Himegoto

Himegoto (ひめゴト), subtitled 'Secret Princess' in North America, is a 13 episode adaptation of the manga with the same name by Tsukudani Norio.  The anime aired in Japan during the summer of 2014.

    Arikawa Hime is a high school student with a few problems; he looks like a girl and his parents travel the world using his name for their expenses.  While trying to escape unscrupulous debt collectors he is rescued by the members of his school’s student council.  Initially thinking they were protecting a fellow female student they soon learn he was only cross-dressing.  They force him to join their group to serve as their dog in order to repay his debt to them.  Seeing he has no choice he decides to go along with their demands and spend the rest of his high school life as their cross dressing plaything.  He doesn't realize what he's getting himself into as they plan to do nothing but offer him up as a fanservice sacrifice in as many situations as they can conjure up.

    I really enjoyed this show for one reason; it completely mocks and shams the entire panty shot fanservice community in the anime/manga world.  This show is really only about fanservice and each episode sets up Hime and a small cast of other cross dressing characters in the most ridiculous and played out scenarios found in anime.  Out of the entire 60 or so minutes this series takes up (each episode is about 5 minutes long) I do not remember any of the dozens of panty shots being a girl.  It was always a male character in the act of being dressed as a girl flashing panties and, rightfully so, their 'junk'.  The story is vapid and the artwork is middle of the road.  The real meat of this show is its attack on fanservice.  The story doesn't even try to hide the fact that the cross dressing characters are male and a number of the plot lines deal with perverts seeking them out because they are cross dressed males.  Japan is just a bit more open about homosexuality and what not.  Beyond the commentary on the darker sides of the industry the show really doesn't offer anything worth the time.  It's not going to be for everyone and many people may not take what I took from it.

    The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll in North America.  I doubt it will see a disc release though.  The manga as well is not available commercially outside of Japan.

Zankyo no Terror

Zankyo no Terror (残響のテロル) is an original 11 episode drama directed by Watanabe Shinichiro with music by Kanno Yoko.  The series originally aired in Japan during the summer of 2014

    Two terrorists, known as Sphinx, have begun playing a dangerous game of trivia with the Tokyo Metropolitan police.  Through internet video's they begin to plan a series of bombings throughout Tokyo.  With each video they present the police with riddles solve, clues to the bombs locations and ultimately their motives.  A demoted and rejected veteran detective is called back to the work he loves to help combat this unknown menace before it's too late.  Can the once respected police officer combat the sociopathic mission the terrorists are plotting and restore honor to his name?  What is Sphinx's true aim with their game?

    This is unlike anything Watanabe is generally known for (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo) and is somewhat memorable because of that.  Realistically this is exactly like any number of police vs. terrorist thrillers from the 90's and 00's.  Movies like, Blown Away, Speed or Die Hard.  One difference between many of those American films is that this series has the terrorists as the protagonists, all be it anti-hero type protagonists.  Sphinx is presented as virtuous criminals, who are causing terror for the greater good.  The story, though, is pure Hollywood.  The rejected hard-nosed detective, the shifting intrigue and the police task forces rogue mentality.  It’s rather refreshing to see a well done if brainless action series.  No new ground is tread, so in that respect its nothing special.  The artwork and character designs are top notch and similar to another off style series by Watanabe, Kids on the Slope.  The music is fantastic as well; I particularly enjoyed the opening theme song.  In the end I really enjoyed this series even if it could have been done as a blockbuster summer movie.  The animation was truly top notch; the characters were enjoyable if not very original.

    FUNimation simulcast the series in North America and I am pretty sure a disc release is in the works.

Nobunaga Concerto

Nobunaga Concerto (信長協奏曲) is a 10 episode historical fiction based on the manga of the same name by Ishii Ayumi.  The series originally aired in Japan during the summer of 2014.

    Saburo, an average and unacomplished high school student, finds himself in the Sengoku (waring states) period.  He falls from the sky in the presence of a young and sickly Oda Nobunaga.  Seizing the opportunity before him, Nobunaga convinces Saburo to act as his stand in for a while,  so he can rest and gain his strength.  Saburo, only partially understanding the situation, decides to do it.  The impostor Nobunaga shocks everyone with him enthusism,  sudden quirkiness and odd speech patterns.  Time passes and Saburo finds himself beginning to lead the way towards unifying Japan under the Oda family banner.  Armed wth his high school history text book and complete confidence he leads armies into battles and builds alliances.  Will he be able to live up to the historical Nobunaga and can he ever return to his own time?

