2013 - Year in Review

I didn’t get back into reviewing anime until October of 2013, so I wasn’t able to watch too much that was new.  Part of it was due to watching series’ I had missed in the intervening 4 years since I stopped reviewing, part of it was due to despair in what was available…here’s a look at what I touched and my thoughts on them.

Attack on Titan.  This story deals with an alternate Earth were the inhabitants live within a massive walled city.  For a hundred years they have lived that way, in order to keep a race of cannibal giants from destroying them.  When a previously unseen giant, taller and stronger than the outer wall, breaks through and allows the hordes to flood into the city, humanities fate is in question.  After the death of his mother and the destruction of the section he lived in, Eren Jaeger has decided once and for all to fight to eradicate the giants.

    I have only made it through the first few episodes of this anime and really don’t find much interest in it.  It is the HOT anime of the year, both in Japan and elsewhere, but I find the story boring and uneventful.  The basics of the series have been done and done to death in the shonen action genre.  While it’s not like some epic shonen series as Naruto or DBZ, it does remind me quite a bit of Full Metal Alchemist, but as a pale attempt at being as creative.  A really interesting thing with this series is the original creator of Gundam calling it out as a pile of poorly planned rubbish.  I’m sure I’ll watch a few more episodes but I don’t foresee myself falling in love with it for any reason.

Beyond the Boundary.  This shonen super natural action series that deals with select humans who have the ability to see and interact with spiritual beings.  They take it upon themselves to dispatch these beings in order to protect humanity and the balance of nature.  Akihito Kanbara is half human and half spirit, giving him near immortality.  Classmate Mirai Kuriyama is the lone member of a cursed family of spirit warriors and at first uses Akihito as target practice but he soon convinces her to become involved in the spirit warrior community in their town.  Mirai’s troubled past soon starts to catch up with her though.

    Shonen spiritual fighting show, I have never really been interested in these over the years.  I gave this one about 6 episodes before I decided it reminded me too much of Bleach.  Honestly though, the series is only 12 episodes so maybe I should just finish it.  But I still don’t think I will enjoy it very much.

I Couldn’t Become a Hero, so I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job.  Fanservice for fanservice sake disguised as a slice of life fantasy comedy.  Raul Chaser is a sword for hire, but when the demon lord is killed, work dries up.  So he gets a job selling appliances at a store.  Things go normally for him until the daughter of the slain demon king starts working there too.

    Honestly, I shut it off after 5 minutes.  Fuck this show, fuck everything is represents with the way anime has been for a decade now.  Fuck the akitaku.  I’m done!!!

Kill la Kill.  Stylized fantasy action series from the minds behind Gurren Lagann.  Ryuko Matoi is searching for the person responsible for killing her father, to do so she will challenge anyone involved in the power base of the world’s school systems.

    I only watched the first episode and realized that I have no interest in this series and this may be also why I have never watched beyond episode two of Gurren Lagann.  I’m just not interested in its style.  But I recognize the uniqueness and quality in this series and don’t fault anyone for enjoying it.  It’s just not my cup of tea.  So, if you loved Gurren Lagann or Panty & Stockings with Garterbelt you will probably enjoy this one as well.

Kimi no Iru Machi.  Typical romantic high school drama.  Haruto Kirishima moves to Tokyo to reconnect with his long distance girlfriend, only to find one of his new friends is her current boyfriend and his love for her may only be one sided.

    The anime for this long spanning manga is a story arc that takes place about half way through the series.  Honestly though, they do a half decent job of filling in the back story of the previous 90 issues before the arc takes place, which begs one to wonder if the manga had really been too long to begin with.  It’s a basic and a-typical high school male geared romance.  Idiotic personal problems between kids who can’t express their true feeling/intentions and ridiculous circumstances to make things even stickier.  The best part of this 13 episode series was the last 3 minutes of the 12th episode, and then it went really downhill with the final episode.  Really not worth that much of your time, as it spans about 40 issues of the manga which is almost 260 issues deep by the end of 2013.  Watching it also made me get back into the manga to refresh my memory of the previous story and find out what takes place afterwards…unfortunately the rest of the story is just as boring and pointless and with all the time I have invested with it I have to see it to its boring end.   Honestly, steer clear…re-watch Love Hina or Fruits Basket.

