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All posts for the year 2011

Review: Seitokai Yakuindomo (生徒会役員共) TV + OVA

Posted by ranpha on 9th September 2011
Posted in: anime review. Tagged: , , . 1 comment


The one-winged fallen angel a.k.a. the main male protagonist and one of the best characters in this anime.

The second review for this month is yet another of last year’s series titled Seitokai Yakuindomo. Unlike the previous anime reviewed here that also comes out last year, this anime sure has much saner (and blander) given title. Both of them has the same distinction of not being able to dethrone the current ‘Anime of the Year 2010’ holder Katanagatari though. This anime is surprisingly decent for reasons that can be counterintuitive for a title in the genre. Read on to see what those reasons are.


The main male protagonist’s classmate-cum-student council member, also one of the best characters in this anime.

Story:-
The nonchalant main MALE protagonist is just starting his first day at his new high-school that has just turned co-ed from being an all-GIRLS school, and he was suddenly drafted into the all-girls only student council, as a vice-president to boot. Handling the administrative chores is actually the easy part for the inexperienced him, because dealing with his new comrades in the student council is proving to be a substantially more awkward experience.

This anime really shows its 4-koma origins in its method of storytelling presentation, and that is definitely this title’s first weakness I have noticed. Using the 4-koma presentation techniques on the small screen is definitely not a good idea mainly because it caused the pacing to be terrifyingly fast (not as fast as a typical Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei season though) and the transitions between scenes is pretty much incoherent. Let just say that this anime’s plot progression is the worst when compared to the last 50 titles reviewed here before, and that’s saying something considering that we have ‘gems‘ like Infinite Stratos and Dragon Crisis within those 50 titles.

What this anime should have done is to learn how other 4-koma-based titles like the two excellent 2010 titles like Working!! and K-On!! were adapted to their anime forms while leaving their 4-koma roots behind. This anime can actually do this in episode 3, 7, 9 and 11 where panels that has the same themes are bunched together. If only this anime could have been more consistent with this for the whole series, this anime would have done better in the presentation aspects.


This ‘airhead’ scene is funny the first time it appears, but not sure if it works after three times or so.

It takes me about three episodes or so to get used with all those crass toilet humor dialogues, and you know what, they are mostly average. A damning verdict for a so-called comedy title. Dependence of the sexually-themed jokes (could do more with slapstick humor for example, or more ‘vertically-challenged’ jokes) and usage of quickly expiring elements multiple times (see above) is a negative, and there are times when I feel like some of the jokes was simply shoe-horned into the episode for the sake of they being there. There are some good exceptions, and also bad ones, that deviates from the average though. Just see the image below.


The recurring ‘Suzu’s Head’ joke never gets old though.

This anime is still watchable though for a couple of reasons. The first one is the character strengths of the main male protagonist and also his blonde classmate shorty who also happened to be in the student council. Watching him suffering sexual harassments by his seniors in the student council (and his sister and his teacher and more) while still standing his ground (his counterpart in OreImo could learn a lot from him when it comes to not being a doormat) is one of the attractions of this anime. He could do well to be more proactive when it comes to generating jokes though, instead of always having to react to them. And this is where Suzu the Shorty has done very well indeed, while still being able to hold off her seniors just as well as the main male protagonist is. These two characters really helps shoring up character developments in this series, offsetting the one-dimensional airhead rich girl and also the main female protagonist that can be creepier than Kirino herself. Thinking about that, when it comes to this, even the androphobia girl and the newspaper reporter are better than them.


I have mixed emotions about her character perverseness here, but one thing for sure is that she is still better than half of the members of the student council. You know who am I referring to right?

The other reason why you should still watch this anime is the solid slice-of-life high school life plots it has. Despite being held back by the piss-poor presentation and the generally average accompanying humor, you will be able to see the main male protagonist doing his thing as he sailed through the first year of his high school life dealing with his seniors, Suzu, the judo girl and his little sister (she is proof that this series is nearly one-dimensional in nature). The ending is non-existent and allows for a continuation. The OVA actually do just that, but I actually hoped that a proper second season will come out for this series. This series should have at least one year-worth (in the series timeline) of story material left, which will be left to waste if this anime was extended only with OVAs.


Quoted For Truth.

Character Design:-
Character designs in this anime is good, and has plenty of black hairs to go around. This is one example where character designs between the manga and anime has very little difference, if any at all. A positive aspect for this anime.


For someone who claims that she can speak native English, this scene totally demolished that claim.

Voice Acting:-
Being another title with huge amount of dialogues (despite the fast pacing), voice acting in this anime is great, even better than what you can hear in OreImo. The two main protagonists, Suzu (except for the scene above), their supervising teacher and the newspaper reporter are outstanding characters in the regard. The rest of the characters’ roster has done well too and I don’t see any bad gigs here. A positive aspect for this anime.


One of the genuinely good sexually-connoted humor scene in this anime…

Music:-
The OST in this anime is excellent, probably the best I have heard for a while. Too bad that the OP/ED themes is nowhere as good as it though.

