Winter 2014 Anime Season Review, 1 of 5
I had planned on changing up the way I was doing the reviews a bit to help make it a little easeir to take them in, in terms of searching out the review you actually have an interest in. But after a number of delays and the fact we're getting so far into Spring now, let's just stick to basics, shall we?
Gundam Build Fighters is the kind of show you would expect upon reading its description before watching a single episode. Think Yu-Gi-Oh, or any other card battle game anime, but replace the cards with Gundam models. Or perhaps more accurately one can take a show like Chihayafuru or Saki and replace their respective games with a VR Gundam battle. And that is where the fun of the series will be had. It is not a show for more deep-meaning story lovers. It’s not the type of show like the original Gundam, or even much akin to AGE. It’s a 26 episode long ad for Gundam model kits, and it’s aimed at two groups – the die-hard love everything Gundam fans, and the toy-loving younger audience. It’s entertaining enough a series, just don’t look too hard for something deep. It’d be like jumping in a kiddie pool thinking it’s at least going to be a lake; you’re gonna be extremely disappointed. All you should look for is a series of flashy, interesting, giant robot battles featuring robots somewhat altered from their prior Gundam series appearance. It hits at the raw basic accusation of why people like giant robot series – it’s all about the fights.
Tokyo Ravens started off well and was promising to get even better on its way through the end of its first cour. But it all went downhill in the second half, the winter half, of its run. It wasn’t brand new in concept, but it was going to be fun. The CGI effects interlaced through the episodes were not terribly good, but they were good enough. But as is common to happen with shows like this, whether that is the truth or not, they seem to abandon the route of their supernatural exploration for fear it doesn’t grab enough attention and instead opt to get immersed in overly complicated clichés, plot devices, and drama. The Tokyo Ravens story should have been a relatively simple concept regarding the reincarnation of a powerful onmyo and those who were over eager to return him to power. Instead it got completely lost in some nonsensical internal conflicts with the plot coming full circle to a contrived drama and the protagonist resorting to literally the very thing he stopped the very first antagonist he faced from doing.
The choice of direction for the series went completely sideways. The story became a mess of pointless and utterly useless twists. The pacing turned awful. Your best bet, watch through episode 12 or 13, and pretend you’re waiting for a second season that will never come. That’s the best way to salvage the mess that this show turned into. “Season 1” wasn’t that great to begin with, but it was far from bad, and it went to waste.
Phi Brain Season 3 was not very good. There was less and less attempt to keep the puzzles the show is supposed to be about as puzzles. In the previous seasons they at least tried more often than not to make seemingly real puzzles, not just pseudo puzzles. Nearly every “puzzle” was anything but, given the fact there was no way to actually solve them other than relying on nearly pure luck. It was nice to get some clarity on the one who created the POG and started this all. The way they did it was overly dramatic, and their path to resolving it was so self-contradictory you’d think they were trying to trick you into re-watching the show to see if they really said what they said, and if it actually makes any sense. The tone of the show took a turn for the better relative to the prior seasons. But what gains they made there were given up in the technical. That alone simply makes season 3 different from 1 and 2; not better, not worse, just different. For a show whose main theme demands technical precision to abandon that precision, dooms the show.
Kill la Kill is a show that exists as little else than an excuse to show the most outrageous scenes and acts in anime to date. The story is absurd. The plot is absurd. The events are absurd. The animation, the fights, the explosions, are all absurd. But it is a show that is built entirely on the knowledge that it is absurd and embraces, celebrates, and tells you to love its absurdity. If you love absurdity, you might probably like this show. No doubt it has moments that will make you laugh, and some of the moments are exciting. But if you stop too long and think about what is happening you will realize the faults of the story and how utterly bland the show would be if but for the over-the-top way they do everything. Unlike Build Fighters, however, KlaK is violent, bloody, and at many times sexually suggestive. One of the protagonist groups is called nudist beach and has a member who feels himself up around the female lead while undressing himself. If you’re an action nut then there is little chance you won’t like this show. Personally I don’t think it’s too bad, but it’s not nearly as great as I think many people would like to make it out to be. Perhaps I’m just not an action junkie.
