Infinite Stratos - IS - 01
Story: In the near future, a Japanese scientist engineers a powered combat exoskeleton called "Infinite Stratos" (IS). The IS easily defeat the world's military powers. Since only women can operate an IS, the power balance between men and women is broken, with women coming to dominate society over men. The peace is shattered, when a 15 year old Japanese boy, named Ichika Orimura, is discovered to be capable of operating an IS. Realizing the potential, Ichika is forced by the Japanese government to attend the prestigious Infinite Stratos Academy, an international academy where IS pilots from all over the world are trained.
Genre: Mecha, school life.
Comments: The 3D CGs were poor when not viewed in motion, but this ep was mostly about 2D school life, and that was ok.
Unlike in "Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou", the introductions were not rushed, I enjoyed this episode.
Yumekui Merry - 01
"Ten years ago Fujiwara noticed he had a power to see multicolored auras surrounding the person's body. Ever since then he's been having a weird dream about a war with cats. Then one day a mysterious girl falls on top of him..."
Between dream and reality.
Nice art. And nice action sequences. I like!
Puella Magi Madoka Magica 01
"Madoka Kaname is a 14-year-old girl whose life changes when she encounters the magical girl Homura and the familar Kyubey, who transforms her into a magical girl herself."
Magical girls.
Eek, those faces are... huh, weird.
Well anyway, not my kind of anime.
For the fans of SHAFT.
Gosick 01
Gosick takes place in 1924 in the made-up European country of Sauville. The story centers on Kazuya Kujo, who is a transfer student to St. Marguerite Academy, where urban legends are all the rage. There he meets Victorique, a mysterious beautiful girl who never comes to class and spends her days reading or solving mysteries.
Mysterious mystery.
The mystery is that I don't know what is this. Is it a detective story, a horror story, a love story? Or all of them?
The newspapers were sometimes written using a mix of French and English (the title was in French, but the text was in English), so if it's a detective story I guess it's not a serious one.
Freezing 01
"Set in a slightly futuristic world where Earth has been invaded and is at war with aliens from another dimension called the Nova, the story follows the adventures of a Japanese boy named Kazuya Aoi who enrolls for training at a special school for genetically modified girls called Pandoras who battle the aliens, and their male partners, called Limiters, who use a special power called "freezing" to limit their opponent's mobility."
Ultra-violent sci-fi.
Based on a Korean manwha, which usually means "high quality art + guro + boobs + unlikeable, stiff characters + no plot".
I think I'm going to follow this for a few more episodes to make sure, and then I'm going to drop it when it's confirmed to go nowhere.
And yeah, so far I didn't like any of the characters.
Because For Some Reason My Big Brother Doesn't Like Me At All--!! 01
Nao's brother complex is so strong, it's almost at the point of incest. She's determined to make her brother Shuusuke see her as a woman. So determined, that she goes as far as going into his room to throw away all his non-incest related porn.
Comedy.
Based upon the designs of a yucky loli manga where the body proportions are completely off, even worse than CLAMP.
For the fans of that kind of stuff.
Beelzebub 01
The story follows the "strongest juvenile delinquent" as he watches over the devil king's son (and future devil king) with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.
Comedy.
Pretty funny! I liked this first episode.
Hey, this is a pretty useful thread. I just started watching anime again (most recently Eden Of The East and Jigoku Shoujo), so this is nice for someone like me who has no idea where to go next.
Dragon Crisis! - 01
Kisaragi Ryuuji peaceful life is turned into a hectic adventure when his cousin Eriko comes back. Eriko steals a box from bad guys. In the box, they find a girl...
Slice of Dragon Life.
"Ryuuji"? And the voice of that girl... A Toradora clone? But Toradora was by J.C. Staff, and this is by Studio Deen. And the author of Toradora[2006] is Yuyuko Takemiya, while the one of Dragon Crisis[2007] is Kizaki Kaya... Synchronicity, or Copy-city?
Ok anyway, besides all the Deja-Vu's, it's pretty good for a first episode. I need to see more.
Level E - 01
The plot follows an alien prince who crash lands on Earth and begins living with a high school student. (Alien) hilarity ensues.
Documentary... er, no: comedy.
