Ask John: What’s John’s Opinion on the Spring Season Shows (Part 1)?

Question:
In order to satisfy my own curiosity, I make a habit of trying to sample as many of each new season’s anime as I possibly can. For the benefit of any readers who may be curios about my reactions to Japan’s spring 2011 anime season premieres, the following are my initial reactions to many of the new TV series.

Answer:
The debut episode of 30-sai no Hoken Taiiku is difficult to comprehensively critique because its broadcast version is so heavily censored. The show seems like it may be amusing because its concept and approach are a bit different from most other anime. So the show has the novelty of uniqueness. But for a show about sex, exactly how explicit it gets, and how it uses its more graphic elements, play a large role in determining the character of the show. And since viewers can’t get a full sense of those aspects of the show, viewers can’t develop a full reaction to the show.

I’m pleased to see that despite being comparable to, or even seemingly drawing some inspiration from other schoolgirl anime including K-On, Ichigo Marshmallow, Seitokai Yakuindomo, Manabi Straight, and Kyo no Go no Ni, the first episode of A-Channel firmly develops its own identity and approach. The yakinuku ringtone was the only gag in the first episode that made me laugh out loud, but the whole episode made me smile. The show’s introductory camera pan is ambitious, but unfortunately, the clash between 2D and 3D in the sequene compromises its effectiveness. The fact that viewers have seen nearly identical shots in anime including Kareshi Kanojo no Jijoo, Suzumiya Haruhi, and Seitokai Yakuindomo also limits the impact a bit. However, A-Channel’s creative opening is one of the most striking I’ve seen in quite a while.

Level 5 seems to be emerging as a master of creating immediately engaging, fast paced shounen sports & hobby anime. The first four episodes of Danboru Senki are nice looking, briskly paced, and usually pretty good looking, although some of the cel-shaded CG sequences are sometimes distractingly obvious. The show draws heavy and obvious inspiration from earlier anime of the same genres. Gunpla Builders, Medalot, and Kabutoborg immediately come to mind as direct ancestors of this program. But Danboru Senki also manages to establish its own identity.

Dog Days seems amusing. The first episode sets up the story, setting, and concepts. None of them are especially original, but I don’t recall any previous anime that’s combined all of them in this particular way, which makes Dog Days feel a bit creative and contemporary. Much of the first episode’s personality comes from its protagonist, but there are also many smaller and subtle elements to the first episode like Shinku’s “Ranma-like” balancing walk to school and the Momotaro imagery of his arrival in the alternate world that also contribute to the episode’s personality. This seems like a cute, fun, lighthearted fantasy that will hopefully maintain a similar tone to shows like Prism Ark and Koihime Muso but hopefully include more action.

The first episode of Fireball Charming was hilarious. The episode seems to clearly establish that this second series is going to ramp up everything that made the first series so, well, charming.

I can’t make a judgment on the first episode of Hanasaku Iroha alone. It’s certainly nice looking, and it is moderately interesting. But a lot occurs in the first episode, and viewers aren’t given enough insight into the protagonist’s background and outward personality to determine the authenticity of her actions and decisions. Viewers will need to get to know many of the main players better in order to get a better feel for them and the show that revolves around them.

I have a mixed reaction to the first episode of Happy Kappy. The show has a cute, vibrant energy. However, it’s animated with a stiff, artificial CG reminiscent of Gokujo Mechamotte Iincho. In the case of Happy Kappy, the CG is rendered with a watercolor look that’s odd because it doesn’t entirely look like either 2D or 3D, so it’s constantly obvious and distracting instead of being immersive.

Established fans of Kaiji will certainly be happy with the debut of the second series. New fans are offered a convenient primer to transition smoothly into the story. On the other hand, viewers like me that find Kaiji and his compatriots repellant and the story more frustrating than entertaining or rewarding will still find little to like in this new series.

The first episode of Nichijou is a bit better than the episode 0 OAD because its gags don’t overstay themselves. My reaction to the show is the same as my reaction to Lucky Star. I’m not immediately enthralled, and I may never become a ravenous fan. But this is easy to watch and may have just enough off-kilter, unique personality to sustain my mild enthusiasm.

