Winter 2012 is noteworthy for being jam-packed with short-episode series and boasting quite a few sequels (some to series which haven't been on the air for a while, like Prince of Tennis). Here I'll preview the majority of them to determine which shorts are worth following and which sequels might inspire one to go back and pick up previous seasons. Just a few notes:
-The most recent Pretty Cure series doesn't start until February. If I see anything noteworthy about it at that time I will most likely just edit this post.
- Danball Senki is an ongoing kids series that I can't really find current subs for, so it may not get any coverage because of it.
- Daily Lives of High School Boys is actually a full-length series, rather than a series of shorts as I had first been led to believe, so it will be covered separately.
- Basketarmy doesn't appear to exist anywhere obtainable on the internet, so coverage may be forthcoming. Update: barely a day after this entry was posted, a video showed up, so a first episode review has been added.
- Gokujyo, which I'd previously dropped due to lack of any news, apparently is being broadcast this season, and it's a series of shorts; the first episode was reportedly not broadcast for reasons of self-restraint (which I assume means that it was too risqué).
Edit: The first episode of Gokujyo is finally available. Check out the review below.
With all those qualifiers out of the way, let's get to the shows!
Shorts
Recorder to Randsell (Recorder and Backpack)
Number of Episodes: 13 3-minute episodes
Production Company: Seven
ANN Encyclopedia Wikipedia Crunchyroll
Thoughts: (Based on episodes one and two) Atsushi is a fifth-grader who has the appearance of being in his late teens, while his older sister (who's in high school) looks like she's in elementary school. This, of course, causes all sorts of problems that lead to comedic situations.
The premise for this show is silly and its execution ends up being a little bit light on the laughs. The iffiest bits for me to deal with were the jokes that poked fun at Atsushi's physical maturity; one of Atsumi's classmates seems to have a crush on him, and Atsushi gets mistaken for a pervert at one point. While I'd say overall the show seems fairly innocent and, despite some misgivings I had about the premise at first, I think that it'll probably stay that way, something about these kinds of jokes rubs me the wrong way. (Also, doesn't it seem odd that Atsumi's friend has no idea that the large boy talking to her is her friend's younger brother? It seems like it'd be something worth mentioning to others).
I do have to give a shout-out to Kugimiya Rie, who turns in a subdued (and therefore more convincing and less annoying than normal) portrayal of Atsumi. I can only hope that this is a trend that continues into the future.
All-in-all, the first couple of episodes are pretty cute and inoffensive, but I'm not sure that I'd really call this a straight-up comedy. At best, the chuckles it provides are subtle, and it short run-time doesn't give the show enough leeway to set-up many extended jokes or running gags (aside from the main one, that is).
Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki
Number of Episodes: TBA
Production Company: Studio DEEN
ANN Encyclopedia Wikipedia Crunchyroll
Thoughts: (Based on Episodes one and two) One drunken night out, Moe Sato finds a cushion-shaped object in the street and decides to take a nap. In the morning she realizes that her cushion is actually a cat, who she names "Poyo" (Puffy). Poyo is like any other cat, except that his roundness makes him extra-cute in the eyes of most people. Even Moe's father, a grizzled old farmer, is charmed by the cat. Moe's brother, however, tends to fight with Poyo.
As a critic, I'm finding very little to chew on here (as I did with Recorder to Randsell), but as a cat-lover I find that there's more than enough to keep me entertained. Though Poyo is kind of a strange-looking feline specimen, his behavior - his feelings of entitlement towards his environment, his ability to sleep just about anywhere - is completely in line with that of any ordinary cat. The content of this series might be entirely, pardon the pun, fluff, but it's certainly easy to enjoy even if nothing really happens.
Busou Chuugakusei Basketarmy
Number of Episodes: TBA
Production Company: asread
Thoughts: In a future conflict, it’s a squad of armed middle school students who hold the fate of the country in their hands. They possess a mysterious box which their leader claims with change the course of Japan’s future.
This is a prime example of a series being presented in small doses when it really begs to be compiled into a more standard format. Despite any misgivings I may have about the content (I find the use of children in a military context to be pretty far-fetched, no matter the setting), I think this is something which could be entertaining as a full-length OVA episode or movie, but this episode tries to cram a whole lot into three-and-a-half minutes to the detriment of the tone. The early part of the episode does a good job of showing how serious things are, but the characters’ sometimes goofy personalities tend to diminish the impact of the heavier scenes. There are enough anime series based around school-aged kids and teens, and the characters’ lack of maturity really doesn’t help this episode.
The animation is fairly nice and I don’t think the concept is entirely without merit, but I’m not really impressed with this episode. I think the child soldier bit has been done before and better, and the short length of this episode doesn’t allow there to be much depth in either the characterization or plot. Unfortunately this looks like a lot of wasted potential.
