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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Posted by RaShayRitto in Anime / Manga November 08, 2010 at 01:38:22 PM

So I realize that a review on the current anime season is...premature, but hey, I'm a dude and we tend to do things that way--know what I'm sayin, ladies? (cries on the inside). Please don't read on if you expect to be entertained or educated in any way. English Nazis will probably burst a few blood vessels too. You've been warned!

Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru

I have enjoyed every week of this season thus far, thanks largely to one show being about chicks in a maid cafe NOT TO MENTION THAT CHIAKI OMIGAWA'S VOICE IS CHARMING AS HELL! I never pay attention to the cast of any show--hell, I BARELY remember character names with all the ungodly amounts anime I've consumed--but the second I hear Chiaki's adorably whiny voice coming out of some 2D chick's mouth I just go fanboy all over the floor rolling around with a body pillow bearing the image of some scantily clad cat chick while giggling to myself (We've all been there. Its not just me, right? RIGHT!).

I don't know if this makes me super creepy or quite the opposite, but I love when the charming innocence of stupid high school girls is so expertly portrayed without reducing the characters to moe archetypes or fanservice vessels. Kind of how the main character in The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) has so many subtle quirks that the director captured that made me giggle hysterically. Don't get me wrong, I would never imply that I have no love for stupid two-dimensional moe characters or gratuitous ecchi fanservice--because I really, really do--but the polar opposite is just so refreshing to me.

Panty and Stocking

God was this show a surprise kick in the groin. I had no idea what to think when I saw the preview trailer for this show, other than it reminded me of Power Puff Girls on date rape drugs, but the pilot episode really blew me away. I will never, EVER knock a show for oozing with endless quantities of style and attitude. The action is over the top and intense, the art style often switches gears (seeing Panty in realistic anime style is always pretty hot), and the humor is so stupid and mindless that this show really can do no wrong. That's what I thought at first anyway. A failure to build on the concept at all or at least revisit certain aspects that made the show have such impact makes watching the latest eps a HUGE chore for me. I'm literally like "GAWD! A new Panty-Stocking...." and then I sit and watch in misery as I realize how quickly this show got stale. I'm ever hopeful that they'll revive it somehow.

Ore no Imouto

I love bro-sis scenarios. Is that creepy? I guess I should assume that all my opinions are pretty creepy. Its just such a hilarious set up! I remember laughing my guts out at Kiss x Sis, so I had high hopes for this one. Surprisingly its hardly an "incest" show, but it has a really cute way of portraying the complex nature of sibling love. Those of us who fought with our siblings when we were younger can really look back and laugh at those oddly good times.

The latest episode was a RIOT! God I love old people with personalities! They're so much cooler than the mean corpses you normally run into! I found myself cackling with glee at the grandpa and the apparent awkwardness of the situations surrounding the main character in this episode. I'm going on record saying this is the best episode yet! Its a real shame that the sister's best friend character didn't wind up with the main character after all--as I'm not really into glasses chicks at all or shy types.

Otome Yokai Zakuro

I'm going to take a lot of heat for this (LOL who am I kidding, no one is going to read this garbage), but this show gives me a lot of xxxHolic vibes. Mysterious giggly twins? Hotties in kimonos? Spirits and other nasties? The overall tone reminds me of that show as well. Don't get me wrong, they're still completely different and stand on their own merits. I love the fox girl with the maid-frill in her hair. I just love maids in general to such an unhealthy degree its not even funny. My dream is to one day have a harem of beautiful personal maids like the ones in Ladies vs Butlers or Princess Lover. Needless to say that one little character detail in this show made me an instant fan! She's so cute! The character relationships, while COMPLETELY predictable from the first second of the first episode, are fun to watch unfold. Somehow whenever the half-spirit chicks show their fangs I find it pretty hot. Oh, there goes my creepy factor again.

Star Driver

It really only takes a few adjectives to adequately explain this show to someone else: Fabulous, sparkly, and flamboyant come to mind. I rarely find the will to watch mecha anime, but man do I love Star Driver! Every time that theme music kicks in when the action starts I just feel tingly all over with nostalgia! It reminds me of old school epic shows with sparkly epic music like Evangelion. The mecha porn aspect is righteously executed as well, with the WONDERFUL animation frame rates really making the fashionable Galactic Pretty Boy sparkle with unending passion! Once again I love a show with gobs and gobs of personal style just haphazardly slathered onto every frame! I also like how the story is presented in a way that doesn't baby the viewer with narrative or wonky dialogue to fill in the back story holes. Everyone just straight up starts talking about phases and cybodies and maidens and crap--but you're smart enough to figure it all out. At least....I hope so....

-fin-

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