Golden Time is probably one of the best romance anime in recent memory. The characters are engaging and definitely grow on you. Each one is well done and distinct, bringing something different to the story. The drama is poignant and unlike many other shows in general does a terrific job of both presenting an unrealistic scenario and not making it seem forced. The drama too is done up just a bit, but not the overblown extent that many romance dramas tend to go to. The comedy is done very smoothly, blending into the story and making itself seem like a natural extension of events and dialogue. Altogether the show is very, very, well put together. It is a beautifully done series. The only problem one might have is that it can be an emotional roller coaster. You will feel the ups and downs of the romance that the main characters go through, which can be tough for some to bear. But, again, that’s what makes this show one of the best.
Nagi no Asakura to me is about the opposite of Golden Time. It takes itself seriously. It probably takes itself too seriously a lot of the time, and not seriously enough at other moments. Part of what makes Golden Time work is that the circumstance of the drama is uncommon, but does not take uncommon proportions. Furthermore it involves a group of mature people, being they are in college. The events matter to no one other than the people involved and their closest friends. In Nagi, the circumstance is uncommon, and the proportion is uncommon, and it combines to make the story fairly bad. That would seem to make it similar to KlaK, but unlike KlaK it doesn’t seem to recognize its own absurdity.
The structural frame of the story is hampered by the beam that holds a living sacrifice to a sea god as actually and truly having real consequences on the world, to the point that the world has started dying for not having had this sacrifice done in some time. The story could be vastly improved by removing that one simple unnecessary crutch. They did not need to complicate the circumstance by including it. Moreover, the extent to which they dial up the drama in this show is made all the more ridiculous by the fact that you’re supposed to believe that this level of drama is normal for middle-schoolers. Even if they were grown adults it would barely be watchable. It sometimes felt like the show was taking advantage of the idea that it is so often a vague question of what age anime characters look like.
Animation quality wise the show is gorgeous. The underwater scenes, the scenes with the salt flake snow and the Ena, are exquisitely done. The story however is irksome and entirely too dramatic given its internal fine points. Those obsessed with complicated romance stories might find enjoyment in this show. It is at least a decent show. But it’s terribly uninteresting once you stop allowing the visuals and the enticement that seems to be the post-modern anime romance drama to blind you to what’s going on.
Gundam Build Fighters is the kind of show you would expect upon reading its description before watching a single episode. Think Yu-Gi-Oh, or any other card battle game anime, but replace the cards with Gundam models. Or perhaps more accurately one can take a show like Chihayafuru or Saki and replace their respective games with a VR Gundam battle. And that is where the fun of the series will be had. It is not a show for more deep-meaning story lovers. It’s not the type of show like the original Gundam, or even much akin to AGE. It’s a 26 episode long ad for Gundam model kits, and it’s aimed at two groups – the die-hard love everything Gundam fans, and the toy-loving younger audience. It’s entertaining enough a series, just don’t look too hard for something deep. It’d be like jumping in a kiddie pool thinking it’s at least going to be a lake; you’re gonna be extremely disappointed. All you should look for is a series of flashy, interesting, giant robot battles featuring robots somewhat altered from their prior Gundam series appearance. It hits at the raw basic accusation of why people like giant robot series – it’s all about the fights.
Tokyo Ravens started off well and was promising to get even better on its way through the end of its first cour. But it all went downhill in the second half, the winter half, of its run. It wasn’t brand new in concept, but it was going to be fun. The CGI effects interlaced through the episodes were not terribly good, but they were good enough. But as is common to happen with shows like this, whether that is the truth or not, they seem to abandon the route of their supernatural exploration for fear it doesn’t grab enough attention and instead opt to get immersed in overly complicated clichés, plot devices, and drama. The Tokyo Ravens story should have been a relatively simple concept regarding the reincarnation of a powerful onmyo and those who were over eager to return him to power. Instead it got completely lost in some nonsensical internal conflicts with the plot coming full circle to a contrived drama and the protagonist resorting to literally the very thing he stopped the very first antagonist he faced from doing.
The choice of direction for the series went completely sideways. The story became a mess of pointless and utterly useless twists. The pacing turned awful. Your best bet, watch through episode 12 or 13, and pretend you’re waiting for a second season that will never come. That’s the best way to salvage the mess that this show turned into. “Season 1” wasn’t that great to begin with, but it was far from bad, and it went to waste.
