Winter Streaming Season: Thoughts, part 3

Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka?

Is this a Zombie?


There are two schools of moe. One is to be as perverted as humanly possible, the other is to compensate for the disgustingness of the niche fetish by showing off truly bizarre humor and random J-WTFs. I suspect that the latter will have more longevity, as otaku without moe tendencies (that includes me) have enjoyed these series in the past (need I mention Haruhi Suzumiya?), and the otaku-fetish-of-the-month could easily be swapped out for another. Zombie is of this latter class, and despite not being half as awesome as the title suggests, there is plenty to love here.
This show has a plot, but rather than explain it, I will instead transcribe the the engrish from the opening credits. Aikawa Ayumu. He is... Zombie. She is... Masou Shoujo (untranslated pun on mahou shoujo, "Magical Girl"). She is.... Necromancer. She is... Vampire Ninja. She is... ????. I think you get the picture. However, the first episode was actually hilarious, with lots of great magical-girl parody, chainsaws, and a Mutant Lobster. However, like many zany-moe series (including the fantasic Haruhi), a good number of the jokes fall flat, with the silly potential of a ninja that is also a vampire being criminally unexplored. However, the lobster was more than enough to get me hooked, so this may very well be a fun ride. Now, here's what the commenters on Crunchyroll had to say:

OH MY GAWD I WILL NEVER TAKE A GUY WITH A CHAIN SAW SERIOUSLY EVER AGAIN IN MY LIFE!!!! XD

Epic. Killer. Lobster.

a sudden hunger for seafood...

Dragon Crisis

Eeeeeeeeeew!!!!!


Okay, for a single moment I thought this could turn out decent. The show's opening credits were great, and the beginning, things looked like it would be a big dumb action show, which is not necessarily a bad thing when it's free. But then the show revealed it's true nature, a class one moe of insidious nature. Okay, so viewer fill-in high school dude Ryuji gets recruted by his busty second cousin (shades of incest?) Eriko to get something-or-other from evil mafia (okay, I know this is a Japanese show so they're yakuza but WHAAAATEVER), which is cool I guess. Then it turns out that the thingie is actually a little girl-oh sorry, a dragon that LOOKS like a little girl, which is even worse- that  spends the entire rest of the episode screaming "RYUUUUUJI!!!" and clinging to him, with and without clothes. Do I even need to say how awful that is? Oh well, I guess it's nice that this is the only show like this this year. Now, here's what the commenters on Crunchyroll had to say:

um lmao a girl comes out of a case

So her big plan was too rob a bunch of mob like guys with a cane that produced butterflies?

i can't tell the difference between anybody

Freezing

Kill 'em all. No, wait! Don't ACTUALLY kill 'em all!


OK, let me be the first to create an acronym for otaku product featuring sexy women dying. Let's see... how about... kawaii-guro? Or maybe moe-guro? GUMOE! Now then, I know that this is formatted as a formal review of Freezing, but I don't wan't to write that. It's too upsetting. So instead I'm going to intellectualize on a point that this show has made me want to talk about. After moe, what's next? Don't think that moe is a unique thing. The otaku market has romanticized watered-down versions of niche fetishes for a long time now; before moe it was maids, and before maids it was furrys. Freezing, with it's panty-shots of corpses and blood-splattered magical girls, suggests that the future is in darkness, a huge departure from the protective feelings and warm fuzzies of moe. However, a more likely replacement would likely be the pseudo-incest siscon, as the concept has, like moe, already been buzzing around in otaku communities for a while, and many of last season's moe shows (Oreimo, anyone?) had siscon elements as well. Fortunately, as nobody with actual siblings like siscon, if that is the new trend, it will be a lot smaller than moe, and besides, publishers have wised up about the dangerous side effects of such trends. I hope.

OK THAT'S IT NO MORE I DON'T CARE IF THERE'S ONE SHOW I LEFT OUT I'M SICK OF THIS

Winter Streaming Season: Thoughts, part 2

[Note: I forgot to mention this in my last post, but I will not be discussing Fractale or Mitsudomoe 2. The reasons for not discussing Fractale are obvious, seeing as I've already written two reviews of the show, and Mitsudomoe 2 is a sequel to a show I haven't watched, making it not so fun to talk about.]


Level E

Style! Sci-Fi! Buddies.


