First Impression: UN-GO

UN-GO is one of the two shows that are featured in noitaminA so naturally everyone is looking forward to it, including yours truly. I usually ended up watching only one show between the two and I wonder if UN-GO will be the lucky one this season. As you can see, I have a high expectation for this show.


UN-GO is a story of mystery, of solving cases. There are several key players but the main one shoud be Yuuki Shinjurou, a detective, and his trap assistant that can transform into a horny bitch called Inga who has power to convince people to answer one question (asked by her). Together they will solve cases and other mysteries but Kaishou Rinroku and his daughter Rie in the end will get the name.

I thought the setting of the story is pretty ordinary considering that this show is featured in noitaminA. It doesn't exactly ball grabbing good since I can already tell who the murderer is even before Inga appeared. It was too obvious. That in itself makes this show kinda falls short for me. In that case, how can this show falls under the mystery genre? The good news however is the fact that I love the combination of Yuuki and Inga and if I'm being honest, I am actually is extremely jealous of Inga. I wanna give Yuuki a french kiss too. LOL

Considering that UN-GO is a mystery/police kinda show, it lacks the action. The way the show brought us along for the ride to solve the mystery is nothing spectacular: less talk and more action, please. Oh, and since it's a mystery, it would have been awesome if you added some suspense and drama in it too. I'm just saying...

*snaps fingers* I guess the mysteries lies at the beginning of the episode where Yuuki was claimed to be dead and met Inga the first time. This show probably wants us to figure that out instead of the murder that took place. Hmm, quite clever.

UN-GO is produced by Bones. I'm not crazy with the studio's works. Having said that, I did enjoy No. 6, Sword of the Stranger and Star Driver to name a few. The character designs in UN-GO look far too skinny (not CLAMP style though) and some of them kinda look exactly the same. To put it in a much simpler word: boring except perhaps for Inga but she shouldn't count because she can fucking transformed! Bones also failed to evoke any emotion out of me. There is no sense of drama what so ever. I'm not just saying about the BGM but by the depiction of scenes as well. It was meh and monotonous from start to finish.

For a noitaminA series, this one kinda fail. It does not leave us with proper WOW impression and personally I feel like it is forgettable at best. The least Bones could do is to excite us with whats to come in episode 2 but nope... not even that.

My expectation though has not been crushed to the ground, it was not met.

arts & animation 7/10
story 6/10
characters 6/10
sound 5/10
enjoyment 6/10
overall 6/10

ps: I'm loving that ED though!



pss: What does UN-GO even mean? Did I miss something?

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First Impression: No. 6

One of the noitaminA anime for the Summer. It was released the last two weeks but I was too damn busy with shits that I have only got the time to watch it now. Better late than never I guess. I wonder if I ever going to manage checking out the remaining 15 anime of the Summer season =\

(c) Sarnath

No.6 is actually a name of a city that kinda reminds me of Fractale since it's supposed to be the ideal city but just like most place, there are always shits going on underneath the perfect facade. Chronos is the most luxurious part of the city where the most intelligent people resides. That's where Shion lives since he's proven to be a genius.

Though Shion life looks to be perfect on the outside, the show portrays that he might not be content at all. On his twelve birthday, a typhoon hits the city and on that fateful night, he met his fateful counterpart (I'm fulfilling my fantasies, ignore me :P), Nezumi, a boy his age who ran away from some sort of a military based operation. He was wounded so Shion treated him. He learned a few things or two from Nezumi, like No.6 is not really as peaceful as he thought it was.

Though the characters aren't as fluid or pretty as I hope it would be, they are still full of personalities and dare I say, soul. Credits to the seiyuus for making them come alive with their voices. In the preview, they looks like Allen and Yuu Kanda from D.Grayman but they don't look anything like them in this first episode. In fact, Shion hair color is brunette and not white. At least not yet anyway.

If noitaminA tag isn't enough to convince me to watch this show (which it is), the BL and yaoi fanarts scattered around the interweb sure does the trick. But No.6 is more than just appearance, everything else about it is engaging which is why I am so gonna follow this one, as I have stated in my Summer preview. I wonder if I should do an episodic review? Hmm...