Ah, I think I read this manga a long time ago... Either it was so long ago that I forgot all about it, or the anime version is much more cool calm & collected and tongue-in-cheek than the manga.
Funny stuff.
Is this a Zombie? (Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?) 01
Ayumu Aikawa is a zombie, ressurected by a necromancer named Eucliwood Hellsythe after being killed by a serial killer. As he tries to make the best of his undead life, he encounters a maso-shoujo named Haruna and inadvertently takes her magic powers, being forced to become a maso-shoujo in the process.
Comedy.
Not bad, but the jokes fall a bit dead.
And the maso-shoujo is acting more like a sado-shoujo, except it's reversed when it's him being the shoujo. A clone of "MM"?
I recall checking a few chapters of the manga before giving up.
I wonder if the anime will fare better...
thisyou
It is a lot of anagrams in the mentally deficient person Chinese character in the word of Japan.
How about Rio?
Rio doesn't look like an anime with a story to me, more like a promo piece for pachinkos or casinos. But feel free to write your own review here if you like.
Fractale 01
"The story takes place in an island, where a "Fractale System" is beginning to collapse. One day, Clain finds an injured girl called Phryne under a cliff, who disappears leaving a pendant. Clain sets out for a journey with the girl-shaped avatar Nessa to look for Phryne and discovers the secret of the Fractale System."
Journey.
The art is nice. The first episode didn't explain much, so I'll follow some more to get a better idea of the big picture. But somehow I get the feeling the secret may not be a nice one. Where did everybody go, and why?
Wandering Son 01
"The story depicts a young boy named Shu-ichi Nitori who wants to be a girl, and his friend Yoshino Takatsuki, a girl who wants to be a boy. The series deals with issues such as transsexuality, gender identity, and the beginning of puberty."
School life.
An "Aki Sora", softcore version? This looks like a female mangaka type of plot... ah yeah, the author is a girl too.
Anyway, too shoujo/yaoi/confusing for me.
Mechanism of gambling pachinko of Japan
Pachinko shop(The same treatment as video arcade tentative)
It offers premiums in proportion to the number of sheets of the medal or the pachinko ball.
The premium is exchanged for cash in the realization place in the shop according to juridical of Japan.
As for the pachinko shop, the video arcade has been treated in juridical of Japan.
ster w...............
woooooooooooops
star w.......................
Nichijou - 01 [="Everyday Life"]
"The setting is a strange school where you may see the principal wrestle a deer or a robot's arm hide a rollcake."
Nonsensical slice of life.
Well, it's funny in its own way... but 20 minutes of it? Halfway the episode, I was already checking if it wasn't the end yet.
For the fan.
Hanasaku Iroha - 01
"Ohana Matsumae is sent to live with her grandmother, who she has never met nor spoken to, at her Taisho-era (1920s) hot springs inn. It's not a lifestyle that Ohana would have chosen, but she decides not to be discouraged and to make the most of her new circumstances."
Bittersweet drama.
Well-animated. The girl is cheerful, but clueless about real life, like love and work.
Looking at the outro scenes, it looks like she'll learn from her mistakes in the end. But I don't know if it will take the whole 12 episodes before that happens.
Dog Days 01
"In the land of Fronaldo, the Republic of Biscotti has been aggressively attacked by the Lion Kingdom of Galette. Facing potential defeat, Princess Millhiore summons a hero who can save the country. What she gets is Izumi Shinku, a middle-school boy from Japan. Awaiting him in Fronaldo is the task of becoming hero enough to defeat his enemies while learning the peculiar rules of battle in this strange new world."
Cats vs dogs.
Everybody is cheerfully happy. The colors are very brights, the animation is pretty good. I liked the white "chocobo". ^^
But I'm not sure I'm going to keep an interest for very long, as the premises seem childish.
Ore-tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai 01
"It's winter in the big city of Yanagihara, and young people will meet and fall in love. Takashi is a boy who plans to escape to another world, but is held back by thoughts of his younger sister Kobato and girlfriend Asuka. Shusuke is a poor part-timer who has to work with student-author Hiyoko in spite of their initial dislike for each other. The antisocial Hayato makes his living as a handyman until he is visited by a girl name Naru."
Loud romance.