Level E is one of this year's thankfully plentiful examples of good anime. Based on an obscure manga from the '90s by the author of Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter (that will hopefully be translated), Level E isa buddy comedy with shades of serious science fiction, and vise versa. After moving into a new apartment located near a UFO crash landing, high school student Yukitaka Tsutsui enters his new home to find... a man with long, blonde hair and bishonen looks by the name of Prince sitting in his apartment room wearing Yukitaka's clothes and claiming to be an alien. An incredibly fresh sci-fi romp ensues, with perhaps the most stylish opening credits since Cowboy Bebop's "Tank!". Prince is a remarkably ridiculous character who plays off straight man Yukitaka in a remakable fasion, and yet, as casually hinted several times, there is an elaborate alien plot behind it all. Studio Pierrot's cg animation is also quite remarkable and (mostly) meshes with its 2d surroundings, which should be commended too. And really, how could I hate a show with this promo? Now, here's what the commenters on Crunchyroll had to say:

now this is more interesting than i thought from reading the text..

i laughed my @$$ off at the puppets ahaaha XD

Not a bad start to this series, love sci fi anime, will continue to watch 

Wandering Son

And now I present to you, the best anime of winter '11

Cross-dressers have been the subject of manga and anime before, but never before has it been handled so tenderly. Based on the manga of the same name being released in english later this year by Fantagraphics, Wandering Son airs on Noitamina (try spelling it backwards) the excellent animation block that gave us last year's Princess Jellyfish and this year's Fractale. Wandering Son is about two first year middle schoolers, Shuichi Nitori and Yoshino Takatsuki. Last year, Nitori confessed his love of Takatsuki, but what keeps them close friends is not romance, but a shared secret that no-one can ever know. Takatsuki likes wearing boy's clothes, while Nitori likes wearing wigs and dresses. This initial description, sadly, would not be enough to inspire confidance in Wandering Son, as many jaded otaku will think, "Great, another forgettable fanservice show with gender confusion," but the content of this show is dead serious. Nitori and Takatsuki must confide in eachother in a world that does not understand them. It is not funny at all when Nitori is caught by his sister while trying her new dress, and runs off wailing still wearing the skirt. This is an upsetting and delicate moment when a side of himself he had never shown to anyone but himself and his most trusted friend is shown to the last person he wanted to know. In short, this show is amazing. Now, here's what the commenters on Crunchyroll had to say:

Absolutely every moment of this episode took my breath away. If this keeps up, it will be a gorgeous show about a rarely touched-upon subject. I'll be sure to tune in for the rest!

OMG!! this show is PERFECT for me

interesting i love the art work its so... different

GOSICK

Hrm! Very stylish and mysterious.... Hrm!

This looks good. GOSICK is in fact probably Studio Bones' (Fullmetal Alchemist, Rahxephon) most visually satisfying entries to date. In a very gothic looking 1924 in the made-up english country of Sabure, at the prestigious St.Marguerite's Academy, Japanese (of course) student Kujo Kazuya, aka the Dark Reaper because as we all no nobody in Europe has dark hair (??), encounters, as Crunchyroll's description puts it, "a girl who is as beautiful as a doll..." who is a genius and some dude with a ridiculously cool pompadour (I am beginning to doubt this show's historical accuracy) and stylish gothic mysteries ensue! This is very good. However, I ran into the problem I have had with many adaption shows, particularly light novel adaptions, before. This show is WAY to faithful to the original, and it makes the show boring, despite the aforementioned style, and this is one show that really suffers from that due to the fact that the mystery is ludicrously over the top. Oh well, it's still good.Now, here's what the commenters on Crunchyroll had to say:

I think some foundation or backstory is missing here. Seems there are a number of elements of these characters and why they are doing things not even hinted at yet. Confusion has many friends.

Also, hopefully the cases get more complex. Otherwise I'll just stick to Detective Conan.

run bunnies run!!! O-o

In Our Final Installment: Moe Blobs and Mutilation

Winter Streaming Season: Thoughts, part 1

Moe. Moemoemoemoemoemoemoemoemoe. Momomomoe. Moe! Mo-ay. Moe? Moe.

For a long while, this has been what the otaku discussion has looked like. Mountains of cute little ones with voluptuous proportions to match the eye size have been dangling around this gorgeous medium far too long, and if the new shows on Crunchyroll and Funimation are any proof, it's over. Not to say that moe has gone away for good, as two purely moe shows, Dragon Crisis! and Kore Wa Zombie Deasu Ka?, are present this season, but the two shows are of two completely different schools of moe (Dragon: let's pander! Zombie: Let's be absolutely out of our freaking minds!), and let's face it, only two shows is certainly proof that american otaku are fed up with the identical harems of the past few years, and may want to return to the quality of the good ol' days- and the crap as well.


Rio - Rainbow Gate!

Rainbow Groan

Let's start with exhibit A: Rio- Rainbow Gate! Rio is a pandering fanservice show based on a slot machine mascot about a popular casino dealer named Rio whose very presence makes everyone win, and yet is somehow still employed, and her adventures at the Howard Resort a.k.a. revealing outfit land using her magic gambling powers (her skill at cheating) to beat bad guy gambler dudes who like teddy bears. OK what the heck. However, it should be noted that both the animation and the fanservice are well done; every breast has a certain shimmer to their surface, and they bounce in real time. Also, to see some adults, that is, non-four year olds, getting time in a fanservice show must indicate a positive trend in otaku intrests, if a minor one. Not that this makes the show any good. Now, here's what the commenters on Crunchyroll had to say:

what the f@#$

wait.......the owner likes a dealer that gives their customers luck? Isnt that a little backwards? LOL

8:52 Oh, no. It's Michael Jackson. 14:16 Hollywood actresses who speak Japanese? 18:04 I have no idea what's going on. In conclusion, I find this boring.

