girl, however, tends to be somewhat forgotten most of the time which I suppose can be criticized a little, yet the story is not over so I am a somewhat reluctant to condemn something that simply has not happened yet.
This first set of episodes was thoroughly enjoyable. The only thing preventing Gate from getting bigger grades is probably that its performance stays in the comfortable zone of good but very rarely does anything really outstanding... yet. On the other hand, the mentioned flaws aside, there are no gross negatives here and I definitely look forward to the next season.
Rating: 8.25/10
Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 2wei Herz
There is clearly something amiss with a magical girl show that wastes about 7 episodes without a single real magical girl action (other uses of powers not counting). Considering the somewhat impressive action scenes from the first season were what actually kept me watching, third season was a tad disappointing in that regard, even more so than the second.
That doesn't mean this large part of the season was utterly wasted. There was definitely some neat character interaction, the usual Illya ecchi humor that you either love or hate (I love it for the most part) which can get quite a few laughs out of you. But there is only so much and so often you can repeat something before the lack of any other ideas becomes painfully apparent. A few highlight moments aside, the final unfortunately did not exactly make up for all that either.
2wei Herz was definitely a mixed bag. It still retains a certain charm but the focus was uneven and wrongly proportioned in terms of the series' strong points. The better way would have been not to split 2wei in two 10 episode seasons but make it a single 13 run. That would have eliminated a lot of the extra baggage which you could have been put into Specials and OVAs while streamlining the actual plot more. Let's hope 3rei will perform better because despite all that I think I have been affected by this anime's special charm and am here to stay.
Rating: 7.25/10
Senki Zesshou Symphogear GX
In fact GX has even less plot. Things just happen with very little explanation, exploration or deeper understanding. The elements are just suddenly there and the viewer is damned to deal with it... and that – believe it or not – is probably actually a big point in favor of the third season. It seems Symphogear has given up on trying to tell an intricate plot and focuses more on colorful, exploding and let's not forget singing action. There's a lot of it here. A lot of things going boom while our heroines sing their hearts out.
That is all GX boils to in the end and why it is actually more fun as a whole compared to the previous season. One can immerse themselves in the spectacle and not care about the rest. As such I can't even say much more than that since there really isn't a whole lot more to say except that for the first time I actually liked both opening and ending themes. The a cappella beginning of the opening especially definitely has a shiver feeling attached to it.
Rating: 8/10
Fairy Tail
One thing can be said for certain. Fairy Tail has returned to peak condition. After that half year of nearly driving off half of the fandom with that awful fill arc, this is what we have both been waiting for and are expecting of one of the more successful shonen anime out there.The latest episodes have been full of emotional and memorable moments. Most importantly even young Wendy and series "mascot" Lucy got their shining moments. Wendy's first glorious ascend into Dragon Soul mode suffered somewhat in the end since it was a bit too short and her achievement turned out only a temporary solution. Nonetheless the episode had me hanging on the edge of my seat, utterly captivated.
As for Lucy... Well, it is probably Fairy Tail's biggest problem how it has treated it's nominal heroine. Lucy is most often reduced to roles such as damsel in distress, situational useful or very briefly shining, let's not forget eye candy and most of the other time she just cannot compete with her more powerful companions. This latest segment gave her a very important role, that took mental and emotional strength to pull off, not to mention not ending with the summon of the Spirit King and the sacrifice tied to it but also allowing her to finish of a major enemy with (mostly) her own power.
We are definitely setting up for more memorable fights along the line and – unlike One Piece – fights in Fairy Tail don't tend to last two or three seasons worth which I suppose is another good thing. This particular stretch of episodes definitely reminded me why I initially loved Fairy Tail so much.
Rating: 10/10
Rokka no Yuusha
And that's probably where Rokka's main problem lies. The likelihood of the anime ending up as a typical light novel promotion projection not moving beyond a single season is certainly high. If this is really all there is to Rokka in animated form it leaves a lot of questions while threads that should have been addressed in the end – like Goldov's reaction to Nachetanya's betrayal – remain entirely unresolved.
