Shameful Otaku Secret!

Thinning the herd, and the seen

As DMC’s manager would say, FUUUUCK. There’s a lot going on this season, as there should be, it’s fall. Casshern Sins supplies the atmosphere, Kannagi brings the lulz, and ef: melodies keeps bring the symbolism (or is it the red herrings?).

Done and done.

Ga-Rei Zero. After the traumatic  first episode, it didn’t seem to go much of anywhere for a while. I just can’t seem to get into it, regardless of gore. I’ll probably check it out after it’s all over if the response remains somewhat positive.

Chaos;Head. Higurashi it ain’t, NHK it ain’t. In a medium full of shitty male protagonists, Takasu is the most worthless and loathsome representative of the species. NHK’s Satou was the product of excellent writing and was thus able to tread a thin line between empathetic and just plain detestable. Nitro+’s story doesn’t give us anything like that. Worse, the paranoid antics of the first couple episodes have taken a back seat to a harem-like lineup of girls with weird glowing swords.

Tytania. I can’t handle it. I re-started an earnest attempt to plow through Legend of the Galactic Heroes, for real this time (I know…), and I just can’t deal with both. I’ll check it out later.

Hokuto no Ken Raoh Gaiden Ten no Haoh. It’s hard to find a reliable subtitle out there, and with Toei’s new Crunchyroll showing of the classic original Hokuto no Ken series, I can finally fulfill my wish of seeing the whole damn thing without actually paying for it (I’ve only seen the movie waaaaaay back in the day). You wa shock!

Thin Ice

Clannad After Story. When, in episode 6, Misae goes to get something to drink at the festival, did anyone else groan? It’s not that I wrote it. It’s just that this shit is starting to get old. Whether it was just Tomoya’s bizarre Dallas-like dream, or he was talking to a goddam cat, it reeked of the same old Key dirty tricks. The flashback episodes started to really get on my nerves how the character design is pretty samey. I mean, wasn’t one of Misae’s friends a dead ringer for Kotomi, never mind Misae herself being Kyou with a slightly different hairstyle? I can think of only one reason why I’m still doing this. Must be time for bodies to start dropping.

Toaru Majutsu No Index. While omo’s theory that whether or not you like the smoking-drinking-loli-teacher will make or break the show didn’t quite last after a quick survey, another common theory that there’s too much fucking exposition in this show holds water. Stop talking. Stop!

Maybe!

Chaos;Head

Anime Diet called it Welcome to the NHK meets Higurashi meets Satoshi Kon. I think that’s a good assessment — the story concerns a hardcore hikikomori with delusions/hallucinations who sees a possible grisly murder and experiences some nice reality warping — but Chaos;Head’s first episode feels like less than the sum of its parts. I can reference all those things if I want, but the execution didn’t grab me at all.

What did I like? The premise could make for some cool psychological horror.

Potential problems? Animation wasn’t too good, and from what I’ve seen it’s got a long way to go before it’s Satoshi Kon.

Tytania

Noboru Ishiguro (Macross, Legend of the Galactic Heroes) is back with a space opera that bears a lot of resemblance to LoGH on first glance. The rich Tytania family is basically on a rampage through the universe, repressing everyone they come across with their giant space fleet and endless stores of fancy tea.

What did I like? It really resembles an old-school space opera.

Potential problems? The CG was really slick but the standard animation was anything but impressive. Of course there’s the whole “keeping characters straight” issue, and by that I don’t mean heterosexual because there’s probably very little danger of that— I mean keeping track of who’s who. Of course LoGH probably holds the record, and even it printed character names on the screen at least 27 times, so I’m not that worried.

Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka

So there’s a guy who’s misunderstood by his classmates. They all think he’s a tough guy. One day he ends up in a bizarre pseudo-relationship with a girl played by Rie Kugimiya, who will abuse him constantly over the course of the show. Have you heard it before? Maybe even this season? Well, it’s ok, cause this one’s a VN adaptation. Wait, what? Fuck. No more listening to Riex (he likes Rosario a little too much).

What did I like? Not much, really. Character designs —especially the H2O-style hair — bothered me a bit, but there was lots of thighservice. Um… yay?

Potential problems? Aside from obvious? In two episodes there has already been one “whoops I landed with my hand on your boob.” Aya Hirano as the younger sister (oh yeah, strong siscon undercurrent here) and Kugimiya as Miss Tsun-tsun, along with all the other well-known seiyuu in this could collectively fill the Hindenburg with all the helium it sounds like they’ve been huffing.

Soul Eater

I don’t talk much about it but I’m always watching it, so I wanted to take a second to mention a series that for 27 episodes has yet to hit an extended slump. The action is creative, the animation is solid, and even the stuff that doesn’t contribute to the overall plot is super entertaining. Here’s to a second half that keeps it up.

The only other thing I haven’t seen that I plan to is the new Hokuto no Ken. I don’t know why. Guess it’s just been too long since I saw anyone’s head get punched to the point of explosion.