I’ll be reviewing:
Nyankoi
Seitokai no Ichizon AKA The Records of the Hekiyō Academy Student Council’s Activities (生徒会の一存 or Hekiyō Gakuen Seito-kaigi Jiroku)
Asura Cryin’ S2
To go the reviews directly click Continue Reading.
I actually did watch some more first episodes but just didn’t want to dive specifically into any of them – for now. It is way too early to tell if this season isn’t as good as the summer season but that’s my feeling regardless. I was so impressed by everything I’ve watched, major hits or small surprises, during the summer season that I’m currently biased against the fall season.
Another reason for my bias is because I liked all the styles of the shows that I watched in the summer, save maybe one or two. But so far, the fall season shows have styles that probably cater to other folks, and that is perfectly fine.
Wait, I forgot Queen’s Blade! As opposed to Scientific Railgun, which is already a good show but lacking in solid fan service (please do no wear shorts underneath a short skirt), Queen’s Blade has a story and some plots as well as character motivations in a quasi-realistic female-dominated-world setting and I explained why some of the things aren’t merely impossible fan services but may happen in real life. Then again, Queen’s Blade is a phenomenon and to me and Mike #2 and countless other fans whose possible faps praises are heard around the world, it is exceptional for many, many, many large to gargratuan assets that it has to offer. It’s honest and not anywhere-near-bashful assets is often quite pleasing (licensed blu ray, please)! Onto the rest of fall shows:
Nyankoi
It’s actually not a show about falling in love with nekomimi girls…so far, though the OP eye catcher totally suggests otherwise. Junpei Kosaka is allergic to cats (me too) but his family members love them. His family owns a cat named Nyamsas, which is slightly annoying but very demanding and commanding. This cat is played by Atsuko Tanaka of Major/Captain Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell. Why does the cat talk, you ask? Because Junpei-kun does something to the Cat Chizo – a Buddhist style statue worshiped as the protector of the locality (like a village or a small town), and chaos now ensues in his life.
Is it exciting? Nah. Is it at least interesting? Maybe, at least the veteran seiyuu Atsuko does a good job playing Nyamasas, which is some kind of leader for local cat population. Oh, btw, Junpei does have a love interest named Kaede Mizuno, who haven’t done anything to make me care much so far. She does have one interesting trait – she loves cats and loves to hug them and squeeze them and love them and get fuzzy-wuzzy with them(!), which greatly annoys the hell of some of the cat residents of the neighborhood.
Seitokai no Ichizon AKA The Records of the Hekiyō Academy Student Council’s Activities (生徒会の一存 or Hekiyō Gakuen Seito-kaigi Jiroku)
Also an Otaku culture referencing show (Kampfer is the other one that does that a lot), this one starts out with self-depreciating humor explaining its manga background. It’s like an insider joke that can appreciated by a slightly larger group of people surrounding the insider circle. To me, the focus of this show, which tasted just a little bland, is on the four cute girls in the student council and their little mishaps performed in stereotypical otaku-fantasy fashion. Ken Sugisaki, who is probably going to be the only male in the show, starts out declaring that he will make those girls his harem, to which the loli-sized cutie, Kurimu Sakurano (yes, I like her), fiercely corrects every time. It’s interesting all right, but don’t take a cynical anime veteran’s word for it. It does also make fun about the censoring of some fan service bits and blatantly advertise for the DVD at the same time.
Asura Cryin’ S2
I couldn’t figure out why it was so popular in Japan for its light novels and why the anime has a second season until I realized this: it is like Evangelion for this generation. The world has already ended once, there are mechas that can be used but with severe consequences to the guys’ love interests. The boy and his love interest forgot about their love in previous life and is just now starting to recover the feelings; it takes place in a school with an underground facility/complex and the girls are very cute. We had a girl who acted and talked like Rei Ayanami; we have an older sister type with colorful external personality and a painful past. It’s like Eva-light for today’s whimpy Otakus!
But you know, for some reason, I liked season one enough because it did have tense moments and other things that I enjoyed but couldn’t put my finger on. So I’m watching season two. For newbies who are interested hearing from other people, you should watch season one first.
See my more detailed review for episode one’s for Queen’s Blade, Kampfer, Scientific Railgun, and the Sacred Blacksmith.
I watched some more new shows but I’ll let Mike and Mori cover them. Stay tuned!