Okay, world - at S'ra's request, I will be doing some quick and easy reviews of anime series I have watched. My anime I have watched/am watching/attempted to watch list has 128 titles (sounds impressive at first, but I'm sure others have far outstripped me in their watching - after all, I only discovered anime about seven years ago and have a lot of catching up to do). I'll go in alphabetical order (English or Japanese title entirely dependent on what I personally tend to call it) and cover five shows per post. Super exciting, right? I may or may not include manga which have no anime or the anime for which I have not watched.
My personal ratings system:
No
Meh
Decent
Pretty Good
Good
Awesome
To begin:
ABSOLUTE DUO: Meh
Tor, a kid with special powers goes to a school for kids with special powers, only his special powers are a bit different from everybody else's special powers. Rather than manifesting a weapon from his own energy/power/whatever, he manifests a shield. He's teamed up with friendless girl Julie, whose power is also a bit different. Oh, and there's a tragic, death-ridden backstory. And a villainous counterpart institution also trying to train empowered persons.
It's hardly an original idea - kids with special powers at a special school! Tragic backstory! Unlikely friendships! But with good writing, likable characters, a bit of plot twist - the formula works. However, for me, Absolute Duo was missing basically all of that. The characters felt contrived, the emotions forced, the plot trite and predictable. And also, it's a harem plot. I don't necessarily mind a harem plot, but I have to care about the characters and the plot to like it. It's not totally unwatchable, but I didn't care enough about it to finish it. The light novels on which it is based might be better; I don't know, I haven't read them.
(Note: I have noticed that the more the girls' breasts are drawn to be like improbable melons, the less likely I am to be interested in the show. There's probably some profound correlation there.)
ACCEL WORLD: Good
Haruyuki is a loner gamer geek with poor social skills who is being mercilessly bullied and beaten up at school. Naturally, he escapes into video games every chance he gets.Then one day he's approached by the prettiest, most popular girl at school, who offers him the chance to "accelerate" - to enter a mysterious virtual fighting game which accelerates the brain's processes. Hours in the game world equal only seconds in real life. The girl, Kuroyukihime (say that ten times fast) needs help. She's being hunted in-game by an attacker she can't track down. She needs an ally with amazing gaming skills. And Haru finally has a chance to be, not the loser everybody picks on, but the hero.
Accel World is set twentyish years after Sword Art Online. If you don't already know how I feel about SAO, find my more in-depth review of it. If you don't want to go to that much trouble, just know that I love SAO. So, how could I not like Accel World? I don't like it as much as SAO - for one thing, the fighting game setting it less interesting to me than SAO's fantasy theme. But I definitely enjoy Accel World as well. The plot is decent, but it's the characters that make it work for me. Reki Kawahara (author of the light novels) is good at capturing realistic emotion - for instance, Haru doesn't instantly bounce back the minute the bullies are taken care of. He's hurt, he's insecure, he's mad, darn it all! (The light novels cover this better - in fact, the light novels are better overall.)
However - if you loathe harem series with all your being, this one is going to annoy you. Because yes, every female in the series ends up with a bit of a crush on our protagonist.
(And by the way, if you're an SAO/Accel World fan, find the short story Versus - due to some virtual world time travel, Kirito and Haruyuki end up in a duel. And it is awesome.)
AKAGAMI NO SHIRAYUKIHIME (Snow White with the Red Hair):Good
Due to her unusual red hair, young herbalist Shirayuki has attracted some unwanted attention - her kingdom's prince has decided she's going to be his concubine whether she wants to or not. Rather than succumb to this fate, Shirayuki chops off her hair, packs a bag, and heads off into the forest, crossing the border into the next kingdom over. While taking shelter near a deserted mansion, she meets a young man who is traveling about with two bodyguar - um, companions. All seems set for friendship/romance when the prince finds her and through nefarious means, forces her to come with him. The young man from the forest rushes to her aid and sweeps her away to his kingdom where he ... behaves like a nice, friendly guy who likes her but isn't going to press the issue until she's ready, while she trains as a pharmacist. And they deal with assorted medical and/or political issues while romance slowly blossoms. Talk about a plot twist.
The manga has quite a few volumes, but the anime only has eight episodes so far. The plot progresses a bit slowly at first, but it's worth it, I promise. This is one of those rare examples where the anime is actually considerably better than the manga. It takes the somewhat bare-bones storyline and gives it a lot more detail. And the animation is really nice. Actually, this series reminds me in many ways of a Studio Ghibli feature - the unhurried pacing, the lovely backgrounds, the character-driven story. And I really enjoy the way Shirayuki and Zen develop step by step from initial attraction through friendship to romance.
