Feb
14
Winter 2007 mid-season review
February 14, 2007 |
I had a few options of possible post topics this week, some based on discussions I’ve been having in the Shuffle! board and Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight! thread on the ASuki forums, and even a possible semi-facetious ed piece on Marimite being a moe anime. They’ll make for possible future post topics. This, on the other hand, is something I’ve been meaning to do in a while. Standard deal for something like this: what I’m watching, and a short bit on what I think so far. No definitive judgements on series though… I still think it’s pointless to make total calls without seeing the whole thing.
Nodame Cantabile
Episodes seen: 4
After Honey & Clover, there were a crowd of people who were predicting that the words “The best anime of the season is, yet again, a Niotamina series” would be a frequent occurrence, but I’d argue strongly that hasn’t really happened all that often since its inception over a year and a half ago. But it is true this season (at least so far, and at least in my opinion). It is a very standard josei series, but the thing about the josei genre is that all it really needs to make a winning anime are interesting characters, and this has that in spades. Special mention has to go to the two leads and the “odd-couple” type chemistry between them. I’m not the only one that’s said Chiaki is tsundere… but it’s the eccentric Nodame that totally steals the show, making for some absolutely hilarious moments. Seiyuu Kawasumi Ayako (who is really underrated in my opinion) does an incredible job bringing her to life. There’s not much else to this so far other than the comedy, but it is working well in making these characters likeable, so if there’s any attempt at drama or romance down the track, it shouldn’t be too difficult to swallow.
Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora
Episodes seen: 6
This is a rather interesting piece, since there’s not a great deal to its plot and its foreshadowing is clear, so the plot twists become obvious, and its characters, while extremely well analyzed, aren’t anything special, yet I’m finding its story incredibly absorbing. I blame the music. The composer is the same as Kannaduki no Miko’s, which I always thought had one of the most consistent soundtracks in anime, and the tracks are atmospheric and beautiful. Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora is an alternate universe type spin-off to Kannaduki no Miko, in kind of the same way Mai-Otome was a spin off of My-HiME. But, unlike Otome, this is (so far) better than its predecessor. There’s a certain over-the-topness to these types of series that are arguably an acquired taste, which explains why it hasn’t gone down well in some circles, but provided you can get past the white horses jumping 100 feet in the air and Kuu’s internal diary entries to her prince (which I think actually serve the series well, counter to what the majority say), there’s a fairly intriguing story, even if it doesn’t really offer much that’s new.
Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight!
Episodes seen: 4
What makes me most excited about this series is that, even after four episodes, I still have no idea what to expect. It’s a bizarre series in a sense, but it’s filled with a Haruhi-like creativity as well as some rather eccentric characters. But, on the flip side, the pacing is extremely slow, and the one occasion so far in which it’s attempted actual character development has come off as trite (or perhaps I set my expectations too high). Jury is still out on this one, but I can’t shake the feeling that it’s on a brink of doing something really special. I’m not sure why, so let’s just call it a hunch for now.
Hidamari Sketch
Episodes seen: 1
Not much to say about this series. It’s a comedic slice-of-life following an all-girls ensemble cast in the same sort of vein as Azumanga Daioh, but not really quite as funny. But it is cute. And the use of super-deformity deserves to be credited. I can’t see this series being remembered after it’s over, but it does look like a fun, inoffensive way to pass the time at this stage.
Saint October
Episodes seen: 2
This is generic. It’s not so much bad as it is boring. There’s not a great deal wrong with any of the execution, but there’s not much to this that makes it unique or interesting or acts as a hook to draw people in (the lolis don’t count). A very standard mahou shoujo that can get quite ridiculous and tacky at times. And, it is fairly inoffensive as well. My recommendation on this at this stage is to pass.
Shuffle! Memories
Episodes seen: 5
Five episodes through a projected six episode recap of a very bland harem series. Let’s just say this hasn’t been the most enjoyable thing I’ve seen. Scrap that, let’s just say this may shake up my top 5 list for worst anime I’ve seen. Never mind the multitude of things that are wrong with burning half a series on absolutely nothing new, but they aren’t even taking the time to re-show the things in the first Shuffle! that were actually interesting (such things didn’t number a great deal, but they were there). And it doesn’t even work as a standalone, since the messed up chronology will just confuse people who haven’t seen Shuffle!. So, it’s pointless for people who have already seen it, and pointless for people who haven’t. Not even excessive amounts of psycho-Kaede can save this series now!
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Overall, this is well down on the number of series I generally watch in a given season, but the quality is there where the quantity is missing, since I am enjoying all series except for the last two on at least some level. It is a massive improvement over last year’s Winter which offered barely any memorable anime and was one of the worst seasons I can remember for the last couple of years. The problem is that a lot of most intriguing series have only attracted the attention of fansubbers over the last week or so, such as Hidamari Sketch and Les Miserables (which I’m currently in the midst of downloading the first ep). I hate giving ratings to seasons (particularly ones that are only half complete) since the works in the medium of anime are always independent so good seasons are purely the result of chance, but if I were to rate this one, it’d be pretty good, but not great.
Comments
1 Comment so far
I’m liking Nodame Cantabile so far. I love the moments where they try to depict the beauty of performing and listening to classical music. It’s very light-hearted and very entertaining at the moment, although I’m wishing if they can delve into much deeper, more complex and immense feelings you get from music like the movie ‘Shine’. But I doubt it, seeing how the tone of the series is so care free. And the relationship between Chiaki and Nodame is undoubtedly the main force that is driving this series. Humour is priceless. Chiaki’s change due to Nodame from a loser to someone who now aspires to become a great conductor in a crappy place like Japan (in terms of music world) is something interesting enough to follow while Nodame’s character is simple yet charmingly innocent. These seem very light-hearted and I wish they go through tons of shit and let the enormous power of music embody all those emotions but again, that’s just my ideal fantasy that would destroy the tone of the series. Thus, I’m not expecting too much, I’m content as long as there’s humour, Nodame and Chiaki and most importantly, satisfying feelings of music.
And that happens to be one of my two animes I’m watching from that list (including Les Miserables, which is cute, but don’t think it will be anything mesmerizing), so yea, this is pretty weak winter for anime.