Barf. All this screaming and badvertising and random scene changes are giving me a headache... but when it finally stops, I find myself falling asleep. It's just white noise. None of the characters are likeable.
Uh, let's see, who did this? "Nomad" studio? Last anime: "Kampfer"? Well, okay...
Tiger & Bunny - 01
"Sternbild City is home to people called "Next," who use their special abilities to protect the people as superheroes. These heroes solve cases and save lives so they can wear sponsor logos or acquire "hero points." Their activities are documented on the popular program "Hero TV," which picks the "King of Heroes" in a yearly ranking. The veteran hero Wild Tiger has always preferred to work alone, but now he's been assigned the rookie Barnaby Brooks Jr., who has a different perspective on being a superhero."
Heromercial.
Uh? This doesn't look like anime. This looks like a kids cartoon, North-American style, full of advertisements and all that crap...
For the fans of male bonding.
Battle Girls - Time Paradox - 01
"Modern-day middle school girl Hideyoshi is mysteriously hurled into a world resembling the warring states period of Japanese history, only this time it's inhabited only by women. This world's Oda Nobunaga is gathering the legendary Crimson Armor so she can rule the world, and for some reason needs Hideyoshi's help to do it."
Japanese history lesson.
Haha. Parallel worlds have different rules! This episode was funny, I liked it.
Steins;Gate_-_01
On July 28, 2010, Rintaro finds the body of Kurisu Makise with a pool of blood in a room. He leaves the building in a panic and sends a text message to a friend about the incident when all the people around him suddenly vanish. They reappear moments later but no one around him seems to have experienced the same phenomena that he did.
Time travelers.
Is the anime using time travel with multiple realities? Or is it using a single time line, and the thing will only make sense after one has seen all the episodes? I guess I'll have to see more episodes to find out...
SKET Dance - 01
"At Kaimei High School, the Living Assistance Club (aka the Sket Brigade) was organized to help students with problems big or small. Most of the time, though, they hang out in their club room, bored, with only a few trivial problems floating in every once in a while. In spite of this, they still throw all their energy into solving these worries."
High-school comedy.
I recall checking a couple of the manga stories, and that the first story, while being not very original, was the best one of the lot. I'm not sure I'm going to keep an interest, unless the anime makes up for the weaknesses of the manga.
A-Channel - 01
Animated 4-koma about the daily lives of Tooru who has just entered the same high school as her best and childhood friend Run-chan, who is now a second year, and her friends Yuuko-chan (whom Tooru bullies cause they meet under bad circumtances) & Nagi-chan (who watches).
Slice of school life.
Nice animation, ok chara designs... but halfway the episode when the main doofus girl was falling asleep in class, I realized I was looking for when it would end. One girl gets attacked by another girl with a bat with a murderous intent? Nobody cares. Someone crashes on the floor? Nobody cares, not even the teacher.
Well, I don't care either. For the fans.
Dororon_Enma-kun_Meramera_-_01
"It's Tokyo in the 1970s, and evil youkai (goblins) are attacking the human world. The "Youkai Patrol" - Enma, Princess Yukiko, Kapaeru, and Grandpa Shappo - are sent from hell to exterminate them."
Youkai-busters.
A remake of Dororon Enma-kun [1973]? Or an upgrade? I dunno, I haven't seen the original.
Pretty good, the animation seems much better here, while keeping an old school flavor.
Softenni_-_01
"The girls of the Hakuou Middle School soft tennis club are aiming for the national championship. Along the way, their journey will be full love, rivalry, fervor, and insanity."
Soft Tennis.
Soft rubber balls instead of hard yellow balls? Weaklings! Yellow balls are already soft enough.
Censored scenes to hide panties? Weaklings! Panties are already hiding the stuff.
Anyway... I managed to keep interest for 3/4 of this first episode, a record.
The animation is nice, but nothing happens, there's no story.
For the fans of fluff.
Astarotte's Toy 01
"Astarotte Ygvar is a succubus and must have a harem, but she hates males. The human male Naoya To-hara is introduced to her to be a member of her harem."
Comedy.
Comedy for children? Or, childish comedy? Loli-comedy?
Let's see, animation studio is Diomedea. Previous work: "Shinryaku! Ika Musume".
