Hige vs. Otaku

Yes, it’s that time again. I subvert the main principles of an editorial and use it purely to explain why I’m such a terrible anime blogger. You’d think after three years of repeating exactly the same process it would alert a man to his ebbs and flows, to the innermost core of his blogging soul. But no, the cycle of neglect and guilt continues and I roll out another editorial to explain away my negligence to the five people that still read.

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First episodes are a tricky beast. You’re torn between the barrage of first impressions/intuitions and the knowledge that most anime takes two or three episodes to really hit its stride. This week I’ll be wrestling the duality with Kurenai and xxxHOLiC: Kei.

Kurenai

The OP looked like it was animated with Flash – but in the best way possible. More anime should put this kind of creative effort into their OP rather than the usual montage tedium. Kurenai’s aesthetic in general is gorgeous, actually, with crisp high quality animation and beautiful character design. It reminds me of a lot Red Garden without the controversial snozzes, which probably isn’t a coincidence had I the time to check Wiki. Storywise it was structured well with a lot of plot and just the right amount of ambiguity. The characters similarly are intriguing and likeable. I’m sure Murasaki will appeal to the loli fanboys out there, but then does she count as loli when she is actually seven-years-old? I’ll be interested to see how the ‘sphere behave with regards to her. Hopefully not in the relentlessly upsetting way I’m imagining.

Likelihood of watching episode two: Definitely. This was solidly entertaining and completely beautiful to look at.

xxxHOLiC: Kei

For the love of god, Production I.G., please maintain Kei’s standard to the level set in this first episode. This exactly how a xxxHOLiC anime should be handled. Solid production values, a firm grasp of the characters and, most importantly, brilliant atmosphere. I’m probably a little too harsh on the first series but I wholeheartedly blame the thoroughly enjoyable film Production I.G. released before it. It massaged my expectations and demonstrated they had a keen understanding of what makes the manga great, thus making the mediocre anime effort seem all the more disappointing. Kei, however, is spot on. At least at this point. Its animation quality is still a little murky but I’m sure a widescreen transfer would resolve any minor visual qualms, and everything else feels right. xxxHOLiC definitely was one of those shows that had to tackle my deep-seated love for the manga before any reasonable assessment could occur, and I was probably ready to pounce on it from the opening credits, but these days I’m much calmer and receptive. Hopefully this won’t be a repeat of what happened two years ago.

Likelihood of watching episode two: High. I may actually turn into a monster if it disappoints me in the same way the first series did, however.

My swift and brutal first impressions of the new season’s shows. This time, episode one of Bus Gamer, To LOVE-Ru and Itazura na Kiss.

Bus Gamer

Bus Gamer is an ugly, ugly show. Seemingly it’s shonen in type but has the worst kind of shoujo character design with its creepily long fingers, stupid hair and excessive accessorising. The animation itself is rigid and has that murky, insipid quality you find in a lot of cheaply outsourced Korean animation. All three of the protagonists are unlikable, even Saitou who I assume is meant to be the personable one. They’re just atypical lazy archetypes that inspire nothing except disdain for their lack of depth or charm. Bus Gamer obviously owes a lot to Akagi/Kaiji for its inspiration but doesn’t even come close in terms of quality or sophistication. The parallels would be easy to ignore if Bus Gamer had enough personality to set it apart, but no, it’s just relentlessly mediocre verging on awful. It attempts to foster a cool attitude but comes across as stilted and contrived. The action, one of the key elements of the show about street fighting, is equally as dull and poorly directed. A pretty shoddy and unappealing specimen, to be honest.

Likelihood of watching episode two: Hells nah.

To LOVE-Ru

It almost seems cruel to review a show that exemplifies everything I hate about anime, but To LOVE-Ru is so shameless about it I’m finding it hard to have serious teeth-gnashing contempt. It’s got everything you want from a brainless shonen romance show: goofy humour; countless varieties of moe; relentless fanservice (avec pornographic moaning); a completely ridiculous, paper-thin sci-fi plot. The animation lingers around Saturday morning cartoon quality but occasionally spikes when there’s a ridiculously flamboyant costume change or surprisingly good CG sequence. It didn’t offend me in the way I was expecting, but that doesn’t mean it’s anything less than pants-on-head retarded.

Likelihood of watching episode two: Go die in a fire! ^_^

Itazura na Kiss

Surprisingly enjoyable. Initially I thought it was yet another example of fight against the strict hierarchical mentality of Japanese society with love~~ and that the formula wouldn’t stretch to maintain a 13/26 episode series. Then circumstances change with Kotoko, female protagonist, moving in with Naoki, unrequited love interest, and his mental family. I’m not massively familiar with shoujo comedy conventions but this particular example was quite quirky and hilarious in places. Fundamentality it still feels formulaic in plot and character but there are a lot of surprising touches that heighten its charm (Naoki’s insane mother being my favourite). Aesthetically speaking it looks quite 1980s with its character design (judging by the original manga that isn’t much of a surprise) and the animation quality is solid if unremarkable. Quite hard to criticise objectively, really.

Likelihood of watching episode two: Recommended for those who like shoujo comedy, but personally . . . I don’t like stupid girls.