    This series crept up out of leftfield and I was a little hesitant about it.  The character animation really bothered me.  The technique used was motion capture cell shading, a style I have little love for.  Someting about using real people and their movements to help in the animation process tends to make it less natural looking.  The character movements are jarring and creepy...like the animatronic robots at Chuck E Cheese.  Beyond the character design and movements the artwork is rather high quality,  with finely detailed backgrounds and clothing.  Artwork aside,  I like time travel stories and this one was interestingly done, if a bit unconventional for the genre.  Typically characters who time travel without their own consent try everything they can to reverse their situation and the story focuses on that goal.  This show instead pushs all that to the side and focuses on the monumentous history the character finds himself the focal point of.  Saburo's character is kind of flawed.  He's positive and enthusiastic beyond anyone else.  Even when his life is in danger he doesn't show much more emotion than blind faith and positivity that everthing will work out.  He acts as if he's not participating in the events but only spectating, even though hes the one making many of the decisions. 

    The story its self is rather interesting and has spurned me to want to learn more about this incredibly important moment in Japans history.  Through the show we follow along with highlights of integral battles and decisions in Nobunagas campaign to bring all of the daimyo in Japan under a central ruler,  himself.  Given these are real historical events a large cast of historical figures make apperances through out the story.  Not entirely familliar with what these powerful men were suppose to look like, I really wonder if the shows representation of Tokugawa Ieyasu as a fat cherub is accurate.  One of my favorite boardgames, Shogun, takes place during this period of time, so I was midly familair with many of the people and places mentioned in the show,  if completely unfamiliar with the events and their significance. 

    Don't go into this show expecting all sorts of epic and bloody combat though,  there is very little.  Instead the focus is on the character interactions and the negotiations and strategies deployed.  There are some probelms as well beyond the main characters personality quirks.  Through out the series I continued to wonder why those around him never attempted to kill him for being possesed. He doesnt hide the fact he's not from their time that well and whenever he uses Englsh based words everyone stares at him in confussed wonder.  When he offered his wife instant ramen he had...priceless. The passage of time is not really understood as well.  You have to know when the key events take place to get a feel for that.  The series covers close to 20 years worth of events though and none of the characters appear to age.  They gloss over Saburo instantly being a badass on a horse too...

    With its flaws this was a good series, unfortunatelly, like Nobaga's unification goal, we don't get to see any sort of conclussion.  The story ends rather abruptly with no resolution to Saburo's situation or Nobunaga's campaigns.  Spoiler; Nobunaga never succeeds,  Hideyoshi Toyotomi picks up the job but he also fails to complete the task.  Tokugawa Ieyasu picks up after Hideyoshi and does succeed, ushuring in the 250ish year Tokugawa shogunate.  If you like informative historical stories this is a good one.  But the story is also quirky and the main character is fun to watch so more tan history buffs can enjoy it as well.  This was a good show with its flaws and I wish there was more.  There is word of a pending OAV follow up but I have no information on that.

    The series was simulcast via Cruchyroll.  Given the tepid North American response I doubt it will see a commercial disc release.  The manga is not commercially available in North America either.

Re:_Hamatora

Re:_Hamatora (Re:␣ ハマトラ) is the 12 episode follow-up/conclusion to Hamatora.  The series aired in Japan during the summer of 2014.

   Beginning a few months after the events of Hamatora we discover that Nice has survived Art's attempt on his life.  The group, faced with more public exposure to Minimum Holders, has to figure out what Art's motives are as joins forces with radicals set on recreating Yokohoma for their own benefit.

    This wraps up the story nicely and doesn't leave much of anything to questions...except for, how the hell did some of the characters survive in the end!!  I'm somewhat confused by that and I don't think it was explained clearly.  But I'm jumping ahead of myself and perhaps spoiling some things.  Hamatora is what you would get if the X-Men were originally a Japanese creation and in many ways I like it more than that classic mutant drama.  The show has its ready for cosplay character designs but it’s a rather interesting story, even if it suffers some cliché’s.  There is a good balance of brainless humor and savage realism in the show.  A ton of people get killed throughout the course and their deaths hold consequences some times.  While I continue to compare this series with the X-Men it has way more in common with Elfen Lied.  At its roots it’s about a bunch of kids who exhibited special abilities and shady government organizations who exploited them. The events in the series are a direct result of the way the government treated, abused and exploited the characters when they were vulnerable children.  With this being a semi common theme in anime one has to wonder where these deep seeded fear and mistrust comes from.

    If you enjoyed the first half of this story you must watch the second half.  Don't watch it without going through Hamatora as nothing will make much sense to you.  There is also a manga that is a prequel of sorts that I should probably actually get around to reading, which may also clear up some of my confusion.

    I don't usually get into series like this anymore but am glad I did and stuck with it.  Worth the time I think.  It was simulcast on Crunchyroll but there is no word and any sort of disc release for either series in North America.