For the fans of that stuff.
So basically what we're seeing here is, Spring 2011 looks to be a pretty good season...to go back and catch up on old stuff you missed.
Nah, this is probably the Sturgeon's Law in action: "90% of everything is crap". But, "90% of people don't agree which part is the good part." Or, better: "Which part is crap/which part is good, is in the eye of the beholder."
For me, so far:
Dog Days is passable.
Steins;Gate is ok.
Dororon Enma-kun Meramera is promising.
Battle Girls - Time Paradox is very good.
[C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control 01
"The Japanese government was rescued from the brink of financial collapse by the Sovereign Wealth Fund. For its citizens, however, life has not improved, and unemployment, crime, suicide, and despair are rampant. Kimimaro, raised by his maternal grandmother after the disappearance of his father and the death of his mother, is a scholarship student whose only dream is to avoid all this and live a stable life. One day, however, he meets a man who offers him a large sum of money if he'll agree to pay it back. From then on his fate is radically altered as he's drawn into a mysterious realm known as "The Financial District.""
Finance battlers.
Pretty good first episode. But I wonder how it will continue. Will it be about fabulous battles, using credit cards? Or will the anime expose financial fraud schemes? I need to see another episode.
Aria the Scarlet Ammo 01
"The story takes place in Tokyo Butei High School, a special school where armed detectives ― "Butei" ― are trained to use weapons. Kinji Tooyama is a second-year-student who has a special ability, but he keeps it a secret to maintain an ordinary, peaceful life. However, when he gets caught in a bombing on the way to school, he encounters H. Aria Kanzaki, the most powerful S-Rank Butei student in Assault Studies."
Moe gunners.
Great action sequence, very good intro music, but then when the girls open their mouths, the quality drops below B-rated movie level.
It seems that there was nobody around to write a script, so they recycled old lines from last-year anime.
The voice actor for the guy does a decent job, but the girls' VAs were probably mis-casted or that no director was there to direct them.
I get the feeling they didn't care for human interaction, so I'm not sure I should care too... but, that action/music was awesome!
Ok, this was only the first episode, let me see another ep before I decide to drop it or not.
Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi - 01
"Kazuma's brother Ayumu needs to recuperate from an illness, so they move from the city to a rural mountain village. They plan to board at their father's inn Yorozuyo, but get lost on their way. Wandering in the mountains, Kazuma stumbles across a girl named Ui Nakatsugawa. It's the first of many encounters in his new country life."
Dating sim moe.
Uh, I lost interest after 2 minutes. Too boring.
For the fans of the game.
Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko - 01
"The story revolves around a highschool boy named Niwa Makoto. He lives with his aunt’s family since his parents are away on business. It is there where he meets his mysterious cousin of the same age Touwa Erio ― who happens to tie a futon mattress around her upper body and is a self-proclaimed alien."
Crazy moe.
Amusing. "Origins of the Penrose Four-Dimensional Twisted Life"? Did she really read those books? I need to see another episode.
Yondemasu yo, Azazel-San - 01
Akutabe, a detective, summons demons to solve the troubles of his clients.
Comedy.
Gah! The secretary may be cute-ish, but most of the crew is ugly as hell.
For the fans of bawdry slapsticks.
Ano_Hana_-_01
Six childhood friends grew apart in high school. One of them is Jin-tan, now a shut-in. He gets a request to fulfill a wish from Menma. But in order to grant her wish, he will have to meet the others...
Overcoming social withdrawal.
Ah, I recognize that art style, it's from Toradora. Beautiful, and the animation is very nice. This looks like a winner.
Now the question is, is Menma a product of Jin's imagination? Nobody can see her, but that could be because as people grow up into the material world they lose contact with the spiritual side of life. She can create poltergeist-style effects, but this could be Jin's powers, or the powers of the group who are stuck in the loss of their old friend. I'll need to see more episodes to find out. :)
Blue Exorcist / Ao no Exorcist 01
This world consists of two dimensions joined as one, like a mirror. The first is the world in which the humans live, the other is the world of demons. Demons can pass over into this world by possessing anything that exist within it. But there's something that they doesn't have...
Battling demons.
