Current Season ~ Opinion
I thought it might be interesting to note down what I thought of the current season shows I’m watching, and then look back at it to see if my opinion changes further into each.
This season I’m watching:
Angel Beats
B Gata H Kei
Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou
Kaichou wa Maid-sama
K-On2
Kiss x Sis
Mayoi Neko Overrun
The following is based on the first 4 episodes, and may contain spoilers if you haven’t seen these episodes yet.
Angel Beats
The new work from Key, this was hyped up a lot before it aired, to the point where I was expecting another Clannad or Ef. Naturally I watched it the second it was available, and dam what a total disappointment. The first episode was all setup really, fair enough, some parts were funny though, others not so much. The insane violence really put me off, especially by episode 2. It’s clearly supposed to be funny, but sorry its just not. The amount of detail put into the sound effects of the various horrible painful-but-not-actually-dieing deaths are a bit over the top, and the fact they emphasise they still feel the pain, totally kills off the effect of the witty retorts when the said un-dead person wakes up. It’s not as bad as Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan, (which I dropped after like 6 episodes), but I personally don’t find that element funny.
Putting that aside, I did like the intro, with Angel on the piano; I thought that was a nice touch. I also really like the school band, there music was cool, the vocals were good too…and then they kill off the lead singer in EP 3, and change the OP in EP 4. Yea, whatever. OK OK, so plot??? that’s GOT to save it right? Hmm well no. You have this sort of secret army in the school of the after life, and they have this awesome place about a million times better underground which is an even bigger secret to make the weapons called Guild. Can you guess where its going? yep by the end of the same episode they destroyed that as well. Episode 4 was all about baseball. It was actually funny.
This series has awesome artwork, it has a few great characters, the main leads are interesting, the girl is hot, the guy is cool, the gang adds some good comedy… and the plot… well that’s where it starts to go wrong. Either these great things which have died/gone were not important to the story, in which case it was pointless filler (which is a shame because they were the better bits) or they are meant to be important later, in which case they have a problem because there appearance was too short. I can’t help but think the writers can’t make up their mind where there going with it. I hope the next 4 episodes improve. I still like the show, but it’s the show I’m most disappointed with. DDL here.
B Gata H Kei
This is about a girl who wants 100 sex buddies, yet she’s a virgin and hasn’t got a clue about kissing or even how to go on a date. Its funny, its quite insane and sometimes its hard to work out which is funnier, the pathetic attempts to get to ‘C’ with her first target, or the resulting misfortune when they fail horribly. If you’re looking for a laugh then it’s all good, but it will start to get old very quickly. The girl is quite simply horrible, and really doesn’t deserve anyone let alone the poor helpless chap she attacked in the bookshop. Unfortunately that’s about all this has, each episode is the pretty much the same, I can’t rip the plot apart like I did to Angel Beats because it hasn’t got one to begin with, but it *is* funny. And its not really ecchi, it is crude, and very direct, but its no wall-o-pantsu (there’s no plot either mind you). Great for something to watch to give you a laugh while your waiting for something better to download, or you can watch it after Angel Beats to “fill-in” for the missing comedy. Also one of my least favourites. DDL here.
K-On 2
Great to see more K-On, I liked the first season and so was keen to see the new one. The OP, sorry, don’t like it. Clearly there trying to make another “Don’t say lazy” and failed miserably. The main plot hasn’t gone too far yet, the main focus is start of the school year and trying to find new members for the club, fairly predictable really, and its been a bit slow, but as this is meant to be 24 episodes that’s to be expected. The lack of music is a little saddening, but in EP3 they write a new song, so it looks like its going to pick up the pace a little. Not really much else to say on it yet (only 3 episodes of this), other than selling that awesome original Gibson for 500,000 yen was just wrong. DDL here.
Kiss x Sis
The ultimate mega-wall-o-pantsu-neo-hentai goes TV. Its just like the OVAs, but its actually funnier. The girls’ battles are better, Riko’s obstacle course in EP 4 was just fantastic, Ako’s “I’ll be your tutor” routine and her methods to help with memorising those difficult English phrases were great. Wish I had a tutor for Japanese like that. Its almost as ecchi as the OVAs – I don’t know if that just because they haven’t got far enough into the story yet or if that’s the limit for TV airing, either way its pretty close, and really funny. Better than B Gata H Kei. DDL here.