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

p/s: I freaking love the ED ♥

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First Impression: Gosick

The OP of Gosick definitely got me excited. Looking at the characters designs, I was impressed and immediately like the male protagonist. This opinion, of course, will change immediately as well if he turns out to be a wuzz. I predict the goth girl to be a typical tsundere. Just throwing the idea out there.

The start of the episode shows some old whacked job lady sprouting some prophecy nonsense about a boy who will cause the end of the world. To stop this, she told the villagers to sacrifice 11 hares. So it was a pretty bloody and gore start for Gosick. I'm not complaining. This just might be my cup of tea.

That's two good points in a row.

(c) takeda hinata

Kujo Kazuya is the male protagonist that I referred to earlier. Everyone at school avoided him and called him a "dark reaper" for some reason. Apparently he's not from Saobure but was sent there to further his study. Guess what? I changed my mind because he did turn out to be a fucking wuzz. Damn it for false hope. I was right about the Victorique (that's the name of the goth girl) too.

They met in some sort of arboretum where they also met Grevil de Blois. A fitting name for a guy who has a giga drill breaker for a quiff. I almost forgot that this is the parody for Sherlock Holmes. It's hard to take this seriously with sidekick like Kujo, police officer like Grevil and an over-zealous teacher with megane as big as her boobs. Besides, when Grevil told the story of the murder, even I can conclude that the maid was the murderer even before Victorique told him so since the old lady obviously died from a gun shot to her left eye. Jeebus.

Thankfully the gore stuffs are pretty gore. I like that part a lot.

So... basically Kujo is boring, not meant to be a leader type of guy. He could used the lift but instead opt to climb thousand staircases instead. I called that dumb. Victorique is smart (duh) but totally unsociable and Grevil got all the credits from her hardwork of solving cases, not that she mind but Kujo won't let it slide and took it upon himself to interfere with her life. I guess she was thankful for that since thanks to him, she got to experience the outside world now. And thus the trio were created and the story started.

Aoi Yuuki is definitely suited for Victorique role. She has done many similar characters before: Mina Tepes, Murasaki Kuhouin, Korone and Noel Kannagi to name a few (I was surprised to find out that she did Shinra). As for the other seiyuu, I'm not really familiar with any of them. That's another word for me to say that they are forgettable.

The ED is kinda dark and mysterious to match the theme of the show. After a few minutes, I realized that I can't remember how it sounds like. Same with the OP though I do remember the MV so it wasn't so bad I guess, just forgettable, like the seiyuus. LOL

My verdict for the first impressions is this: it was average at best. There's nothing really stands out about the characters, animation, story and sound. Having said that, if you want an anime to watch, this is a trillion times better than Rio: Rainbow Gate! I might watch this or might dropped it after few episodes. We'll see.

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

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First Impression: Star Driver

When I see the title of the first episode, I couldn't help but chuckled. How am I to take this show seriously when you named an episode Galactic Pretty Boy.

Star Driver started with Wako, seemingly the female protagonist, saving Takuto who almost drowned. Wako is the "south maiden" on the island, although in all honesty she doesn't look anything like it. She is supposed to married Shindo, the rich kid ins school. He might look serious and demure but I believe he's just a pervert otherwise his maids won't be wearing animal ears when serving him.

The reason Takuto ends up on the island is to find his dad. Although Shindou and Wako is supposed to be joined hands in marriage, Shindou believe that he should be able to choose who he wants to fall in love with and Wako seems interested in Takuto. Love triangle in the making?

But this is all subplot to what's really going on. Apparently there are shits going on underneath the island. All these dudes and duddettes wearing outrageous silly costumes and masks. Even with that stupid get up I know who exactly are they. They kidnapped the maiden (since there are 4 of them) and stole their seals to fire up their mecha. Their next target is Wako and since Takuto was somehow around, he will not just stand and watch. Turned out he's the Galactic Pretty Boy! ZOMG I couldn't stop laughing. I'm sorry but this is just too hilarious. It is just way too fucked up to be taken seriously. Jeebus...