I was holding out hope that the first episode of Sengoku Otome would prove at least somewhat enjoyable, but sadly the episode couldn’t even manage that much. The first episode has practically no unique indentity or character. It’s entirely by-the-numbers with its only marginally unique point being that its protagonist is exceptionally dumb. Even the episode’s obligatory cliffhanger ending is so bland and weak that it doesn’t even effectively serve its purpose to pique my curiosity. However, the success of last season’s Infinite Stratos proves that these days an anime doesn’t necessarily have to become good to be popular.

I’m slightly disappointed by the first episode of Showa Monogatari becuase it falls a little short of perfection. The first episode has good character design, exceptional color design, and framing that resemble a movie more than a typical anime TV series. Unfortunately, the first episode also has noticably limited animation. Character movements are noticably jerky, and that keeps the episode from excelling in every aspect. The story is a bit conventional, but considering that this is a domestic drama, I don’t expect sensational occurances.

Sket Dance should satisfy viewers searching for an amusing and superficial show to pass some time. Conceptually, I’m reminded of Okami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi, but while Okami-san delved heavily into its characters’ personalities and motivations, Sket Dance seems more concerned in just being a simple, briskly paced, and encouraging shonen adventure comedy. I’m bothered by the first episode’s insistence on developing a mystery by intentionally withholding information from the viewers and manipulating circumstances to artificially prolong the suspense, but viewers that don’t pay close attention or simply aren’t concerned with the story’s precise details will likely enjoy this. Since the first episode is largely a dialogue driven comedy, a lot of animation isn’t really necessary, but the episode does include a few seconds of very nicely fluid and dynamic animation.

I was hoping to really like Steins;Gate, but the first episode proved to be quite a chore to sit through. The show does look nice, but it uses crisp design to compensate for limited animation. The characters are all be perfectly adequate supporting characters, but none of them are interesting or engrossing enough to serve as lead characters. This is exactly why Higashi no Eden succeeded by making these type of characters background support. Nothing about the first episode drew me in and made me want to know more about the characters or situation.

Suzy’s Zoo ~ Daisuke Witzy uses a textured CG animation that almost identical to Happy Kappy, but Suzy’s Zoo manages to make its art design look much better. A softer color palate and diffused lines give Suzy’s Zoo a charming picture book in motion quality far removed from Happy Kappy’s more apparant 3D attempting to be 2D. The first episode has a brisk pacing although nothing significant happens. As a result of the short scenes and fairly brisk cuts, the two minute long episode unfurls very quickly and feels heartwarming and pleasant without feeling overlong or slow-paced.

I had early reservations about Tiger & Bunny, and I’m sorry to see them borne out by the show’s first episode. On the positive side, the opening theme is okay, and the show is fairly careful to keep its CG and 2D animation separate in order to not create a very obvious visual clash. But while I can adopt suspension of disbelief, the concept of this show just requires far more liberal leeway than I can give. The show revolves around a concept that only works provided the viewer doesn’t ask any questions. I can’t dumb down enough for this to start making rational sense. Moreover, none of the show’s primary characters are appealing or likeable. Although the tone of this show and Viper’s Creed are quite different, my reaction and sensation from this show is very similar to my mildly negative reaction to Viper’s Creed.

So in the first episode of Tottoko Hamutaro Dechu, Hamutaro and his human owners move to a new town, and immediately Hamutaro encounters and befriends new hamster friends, who all happen to identically resemble the supporting hamster cast from the previous series. Actually, apart from a brief live-action introduction to hamsters segment and a slightly jazzed up opening theme song rendition, everything about the new Hamutaro series seems identical to the older anime. I am a bit baffled and amused, however, by the hamsters’ arms, which seem to independently move about their bodies as needed rather than be rooted to joints.

What happened to the Marvel Anime line? Just comparing first episodes, X-Men is dramatically superior to the premieres of Iron Man and Wolverine. While the former two Marvel Anime seemed both tentative and compromised, the debut of X-Men is confident, stylish, and compelling. This isn’t merely good in comparison to its predecessors; it’s good on the scale applied to all anime. I still think that Cyclops – particularly in certain scenes – looks a bit too metrosexual and angst-ridden. But that’s a superficial reaction. Storm is exceptionally gorgeous. I’m very impressed by Beast’s design – both his facial appearance and his tailored uniform. The Wolverine of his solo show seemed a bit too much like an in-joke. The Wolverine of X-Men is exactly what he should be.