First Impression: Arcana Famiglia

For the first five minutes of the show, I was cringing with disappointment. I thought the setup of the story was too bland as J.C. Staff chose to introduce the Arcana Family through some street brawling. It wasn't impressive at all. Even more so when I found out that this show is categorized as romance and shoujo. I was expecting some good action shounen anime >_>

Regilo is an island that is protected by the vigilante association that call themselves the Arcana Famiglia. The head of the organization is know as "Papa" and he has a daughter who is also part of the gang. Her name is Felicita. The top family members received or rather make a bond with some Arcana card that allows them to use it's power. On his birthday, Mondo decided to let go of his Papa title by picking the winner of the Arcana duel. Those who wins will also get to married Felicita and hence some conflict occurred since she's not willing. This is when her knights in shining armor came to the rescue.

(c) HuneX

I am sure there will be somewhat a love triangle in this story between Liberta, Felicita and Nova. Though it would be funny if all the males become her harem since they are way too old for her.

I do not feel anything towards any of the characters in this show though I thought that Pace is rather cute. Then again, I am always biased when knowing that Sugita Tomokazu is his seiyuu.

Speaking of which, all the seiyuu did a pretty excellent job since they fit with their characters so well. At least this doesn't add to the bitter disappointment of the story itself. Having said that, the OP and the ED are not good at all. I though the ED was rather annoying to be honest.

As for the animation, I was expecting something great if not mind blowing since this is J.C. Staff we are talking about. The end product however was just another average looking anime. I hope the quality of the show improves as the story gets more serious (hopefully).

I can't say that I didn't enjoy the show but on the other hand it is something that is so average, I feel like I have watched the same shit before. It almost put me to sleep. 

Episodes: 12
Aired: Summer 2012
Producers: J.C. Staff, Sentai Filmworks

arts & animation 6/10
story 6/10
characters 7/10
sound 7/10
enjoyment 6/10
overall 6.4/10

Read More

First Impression: Rinne no Lagrange

Episodes: 12
Producers: Production I.G, Xebec
Genres: Action, Comedy, Mecha

I wouldn't be bothered by this show if it wasn't for Production I.G. If anything else fails, I was hoping that Production I.G did their part and produced some good quality animation, just like they did with Guilty Crown. Having said that, I did drop that shit after the second episode. Good story > quality animation for me.

I did say that it looks promising in my preview but I do not get my hopes up when I saw the staff who are working on this show. They don't really has that much experience under their belt except maybe for the Series Production Director, Tatsuo Satou. Hmm, maybe this show can be their catalyst for stardom? Let see...

dafuq? O_o

Fansub [commie] leaked the pre-aired episode and the quality was quite bad. Served us leech right but that won't stopped me from checking it out.

Rinne no Lagrange is about a girl who loves to help people out. The show started with her jumping into the ocean (she just happened to wear a swimsuit underneath her school uniform) to save a girl from drowning. She also always bring her jersey around, just in case. Her name is Madoka Kyono. She is helping out in every club that you can think of and is good at each of them which of course makes her a popular student at her school. Sounds normal enough, yes?

But of course her life was about to change forever. She was visited by strange person whose name is even stranger. Lets just called her Fin Lan for short. From that day on, she becomes a mecha pilot fighting the evil aliens, known as Demetria, who just happened to be hot bishies. I mean, I wouldn't mind swapping life with Madoka just so I can seduce and f-

Nevermind.

Did I mention that her family is against her piloting a mecha, as if it was a job that was advertise in the newspaper? Unnecessary drama, in my opinion. Also, how the fuck does a highschool girl suddenly knows how to pilot a mecha? Oh right... their "hearts" were connected. DAFUQ!

But I am an optimistic girl. When I saw the two mechas fighting, and knowing that Array was this hot headed bishie, I immediately wanted to see these two persons fight again - in bed. LMAO

Just like that I have found my OTP.