Cardfight!! Vanguard

Rio is not the only returning favorite in this year's set of bad anime types. We also have the commercial tie-in, the show made to sell the newest Yu Gi Oh or Pokemon type card game. Most of these shows are stinkers, but none have been so actively awful and forgettable as Cardfight!! Vanguard. I already had a sinking suspicion this show would be abysmal when I saw the grotesquely bland character designs, and the feeling only grew as I progressed through the first episode. It would be unfair to blame this show for being another card game show, so lets compare it to ones of its kin that came before it. Looking at just about any card show, be it Pokemon, Yu Gi Oh, Beyblade, or even Hikaru no Go (that one's based on an ancient chess-like board game but still) you will notice that whether the series was good, bad, or in between, they had an adventure, or at the very least a story. There was some fantastical element, and the heros could be related to. Not this one. They are just playing cards. Nothing else. THEY ARE JUST PLAYING CARDS. Apparently they "visualize" the game, or somthing, but they barely show (or animate) that at all! And the show is not going for realism like Hikaru no Go ended up doing, seeing as VANGUARD IS TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS ACCORDING TO THIS SHOW! Now, here's what the commenters on Crunchyroll had to say:

Unfortunately, the game this show is centered upon does have monsters whose attacks are really just math problems which is a big turn-off to me. Although, judging from this episode and the first episode of Bakugan, Vanguard is better.

Im sorry..I called it lame on the intro video...its much worse..come on..I couldnt last 4 minutes...a hobbit main charater..they made an alt shorter then yug..I mean the main character..a chic..god so sad..last moment I waste on this

(smacks head against the wall repeatedly)

Next Time: stuff that doesn't suck!

Review: Fractale Episode 1

    
Thank god for streaming. Without it, I would not get the immense joy of watching Fractale, a new show directed by Yutaka "Yamakan" Yamamoto (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) and from a concept by famous otaku  scholar Hiroki Azuma, ONE HOUR after it aired in Japan. I've became curious about the show after reading this article in witch the director spoke out against the moe symptom that has infected all otaku products lately. It shocked me that the director of Haruhi would be the one to be saying these things about moe, seeing as Haruhi was basically the moe show that worked. Needless to say, I was intrigued by the idea of a show that "will target non-anime fans and one-time fans who have shifted away from the genre," and I was not disappointed. This is good, nostalgic fun with a nice hint of the demented bent I can expect from a Yamakan production.


 This show does absolutely nothing new. Not an ounce of originality. It is a rehash of many things we have seen before. But these things are things that have not been seen for a very long time, so I welcome this show like a friend who has been on vacation for months. This show contains no moe, no pushy-in-more-ways-than-one breast shots, no "sexy" helium voices. Here's what the show does contain: A youthful, wide eyed hero. A mysterious heroine. A unique setting. A leisurely storytelling pace. Incompetent, bumbling, but still plenty dangerous initial villains. Miyazaki-inspired (okay, rip-off) aircrafts. And a hint of that WTF that only Japan is capable of crafting. Now if this is not enough to make you immensely curious, then there is nothing I can do to make you watch this show. However, unless your heart broke the moment I said no moe, then you are probably immensely curious about this show. However, this show needs more than that. Only moe gets produced with a list of guidelines and nothing more. And sadly, this show may be like that. Because what I just described basically IS the plot at this point. And really, why watch this when I could just watch Castle in the Sky, which this show dubiously resembles. There are two reasons.

First of all, the fanservice in the first episode was handled carefully and tastefully. At this point, fanservice (which, if you don't know what this means by now, I will just say that it fairly obvious when most of the fans to service are male) is a necessary evil of anime (and manga), and it was refreshing to see one that left things to the imagination, something that I think/hope otaku still have, and did not shove panties at the screen every ten seconds. After all, when you are creating something that fans can probably already find mountains of doujin based on the minute it is publicly available, is stuff like fanservice that needed?

Secondly, the weird sci fi setting. The world of Fractale at first looks like the bajillionth calm countryside to  grace an anime like this, but in reality, it is much more sinister. Other than the protagonist and a handful of other charaters, everyone is hooked to the Fractale system, the "twenty second century god", which makes life more convenient, and allows everyday life to be handled by bizarre avatars called "Doppels". It's like if The Matrix was also based on Castle in the Sky as well as Ghost in the Shell.

Anyway, the first episode was actually kinda light, so I can't say the quality will hold up, but as you can see by my feverish praise, I'm happy with what I see. And I haven't even mentioned the rad opener.


UPDATE: The Fractale simulcast has been shockingly put on hold by Funimation after a bunch of illegal torrents and streams of the first episode were put out by some @$$#*!#$.

Fractale is currently streaming via Funimation