High quality animation. Great ED. But, not much substance in this so far... Is he going to battle demons with his blue aura power and that blessed sword? Defeat the Final Boss (who will probably be his brother), and close the inter-dimensional door at the end? Then go back to work in the local supermarket as a normal human? Yawn...
Deadman Wonderland - 01
"Ganta Igarashi has been convicted of a crime that he hasn't committed, and sent to a new, privately owned and operated prison, where the inmates are the main attraction in a modern day twist to the gladiatorial coliseums of ancient times. Throw in a healthy dose of weird little girl, some new-found super powers, and a little conspiracy theory, and you have Deadman Wonderland."
Deadly games.
Death is now a marketing instrument to feed the masses with deadly entertainment. But luckily, our hero here is now superhuman, which is very handy. "Bread and Circuses"? Or, Candy and Circuses? And who is that white girl? I need another episode...
Blood-C - 01
Ep1: Saya meditates. Saya eats cake. Saya goes to school. Saya comes back from school. Saya battles monster. The end.
Slash of life.
Clamp. Noodles characters. Yaoi-looking males. Girl gets a sword, it's not explained why. Girl goes to kill a monster with it and almost gets killed there, but dad stays at home. Oh, and she doesn't even change clothes, she does it in her school uniform. And with her huge twin ponytail. And with her glasses, which stayed on her nose all the time...
Too creepy for me.
Ro-Kyu-Bu! - 01
"Subaru Hasegawa is a high school freshman, he joins the basketball team but soon finds out the team is inactive because the captain is being suspected as a lolicon. He miraculously is entangled with the job of being the coach of an elementary schools basketball team. With these girls and their love for basketball Subaru will have a hard time getting acknowledged by each of them."
Loli basketball.
Animation is nice. But it doesn't look like it's going to appeal to me, so I'll pass.
For the fans.
Sacred_Seven_-_01
"Arma Tandoji is an outcast in school and his life is a mess. But when Ruri of a powerful finance organization meets him, his life become a bigger mess!"
Battling monsters.
Pretty good. Is the Sacred_Seven related to higher dimensions? I noticed that when the crystal transforms into a mecha, there is a hyperdimensional effect like in NGE.
Ikoku Meiro no Croisee - 01
(La croisee dans un labyrinthe etranger)
"The story takes place in the second half of the 19th century, as Japanese culture gains popularity in the West. A young Japanese girl, Yune, accompanies a French traveller, Oscar, on his journey back to France, and offers to help at the family's ironwork shop in Paris. Oscar's nephew and shopowner Claude reluctantly accepts to take care of Yune, and we learn how those two, who have so little in common, get to understand each other and live together in the Paris of the 1800s."
Life in Paris.
Luscious art and ok animation, but...
A young girl who goes in another country without any relatives, in the second half of the 19th century? My suspension of disbelief is dropping.
The main incident is about selling clothes? My interest level is dropping too.
YuruYuri - 01
Four young girls take over the former room of a tea ceremony club for their own Amusement Club.
Drinking tea after school.
This looks like it's from an alternate universe where men don't exist. I didn't see even -one- male around. Animation looks nice, but nothing happens, it's just talk-talk-talk. Likely a female mangaka fantasy.
I tried to stay awake till the end of the episode, but those weird pupils and the incessant babbling made me give up half-way.
For the fan.
Kami-sama no Memo-chou 01
(God's notebook)
Narumi Fujishima is a student who happens to meet a loli detective and to become one of her assistants.
Loli solving mysteries.
Art is nice.
But, the mystery was not for the viewer to solve, it seems? We didn't get much clues.
So, like Narumi Fujishima, I'll have to just go along with the story...?
Ok, this was only a pre-airing. Lemme think again when the real series starts.
Kamisama Dolls - 01
Kyouhei, after moving away to Tokyo from his old town to get away from the events that happened, discovers a dead body in the elevator. He is then told by his little sister that an old friend of him is the one responsible.
Playing with dolls.
Animation/story are looking good.
But the girl he likes has big bazoongies... and his sister is jealous... and the guy who is in love with him is psychotic... and they all have high-tech weapons of mass destruction. Does this mean she's gonna die very soon? She has better wise up very fast. On the other hand, she is from the same village, so maybe there is a surprise...