Sadly though, the way these characters were depicted, there is little room for development. Take Madoka for an example: she is just depicted as a happy airhead who went along at anything that was thrown at her. If this wasn't the case, then this show could have some potential to be more than just a shallow mecha anime.

To make things worse, it has cheesy BGM too. At one scene when the bishies appeared, suddenly the airship turned into some cheap blues bar that you imagined was preoccupied by fugly hosts. They were trying too hard. It was rather annoying to be honest. Same goes for the OP and ED. Definitely not this show's strongest point. Then again, nothing is.

this is a lie

The animation was smooth as expected from Production I.G. The character designs however, are average at best. The hot bishies have this dead expression on their faces and the background could have been improved with more details. Also the choice of color could have been better. It failed to make this show looks more dynamic. Everything is just as flat and as bland as the plot (if indeed there will be one).

I might dropped this but if it manages to constantly pique my interest with the "fights", then who knows. But for me to survive the fanservice... This show is like them bimbos. Pretty to look at but dumb as fuck.

Recommended? Only if you a hardcore mecha fans.

arts & animation 6/10
story 5/10
characters 6/10
sound 5/10
enjoyment 6/10
overall 5.6/10

Read More

First Impression: Sket Dance

At first, the only reason I was remotely interested with Sket Dance is because Keiichiro Kawaguchi is directing it, the same director that did Zettai Karen Children which I am a fan of. I still have my doubt though. Then I learned about the cast. The crossover makes a lot of sense all of a sudden.

http://www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=879083

They hire Tomokazu Sugita as one of the main seiyuu. That's decided it for me. I'm gonna watch this shit (If it wasn't for my outrageous working scheduled, I would have done the Sugita Quest like Glo does his Rie Quest. That's how big of a fan I am). Did you see how I choose my anime now? =3

Academy Activity Support Club or Sket-dan for short is just like Gintoki's Yorozuya. In fact Sket Dance is more or less Gintama in modern days. There are Himeko, Kagura double, Switch as Gintoki double and Bossun who supposedly to be the leader. They do odd stuff in that little club of theirs, solving mysteries and so on.

There are still few characters that haven't been introduced yet so that adds to the reason why I need to continue watching Sket Dance.

fappable character like this one
http://www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=879083

Though the jokes were a tad slapstick at time, they were able to make me chuckled. Mind you, it's not out right laugh out loud kind of thing. I have a feeling if this show is done by a much more experience production studio, it could turn out so much better. Or maybe I'm just being harsh towards Tatsunoko Productions for not hiring a strong capable writer than can do randomness like that of Gintama. I said this because it falls a little flat for me and it is kinda cliche.

The animation is nothing to boast about but I should give credits when it is due. They took it up a notch when it comes to the fighting and there are some slick moves going on. If only the effort is continuous throughout the episode. Then again it is all comes down to the budget. Having said that, the casts are pretty impressive and I am glad that they spend their money hiring the right people for the characters. Sugita is awesome as always.

Well, this show doesn't blew me away but for obvious reason I am going to keep watching this.

arts & animation 7/10
story 7/10
characters 8/10
sound 8/10
enjoyment 7/10
overall 7/10

Read More

First Impression: Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt

I've seen a lot of first thoughts in the anime blogsphere about this anime. Since I want to avoid spoilers, I didn't check them out. So this anime has potential to be either really good are just really bad otherwise people won't be raging about it like they did.

Many have compared this to Power Puff Girls and for good reason. Allowed me to say that I really don't like the art and animation. It might be an eye candy with all those vibrant colors and what not but my dislike stems from the fact that this is too westernized. If I want to see something like this, I just have to switch on the Cartoon Network. I hope that in the coming future, there will be no more emulating the western cartoon theme. I like anime because of the Japanese quality to it. This is just... *rejects*

But lets not get too negative with my review. I have only seen the first 5 minutes of the episode after all. Though let me make it clear that every sound that I heard so far really annoyed me to hell. Yes, even the seiyuus. Especially the seiyuus. The dog, Chuck, in particular really gets on my nerves. The sound effects too are just too over-the-top. I understand why they intentionally did that but it will just keep me irritated from start to finish. What the hell is with the OP anyway? Panty stocking panty stocking chant? *facepalm*

The ED on the other hand is good, but yet again, very westernized.

