mood: spinning eyes

I really haven’t been watching much recent anime lately. Most of my TV viewing has been stuff that my ReplayTV has been catching for me (mainly other cartoons & TechTV stuff). However, with the new semester starting, I needed to catch up a little so I can recommend titles for TASS to screen. Saturday we had a get-together to look over some of the possible titles and help John pare things down. Here’s my take on some of ‘em…

• Asagiri no Miko - This one is from a few seasons back and is a fun little series that I’ve actually watched about a dozen episodes of. However, since each episode is only about 10-15 minutes, its not too long. It’s about Yuzu and her two sisters who are Shinto shrine maidens, vanquishing evil demons & such. So far it seems to do an excellent job of balancing action & comedy in a way similar to Slayers. Enjoyable and well paced. Looking forward to more.
• Texhnolyze - New show from the odd mind of yoshitoshi ABe (Lain, NieA under Seven, etc). Really can’t say much about this one — mostly visuals in the first episode and very little dialog. Very strange sex scene near the beginning. Going to need to see much more to make any sense of it (and that’s if I can manage to sit through it…).
• Ikkitousen - Uhh… Disclaimer, I’m not the sort for the “T&A with gratuitous panty shots” kinda anime. Really. Please believe me. However, this rather campy fighting action series with at least a half dozen panty shots in the opening alone has become something of a guilty pleasure after one episode. Whether it can remain so utterly hilarious is questionable, but… …well, guess every guy has to indulge in this kinda thing sometimes.
• Nanaka 6/17 - I think this is one of the most conceptually promising shows of the bunch I’ve looked at recently. I believe it started last season, but I’ve only watched the first couple so far. What makes it notable is that it takes one of the standard magical girl themes (young girl transforms into older teen version of herself) and turns it on its head. Instead of the usual magical transformation of the the genre, this show presents a much more real world angle: the title character suffers from amnesia & mental regression after a head trauma. The show overall looks like it will be lighter in tone than this sounds, but will have the opportunity to explore issues like recovery, growing up (and having a second chance at childhood), taking responsibility for the welfare of others and making love work though difficult circumstances. Very promising, definitely need to catch up with the dozen or so episodes out currently.
• Last Exile - The new Gonzo show, *looks* utterly cool. Still haven’t gotten around to seeing an entire episode yet, though.
• RAGNAROK, The Mythical Detective Loki - kinda fun and entertaining, but didn’t grab me much.
• Gundam Seed - sigh, for some reason Gundam continues to bore me even more than any other mecha series, and this one is no exception.
• Dear Boys - OK, never would have thought I’d like a sports anime (other than Princess Nine), especially a basketball one (my dad is such a basketball nut that I have an allergic reaction to the sport). Well, guess it helps that a women’s team is part of the formula, but it managed to interest me in the characters and want to see more. Have to see if that feeling continues or I end up hitting the locker room when it shows up at TASS
• Stellvia in Space - Ugh, isn’t there a lower age limit on saving the world if you aren’t a magical girl? Another “teens go to space academy to learn how to fight off alien invasion” type of show, just the main character is now 12 instead of 16. sigh.
• Tenshi na Konamaiki - This is another one that’s a few seasons old, but I like it a lot after watching a half dozen eps. It reminds me of a bit of a weird mix of Hana Yori Dango and Futaba Change (or maybe Ranma 1/2). Looks like voice actress Megumi Hayashibara has gotten type-cast into the lead gender-bending role again (but works quite well). Beyond the interesting situation and characters, the art style stands out as being rather different than recent stuff. It’s got a rougher manga look to it that I like. Another I plan on watching more of.
• Hikaru no Go - An amazingly popular show in Japan which has reenergized interest in the ancient game of Go. Wasn’t as boring as I figured it would be (and I think most of the others in the group liked it), but not likely to carry my interest.
• Rumic Theater - This one is an anthology series based on Rumiko Takahashi’s short manga. First episode, “The Tragedy of P” was pretty well done (’course I may be biased, it was about a penguin). Have to see more.
• Kaleido Star - Think the behind-the-scenes of Cirque du Soliel done as an anime. Probably a fairly standard “young person chasing her dream” kinda show, but first episode was well done and I’ve liked similar shows (such as Pop Chance Session). Will catch a bit more.
• E’s Otherwise - Unfortunately didn’t have the first episode on hand, so had to take a look at the second. Didn’t interest me much.
• Astro Boy - The remake of the original anime classic seems pretty well done, keeping the original look but with a modern touch. Probably well targeted at its primary audience, but didn’t interest me much.
• Tantei Gakuen Q - Hmm, kinda like an animated version of the Encyclopedia Brown stories I read as a kid. Not particularly engaging now, however.
• Narutaru - You definitely have to see at least the first two episodes of this one to get a proper feel for the show. First episode is kinda light and fluffy, but based on what I’ve glimpsed of the manga running in Dark Horse’s Super Manga Blast I knew that would change. It falls into the “young kids forced to cope with traumatizing aliens” theme of Aiien Nine and Figure 17. Seems like it’ll be worth catching more of.
• Saint Beast - Rather uninteresting bishounen show rehashing the 12 Countries type mythos.
• Popotan - so painful that I’m blocking what it was about and have no desire to take a peek to remind myself so I can write about it here. Just not worth it.
• Green Green - All the fanservice of Ikkitousen without the campiness, alas. A few good jokes, but not worth the time I suspect.
• Triangle Heart - Bland bishoujo romance show that feels like it was probably based on a dating sim. Or at least that’s my lasting impression of it (again, not worth me going back to look).
• Ultra Maniac - Kinda though I might like this one based on the opening, but became something of an annoying, meddlesome, gimicky magical girls show and promptly lost my interest.

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