Gokujyo
Number of Episodes: TBA
Production Company: LMD
Thoughts: Aya wants to look just right when she goes back to her all-girls high school. She spends extra time in the morning fluffing up her boobs and making sure her clothes look just right, but she forgets one important thing – her panties. She discovers this when a classmate brings her a pair of “lost” panties that she found on the street. Aya spends the morning plotting and eventually decides to con her friend, Konatsu-chan, into giving up her underthings. A fight ensues, and the two girls end up bare-assed in front of their classmates.
It comes as no surprise that this episode was seen as unfit-for-TV because it’s just as raunchy or raunchier than even a lot of the late-night male-focused ecchi anime that’s on TV right now. Its tone is reminiscent of a lot of the American gross-out comedies that I’m familiar with (American Pie comes to mind), the only difference being that all the characters are girls. Abstractly I’m kind of glad something like this exists, because it means that audiences are being addressed more equally (well, this feels like it’s directed towards women rather than men, but that may be my mistaken perception). In practice, though, this really isn’t the type of comedy that I prefer and I’m not sure that I could take Aya’s over-the-top attitude week-after week. It’s almost as if, by creating a character who’s just returned from an extended stay in the US, the creator is painting this picture of sex-crazed America that’s not really based on any truth. Fans of really low-brow humor might get a kick out of Aya’s antics, but I don’t think this is for me.
Sequels
Zero no Tsukaima F
Number of Episodes: 12
Production Company: J.C. Staff
ANN Encyclopedia Wikipedia Crunchyroll
Thoughts: Saito, Louise and friends are summoned by the Queen to Romalia, center of the Brimir faith. They meet with the Pope, who like Louise and Tifania is a Void Mage. The Pope hopes that the other mages will aid him in calling forth the fourth Void Mage by acting as his shrine maidens. Louise and Saito have a love spat, while Tifania learns more of her bloodline. When Louise witnesses a theft in progress, she tries to thwart the thieves herself, but it falls on Saito to arrive in time to rescue her.
I caught the first episode of the third(?) season of this series, and boy did it leave me steaming; there's a scene where the protagonist, Saito, tries to coerce Louise into getting into bed with him, which is totally heinous. This episode doesn't quite stoop to those lows, but there are plenty of breast gags (groping, staring, and flat-chest-shaming) to go around, as well as more than enough jealous harem hijinks than I really ever needed to see. I can see this show's otaku appeal, but part of that appeal is that it's just another iteration of the same old safe moe junk food that sells. Financially it makes sense, but I just don't care for the characters and the story leaves me cold.
Tantei Opera Milky Holmes Dai-ni Maku
Number of Episodes: 12
Production Company: J.C. Staff, Artland
ANN Encyclopedia Wikipedia Crunchyroll
Thoughts: Milky Holmes are still living the lazy life, skipping school most days to mess around in their vegetable garden, totally forgetting their former detective glory in the process. This perturbs Henriette-sama (Arsene) and her phantom-thief servants. The Phantom Thieves take their revenge out on the garden, bringing the wrath of Milky Holmes down upon them.
I think that I've just seen enough propeller nipples to last me a lifetime.
The first season of this anime got quite an underground rep as being a very funny comedy. After watching the second episode of the first season, I was almost tempted to watch the rest, not because it made me laugh, but because it made my jaw drop with the bizarre antics of its characters. I'm almost tempted to go through with it again, because this episode was so over-the-top that I don't really know what else to say about it. The only other anime I could reasonably compare it to might be the recent incarnation of Demon Prince Enma, with its weirdly over-the-top gross-out fanservice that barely qualifies as titillating. I mean, there's a guy dancing around with a cucumber sticking out of his pants. I don't even. But I did laugh.
I also have to mention that there was some pretty entertaining animation during the scene where Milky Holmes and the Phantom Thieves come to blows. It was unexpected from a series that seems to happily revel in its own stupidity, but I enjoyed it.
The Prince of Tennis 2
Number of Episodes: TBA
Production Company: Production I.G.
ANN Encyclopedia Wikipedia Crunchyroll
Thoughts: The Seigaku tennis squad arrives at the U-17 training camp, an elite camp for players under the age of 17. They get picked on by some of the high school students in attendance, but soon prove their worth. After making it to the training courts, the "prince" himself, Ryoma Echizen, arrives to join them. They learn that they'll be fighting for spots on one of only 16 training courts, and some disagreements break out once people start getting eliminated. The middle school student begin to prove their mettle, even against highly-ranked high school students.
