Clean Up

Posted in zero thoughts by moyism on April 8th, 2007

A continuation of my Spring 2007 quick take reviews. Unlike one of my anime blogging peers, I will unfortunately not be giving any definite rating system for the series in review… however amusingly tempting it may be. Once again, I will be giving a quick one or two liner about the series with links to actual reviews by better bloggers than myself plus a quick “how to make the series better” comment.

And boy, let me tell you, this round of anime need my “how to make the series better” comments more than ever!

Wellber no Monogatari ~Sisters of Wellber~

A mixture of some masked thief action, political backstabbing (literally), female friendships, and a talking tank. Yes, a talking tank. I pretty much share the same feelings about the anime as BluWacky does but will at least give it another episode or two before completely dropping it. For a better quick summary of the series than my skills can produce, I would also check out psgels as s/he pinpoints the pluses and negatives of the series very well.

Conclusion: Show more nipples and fanservice to keep the male viewers.

Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku wo~Youkosou-gumi Ryou e~

Seriously, just avoid this at all cost. Probably one of the worst and boring-est harem series I’ve ever watched (and damn it, I’ve see a lot). Animation is so-so, vocal cast nothing to call home about, storyline seems very predictable, and everyone’s hair is too gosh darn shiny! For a more humorous take on the anime, I can only recommend lolikitsune for this one.

Conclusion: Go hang yourself. Now.

Kotetsushin Jeeg

A continuation of the classic anime of the same name, it’s basically good old fashion BLOOD, GUTS, PASSION, AND COURAGE we all love in mecha series. Really didn’t think much of the first episode plus I found the color scheme of Jeeg (the mecha) to be fugly. May continue watching if I have nothing better to do but most likely not.

Conclusion: Too old school to enjoy?

BLUE DRAGON

By the same character designer of Dragonball, BLUE DRAGON is apparently based off an uber popular XBOX(360?) game that reminds me too much of Dragonball Z and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure badly combined. My biggest issue, I think, has to do with the main character whom I can’t even remember the name of but found extremely annoying. Typical shounen fare but so unlikeable in my opinion. Honestly I was more interested with the characters voiced by big time seiyuus Daisuke Namikawa and Romi Paku than anything else.

Conclusion: Find a better main character.

Toward the Terra

Don’t know what to think about this series as I got semi-lost in the Japanese. Go read Omni’s or Wrex’s posts about the series to get a better feel. Odds are I’ll stick it out for another episode or two but with all the characters having American/English names, I don’t know how much longer I can hold out on the engrish.

Conclusion: More concrete plot?

Nagasarete Airantou

Based on a popular manga, Nagasarete Airantou follows the tale of a yet-out-of-the-closet main hero stuck on a lone island with horny females aiming to bone him 24/7/365. See Hung, novastorm, kurogane, jaalin, hinano, and jason for other folks’ take on this hilarious and fanservice-y series.

Conclusion: Animate chapters 22-23 and I will be loyal for life!

CLAYMORE

Read the manga at random and found myself loving every minute of it, so it is no surprise I’m thoroughly enjoying the anime adaption. I’ll be too much in fanboy mode to concretely describe the series, so once again I must point people to my anime blogging peers like KT Kore, Hige, Adun, and Kabitzin for more balanced reviews.

Conclusion: Find a better way to shuffle the past arc?

DARKER THAN BLACK

Another series I’m on the fence about, although the story does seem interesting. Plus it has Nana Mizuki in it which guarantees I’ll watch a few episodes just to hear her voice (she was 3/4 of the reason I sat through the mediocre h-game to anime adaption of Tsuyokiss). See Da Man Omni and Garten for actual reviews.

Conclusion: More kick arse super-powered fights?

Gigantic Formula

Basically like G Gundam but without all the cool calling out Gundams or attack names plus horrible CG animation. I’ll admit the different style mechs interest me plus the idea, at least it seems, of there needing to be two pilots is slightly different than the norm but man the characters’ faces (specifically the eyes) has got to be fixed! Every main/support character that has some up close screen time has REALLY BIG EYES SYNDROME which quite frankly, scares the f*ck out of me. If it wasn’t for the big eyes and CG issues, I’ll be all in for Gigantic Formula but may drop it otherwise. I mean, come on, the ending animation is fine with characters looking a bit more normal (and cute-ish)… is it so hard to do?

Conclusion: less CG more actual animation. Fix Big Eyes issue ASAP.

Kissdum -ENGAGE planet-

Action packed awesomeness with what seems like the world coming to an end thanks to bugs. Nana Mizuki and IsukiDaisuke Ono are voicing some of the main cast, so you know I’ll be watching for awhile. See BluWacky for a semi-review of the series, as the first episode was a bit confusing due to scene jumping a bit.

Conclusion: Be Awesome.

Lucky Star

I absolutely loved this series with my heart and soul and nearly orgasmed after watching it! I don’t think I have to say much about Lucky Star as pretty much everyone in the anime blogging community feels the same; mediocre at best. Opening animation is pure win, absolutely, plus the vocal cast is great but the overall story flow sucked like no tomorrow. I would honestly link to a few other blogs about the series, but there’s already like a dozen entries on it so just search ‘em on animenano. Do know for all the crap I may say about the series, I’ll still be watching a few episodes to see if the story pans out plus Konata Izumi is like the best character ever (well not really, but she is pretty humorous and is voiced by Aya Hirano).

Conclusion: Pain go away. Pain go away.

Romeo X Juliet

I completely agree with jp that Romeo X Juliet is a horrible adaption to a classic. However, if one takes the series just as another new anime “original” then I also completely agree with BluWacky, Jeff Lawson, and Omni that it frickin’ rocks!

Conclusion: Juliet a tomboy caped crusader of justice? Sheer genius!

Shining Tears X Wind

Based on the game with the same or similar name, I was only drawn to this anime due to the fact the God himself T2 (Taka Tony) did the original character designs for it. After watching however, I may actually enjoy the series as it boost a pretty impressive and veteran vocal cast. Plot wise, I’m not expecting much but can at least look forward to some decent fight and magic action if the OP is any indication. psgels also has the good word on the anime for those interested.

Conclusion: KiraSouichiro Hoshi singing the OP and ED, that’s something new.

Shinkyouku Soukai Polyphonica

A series I thought fit better with The Melody of Oblivion’s title as the cast actually use instruments to perform miracles/tasks. Still a bit lost on what the series is about but looks interesting enough to continue to watch for now. I’ll also have to agree with Adun, the animation is horrible and may be a deal breaker for many to watch even if the series takes off.

Conclusion: They stole and modified Cloud’s bike!

sola

Honestly I was expecting some typical harem action but the last couple minutes of the first episode really got my attention, as it did for several anime bloggers out there. kurogane pretty much sums my feelings on the seiyuu cast, where Shirukii, Omni, and Hinano give the good word on the actual episode.

Conclusion: loli in the box and light bombs FTW! Noto kawaii yo Noto!

And that wraps up the rest of the new season anime I will or have watched. There are still a couple new series coming out, depending if I watch them or not, I may do another set of reviews for. For now, it’s back to the grind trying to find a decent quality Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS episode 2 raw!