Usagi Drop - 01
"When thirty-year-old Daikichi returns home for his grandfather's funeral he learns about the existence of Rin, his grandfather's illegitimate six-year-old daughter by an unknown mother. The girl is an embarrassment to all his relatives and is treated as an outcast. Annoyed by their attitude, Daikichi decides to take care of Rin himself, even though he is single and has no experience raising a child."
Daddy-bear dorama.
This gives a Honey&Clover vibe, which I didn't like. Yup, same studio. But ok, different authors.
And we have here an old guy who "conveniently" takes the loli for himself. Yeah, yeah, sure, he was not initially willing, but... I'm not sure I'm gonna like this.
Or is the anime going to do a time-skip for the next episode?
No.6 - 01
"The story is set in "No. 6," a future model city in 2013. Raised as a top-ranking elite since the age of 2, a boy named Shion lives in an exclusive area in No. 6. On the night of his 12th birthday, he rescues a boy who calls himself "Nezumi" ("Rat"). Nezumi ran away from the city's Special Security Area. From that moment on, Shion's life is changed forever... "
Boy-love sci-fi.
Eh, does neuroscience say the brain creates the soul? No wonder the students go crazy in that school...
Computerized bracelets? This may be interesting...
Eh wait, this turns out to be a boy-love story, completely out of the blue? And the ED is about the two guys looking at each other lovingly? Probably a female author fantasy.
The iDOLM@STER - 01
"The arduous struggle of the 13 girls from Talent Production 765 who dream of one day becoming idols in the competitive Japanese entertainment industry."
Idols management.
Based upon a raising simulation game.
Very nicely animated, it looks like that galge sold successfully. It looks like a big noisy nursery... but ok, that was just the intro.
Uta No Prince Sama - 01
"Nanami Haruka wants to be a song writer, so she attends an idol training school filled with beautiful bishounen. The school pairs each aspiring songwriter with an aspiring idol, but Haruka finds herself paired with 3 idols! To make things more difficult, Nanami is also not allowed to date any of her beautiful partners!"
F-a-b-u-l-o-u-s male harem.
...(For the fans.)
Mayo Chiki - 01
The story revolves around the life of a 17-year old young man named Subaru Konoe, who is the butler of one of his classmates, Kanade Suzutsuki. The story takes a dramatic turn when a boy named Kinjiro Sakamachi discovers Subaru's secret!
Comedy-lovedy.
Very lively animation. I like!
Mawaru_Penguindrum_-_01
"A terminally ill girl named Himari Takakura is miraculously saved from death by a strange spirit who resides in a penguin-shaped hat. However, in exchange for extending her life, the spirit tasks Himari's brothers, Kanba and Shoma, to seek out an item known as the Penguin Drum with assistance from a trio of strange penguins."
Fantasy.
Erm... Confusing. Not sure where this is going. I'll have to see another episode.
A Dark Rabbit has Seven Lives - 01
Kurogane Taito is a freshman. After an injury that prevented him from practicing sports, he had always believed that he was an ordinary guy. But since a (forgotten) pact with a vampire nine years ago, he was in fact no longer ordinary.
Vampires vs anti-vampires.
Heavy monotone voice acting... Newbie VAs, or bad directing? I'm leaning toward bad directing, as the story is being laid heavily too. Not sure I'm going to keep an interest.
R-15 - 01
Takuto Akutagawa has a special ability for writing porn novels. He applies to Hirameki Gakuen, a school which only accepts special people with unique talents.
Comedy.
Fog, fog everywhere. Is it part of the storytelling? Nah, they fogged up even panties, so it looks like a cheap plot to force DVD sales, which may mean they are not confident the DVDs will sell on merit alone, so possibly a bad omen. But some parts were good, so I dunno. Let me see another episode.
are you going to review Manyuu Hikenchou?
it sounded like a cool anime
>are you going to review Manyuu Hikenchou?
When is the uncensored version coming out?
I tried to watch one version, but I couldn't watch it, the lights blinded me, so I shut it down immediately to avoid major damage to my eyeballs.