That problem aside, Rokka is certainly engaging, with some nice graphics, a tense mystery atmosphere that will leave you guessing many times but also leaves enough clues to remain mostly coherent. Beyond that, however, we are back to the already mentioned problem. Character depth is rather disproportional if one only takes this segment. We know next to nothing about the past of the late arrivals. In fact the only people we know more than the present circumstances, abilities and titles are Adlet and Flamie, the nominal couple. Even our culprit was hardly explored in terms of her past (which granted would have probably spoiled the mystery).
This leaves Rokka at an awkward place. What is there is promising, the mystery in itself was engaging enough, the promise for more enticing... IF there is more. As a stand-alone Rokka would leave too many holes unfortunately.
Rating: 8/10
One Piece
Rating: 9.5/10 (for pacing issues)
Go! Princess Precure
Last time (as far as final season reviews go) we ended with the usual mid-season final/twist/New Precure which I've already ranted enough about. Right now we are in the in-between phase which consist of introducing any new Cure, introduce new (or old) enemies, do some more bonding (mostly with the new Cure if it can be applied) while the enemy plots in the background and... oh, obtain a group attack. All of these there? Yep. Check. Moving on.The series is still awfully sketchy about the opposition. Handling the enemies well has always been a problem in the franchise but I've seen more involvement when enemies popping up for the monster of the day and disappearing again than this. While the resurrection of the first bigger antagonist killed who now actually takes over the reins is a nice, almost unique touch, it hardly does much.
On the heroine's front, Towa's character episodes served far more to flesh out the Mary Sues of the season a little more. Not enough to really get over this flaw but it's better than nothing. Having a honest princess who for the most part acts like one outside of transforming is somewhat refreshing. I just feel more could be done with this, much like I still wish much more had been done with the unique boarding school setting. It was a decent part in the first stretch but all these side characters/fellow students there have almost dropped entirely out of the series and if at all only appear in a random shot or so.
I have a really hard time deciding what to think of this by now... and I guess that just leaves me just where it left me with everything beyond the Smile disaster. I had hopes for this but as it stands I have to restate my assessment that Toei might be better off burying this franchise finally and start something fresh. Ideas are clearly running out and the writing is just not up to par anymore for anything beyond comfortable, throwaway entertainment.
Rating: 7/10
Overlord
Most of these first 13 episodes have been filled with posturing, talking and the occasional badass power-gaming. While I suppose that can be appealing to some, I am not so sure it works for the casual viewer. There is little excitement about a main character just tearing through every opposition with their overpowered avatar, items and whatnot. Yes, obviously that's the point of the show – hence the title – but there are certainly ways to do it better and more exciting. The pace of these thirteen episodes was often very lackluster to downright boring, spiked with occasional moments where one could glimpse what Overlord COULD do.
The rest of the time though was filled with Momonga trying to show he is SOOO badass... which I am still not seeing. Yeah, he is clever, a strategist but also has A LOT of resources. Maybe it's not my cup of tea but I am NOT seeing the hype, yet. If there is more and this is more of a prelude than I can accept this as mostly setting the stage. If it suffers the same fate as I fear Rokka will, then it suffers also the same consequences as not really working as a standalone. There is certainly some unique appeal in Overlord but it does not even remotely warrant the high attention it has been getting.
Rating: 7.25/10
Kuusen Madoushi Kouhosai no Kyoukai
Another season, another harem-esque (though technically I wouldn't really call it harem) anime that held more potential than it ended up realizing. I do not know why I always get my hopes up from a good beginning.Of course, Kuusen does not even do much wrong. At least not in the sense that Absolute Duo managed to screw itself over. Unfortunately it also hardly ever ventures out of the comfortable mediocre and consequently dull category. What can be said in favor of Kuusen is a decent – especially for shows of this variety – character development. The idea about the typical loser team rising to the top might be overused but the specific brand of characters make it fun at times.
That is, however, as much good as can be said about this series. Considering the opening teasing with mighty aerial battles where things go boom, the series itself sees hardly any action and what is there is either over fast or rather unimpressive... hence: dull. The "villain" was not just irritating to endure but also incredible predictable and the Devil Beetles were mostly there for backdrop and could have just easily been replaced by every other vile alien threat out there. This is not exactly abnormal but at least shows like say, Strike Witches manage to give SOME form of information and relevance to the big bad enemy even in the first season.