Now lets talk about what this show is all about. I don't even know where the fuck to begin. I feel like the show just insulted my intelligent. Their first episode is about a poop monster? Way to market your product. Anyway, Panty and Stocking are pretty much like Blossom, Bubble and Buttercup. They have superpower or something. But they aren't made from sugar, spice and everything nice. In fact, it's on the contrary. Panty is a whore and Stocking who is a Gothic chic have an obsession with sugar. They live with Garterbelt, a black priest who has the same role as the Professor in Power Puff Girls. I assumed every week they will have a different monster/enemy pop up. The girls mission is to collect the Heaven coin. I am still not clear for what but y guess is since they are both pretty much bad girls, they are buying their way to the heaven. I wonder if this show will have a Mojo Jojo too. Yep, it feels like this is a parody of that ever so popular American show for kids. But instead of for kids, I think this show targeted to the more matured audience.

See what I mean?

I guess all those virgin otakus and lolicon out there will fap every time Panty and Stocking transform. They pretty much did a pole dancing with really sexually arousing movements. Panty by the way, will fight the enemy panty-less. Why? Because she will take off her pantsu and turned it into a pistol. Same goes to Stocking but instead of pantsu, she used, you guessed it, stocking hence their names. Like I said, I feel like I have been insulted.

Each story last around 15 minutes or so which mean in one episode there will be two different stories. Sounds familiar? This is how the western dudes and duddettes used to do it too.

Despite the rant, Panty and Stocking are interesting characters. Panty is so morally unethical. She fucked every good looking guys she laid her eyes on and pretty much ride them until they are spent. She cursed a lot and fuck is probably her favorite words, unsurprisingly. Stocking on the other hand is more calm and collected. Her weapon is a sword so that naturally have me rooted for her.

All I can say is Gainax definitely gives everything they got, the bad and the good. You can either love this or hate it. Either way Gainax has managed to make people talking about how ridiculously outlandish this show is. I am not sure whether or not I want to see more of it though. It will probably depends on whether or not I want a mindfuck. That's not really a bad thing.

art & animation 6/10
story 5/10
character 6/10
sound 5/10
enjoyment 6/10
overall 6/10

Read More

First Impression: Senkou no Night Raid

So this was the anime that everyone is making fun of because the mandarin sucks dick. Since I don't speak Mandarin nor do I understand them, I didn't see what was so funny though.

It started off with an interesting action sequence so this series becomes totally acceptable in my book almost instantly. The set up was in Shanghai year 1930s and the hero is a total bishie. This is about a Japanses spy team in the land of China. Each and everyone of them has special ability that made them useful.

Aoi, the bishie has some sort of a wind manipulation power, Yukina is a telepathic, Natsume is a sharp-shooter/sharp-eyes and Kazura... well, his power took me by surprise. It's not so much about his power but the way the animation was made. I am totally diggin it. He's a fucking teleporter.

Aoi, the daredevil

Kazura, the no nonsense teleporter

Yukina, milady of telephaty

Natsume, the quiet sharp-shooter

There is a lot of information to digest though but I'm sure as the episodes multiplied, it will all becomes clear, like it mostly does with this kind of story.

This one is so getting my seal of approval. The animation was sleek. The action sequences were awesome. The plot is good. I couldn't ask for more. At last, a real action anime for the season. If only it has more blood in it, it would have been perfect.

art & animation 9/10
story 8/10
characters 9/10
sound 8/10
enjoyment 10/10
overall 9/10

Read More