In all honesty, I think there are too much going on for an introductory episode. I kinda at lost with the amount of information that I need to digest so I can understand what the hell is really going on. They should just stick with the love triangle plot, imo. This has starting to feel like Tengen Toppan Gurren Lagann. Takuto definitely resembles Kamina with his extravagant attitude. As if that wasn't enough, at the end of the episode, after the ED, we are served with Ultraman preview. LOLWUT? *chuckles*

When he transformed, he kinda looks like that protagonist dude from Flag.

All the male characters look to be suffering from malnutrition. They are all skinny. They also have these weird, yet cool, looking hairdo. If i need to pick their best traits, I would definitely gonna say the hair. I wasn't really crazy about the character designs, and the overall look of the anime, especially with that ridiculous bad guys outfit but they make it up with awesome fighting sequences and over the top mecha shiznit. Credits to Bones and Aniplex. They tried really hard.

I noticed Sugata Shindou seiyuu right away. Jun Fukuyama is definitely growing on me. I am also delighted when I heard Mamoru Miyano vocalizing Takuto Tsunashi. I was even more surprised when Head appeared and is voiced by Akira Ishida. Three of my top ten seiyuus in one show? Awesome. These three seiyuus have distinct personality in their voice and it fits perfectly with the kind of character they are playing. Sorry, I don't pay attention to the other characters though ^^"

I like the OP, both the song and the video. It definitely cheer me up somehow. LOL it obviously will since the OP is by Aqua Timez, one of my favorite Japanese bands of all time. Then the fish girl started singing to entertain Head and I think it was beautiful. I feel the same way with the ED too.

I guess I did enjoy this episode despite the all the fucked up shit. With this one, it will either be a hit or a miss with everyone. So far this turned out quite decent for my entertainment. I'm gonna check out episode 2 just to see how the romance progressing.

If you like TTGL the fucked up version, this one is for you :P

art & animation 8/10
story 5/10
character 6/10
sound 7/10
enjoyment 7/10
overall 7/10

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First impression: Heroman

I don't remember anything about the synopsis of Heroman from the Spring anime list and is actually too tired from the trip for anything else but when Snark said that he gave Heroman the seal of approval, that is all the reason I need to watch this one.

I like it instantly when I saw that the anime is set up in the USA. I am kinda tired with anime that took place in Japan and no where else. Not that it has anything wrong with it but the different is kinda refreshing. But then again, most of mecha's anime are set up outside of Japan, aren't they? Like Gundam 00 for example.

And I found it funny when characters that have western name speak in Japanese. So just like that it's pretty entertaining.

fuck. he looks like a girl. Sounds like one too!

Joey is the seemingly very weak protagonist who has the hippest grandma ever. He's friend with the coolest character of the series so far, Psy. See? That name is so fucking cool right? I'll name one of my son Psy. Just you wait and see... Yeah, fuck. I pretty much told the world about my fetish, didn't I? >_>

Psy

Anyway, Joey likes robot but can't afford one. One day one of the bully's Heybo got smashed by a car. He obviously threw Heybo away and as expected Joey picked and patched Heybo up and named him Heroman.

In the mean time, one of Joey's teacher, Mr. Denton has successfully making contact with extra terrestrial life who happened to be a giant cockroach that will invade the earth in the next episode. During their arrival, there was a storm and Heroman was struck by lightning. One thing led to another and before I know it, Joey has this device on his hand that can control Heroman who have grown like 9 feet in just few seconds.

Stupid Denton calling out for giant bugs

It just so happened that at the same time, Lina, the soon-to-be Joey's girlfriend was involved in an accident. Of course Heroman and Joey will save her and her dad. What bothers me though is that Joey or Heroman has no inclination what-so-ever to save the other people that involved in that accident. Can you really called them Hero, then?

After 24 minutes, I re-read what I wrote about the upcoming Spring anime. I wrote this:

Heroman kinda reminds me of X'amd. Get this though. It's another collaboration. This time of Stan Lee and Bones. I already liked Stan Lee's collaboration with Hirayuki Takei in Ultimo. So this hopefully is something very promising for my taste. Besides, X'amd is cool.

