Brief thoughts on Winter 2011 Anime

As before, this is a list of the shows I have gotten around to watching and my opinions of them.

• Gosick: Excellent show by Studio Bones, Victorica is a great character and the plot so far has been above par. I definitely recommend everyone give this show a try. 
• Fractile: Also an incredibly refreshing show, the characters and settings are beautifully animated and acted. I felt like I was watching a Studio Ghibli work, this show leaves me with the same feeling of "timelessness" as many of Miyazaki's films. I highly recommend this as well. 
• Hourou Husuko: I was skeptical at first. This show deals with two trans-gendered children struggling with their identities. It's certainly very heavy material but it is presented very well. Coupled with superb animation I would recommend trying this show at the very least. This and Gosick share the best OP and ED songs of the season IMO. 
• Infinite Stratos: I was fairly let down by the fact that this is essentially a Harem show disguised as Mecha. Well, that may be a bit unfair, there is some quite well done Mecha action in this show, enough to keep me watching. I only recommend this if you have as much free time as I do -___-
• Kimi ni Todoke II: A bubbly shojo series if there ever was one, I recently watched the first season and found it somewhat enjoyable so I started watching this. Nothing drastically different. If you enjoyed the first season you will not be disappointed.  
• Dragon Crisis!: A rather silly show about a boy who rescues a girl from the hands of evil doers only to discover that she possesses supper powers and has lost her memories and now has a childish attachment to him. Too much loli and not enough plot, I'll pass on this one. 

Update: While I may have hated on Index for having too much fan service, right after episode 17 of Season 2 it is now my most anticipated show of the week. The new OP/ED singes are better even than Hourou Husuko and Gosick's. 

While I am actively watching fewer shows than last season I think several titles this season are absolute must watches. I'm overall quite pleased with how the season so far. 

Best of 2010 (In Progress)

          It's been a good year for anime and there have been many exceptional new shows and movies. While I obviously haven't watched EVERYTHING that was released this year I watched most of what looked interesting to me, so this is a work in progress list of what I liked that I saw.

Top 5 Shows:

1. Angel Beats! - Definitely the best show this year, it's only shortcoming was it's length. I think a reboot somewhere down the line would be worth it, Key has created such a rich world and cast of characters here and it is a shame that the plot didn't have time to fully develop. 
2. Sora no Woto - In many regards very similar to Angel Beats, they throw you into a creative world but don't have enough time to fully explain everything, that being said I think that they did end this much better than Angel Beats!
3. Ore no Imouto - Best comedy by far and one of my favorite shows this year, again it's a short season. 
4. Amagami SS - Run of the mill high school romance, divided into 4 episode arcs, exceptionally animated, second only to Angel Beats! This only got bumped to 4th because some arcs weren't particularly good - I wish they had gone for more of a Clannad approach and chosen one arc to follow. This is a full length show, with 24 episodes and 2 OVAs. 
5. Index II - What can I say? I like the universe the creators of this series have developed and while I like the "science" arcs more the "magical" parts are much better done this season. Only 5th place due to over-use of fan service. 

Top 5 Movies: (work in progress)

1. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya - Simply incredible, this movie takes the Haruhi universe to new levels. There is litterally nothing I didn't like about it. This is second only to The Place Promised in Our Early Days.
2. Eden of the East Movie II: Paradise Lost - The long awaited conclusion to the 2009 hit show, many have complained that it was boring since it was all dialog. I really thought that they were able to tie together the various plot elements and I didn't mind the slow pacing at all. 
3. Time of Eve - This was a ONA that was released in short segments but was compiled into movie form this year and I have to say it was really clever. The android cafe serves as the only real locale but the interesting conversations the characters have with other people as well as with androids are amusing and sometimes even profound. I kind of feel that the plot was tacked on after the fact, and that it may have been better as just sort of a "future time piece". 
4. Black Rock Shooter - Another controversial movie (well, 40min OVA) but there really weren't that many good movies this year. I didn't think it was strange and confusing like many people seemed to, I thought that the good character design and quite well done art put it on this list. 
5. Macross Fronteir? Gundam? There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of other movies I want to put on this list, I will wait till the end of the year to see if anything catches my interest that I haven't already seen. 