 

Mangirl! Comedic slice of life look at the lives of editors of a manga magazine.  This an anime adaption of a 4 panel comic about 4 women who start up the real manga magazine the comic appears in, in attempts to make it big in the manga world.

    Coming in at about an hour run time this quirky and quick paced comedy is fun and gives you a peek into the world of running a manga magazine.  Definitely worth the time.  It would be fun to read the manga.

 

My Mental Choices are Completely Interfering with my High School Romance.  Slice of life, fanservice absurdist comedy about a guy cursed to live his life like a dating sim.  Kanada Amakusa tries to be a normal high school student but he is cursed with having to select things from random multiple choice questions, most of which make him out to be one of the schools top weirdo’s.  When a cute and clueless girl falls from the sky she brings with her a chance from Kanada to rid himself of the curse.

    This series was ok…as long as I kept telling myself it was a jab at fanservice harem video games.  Sometimes it was hard to keep telling myself that and other times it was quite enjoyable.  The series’ weakest point is that fact it really doesn’t end…it just stops after 10 episodes.  It’s based on a series of semi popular light novels, so who knows if there will be more, or whether I actually care if there is more.  Fans of typical dating sim based eroge will like it, especially for the gratuitous fanservice.  The comedy isn’t bad; it’s a bit absurdist and reminded me of a toned down Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan.

 

Samurai Flamenco.  A realistic slice of life comedy/drama about an idealistic young man who tries to be something he can’t be.  Masayoshi Hazama accidentally became a male model even though his life’s ambition is to be a super hero, like the characters in the action shows he grew up on.  With the earning he gets from being in magazines and the loose work schedule, he decides to start fighting crime in his city as the super hero, Samurai Flamenco, even if there aren't any super villains to stand up against.

    I initially really enjoyed this show, it was steeped in reality and didn’t shy away from the dangers one faces when attempting to be a vigilante.  Then seven episodes into the series it completely flips and enters into the world of fantasy and fiction when all sorts of mutants show up to challenge him…it was incredibly disappointing, especially since the 6^th episode was the best to that point.  I really regretted the course this show took, watched 2 more episodes just to make sure it wasn’t some sort of delusion and then gave up on it.  Bad move…bad move.

 

Servant x Service.  A slice of life comedy that deals with the daily oddball lives of workers in a local Ward office.  Lucy (shortened) Yamagami has entered the world of public service in order to find out who allowed her parents to give her a ridiculously long and foolish first name.

    Who thought the day to day routine of public service employees could be so fun?  Well, it does help that you toss in some unique and quirky personalities, semi unrealistic circumstances and typical light comedy standards.  The series started off slow and was annoying with too much attention paid to the main characters large bust.  Though half way through it turns into a light hearted romantic comedy and puts the boobs on the side lines.  I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t anything to write home about.  The most memorable thing is the opening song, which is actually really fun.

 

Watamote.  Slice of life, off beat, comedy about being a social outcast.  Tomoko Kuroki is a social recluse, more interested in games and manga, along with a dark/gothic personality and disposition.  However as she begins her high school life she wants to be able to open up to people and live like a normal high school girl.  

    In a few ways this reminded me of Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge (The Wallflower).  In other ways it didn’t.  The series didn’t seem entirely focused though and drifted from episode to episode without any clear goal or progression.  The series isn’t bad; it just didn’t seem very together is all.  Perhaps if I watch all of it that may clear up, but honestly, the determined ending of Tomoko being able to come out of her shell and be a socialite seems a bit disappointing.  The series is meh at best, but better than most of what’s current…take it for what it is, a distraction.

 

Yuyushiki.  Slice of life comedy about 3 absurd high school girls.  Yukari, Yui and Yuzuko are odd ball and carefree students at an all girls' high school, coasting through life enjoying their youth with no cares beyond the size of their busts.