(Did you guess the spoiler about Zen's character? Gosh, who could be traveling about with bodyguards and have the clout to defy the prince of the neighboring kingdom? Also, there is literally only one nod to Snow White in the entire story. At one point there are some apples. That's it.)
THE AMBITION OF ODA NOBUNA: Meh
Hey, what if famed Sengoku era samurai Oda Nobunaga and his contemporaries were, in fact, teenage girls? And what if a kid who thinks he knows all about Oda Nobunaga ends up going back in time and using his sometimes faulty knowledge of history to, in fact, make said history happen? And what if, like, all the girls were super hot and it totally became a harem show. That would be cool, right?
Okay, to be fair, I only watched two episodes before deciding The Ambition of Oda Nobuna was not worth my time. So maybe it improves. It's not like the concept is terrible. Gender-flipping historical figures? Could be fun. Time travel? Always a good time. But if I don't care about the characters, I'm not likely to care about the show and I simply was not interested in these characters. And while I can suspend my disbelief pretty far in the cause of a good story, I really had a hard time with a little blonde teenage female warlord.
(The problem with her being blonde is because she's supposed to be Japanese in an era when hair bleaching was not really a thing. Blondes are just as capable of being warlords as anybody else. Live your dreams, blonde girls!)
ANTIQUE BAKERY: No
A guy who was kidnapped as a child and suffers some lingering trauma from this event opens a cake shop. Three other guys join him.
For some reason, Antique Bakery actively bored me to the extent that I didn't even finish the first episode. Maybe I was just in completely the wrong mood, but my reaction was "Oh my gosh, I don't care, shut up, you're so boring, I quit." So, you'll have to watch this one and judge for yourself. I can't really give a fair opinion based on half an episode. I will say that that opening animation was fascinating, being a combination of what appeared to be an actual 3-D miniature of the bakery combined with stop-motion cutouts of the characters. There is also a manga, a live action series, and a Korean movie, so I'm guessing it has some following to garner all of that. Well, the manga came first, so I guess it had enough of a following to garner the rest.
Tune in Next Time for my Very Exciting Reviews of Attack on Titan, Baby Steps, Barakamon, Birdy the Mighty: Decode and Bleach
My personal ratings system:
No
Meh
Decent
Pretty Good
Good
Awesome
To begin:
ABSOLUTE DUO: Meh
Tor, a kid with special powers goes to a school for kids with special powers, only his special powers are a bit different from everybody else's special powers. Rather than manifesting a weapon from his own energy/power/whatever, he manifests a shield. He's teamed up with friendless girl Julie, whose power is also a bit different. Oh, and there's a tragic, death-ridden backstory. And a villainous counterpart institution also trying to train empowered persons.
It's hardly an original idea - kids with special powers at a special school! Tragic backstory! Unlikely friendships! But with good writing, likable characters, a bit of plot twist - the formula works. However, for me, Absolute Duo was missing basically all of that. The characters felt contrived, the emotions forced, the plot trite and predictable. And also, it's a harem plot. I don't necessarily mind a harem plot, but I have to care about the characters and the plot to like it. It's not totally unwatchable, but I didn't care enough about it to finish it. The light novels on which it is based might be better; I don't know, I haven't read them.
(Note: I have noticed that the more the girls' breasts are drawn to be like improbable melons, the less likely I am to be interested in the show. There's probably some profound correlation there.)
ACCEL WORLD: Good
Haruyuki is a loner gamer geek with poor social skills who is being mercilessly bullied and beaten up at school. Naturally, he escapes into video games every chance he gets.Then one day he's approached by the prettiest, most popular girl at school, who offers him the chance to "accelerate" - to enter a mysterious virtual fighting game which accelerates the brain's processes. Hours in the game world equal only seconds in real life. The girl, Kuroyukihime (say that ten times fast) needs help. She's being hunted in-game by an attacker she can't track down. She needs an ally with amazing gaming skills. And Haru finally has a chance to be, not the loser everybody picks on, but the hero.
