Posts Tagged ‘deadman wonderland’

I admit it, the second half of the season wasn’t nearly as impressive as the first. While there are still a few gems poking out from the rough, it’s hard to tell with all of this fluff and rough around the edges comedy. In this half, we’ll be talking about series ranging all the way from the very boring Sket Dance all the way to the sporty Moshidora. Luckily for me, we’ll also be hitting some of the highlights of the second half including Deadman Wonderland and A Channel.

 

Sket Dance
Premiere Date: 4/7
Studio: Tatsunoko Production
Available via Crunchyroll

Summary: The sket dan is in charge of making sure the students in their school lead trouble free lives. If you have a problem, they can solve it.

Where I Started: So every episode is going to be like this? This makes my head hurt.

Where I Ended: It gets better which is more than I can say for a lot of other series this season. However, when I say that it gets better I mean that in the sense that it hadn’t really set a high mark for it to beat to begin with. It’s definitely a school comedy for those who love that sort of thing but the jokes are generally so on the nose that it’s hard to consider it particularly clever. It’s a nice attempt and some people are going to respond to it. Most are going to wish that they had looked the other direction.

Verdict: Not going to do it to myself. Fail!

 

A Channel
Premiere Date: 4/7
Studio: Studio Gokumi

Summary: Four cute girls doing cute things with some occasional yuri overtones.

Where I Started: Oh yeah, I can see myself watching this.

Where I Ended: This is K-ON with music replaced by yuri. It’s the slightly racier alternative to this season’s My Ordinary Life. It’s all of those things plus a little extra thanks to being hilarious! Yet another fluff series, this is the series for those who love their moe and need another strong dose of it in comedy form. Four girls in high school doing cute things in their everyday lives isn’t going to satisfy every otaku in the audience but if you do enjoy moe comedy, this is not going to disappoint you.

Verdict: Moe comedy win! Pass!

 

Softenni
Premiere Date: 4/7
Studio: XEBEC

Summary: Four other girls have ecchi comedy fun while training to reach their next tennis tournament.

Where I Started: I have to watch more of this? 

Where I Ended: There’s a line that certain series can toe around in order to remain a fun ecchi comedy. Some series take awhile but eventually they find that line. SoftTeni found that line almost right away but ignored it anyway. From the first few minutes you know exactly what you’re getting into with this one. Bottom of the barrel humor that isn’t afraid to rely on whatever tropes it can think of to get its point across, this isn’t even ecchi comedy for those who like it to enjoy.

Verdict: Fail, fail, fail.

 

Pretty Rhythm: Aurora Dream
Premiere Date: 4/9
Studio: Tatsunoko Production

Summary: Two girls are randomly chosen to be the new stars of the Prism Show which involves magical jumps, ice skating, dancing and being an idol.

Where I Started: It doesn’t always look great but I can see where it’s going.

Where I Ended: If it weren’t for this series being such a commercial, I could actually see myself watching and enjoying this. However as someone who looks at this series and sees a price tag on everything in sight it’s hard to enjoy it nearly as much. While the animation is questionable at times, this is still a not bad shoujo series aimed at selling toys to little girls.

Verdict: I won’t be following it but this was a solid introduction and deserves a pass.

 

Astarotte’s Toy
Premiere Date: 4/10
Studio: Diomedia
Available via Crunchyroll

Summary: A 10 year old succubus princess must suck life juice from men in order to survive and is given an adult human male to become friends with.

Where I Started: That wasn’t bad but still…

Where I Ended: I tried to like this one and by the end of 3 episodes I had even chuckled a bit at the various antics. This is still just a premise that I can’t get behind and won’t be continuing with. For the record, you’d expect a series of this nature to rely on fan service and sex humor a lot more than it does. This is still just far beyond the line of what moe and ecchi fans should look for in a series. Cute in its own way but be sure that you’re the type who can ignore character ages.

Verdict: Not as bad it could’ve been but still a fail.

 

C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
Premiere Date: 4/14
Studio: Tatsunoko Production
Available via Funimation

Summary: A poor college student is offered a chance to enter the seedy financial district where he could have all his money problems solved. All he has to do is sign over his future and take part in weekly battles without going bankrupt.

Where I Started: This could be interesting.

Where I Ended: I was right, it could have been interesting had they tried just a little bit harder. While the tsundere asset was a nice addition, there isn’t enough here to make this unique premise into what it could have been. With more time, this series might go somewhere but during its initial impression it left me with little curiosity to find out more. If there is a chance that it’s going somewhere I might catch it on DVD someday but for now, this is a rainy day series at best.

Verdict: Fail

 

Ano hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-tachi Mada Shiranai
Premiere Date: 4/14
Studio: A-1 Pictures

Summary: A dead girl comes back with a wish to bring together all of her old friends who have all grown apart.