    Following in the well trodden pathway of Azumanga Daioh, Minami-ke, Ichigo Mashimaro, Hidamari Sketch, Lucky Star, etc, etc, this series is only meh in the quality scale.  Nothing to write home about or get into too much, but it fills in the void left by the lack of truly quality titles these days.  With only 13 episodes it doesn’t take too much time to get through and the subject matter and joke material don’t require much in the way of concentration.  You can just kind of float through this series while doing other stuff at the same time.  Worth the watch if you don’t have much else to do and want to laugh a bit.  There were large portions of some episodes were I didn’t really do more than smirk though…I’ve seen pretty much all the gags before so it didn’t move me much.

 

Conclusion.  The anime landscape really still kind of sucks.  I did gravitate pretty heavily towards the slice of life comedies but my tastes have been slowly moving in that direction.   I keep my hopes out for a really engaging and inventive series to come out…there are a few that fall into horror/dark drama that are slated for the beginning of 2014…but honestly, there isn’t much that I have seen that gets me excited beyond the reboot of Keroro Gunsou.  So, honestly the best thing to come out of the year that I have watched was the hour-ish long Mangirl!  That’s kind of sad…

Yuyushiki

Yuyushiki is a 12 episode slice of life comedy series that aired in Japan in the middle of 2013.  The series is based on the comedic 4-panel (yon-komi) manga of the same name.

    Yukari Hinata, Yui Ichii and Yuzuko Nonohara are best friends and classmates in an all girls high school.  They decided to take over the club room for the member-less Data Processing Club and start up their own loosely guided club in its place.  The series follows the girls through about a year and a half as they randomly research things on the internet, try to out do each other in word games and lovingly harass peers and teachers alike.

    This series was OK, there's been much better from the goofy yon-komi genre, like Azumanga Daioh.  This is just another series of unrelated odd ball antics following the mundane lives of high school girls.  The two things that stand out with this series is the prevalence of word games and semi lesbian humor.  The girls are obsessed with breasts and who has the biggest pair.  They also love going off on syllabic tangents, trying to see how off topic they can force their conversations.  In many ways the series seemed like an homage to classic Kansai humor.  Yui plays the straight man to Yukari and Yuzuko's idiot characters.  I kept expecting every punch line to end with nanda ya nen!!

    The series is meh, there have been better in this genre over the years.  But, given the lack of really enjoyable titles in all facets of anime, it was a welcomed distraction.  While not original or 'roflol' funny if you enjoyed Azuanga Daioh, Minami-ke or Hidamari Sketch  you would probably enjoy this series too.

    It is currently available on Crunchyroll.  The manga, which I feel would be the better format, is not available in English commercially yet.

Mokuyobi Post - Urutsukidoji: The Legend of the Overfiend

Urotsukidoji is undoubtedly the godfather of naughty tentacle hentai and was released as a feature length OVA in 1987.  The OVA is based on the manga of the same name which is not as extreme as the anime.

    The story deals with Tatsuo Nagumo, a perverted high school student who is obssesed with classmate Akemi Ito.  After a series of demonic rapes a man named Amano tells Nagumo that he comes from a parallel plane of man beasts and is searching for the legendary Chojin who will reunite the human world, the beast world and the demon world to bring about an age of peace.  Amano is positive that Nagumo is the Chojin and will help him to realize his destiny, while protecting him from the hoards of demons that are trying to kill him.

    This is pretty much the start of tentacle rape in anime.  It is also one of the well known hentai titles in the world...for notorious reasons.  There is an excellent book that came out in the late 90s called The Erotic Anime Movie Guide that has a detailed history of the evolution of hentai and how the naughty tentacle genre cam into existence.  I highly recommend reading this book for an amazing insight into not just hentai but interesting cultural indiscretions that still exist to some extent in Japan today.  I honestly do not recommend Urotsukidoji though.  Historically it has an important place in the history and development of anime, but it is really nothing more than an exercise in exhibitionism and sadism.  The animation is typical subpar 80s style and the English dub is absolutely horrendous.  Yet when it comes to the trials of fandom to teenage otaku this was the Holy Grail at one time, may even still remain one in this day and age.

