Cinnamon Ass

Well, out of everything I’ve watched so far Mouryou no Hako is the only show that’s really made me go “wow!” and got the blogging juices going. I haven’t watched absolutely everything (those days are behind me, alas, I no longer have that completist instinct) so there’s probably some stuff I’ve missed, but here’s some short comments on the shows I’ve sampled so far in order of airing…

Hakushaku to Yousei

I wish I could get more excited about this one, as the actual story of the first episode was mildly interesting. Unfortunately it’s the bargain basement production values that are putting me off watching any more - although the character designs are attractive, the choice of colours and attention to detail are downright cheap, and there’s nothing particularly great about anything else in the show. I might watch more but as it is it’s hardly a high priority.

Casshern Sins

Haven’t gotten around to the second episode of this yet but I’m a little wary that the show will be, a la Shakespeare, sound and fury signifying nothing. It’s fantastically stylish in that cryptological way that anime indulges in so rarely, and as such it was an absolute joy to watch, but the story seems totally devoid of substance, especially if you’ve done any research into the show whatsoever (stupid Japanese official websites!).

Also, less Ringo, more Ryuze please. Cynical cyborg ladies are more entertaining than innocent robot children that aren’t named Pino.

Kuro Shitsuji

I couldn’t say that this was bad, just totally not my cup of tea (pun fully intended). It’s only really entertaining when Sebastian is being demonic - although Ciel’s Machiavellian board game scenes are pleasant enough it’s nothing I haven’t seen before, and the zany hijinks that the rest of the servants cause seem ridiculous - why would Ciel keep them on when they’re clearly totally incompetent? It’s very atmospheric and the show is extremely polished, but as I don’t really enjoy anime humour and the fangirl-friendly elements don’t make much difference to me I won’t be continuing with this one.

On a British historical accuracy scale, there’s really no point in criticising a show that serves donburi to an Italian in turn of the 20th Century England. I do drink Jackson’s tea at work, though, so that’s good.

(and who eats scones for breakfast? I mean, I do, but that’s not normal breakfast fare by any means)

Yozakura Quartet

I can’t really judge this one until I’ve seen the widescreen broadcasts because TBS’s stupid cropped version really ruins the framing of a show like this. Otherwise, it’s a pleasant enough superpowered teenager show with an appealing central cast, but beyond that it’s nothing very special.

Tales of the Abyss

I’m REALLY enjoying this. I’ve played a fair whack of the game but never finished it (or probably even got halfway through - I can’t remember where I got to!), and normally can’t stand game-based anime, but Abyss is great fun. It helps that the animation is super-slick as per most Sunrise offerings and that it’s mostly action sequence after action sequence whilst the show races through the usual overly convoluted RPG schtick, but overall this is turning out to be a pleasant surprise indeed.

Toaru Majutsu no Index

Once I’ve finished typing this post I’m planning to watch the second episode of this. I’m really not sure what to make of it, though - I feel like I’ve been dumped right into the middle of the story and am playing catch up with the characters. The lead male seems a bit bland, Index seems a bit annoying… but it’s all “seems”, right now, all this stuff is happening and I don’t really have a handle on why I should care, other than that Index eats anything which should automatically make me moe into oblivion or something. The first ep was fun, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not sure about where it might go.

Bihada Ichizoku

Clearly the writers and animators of this show have their tongues firmly placed in their cheeks. It’s ridiculously, unabashedly 70s, with ojou-sama laughs and visual cliches abounding. Unfortunately I found it pretty boring - admittedly at 9 minutes long the first episode can’t really do much, but the story and characters are plain uninteresting (jealous siblings and the secret of beauty? Nah) and I have no fond remembrances of early shoujo anime to make this a nostalgia-fest.

Chaos;Head

I feel like something of a social pariah for not liking this show very much. I see why so many other people like various aspects of it; the “New Generation” phenomena, for instance, could be an interesting plot point if developed properly. Everything else, though, betrays the show’s bishoujo game origins in the worst possible manner - lampshading cliches in the dialogue but then fully indulging in them does not make an entertaining show in my book. The hero also comes across as just being a bit of a lazy otaku, rather than psychologically disturbed in any way. Guess the show isn’t for me.

I will definitely be trying Michiko e Hatchin, the new Nodame and Skip Beat! out - is there anything particularly good that I’ve missed?

This entry was posted on Friday, October 17th, 2008 at 9:42 pm and is filed under Currently Watching. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.