OH THIS SHOW. My husband (then-boyfriend) and I used to watch this series' first incarnation, until around episode one-hundred-thirty when its transformation into "Tennis Ball Z" became complete and it finally jumped the shark. When the protagonist of a series can eventually utilize all of the other characters' special attacks, it's time to quit. Several more episodes and OVAs later, here we are. This episode is very nicely animated, but boy is it corny as heck. Characters get to use their catch-phrases, their special techniques are flaunted, and everyone shows off just how bishounen they are. It's just like old times. The first episode was actually really funny - unintentionally I'm sure - but I can't imagine sticking around for another hundred-something episodes for no payoff. Also, these guys are still all in middle school? They look very mannish to me. It must be something in the water.
Amagami SS+
Number of Episodes: 12
Production Company: AIC
Thoughts: Tachibana began dating Ayatsuji-san after Christmas, but their relationship hasn't moved very quickly since then. Ayatsuji is running for student council president, and chooses Tachibana as her running mate, but things get messy when they find out another girl has also chosen him as her potential vice president. When early election surveys don't turn out as planned, Tachibana must help his girlfriend win the hearts of her classmates. Some underhanded dealings turn things sour quickly, however.
Based on the format of the first season (each arc dealt with a relationship between Tachibana and one of several different girls), I had kind of wondered what else could be accomplished by a follow-up season. I guess I got my answer here, it being teenage melodrama and soap-opera antics. While this doesn't seem to be one of those series that deals in outright raunchiness, this particular storyline seems based entirely around the assumed "cattiness" of women when a dude is involved, and that's a real turnoff. It's a situation that obviously could happen in real life, but it's much less common than fiction creators would have people believe. Everything else about it seems fairly unremarkable, and I find myself still not caring about Tachibana's love life.
One-Shots
Kyousogiga
1 episode ONA
Production Company: Toei Animation
Thoughts: A girl named Koto finds herself trapped in a strange alternate-universe version of Kyoto with two younger boys. Here, people and spirits live side-by-side, and Koto and her friends live out their days causing mayhem. They're currently living with a monk named Myoue while they search for a particular rabbit, but Myoue has secret dealings of his own. It turns out that Koto is housing Kyoto's patron goddess inside her, and there are people very ready to welcome her back.
One positive thing that I can say about this ONA, without any reservations, is that the quality of its animation makes it entertaining to watch. It suffers, though, from trying to force multiple episodes worth of narrative into a twenty-five minute package; watching it a couple of times has clarified some parts of the narrative for me, but there's still a lot of stuff that needs to be inferred about the characters and why they're behaving in the manner that they are. I like the energy here, but bright colors and video game sensibilities really aren't a replacement for good, old-fashioned comprehensibility. I'd love to see a multiple episode ONA or a movie based around this setting, though.
I think Rie saved her power tsundere mode for Zero, so she had nothing left for Recorder. She still cracks me up as Kagura in Gintama, so I'm going to avoid ragging on her for today.
I wanted to like Recorder, but the premise doesn't lend itself to two minute episodes. At best you get throw away jokes all based on the presumption that the audience finds the odd couple hysterical by default, with no setup or character development.
Bizarre is a good way to describe the second season of Tantei Opera. I dislike the pointy nipple helicopters, but I like the fast pacing and the silliness of the four main characters.
I thought Prince of Tennis might appeal to me since I was looking for another sports anime after Giant Killing and One Outs. I was wrong, and I freely admit my error. Same goes for Knight in the Area, too, unfortunately. The animation in that series strikes me as odd, like the artists never really watched how soccer players run or kick.
Say, I was wondering if you had your recommended 'anime for grownups' lists from the last two Detours up anywhere?
Hi there. I've uploaded the handouts here:
http://jessi.gonein60fps.net/Anime%20for%20Grownups/
They're in .rtf file format. Let me know if another format would be preferable).
In case you're wondering about the file names, we didn't do the panel in 2010 :)
Hi there! I'm a little surprised that Natsume Yuujinchou Shi isn't included in your Sequel section, considering that you blogged about S1-3. Is there a reason why this is so?
This section is primarily for sequels to series that I haven't watched for various reasons (the first season didn't catch my eye or I consciously disliked it for some reason). While I could probably justify just not covering them at all, I think it's worth coming back to see whether my impressions have changed or whether there might be something that causes me to think twice and go back to watch the first season again. It doesn't happen often, but it's worth it to me to check it out anyway.
Because I've watched (and adored!) every season of Natsume, it'll be getting its own feature sometime soon. In the case of the new Aquarion series, which also wasn't included in this section despite my not having seen the first version, it's been long enough in-between its incarnations that I think it would difficult to justify it as a direct sequel despite it having connections to the first from what I understand, so that will get its own feature as well, similar to Fate/Zero last season. Thanks for asking!
What the hell is with the number of girls-only highschools in anime this past year?
I don't know, it has been kind of a trend though, now that you mention it.