I forgot that Stan Lee has his hand in this. So it explained the USA thingy. And I was right. This one definitely deserved Snark Seal of Approval. Go on ahead. Click the link. He writes better first impression than me. You'll be thoroughly entertained ^_^

art/animation 8/10
story 7/10
character 7/10
sound 7/10
enjoyment 8/10
overall 7/10

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Sword of the Stranger

Original story by Bones
Director: Masahiro Ando
Animation Director: Itou Yoshiyuki
Character Design: Saito Tsunenori
Art Director: Morikawa Atsushi
Art Design: Takeuchi Shiho
Screenplay: Fumihiko Takayama
Music: Naoki Sato

Less than 5 minutes in we already have awesome bloodfest that made me go BAM! whenever someone got killed (brutally I might add but oh so awesome). I knew then that I am going to like this film very much ^__^

And right I was. The actions are non-stop. I am smiling from ear-to-ear whenever a fight starts because it promises oh so freaking awesome fighting sequences and bloodfest.

I really like the art. The animation is freaking smooth it is definitely movie-like quality. What the heck am I saying? This is a movie! duh!! But like I said, because of the smooth animation, all the actions that follow are exceptional. As for the background, it is like water-colored painting-isque. Very pretty indeed. Gotta give props to the Art and Animation directors as well as the Art Design guy. They really did a good job.

Props for the character designs too. They did an excellent job. There are plenty of characters and they don't just stand there with a blank for a face. They all have their own characterizations, even for the extras. I won't go into details about the characters except for these three:

Kotarou

Meet Kotarou, the very bossy kid who is on the run from the Ming. With him is Tobimaru, his loyal dog. When Tobimaru was wounded with a poison weapon, Kotarou hired Nanashi and that is how they become attached to each other. He lived in Ming (China) two years prior and now the Mings are looking for him. For what reason? That would be too spoilerish >=3

Akage/ Akaoini/ Nanashi

oh hell yeah that is blood!

A former very skillful swordman who choose not to draw his sword again. Even though he carries one around, he tied his sword so it would be VERY difficult to draw it. He met Kotarou when he accidentally came across his hiding place and saved him when the Ming attacked. When he found out that Kotarou was taken by the Ming, he does not hesitates to rescue him. By the way, the reason he doesn't want to be a soldier anymore has something to do with his background. Aye, very awful indeed. Oh did I mention that he is actually a red head? *nosebleed*

Rarou

Rarou is part of the Ming mercenaries army of some sort. It was easy to recognize them since they wear the red cape. They are given the task to catch Kotarou. It has something to do with the Elixir of Immortality. Like many other skilled swordman, he always look for stronger opponent. So you pretty much can tell with who the epic battle would be. thehehe...

So what else did I miss. Oh yeah the story! I'm sure you can pretty much tell what the story is about by reading the characters' info so lets skip that part. Just know that the pace was great and they keep you guessing what is going on.

I have no complain whatsoever when it comes to the music scores. They were excellent. I remember mellowing when they played the calm music in the background and anxious as hell when it comes to the battle. They definitely play a part in setting up the mood for this movie.

You may have notice that there aren't that many screencap. That's because I was too busy drooling and spasm and squealing and FUCK EVERYTHING ELSE when I watched this. I have lost how many BAM! moments it had. Must be more than twenty, at least. Oh man, this is why I so love carnage. They promised a lot of bloodfest. Bloodfest is like... orgasm man. I just can't express with words what it does to my state of mind. Total bliss!

I watched this the second time to actually get the screencaps yet the same thing happened. It is only on the third try that I get all these screencaps, and I still got distracted. Aight, here are some of my favorite scenes. No bloodfest scene because a screencap won't do justice at how bloody awesome it was. I swear I got tears in my eyes. Oh man IT WAS BLOODY FUCKING AWESOME!

nothing says bonding like taking a pee together

They weren't doing waltz btw ^__^

I can't take my eyes off of Nanashi *nosebleed*

*ehem* So yeah, if carnage and bloodfest is your thing, don't fucking miss this.



Like Kara no Kyoukai 7, just 10 out of 10 will not do justice fort this movie. So it will get the extra stars.

art 10/10
story 10/10
sound 10/10
character 10/10
enjoyment 10/10
overall 10/10***

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