Denno Coil (Review)

          Denno Coil (電脳コイル), directed by Mitsuo Iso, is the story of a group of children who use augmented reality glasses to explore a virtual world where they are free to make their own rules. The show starts when the protagonist, Okonogi Yūko, moves to Daikoku City with her family. Shortly after she and her sister Kyoko arrive by train, Kyoko and the sisters’ cyber-pet Densuke wander off. While searching for them, Yuko meets Hashimoto Fumie, a girl her age who is part of an investigative organization: The Coil Denno Investigation Agency. She is able to modify the virtual world around her through the use of metatags, which resemble o-fuda (paper talismans), and other illicit items. Together they rescue Densuke from an obsolete space, a part of the virtual world that has come to be out of sync with the real world. From there Yuko becomes involved with the world of hacking, illigals, metabugs, Satchi, and encoders which is popular among the kids living in Daikoku.
          Denno Coil throws you into a complicated world from the beginning, and you find out over the first half of the series, which is much more lighthearted, what the illegals are and how the children collect metabugs (a form of currency used to buy illicit hacking tools).  By the time you reach the midseason break, you should be familiar with all the terminology. At that point the tone of the show becomes more serious as Yuko is forced to confront her past and that of the girl who shares her name, Amasawa Yuko. I think that this shift works well to advance the plot to the finale. The consistency and forethought that went into the script is apparent upon re-watching the show, when you notice elements much later on foreshadowed in even the first episode. The conclusion is satisfying, leaving no open ended plot holes or inconsistencies. The exceptional storyline is one of Denno Coil’s greatest strengths, and you will find yourself eager to watch the next episode.

          From the get go I felt like I was watching a Miyazaki film. Denno Coil’s superb art style and characters effortlessly draw you into this unique and creative world. It is hard to pin down at first what it is about the characters that make them so compelling as they are for the most part fairly generic. After the first few episodes I decided that it is a combination of the uniquely fluid animation and the exceptional voice acting that really makes the viewer able to identify with the characters, despite their young age, something not typical for many shows, anime or otherwise.
          The director, Mitsuo Iso, is known for a style of animation that he refers to as “full limited”, which uses more key frames and allows for much more detailed motion. Characters will fiddle with their hands or jump up and down while they are talking as one would expect of a fifth-grader. This is something many anime shows fail to capture when depicting children, often giving them the same composed motions of adults. The animation does not try to appear photo realistic, and keeps a consistent medium level of detail throughout the show rather than changing periodically for comic relief, something that is done quite often nowadays.
         Accompanying Dennou Coil is an excellent original soundtrack that makes the exhilarating chases through Daikoku by the anti-virus program nicknamed Satchi all the more entertaining. The opening title “Prism” and the ending title “Sora no Kakera” both do a good job of setting the mood before and after the episode.

          Denno Coil is a rare gem of a show that manages to do everything nearly perfectly, from its excellent plot and characters to the fluid animation and exceptional score. Unlike many shows I would recommend this to almost any age group. The children’s games and pranks would entertain anyone and the complex plot keeps older audiences hooked. Even for people who wouldn’t ordinarily watch anime, this series shares the same universal appeal found in Miyazaki films. This is, without a doubt, the best anime series I have ever seen.

My (very) brief thoughts on fall 2010 anime

Note: These are only the shows I was interested enough in to try watching. The onces I liked I am still following.

Here are my slightly more extended thoughts on the shows so far this season.

Bakuman:
Good story about two boys who want to become manga artists. Ironically my only real knock against this show is its poor animation.

The World Only God Knows: 
Cute, fun story about a boy who plays too many dating games that encounters a demon who forces him to "capture" the hearts of various girls. A little to moe for my tastes, but an enjoyable watch overall.

Star Driver:
Bad. I'm sorry but I don't even want to talk about this it's so terrible.