Kuusen leaves a lot of unattached strings in that regard. Obviously there is more but considering the very lackluster adaption in anything but the characters – and this is mostly limited to the underdog team – I seriously doubt there is more and frankly I don't think I want more unless the overall quality rises significantly. In the end Kuusen Madoushi Kouhosai no Kyoukai was casual entertainment fodder to be quickly forgotten again.
Rating: 5/10
Kyoukai no Rinne
Rinne continues to be an odd beast. Just as I was actually starting to appreciate the sort of dry humor it offers, things focused a lot more on the romance. Takahashi and romance though are always like a lottery. You never know what you get. And so far, with the exception of the last episode attempts to mix romance into a show that clearly does not take itself serious is not a good thing.In addition the whole arc with Kain just annoyed me, reminding me too much of the bullheaded stupidity displayed by some of Ranma's worst rivals (-> Ryoga *cough*) when he clearly should have more intelligence. I know it's supposed to be funny but there is a point where such stupidity just falls flat as a joke.
Despite that, Rinne continued to stay as a generally fun, weekly entertainment show with some ups and downs. I was seriously expecting to have it run longer but I guess they need time to produce more. What's there is certainly nice even if it takes some getting used to. Not more than that though.
Rating: 7.25/10
Gakkou Gurashi!
(Beware of SPOILERS. One can hardly discuss this without them.)
And finally the season's winner and just as I was thinking there was no contender on my list for Euphonium this one comes as far out of left field as Euphonium did last season and totally sweeps away the competition.
Usually I keep a LARGE distance away from zombie shows. First off, zombie apocalypse scenarios never quite got to me. I think I played as much as one Resident Evil and saw one movie, plus the almost obligatory splat and boob wonder anime that is so defining of the genre... Yes, I mean Highschool of the Dead.
Gakkou Gurashi! or School-Live! is nothing like them. There are no big-breasted teenagers running around shooting at hordes of zombies. There are only four High School girls trying to survive and cope. That is essentially what is at the heart of this story. Not just how survivors can cope but also remain functioning in a seemingly helpless situation like this.
The idea of inventing a club for the purpose of having some semblance of life while surrounded by zombies just wanting to turn them into such as well seems ridiculous but makes a certain kind of sense. And not just in order to help Yuki at first get a handle on the situation and after that to play along with her delusions.
It is something done far too little with apocalypse scenarios. How people deal with their entire life being turned upside-down, how they can keep sane. Far too often you only see gross amounts of splatter action mixed with a high amount of fanservice. For all its misleading cuteness, Gakkou Gurashi! approaches the genre far more seriously than many others.
The dichotomy of the grim reality outside and the bubble of seeming normality that the girls created with their club is handled extremely well, both within the series itself as well as the creativity with constant changes to opening and ending. The scenario starts utterly misleading until the end of the first episode which then sets the tone. As we get to know the characters more, the events from the first outbreak to the present day are carefully told in a well-timed manner and with that progression of knowledge also goes along the slow fracturing of their safe bubble until the final climax.
There is not a single episode that wastes anything. Gakkou Gurashi! is a show that much like Euphonium last season does not have ups and down but a continuous string of high quality episodes with characters that are carefully fleshed out and a story constructed and told in just the right way. The feeling of dread when contrasting the outside reality to the girls' activities never disappears but leaves constant reminders and that alone has more potential for shivers than the usual horror approach.
Apparently there is more but even if the anime ends here, it is a very satisfying point to do so. I wouldn't mind seeing more. In the end I have seriously no idea whether this or Euphonium is better, as both are radically different settings but equally as effectively executed.
Rating: 10+/10
Rankings
Seeing as only Kyoukai no Rinne remained from last season and I do not include Precure, One Piece or Fairy Tail, I can again make do with one list this time.
1. Gakkou Gurashi (by a large mile)
2. Joukamachi no Dandelion
3. Gate
4. Rokka no Yuusha
5. Senki Zesshou Symphogear GX
6. Overlord
7. Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 2wei Herz
Kyoukai no Rinne
9. Kuusen Madoushi Kouhosai no Kyoukai
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