Dantalian no Shoka - 01
(The Mystic Archives of Dantalian)
"Hugh Anthony Disward inherits an old mansion and a personal library from his grandfather. In the basement of the mansion, he meets a mysterious girl\Dalian. She is a Dantalian and a gateway to the Dantalian's bookshelf, which stores the prohibited books of the demons. "
Fantasy.
Pretty good. Animated by GAINAX. Animation is nice. Text is poetry-level. Several scenes and the ending were not animated tho, so I wonder if the budget was running low for this series. The two Voice Actors were good, but there was no real chemistry between the two. Will they warm up to each other, or will they remain stiff till the end? Tsun-tsun, or tsun-dere?
Manyuu Hikenchou 01 semi-DC
"The Shogunate employ the Manyu Clan, a group of samurai who know the endless intricacies and knowledge of the human breast, to keep the rich and poor in their place. Using knowledge and techniques passed down through the generations, the Manyu Clan nurtures the future aristocracy to reach their buxom potential. They also dispatch of the poor who develop massive, magnificent mounds through the use of their secret slashing technique, which rips the "soul" of the breast out of the target's body. Without harming their supple body, of course.
Chifusa, the future successor of the Manyu Clan, becomes disillusioned of the crazy society in which she lives, and flees with the sacred scroll of the clan, which explains all of their breast-growing secrets, as well as the technique to destroy the breast."
Tits slashers.
By the studio who made Qwaser, and it's another ultra-violent, loveless story.
The animation is good, but I didn't like any of the characters, the interactions are sketchy, and the plot looks like it's going nowhere. I think I'm going to flee too.
For the fan.
C3 (C-Cube) 01
Haruaki Yachi is a high school student who lives alone.
One night he finds a girl in his kitchen. The girl says she is a "cursed tool", sent to him to break the curse.
Hijinks.
Whoa, the plot looks stale! We see the old tsundere switcheroo, the last-year blue-haired invader mess, and so on. Is this is even based on anything? Oh yeah, there's a manga. Let's see... Uh, it looks like the anime isn't following the manga too closely, if at all.
Too many things annoy me in the anime. For example, you can't make only one side of a Rubik cube, it's impossible. If this is a Kodomo-anime, it teaches stupid things to the kids. If this is an adult anime, it insults the adult.
Not sure I'm gonna keep an interest.
Phi Brain - Kami no Puzzle - 01
Kaito, a puzzle-loving high school freshman, finds an unsolvable puzzle near his school. The puzzle turns out to be a life-threatening philosopher's puzzle, created by a mysterious group.
Puzzle buzzle.
Puzzle solving, but the viewer is not given time to solve anything. The hero is doing it all alone. For example with the puzzle on the door lock, we are not allowed to see the puzzle more than a fraction of second, it's solved off-screen.
Is this based on a manga? Ah yeah, "Phi Brain: Saigo no Puzzle".
Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! - 01
"Kawakami City is famous for its strong dedication to its samurai ancestors. A healthy fighting spirit is always valued and it's even an important factor for success at school. Yamato, a second year student from Kawakami Highchool is always with his close friends."
Samurai school.
First ep was an all-out "historical" battle with cellphones and internet support and mecha and stuff. I'm guessing it's not representative of the series and was only used to present the protagonists.
Kimi to Boku - 01
Shun, Kaname, and the twins Yuuki and Yuuta have been friends since kindergarten. It's a little hard to tell if they actually get along or not - but even as high-school students, they hang out together. This is really just about their daily lives, which aren't particularly passionate or exciting.
Slice of boredom.
Boys meet boys, watch sakura falling, and eat sandwiches together... Zzz.
A very diluted type of yaoi? I dunno, I couldn't manage to finish watching the first episode to find out, it was too coma-inducing.
For fangirls.
Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon - 01
(=Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere)
"Set in a distant future when Japan is divided into feudal territories and conquered by other countries, there is a floating city named Musashi that is composed of eight ships in the skies. A war that will determine the fate of the world will be fought by students on the Musashi."
High-tech high-school high-jinks.
Nice action scenes. High quality visuals.
But, I understood nothing from the infodump... Who's doing what, and why? Are they in a normal world time line, or an independent outside time line?
Hopefully the next episodes will make things clearer.
Chihayafuru 01
Chihaya wants to create a club where one plays a card game, karuta.