Ore No Imouto:
Probably my favorite show this season. It follows the life of a teenage boy who has to help his little sister keep her obsession with anime and galge a secret. I like how it is ambiguous at first, I wasn't sure if this was going to turn into an incest etchi show or not for the first few episodes. Really funny, always look forward to it.

Samuri Girls:
Terrible, couldn't even finish the first episode so I won't say any more. Can anyone say strike bitches?

MM:
God awful. Didn't finish the first episode of this either. The protagonist is a masochist, can anyone really identify with this?

Index II: 
Good show. Not much more to say. If you liked the first season you will definitely enjoy this. I personally liked Railgun more than Index I and I hope to see a second season of that sometime in the future.

Fortune Arterial:
Good straightforward High School romance drama but with vampires. Well animated and excellent score, this will look good on Blu-Ray. Thankfully no Edward Cullen fagpires.

Yosuga no Sora:
I ordinarily avoid etchi shows because they often have no plot whatsoever and just end up being an extended softcore henti. This show however has a quite well done 2 episode arc style plot and good characters. Although there certainly are R rated scenes, this is definitely not a etchi only show. The ending theme is the most amazingly funny shit I have ever seen. Even if you don't have any intention of watching the show SEE THE ED, it will blow your mind.

Bokurano (Review)

Summery: (some spoilers)
Bokurano is a rare gem that manages to take the best parts of shows like Evangelion and ties them together with a much more streamlined plot. Bokurano is the story of 15 children who pilot a gigantic robot in defense of the earth. Each time the pilot defeats an enemy, he or she dies. Episodes focus on one character at a time, usually after the pilot has been chosen. Each character has a very distinct personality and way of coping with the extreme circumstances.

Plot: (lots of spoilers)
Bokurano has a fast paced plot with several key shits over the course of the seres. The first is when the children discover that the pilot of the robot dies after they complete their battle with the mysterious foes who threaten to destroy the earth. This is key in setting the shows dark tone from the onset, many shows fail to do this at the beginning - shifting gears halfway through the season. Bokurano's consistency in keeping this tone throughout is very satisfying and makes it a much more enjoyable show. The second key shift is mid season, when it is revealed that the battles they have been fighting are against other humans from alternate dimensions. This kind of Darwinian survival of the fittest is what determines whether one universe should survive and others should be destroyed. The finale focus's on one character just like the other episodes, but It is the least likely member of the cast that ends up surviving. The end felt satisfying and I feel that the story was tied together well. 9/10

Character Design: 
When I watched the first episode I was thinking the whole time that there were too many characters for me to feel any kind of connection with any of them. This fear was quickly dispelled after I watched the next few episodes and saw that while you don't learn everything there is to know about each character you learned what was most important. If I have one qualm with this show it is that it tended to use cliché sub plots as the medium to deliver this background information. This did subtract somewhat from the shows otherwise refreshing originality.

This is, despite it's mecha elements, ultimately a show about life. The children mature both as a group and individually throughout the show, keeping them intriguing all the way to the end. This diversity and attention to  detail in character design is one of Bokurano's best qualities. 8/10

Visuals:
Bokurano's subdued tone is carried across into its art style. The level of detail is very good for a show that was drawn in standard definition, during the finale there were several scenes that blew my mind with their complexity and the number of objects on screen. The mecha's are all CGI, usually that is a turn off as it is very difficult to blend the 3d with the classical animation but Bokurano manages to do this with very little awkwardness. I would love to see a  Blu-Ray for this show. 9/10

Sound Design and Score:
Bokurano has an excellent score, further providing the show with it's unique tone. The opening title "Uninstall" is one of the best I have ever seen and I am glad they carried it across all 24 episodes. Thechae first ending title "Little Bird" is OK, but the second one "Vermilion" is much better. 8/10


Conclusion:
Bokurano provides a unique spin on the mecha genre with its focus primarily on the characters and it's exiting plot it will appeal to people who typically would not pick up a mecha show. I would recommend it to almost anyone. 8.5/10 

Reviews Blog

I am making this blog into a place to review anime shows and movies that I may not necessarily be doing releases for but think you ought (or ought not) to watch yourselves. If you want to find my releases visit my main site at http://www.tormaid.com.