 

Glasslip

Glasslip (グラスリップ) is a 13 episode dramatic romance written by Sato Rika.  A manga adaptation was published to coincide with it.  The series aired in Japan during the summer of 2014.

    Fukami Toko and her friends begin the final summer of their childhood in their small coastal town.  Their idyllic life is shaken when a boy named Okikura Kakeru shows up suddenly and begins to act as if he knows Toko.  As he tries to get closer to her the group begins to splinter, with some emotions playing out and jealousies rising to the surface.  Kakeru confides in Toko that he is sought her out, believing that she, like him, can see fragments of the future.  He believes they are intertwined and wants to work with her to discover the secrets of the fragments.  Toko is intrigued by this idea and works through her emotions and relationships with her friends to figure out what direction her life is going to take.

    This is a very dry drama that can be a bit confusing at times and ultimately does not have any sort of resolution.  Sorry for the spoiler.  In order to understand what the show is about you have to look past all the supposed supernatural elements to see that it's just a simple story about a group of friends emotionally evolving into adults and being honest with their selves.  In the final episode Toko's mother sums this up rather simply.  The entire time though I was hoping for something akin to Toki o Kakeru Shojo, knowing it wasn't going to actually happen...one can dream right!!  For a while though it's uncertain what the hell is going on and you begin to wonder if some of the characters are actually schizophrenic.  Hell, I wouldn’t have been surprised if the show would have ended with it pulling back and discovering that Toko was living in her own brain, while she resided in a care facility due to some traumatic accident from earlier in her life or due to some sort of disease of birth defect...that would have been something, if also partially lame.

    The show is slow and essentially pointless though, from what one typically wants to get out of anime in the West.  It’s about character development and nothing more, as there really is no climax or ah-hah moment to speak of.  But, it’s not bad either.  It’s relatively well done even if the characters are one dimensional.  The animation is nice, with average character designs.  It's not a show for everyone though and what I took from it may actually not be what the authors intended.  I may have to look into the manga, as it appears to be a separate story.  A light novel is also slated for release in the fall of 2014 in Japan.  The show wasn't bad, but it also wasn't what I was ultimately expecting.

    The series simulcast via Crunchyroll but there is no word on a disc release in North America.  Something tells me it won't happen either.  The manga as well will probably never see a commercial release in the West.

Gekkan Shojo Nozaki-kun

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun (月刊少女野崎くん) is a romantic comedy based on the yonkoma manga of the same name by Tsubaki Izumi.   It aired in Japan for 12 episodes during the Summer of 2014.

    Sakura Chiyo is an average 2nd year high school student who has a crush on her stoic peer Nozaki Umetaro.  She gathers up the courage to confess but it doesn't come out the way she intended.  When she tries again Nozaki misunderstands her intentions and gives her an autograph.  Confused by and misunderstanding the situation she agrees to go to his house with him, to discover Nozaki is the creator of a popular shojo romance manga and he wants her to be his new assistant.  She whole heartedly agrees as a way to be close to him and soon discovers a number of people from school help with the manga.  Can she gather up the courage to properly express herself and will the oblivious Nozaki even understand her feelings?

    This was a well written and enjoyable series that ended too soon.  In many ways it reminded me of School Rumble.  While Chiyo is the lead character, the show is really more about Nozaki.  Chiyo's attempts to express her feelings fall to the side for most of the show, only to appear rather hastily in the second to last episode as a signal for the stories conclusion.  Instead the series focuses on introducing the cast of oddball students who orbit around the main characters and the process everyone goes through to help with the manga.  This isn't Bakuman though and it doesn't focus on the technical details of being a manga-ka.  Many of the situations involve Nozaki seeking inspiration for future story arcs, sometimes without informing the people he’s using as inspiration.  Aside from the heroine, the theme of all of the characters is that appearances are deceptive.  Chiyo, as opposed to everyone else, is 'what you see is what you get'.  She seems more like an empty vessel for the viewer to insert themselves into.  Almost all of the other characters have an outward appearance and presence that does not reflect their actual personality.  These traits are what end up driving many of the plot lines and humor.

   Design wise, the series is pretty good.  It has modern shojo styling with a great balance between realistic and comical proportions and expressions.  The series relies on classic routines for its comedy and recalls many older series'.  Aside from reminding me of School Rumble there are also elements that reminded me of Ouran High School Host Club.  In the end this was a fun series that was enjoyable to watch from start to finish.  It was just too short.  It looks like I will have to pick up the manga to enjoy more from this fun and light comedy series.  The last episode was well done and put a great finishing touch to the entire series.

    The anime was simulcast on Crunchyroll, but there is no word on any disc releases in North America. The manga as well is not commercially available.