Where I Started: Wow, powerful and beautiful.

Where I Ended: Another coming of age story, this one is one of the more powerful of the season as the lead character is just instantly likeable. Compelling writing brings together a sympathetic cast of characters in order to create a beautiful landscape of detail to get lost in. There is little about this series that one can complain about and is one that everyone should be checking out.

Verdict: A Noitamina series for everyone. Pass!

 

Aria the Scarlet Ammo
Premiere Date: 4/14
Studio: JC Staff
Available via Funimation

Summary: In a high school where students are trained to be international police, a guy runs into the elite Aria who wants him to become her partner (or as she calls it ‘slave’).

Where I Started: Where have I seen this before?

Where I Ended: Leaving behind the many times the series decides to steal the plot from the movie Speed, the series itself is a rehash of action series you’ve seen in the past. The tsundere lead is a cookie cutter of heroines who have come before her and the action is hardly worth getting excited about. The one place where this absolutely succeeded was in its music but I’m not watching a series for its soundtrack.

Verdict: Another cheap action that’s not even visually impactful. Fail!

 

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
Premiere Date: 4/14
Studio: Shaft

Summary: A high school student moves in with his aunt and cousin, the latter of which believes that she is an alien after going missing for six months.

Where I Started: I really want to like this but damn is it hard.

Where I Ended: It took awhile but I finally came to a certain peace with this series. After so many dark series, director Akiyuki Shinbo returns with this comedy that never quite finds its footing. The artwork is the first hurdle to overcome with the writing coming in on a close second. I have faith that this series is going somewhere but these first three episodes aren’t giving me much evidence of that beyond my healthy (hopeful?) hunch.

Summary: I continue out of faith that it’s going to get better but still fail.

 

Deadman Wonderland
Premiere Date: 4/16
Studio: Manglobe
Available via Crunchyroll

Summary: A kid is framed for the murder of his entire class and sent to a twisted amusement park where convicts battle for their lives in front of a live audience.

Where I Started: The grittiest series this season and I love it.

Where I Ended: Every season needs an incredibly dark and twisted series that leaves you captivated with just how far it’s willing to go. This season the title of that series is Deadman Wonderland. Dark and twisted, at one point I cursed that this series was so heavily censored but as I saw just how dark it was willing to go with its ideas, I became more and more grateful for it instead. Once you start getting into the violence and twisted story behind this series, it’s hard to take your eyes away.

Verdict: Pass!

 

[SinglePic not found]Moshidora
Premiere Date: 4/25
Studio: Production I.G

Summary: A high school baseball manager accidently picks up a business management book and uses it to coach the team towards the nationals.

Where I Started: Alright, I’m getting your point. Now make something happen.

Where I Ended: Once it stopped trying to introduce itself, Moshidora turned into a fun baseball series about doing your very best. Bringing together the best elements of sports and dramedy, this turned into a fun drama about thinking outside the box and doing something different. Then you add in some nice animation and a wonderful orchestral soundtrack and you have a surprisingly fun little treat.

Verdict: Shockingly this one is getting a pass.

It’s not even 11am here on the west coast and there have already been four anime announced. Today is going to be an interesting little day. That’s not what you care about though so let’s get right down to the announcements. Three manga titles were revealed as having been green lit for anime adaptations this morning with official announcements to come in the coming month. The first two to be revealed via retailer solicitations are the dark ‘Deadman Wonderland’ and the boys love series ‘Uragiri wa Boku no Namae o Shitteiru’(Betrayal Knows My Name).

The first title follows a middle school boy living in Tokyo after a major earthquake. Framed for the murder of his friends, he is sent to a special prison where people get to watch the prisoners fight each other with plenty of more traditional anime themes along the way. So, Escape from New York meets Running Man meets anime?

Uragiri follows the story of a boy who was found abandoned and adopted by a family. Additionally he was born with the ability to feel what others feel just by touching them which has caused problems for him in the past. Things change for him when a man who claims to be his other brother appears in his life.

The third manga title to be released for a new adaptation is ecchi title ‘Yuria 100 Shiki’ which technically should remain in the rumor column for now. Sankaku Complex reported this morning that the manga would be getting a new adaptation but noted the vague wording on the announcement. Intentionally vague, the announcement doesn’t really specify what form the adaptation will be in so keep checking back for updates as they come in.

Finally, an official website has been launched (via ANN) for the upcoming TV special ‘Aoi no Hitomi no Onna no Ko no Ohanashi’ (The Story of the Blue Eyed Girl) which takes place in WWII Japan. With disdain for the allied forces alive and well in the southern prefecture of Kochi, a girl with blue eyes that she got from her American father is teased horribly but the town is rocked even more as more war news starts filtering in. The special will be produced by Shin-Ei Animation who are best known for Doraemon and premiere on August 13th.