Mayoi Neko Overrun
This was a total accidental find thanks to my friends at Ryuumaru Fansubs. I’d been hosting this for 4 episodes and not seen any until today, when I ended up watching all 4 in a row. This show is great, its sweet, its funny, it has lots of cute cats…and a full sized mega-cute cat girl who can cook like a master chef. It has a deeper plot to it as well, all the main characters are orphans, and the cats who fill the house were all abandoned and rescued. The protagonist (Takumi) lives in this cat themed pastry shop, and the owner took him in after he ran away from the orphanage. She goes off and rescues cats (and maybe other things, we don’t know yet) like some sort of super-hero, and ends up filling the house with them. Fumino is his childhood friend and the main heroine, she was at the orphanage with Takumi, and part of the reason he ran away so that she could get adopted. She always says the opposite to what she really means, and although a little annoying, is also quite funny at times.
The school where they all go is rather funny, it’s owned by some really wealthy family, the grand daughter is the typical spoilt brat who wants to use it as her personal playground, but she’s not that bad really, and is easily ridiculed by her own stupidity, her staff (2 really lovely and funny maids) or the other students. There’s already a lot of emotion between the characters, and this looks like its going to develop into one of my favourites. Recommended. DDL here.
Kaichou wa Maid-sama
I will watch anything and everything that has a maid in it, all I needed was the title for this one. The first episode almost put me off though; the main lead is the student council president Misaki Ayuzawa. She hates men; she’s trying to turn the school into a place for girls when it was a notorious all boys school before she came along. She’s overly violent, and incredibly unfair to the boys. After watching 15 minutes of that I was starting to get a bit tired of her, I wasn’t really interested in another over the top tsundere, but then it turned around.
Ayuzawa has a secret, she works in a maid cafe out of school. It’s a nice twist, and a funny one. Especially as one of the boys (Usui) finds out and then becomes a regular customer. Some of the other delinquents find out, but he forces them to keep quiet as its his “personal entertainment”. They end up being regular customers as well. She’s always trying to keep on top of everything, and then Usui will show up, being way too relaxed and cool, and will say something that will really get to her. Sometimes she melts and then gets mad and tries to hide it, and some times she’s just violent. But as it goes on the other characters from the cafe and Usui start to change her just a bit, and it balances it out nicely. It may not have the deep plot like Clannad or Ef, its not that kind of show, but its not a wall-o-pantsu either, its a nice heart warming and funny romance type of thing. It has a kind of magic to it, and its one of my current favourites. DDL here.
Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou
This was another accident, and it was a request from the capper to Ryuumaru, it wasn’t an intended show for this season, but I’m glad it is. This is one of the biggest surprises of this season, and it’s quite possibly the best. The OP and ED are awesome, I can watch it every time and love it, the story is hilariously funny, the characters are just brilliant and the plot is thickening already. The main character, Akuto Sai wants to be a high priest, and change the world. He enrols in the Constant Magic Academy, and on the way to school he happens to meet Junko Hattori, she is from the Suharaist family who are charged with protecting the empire for generations. Initially this sounds like a perfect partnership. Right up until they get to the school and they are told their future careers, where he is pronounced a future demon king who will destroy the world.
He then tries to constantly prove he’s not a bad guy, and tries to make it up to Junko, all of his attempts back fire of course, and the situation escalates. It doesn’t help matters that various misunderstandings all make him look like a pervert. On his first day he blows up the classroom, makes a crater in the school grounds and ends up with half the female population thinking he’s a pervert. He soon ends up with a constant “observer” who follows him everywhere (literally) reporting on his actions and crimes, this alone is incredibly funny, as she keeps messing with him, and many of the other students.
He tries to patch things up with Junko a third time which again goes wrong and this time he accidentally gets accused of trying to take over the school, and ends up with him up against Junko and the entire school all trying to kill him. All of that in only the first 3 episodes make this a definite must watch. This isn’t listed by Animesuki, so you wont find it on Fansub, but you can get it from MATV here.
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