How to deal love cards haphazardly.
Nice animation and good direction.
But, let's see, the meek guy tells her to stop trying to take the dream of someone else (making her sister become a top model), so she steals his dream of becoming a top card player instead?
And, the alpha male tells her that if she wants, he can break with his gf he doesn't like to go with her, and she does nothing but wallows?
That's shoujo for you, I guess.
Haganai and P4A air tomorrow, expect speed subs.
Mashiro-Iro Symphony - 01
"Shingo's school is decided to be joined with a girls' school. As a selected student, Shingo temporarily transfers to the girls' school until they officially consolidate. He meets various unique girls there, but all girls dislike male students..."
Galgame tv adaptation.
As usual with this kind of ero-game promotional anime, the ero is heavily stripped off. We didn't even see one panty shot, and the sister had a towel when she walked in the bathroom. So what's left is the wafer-thin plot, which made me lose several IQ points.
For the fans of the game.
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai 01
(=I Don't Have Many Friends)
Hasegawa Kodaka has transferred schools, and he's having a hard time making friends. It doesn't help that his blond hair tends to make people think he's a delinquent. One day, he runs into his classmate Yozora while she's talking to an imaginary friend. Realizing that neither of them have any actual friends, they form a club.
Club activities.
Nice scenery, and solid directing. It was very good.
But those weird lips... is that from the same studio who did Denpa Onna? Ah no, it's from AIC Build, who did OreImo.
Persona 4 - 01
Persona 4 takes place in the rural town of Inaba. Unexplained murders have taken place in the small town, where bodies are found dangling in tv antennas. At the same time, rumor has begun to spread that watching a switched-off television set on rainy midnights will reveal a person's soulmate...
Game promo.
I was not too impressed by this first ep. The pace was initially glacial, and when things started to move, they moved too fast. And the faces have a weird gradient to them, it looks like they have an unshaven beard - even the girls. On the plus side, I watched it till the end, they were interesting parts in it. So, good ideas, but weak adaptation. I'm guessing this anime is for people who have played the game.
Maken-Ki! 01
"Oyama Takeshi happily enrolls in a co-ed school that didn't required any entrance exams and has hostels to boot... Only to find out that there's more to the school than he thought!"
Magic-powered battles.
Pretty good adaptation. The manga was borderline tedious, the anime made it much more lively.
Ben-to_-_01
You Sato finds himself beaten up on the supermarket floor, the last thing he remembers being going to get some half-priced bento. The next day, he encounters a silver-haired girl who warns him not to go to the store again. But he goes again, and finds himself beaten up again upon reaching for the half-price bento...
Cheap food battlers.
Will You manage to grab the coveted boxed lunch? And is You going to live to tell the tale?
Nice action-packed first episode. But let me see the next ep. to see how it evolves.
UN-GO - 01
"The story follows Shinjuro Yuki, a detective who solves mysteries with his strange partner, Inga."
Fashionable detectives.
A tale where bankers and politicians wear Napoleonic clothes for style, where truth serum are magical pretty girls, and where murders are solved within a few minutes by a random self-styled detective yuppie.
I dunno, is this going to be a shoujo love-love story, a gruesome series of post-mortem investigations, or something else?
Guilty Crown - 01
In 2029 a virus plunges Japan in chaos, and GHQ, an international organization, takes over Japan. Ten years later, Shu Ouma meets Inori, a singer he likes, and discovers she is a member of a resistance group that wants to liberate Japan from GHQ's control...
Freedom fighters.
Ok, the guy looks like a wallowing wimp, and the girl looks so weak I wonder how she manage to lift her arms. But before the end of the episode he lifts a hella huge sword like it's nothing... Whee.
I guess I should only pay attention to the lullabies and the big explosions.
Last Exile - Fam, The Silver Wing 01
Set as a sequel to the original, the story is about great air battles with flying machines, powerful armies, and mysterious organizations. The main character is Fam Fan Fan, a fifteen-year-old girl who gets caught up in a war between two nations.
Steampunkish air battles.
Very nice.
But, what happened to all the high-tech from the priesthood caste? I see the army is still fighting with cannonballs. Are the priests still in exclusive control of all upper technologies?