   The original OVA was followed by 5 more installments that continue the story of the manga.  The have been a few variants of the movie released in North America in various edits.  Apparently a somewhat censored version is currently available on Blu-Ray licensed by Kitty Media, which if you are unfamilliar with, is the foremost distributor of hentai in North America and a subdivision of Media Blasters.

    Bonus fact: scenes from this and the second OVA have found their way into songs by both White Zombie and Atari Teenage Riot...I'm sure a few others as well.

Mangirl!

Mangirl! is a 13 episode comedic look at the life of manga editors.  The series is based on the manga of the same name, and each 3 minute episode aired in Japan in the beginning of 2013

    Mangirl!, the combination of Manga and Girl, follows 4 hapless women who have decided to start up a monthly manga magazine.  Hana Sasayama is the clueless and spunky editor-in-chief.   Aki Torii, assistant editor-in-chief, is the level headed one with experience as a successful dojinshi artist.  Tsugumi Haraki, ravenous snack lover and Ringo Nishijima, ditzy realist, are both editors.  The four of them go through trials and tribulations in starting the magazine, meeting the deadlines and following through with the magazines success.

    This is a fun, short and enjoyable series that gives a comedic snap shot of the life of those that work in the manga industry.  While not totally realistic it does touch upon some interesting aspects in the field, some of which I have experience in with my years in the publishing industry and could relate with.  The anime and manga appear to actually be loosely autobiographical, as the magazine they create is a real magazine of which the real manga appears in.  The final episode of the anime also brings it full circle by suggesting the creation of the anime series.  The animation is ok, the character design is typical anime style with odd hair colors and moe features.  Given that the manga is of the yonkomi genre would help to explain why I liked it and why it reminded me in more than one way of Azumanga Daioh.  The best way to sum up the feel of the series would be to say it is Minami-ke if done about manga editors.  So, if you liked Azumanga Daioh, Minami-ke or Ichigo Mashimaro this is a great series to take up about an hour of your time.

    The anime is currently available in North America streaming on Crunchyroll and will probably never see a release on disc.

Mokuyobi Post - Maris the Super Gal

Maris the Supergal is a one shot sci-fi comedy romp by Rumiko Takahashi.  The OAV is based on the manga of the same name and was released in 1986.

    Maris is a young alien girl who lives a miserable and unfulfilling life.  Her home planet was destroyed when she was young, her father is a drunk and her mother spends too much on useless junk.  The biggest pain is her species' tremendous strength.  Maris and everyone else from her planet must wear restraints to keep their super human strength in check.  Maris works for the galactic police with her partner Murphy, a nine tailed fox type creature who can transform himself at will.  Maris, obsessed with riches, is forever in debt due to her useless parents and the trouble she causes during missions.  When the son of a filthy rich family is kidnapped for ransom Maris sees this as an opportunity to change her fate.

    This is a pretty funny anime and you can see Maris as a template for Ranma 's female form as well as A-Ko from Project A-Ko  Yet, with pretty much everything from the 80s this OVA is pretty dated and has done poorly over the test of time.  Originally released in North America by Viz as part of the Rumik World collection this title is still little known.  I'm not sure if this title has been released on DVD or Blu-Ray, but if you can find a copy of the VHS or something else pick it up and check it out.  It's a fun little romp and an interesting look at Takahashi's catalog.

My Mental Choices are Completely Interfering with my School Romantic Comedy

My Mental Choices are Completely Interfering with my School Romantic Comedy is a 10 episode ecchi harem romance satire.  The anime is based on a series of light novels by the same name, also known as Nokome, and aired in Japan in the fall of 2013.

    My Mental Choices… deals with reject high school student Kanade Amakusa who has been plagued for the past year with a unique problem.  Randomly he will be presented with a set of things to chose, all internally located.  He must decide what item from the list he will immediately do or suffer excruciating pain.  The choices usually involve him subjecting his self to extremely embarrassing situations.  This random and bizarre behavior has made him one of the most abhorred members of the student body.  In one episode he ends up choosing a girl falling from the sky, enter Chocolat.  Chocolat is a messenger from some god who has been sent to assist Kanade with succeeding in a serious of missions he begins receiving.  Upon successful completion of all of the missions he will be free of his Absolute Choice curse.