Accel World is set twentyish years after Sword Art Online. If you don't already know how I feel about SAO, find my more in-depth review of it. If you don't want to go to that much trouble, just know that I love SAO. So, how could I not like Accel World? I don't like it as much as SAO - for one thing, the fighting game setting it less interesting to me than SAO's fantasy theme. But I definitely enjoy Accel World as well. The plot is decent, but it's the characters that make it work for me. Reki Kawahara (author of the light novels) is good at capturing realistic emotion - for instance, Haru doesn't instantly bounce back the minute the bullies are taken care of. He's hurt, he's insecure, he's mad, darn it all! (The light novels cover this better - in fact, the light novels are better overall.)
However - if you loathe harem series with all your being, this one is going to annoy you. Because yes, every female in the series ends up with a bit of a crush on our protagonist.
(And by the way, if you're an SAO/Accel World fan, find the short story Versus - due to some virtual world time travel, Kirito and Haruyuki end up in a duel. And it is awesome.)
AKAGAMI NO SHIRAYUKIHIME (Snow White with the Red Hair):Good
Due to her unusual red hair, young herbalist Shirayuki has attracted some unwanted attention - her kingdom's prince has decided she's going to be his concubine whether she wants to or not. Rather than succumb to this fate, Shirayuki chops off her hair, packs a bag, and heads off into the forest, crossing the border into the next kingdom over. While taking shelter near a deserted mansion, she meets a young man who is traveling about with two bodyguar - um, companions. All seems set for friendship/romance when the prince finds her and through nefarious means, forces her to come with him. The young man from the forest rushes to her aid and sweeps her away to his kingdom where he ... behaves like a nice, friendly guy who likes her but isn't going to press the issue until she's ready, while she trains as a pharmacist. And they deal with assorted medical and/or political issues while romance slowly blossoms. Talk about a plot twist.
The manga has quite a few volumes, but the anime only has eight episodes so far. The plot progresses a bit slowly at first, but it's worth it, I promise. This is one of those rare examples where the anime is actually considerably better than the manga. It takes the somewhat bare-bones storyline and gives it a lot more detail. And the animation is really nice. Actually, this series reminds me in many ways of a Studio Ghibli feature - the unhurried pacing, the lovely backgrounds, the character-driven story. And I really enjoy the way Shirayuki and Zen develop step by step from initial attraction through friendship to romance.
(Did you guess the spoiler about Zen's character? Gosh, who could be traveling about with bodyguards and have the clout to defy the prince of the neighboring kingdom? Also, there is literally only one nod to Snow White in the entire story. At one point there are some apples. That's it.)
THE AMBITION OF ODA NOBUNA: Meh
Hey, what if famed Sengoku era samurai Oda Nobunaga and his contemporaries were, in fact, teenage girls? And what if a kid who thinks he knows all about Oda Nobunaga ends up going back in time and using his sometimes faulty knowledge of history to, in fact, make said history happen? And what if, like, all the girls were super hot and it totally became a harem show. That would be cool, right?
Okay, to be fair, I only watched two episodes before deciding The Ambition of Oda Nobuna was not worth my time. So maybe it improves. It's not like the concept is terrible. Gender-flipping historical figures? Could be fun. Time travel? Always a good time. But if I don't care about the characters, I'm not likely to care about the show and I simply was not interested in these characters. And while I can suspend my disbelief pretty far in the cause of a good story, I really had a hard time with a little blonde teenage female warlord.
(The problem with her being blonde is because she's supposed to be Japanese in an era when hair bleaching was not really a thing. Blondes are just as capable of being warlords as anybody else. Live your dreams, blonde girls!)
ANTIQUE BAKERY: No
A guy who was kidnapped as a child and suffers some lingering trauma from this event opens a cake shop. Three other guys join him.
For some reason, Antique Bakery actively bored me to the extent that I didn't even finish the first episode. Maybe I was just in completely the wrong mood, but my reaction was "Oh my gosh, I don't care, shut up, you're so boring, I quit." So, you'll have to watch this one and judge for yourself. I can't really give a fair opinion based on half an episode. I will say that that opening animation was fascinating, being a combination of what appeared to be an actual 3-D miniature of the bakery combined with stop-motion cutouts of the characters. There is also a manga, a live action series, and a Korean movie, so I'm guessing it has some following to garner all of that. Well, the manga came first, so I guess it had enough of a following to garner the rest.
Tune in Next Time for my Very Exciting Reviews of Attack on Titan, Baby Steps, Barakamon, Birdy the Mighty: Decode and Bleach
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