Phi Brain Season 3 was not very good. There was less and less attempt to keep the puzzles the show is supposed to be about as puzzles. In the previous seasons they at least tried more often than not to make seemingly real puzzles, not just pseudo puzzles. Nearly every “puzzle” was anything but, given the fact there was no way to actually solve them other than relying on nearly pure luck. It was nice to get some clarity on the one who created the POG and started this all. The way they did it was overly dramatic, and their path to resolving it was so self-contradictory you’d think they were trying to trick you into re-watching the show to see if they really said what they said, and if it actually makes any sense. The tone of the show took a turn for the better relative to the prior seasons. But what gains they made there were given up in the technical. That alone simply makes season 3 different from 1 and 2; not better, not worse, just different. For a show whose main theme demands technical precision to abandon that precision, dooms the show.
Kill la Kill is a show that exists as little else than an excuse to show the most outrageous scenes and acts in anime to date. The story is absurd. The plot is absurd. The events are absurd. The animation, the fights, the explosions, are all absurd. But it is a show that is built entirely on the knowledge that it is absurd and embraces, celebrates, and tells you to love its absurdity. If you love absurdity, you might probably like this show. No doubt it has moments that will make you laugh, and some of the moments are exciting. But if you stop too long and think about what is happening you will realize the faults of the story and how utterly bland the show would be if but for the over-the-top way they do everything. Unlike Build Fighters, however, KlaK is violent, bloody, and at many times sexually suggestive. One of the protagonist groups is called nudist beach and has a member who feels himself up around the female lead while undressing himself. If you’re an action nut then there is little chance you won’t like this show. Personally I don’t think it’s too bad, but it’s not nearly as great as I think many people would like to make it out to be. Perhaps I’m just not an action junkie.
Golden Time is probably one of the best romance anime in recent memory. The characters are engaging and definitely grow on you. Each one is well done and distinct, bringing something different to the story. The drama is poignant and unlike many other shows in general does a terrific job of both presenting an unrealistic scenario and not making it seem forced. The drama too is done up just a bit, but not the overblown extent that many romance dramas tend to go to. The comedy is done very smoothly, blending into the story and making itself seem like a natural extension of events and dialogue. Altogether the show is very, very, well put together. It is a beautifully done series. The only problem one might have is that it can be an emotional roller coaster. You will feel the ups and downs of the romance that the main characters go through, which can be tough for some to bear. But, again, that’s what makes this show one of the best.
Nagi no Asakura to me is about the opposite of Golden Time. It takes itself seriously. It probably takes itself too seriously a lot of the time, and not seriously enough at other moments. Part of what makes Golden Time work is that the circumstance of the drama is uncommon, but does not take uncommon proportions. Furthermore it involves a group of mature people, being they are in college. The events matter to no one other than the people involved and their closest friends. In Nagi, the circumstance is uncommon, and the proportion is uncommon, and it combines to make the story fairly bad. That would seem to make it similar to KlaK, but unlike KlaK it doesn’t seem to recognize its own absurdity.
The structural frame of the story is hampered by the beam that holds a living sacrifice to a sea god as actually and truly having real consequences on the world, to the point that the world has started dying for not having had this sacrifice done in some time. The story could be vastly improved by removing that one simple unnecessary crutch. They did not need to complicate the circumstance by including it. Moreover, the extent to which they dial up the drama in this show is made all the more ridiculous by the fact that you’re supposed to believe that this level of drama is normal for middle-schoolers. Even if they were grown adults it would barely be watchable. It sometimes felt like the show was taking advantage of the idea that it is so often a vague question of what age anime characters look like.
Animation quality wise the show is gorgeous. The underwater scenes, the scenes with the salt flake snow and the Ena, are exquisitely done. The story however is irksome and entirely too dramatic given its internal fine points. Those obsessed with complicated romance stories might find enjoyment in this show. It is at least a decent show. But it’s terribly uninteresting once you stop allowing the visuals and the enticement that seems to be the post-modern anime romance drama to blind you to what’s going on.
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