    This is a bizarre and somewhat annoying series.  I kept trying to look at it as a slight on fan service and harem titles.  In some ways it is, in other ways it is not.  The character designs are atypical of eroge and fan service anime.  There are plenty of gratuitous panty, cleavage, and other fan service shots and segments.  This was pretty annoying, but the wit and oddity of the show somewhat countered them.  The humor reminded me of Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge and Toki Meki Memorial ~ Only Love.  The animation is sub-par for today’s standards and the voice acting is over the top.  The story really does not conclude with the 10 episode arc but a number of questions are stealthily revealed in the last two.  It makes sense that there isn’t a conclusion as the series is still being created.  Who knows, perhaps in the future there will be another installment of the anime.  If there is I will probably watch it, but I have no intention of reading the novels of the manga, this title just adds to the pile of less than enthusiastic series in 2013.

    The series is available in North America on Crunchyroll and an 11^th episode is slated to be released with the next volume of the light novel in 2014.

Say I Love You

Say 'I Love You' is a romantic slice of life drama that aired on TV in Japan in 2012 for 13 episodes.  The series is based on the manga of the same name.

    Mei Tachibana is a loner.  She keeps to her self, has no friends and doesn't like other people due to the meanness of school life.  Yamato Kurosawa is the most popular and sought after boy in school.  When he meets Mei for the first time he immediately becomes interested in her and forces her to take his cell number.  After she has no choice but to call Yamato for help dealing with a stalker Yamato kisses her, unofficially announcing his intentions to date her.  As the idea of the most popular boy in school being interested in her sinks in Mei must understand her own feelings and examine the way she feels about trusting other people.  On top of all that, most of the girls who wish for his attention have a hard time believing and understanding why Yamato would choose a plain and solitary girl.

    This is actually a pretty good drama.  Much of the story deals with the issues of peer pressure and self awareness that everyone goes through as teenagers.   IT doesn't paint a happy picture but instead shows how cruel and petty kids are toward one another and the problems that can arise from careless interactions.  While mostly a drama there are a handful of goofy sequences to break the thick mood. 

    There are a few small items that bugged me with the show.  The main one was Yamato's personality...his was the least realistic, eternally optimistic and patient.  It got rather tedious at times.  Another thing that was annoying was the character designs when it came to their eyes...throw back to the 90s big eye style...were they occupy half of the face.  The last episode was actually unneeded and can really be ignored.  Its more like an omake than anything else.  All in all though this was a good series that was rooted pretty firmly in the real world.  I may have really enjoyed it if the ending would have been tragic, but you can't always get what you want right?  I still was waiting for someone in the show to at least attempt to kill themselves, which happens semi frequently in Japan.  Either way, the show is worth the time if you like dramatic love stories steeped in real life issues.  They also appear to have churro in Japan now...

    The series is only currently available in North America via Crunchyroll.

Mokuyobi Post - Dragon Half

Dragon Half is a two part fantasy comedy OVA that came out in 1993 and is based on the manga of the same name.

    Mink is half dragon and half human, her father was a famous dragonslayer who fell in love with her mother, a dragon.  She goes to school and is friends with an elf, Lufa, and a dwarf, Pia.  in an attempt to court her idol, singer/dragon slayer Dick Saucer, Mink is determined to fing the People Potion that will turn her into a full human. She must overcome a jealous classmate, a braindead mercenary and an arena of bad guys in her attempts at a normal life.

    This was the first title that really introduced me to the concept of super deformed.  It is also one the first that almost killed me with laughter.  This is an insanely funny OVA and one of the only fantasy genre titles I really like.  This thing is from the early 90s, so the animation and production is very dated.  but if you can find a copy pick it up, its well worth your time.  There are tons of references to video game and manga thoughout.  If you are a fan of goofy tongue in cheek comedies this is a must. While originally released by ADV in North America it is slated for a rerelease in 2014 by  Discotek Media.