Animation/Direction:-
The animation quality in this anime is good, even in the very few fast-paced scenes it has. Just like OreImo, choreography didn’t apply here. The director really screw-up by using the manga storytelling techniques instead of adapting a more measured approach (that may kill the manga timeline I suppose) seen in other similar adaptations.


…while this one isn’t one of them.

Conclusion:-
7 out of 10. Not as good as the referenced Hakuouki Hekketsu-roku that is mentioned at the end of the anime. Hey did I forgot to mention that this anime also make references? And did I also say that its beach episode is nowhere as exciting as Highschool of the Dead OVA is?

Shortlink: http://wp.me/prgSo-ux

Review: Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai (俺の妹がこんなに可愛いわけがない)

Posted by ranpha on 1st September 2011
Posted in: anime review. Tagged: . 1 comment


From left to right: the main male protagonist, the main title female protagonist, and finally the best character of this anime.

This review of yet another anime title with a long name (Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai) was supposed to come last week, but I only actually finished watching it yesterday. As a 2010 title, it will then try (and failed) to challenge Katanagatari for the ‘Anime of the Year 2010’ title. Just like its sister title Bakemonogatari, I waited until all the episodes on Blu-ray were released before watching this anime so that I can see the whole series plus the alternate ending too. Unlike Bakemonogatari, there is a tangible benefit for me after doing so, and if you want to know what it is, just continue reading the whole review below.


And the main title female protagonist wasted no time at all doing what her counterpart in another anime series with a long title Onii-chan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne!! is doing.

Story:-
Somewhere in a typical Japanese household, the main male protagonist accidentally found an adult-only dating simulation game hidden somewhere near the stairways of the house. Intrigued by the existence of something that wasn’t supposed to exist in the household, he conducted a fishing expedition during dinner and net the culprit in the form of her younger sister, a model citizen that he has always hated. Armed with the greatest blackmail material of all time, he then makes her sister his sex slave he then acts out of character and helped her covering her hideous hobby from their very conservative parents and her friends too,which is the running theme of this anime.

The story in this anime is good, and at least better than the one you can see in a similarly set-up title Onii-chan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne!! (abbreviated Onii-chan from now on). There are no plots about a sister wanting to get into her perverted brother’s pants though like the latter, with both of the main protagonists here are mostly decent people.  Well, this mostly applies for the main male protagonist only because, as episode 11 has illustrated when she plays an adult game, the main title female protagonist can become very creepy indeed. As mentioned above, this anime revolves around how the main male protagonist helped covers his sister’s secret disgusting hobbies and in the process helped her nurture it instead, introducing her to more people that dabbles in the same hobbies. Therefore this anime is more similar in substance with the likes of Doujin Work or even Comic Party instead of Onii-chan.

The main weakness that I can see in this anime definitely lies in character developments. For starters, the main male protagonist could have become one of the best characters in this anime if only he has some spine and take a more hands-off approach at helping her sister compared to what he is doing in the anime. I cringe everytime he simply relents when his sister orders him to play a dating simulation, except for the first time because of the necessity of the storyline. Even his counterpart in Onii-chan is less of a doormat compared to him in this aspect. This is a pity because otherwise he has a good character development path overall which is even better in the latter parts of the series.

Moving to the main title female protagonist, it is suffice to say that her counterpart in Onii-chan is a vastly better character than her. This one-dimensional tsundere character development is glacial at best, in contrast to what her brother experienced. Basically, she is doing the same things over and over again for 99% of the series, like being permanently angry all the time and being stubborn for her own good for example.  Her two good friends at school are even better than her; the scene where one of them turned yandere at the Comic Market episode is one of the most memorable scenes in this series. And her other twin-tailed friend has done more in 15 minutes (see episode 10 – the cosplay scene is another great scene in this series) than what the main title female protagonist has done in 15 episodes. She is definitely an example of a below average tsundere, far removed compared to great ones like Yamada of B gata H kei.


One of the best scenes in this anime.

The best characters in this anime is definitely the kuudere Kuroneko (this anime has all of the *dere archetypes characters crammed into it), heavily aided by her significant role in the extra ending episodes. Some worthy mentions should also be given to the main male protagonist childhood friend. Some of the characters like the bespectacled girl could do with more developments though. Comedy in this anime is mostly decent, but not exactly top class unlike the way it is in Doujin Work. There is a lot of references to other dating simulation titles out there too in this anime, and I suspect they includes those that are not included in those ‘little sisters’ genre that the main title female protagonist enjoys.

The pacing of this anime is a little bit slower than what it should be, despite the fact that this series straddles about 1 1/2 year of the series’ calendar. The flow of the storyline is excellent though. And unlike Bakemonogatari, the extra episodes for an alternate ending actually enhance the series even more. I’m glad I waited until all 15 episodes comes out because the original ending, crammed into only one episode, seems to be written in a hurry and affects the flow of the storyline. With the extra episodes, the alternative ending path lengthened the series a little bit more and allows the alternate ending to be presented in a more satisfactory manner. And of course, there are more Kuroneko in it, although I hoped that the other girl could have more character developments in it.


An apt description of the perfectly normal main male protagonist.

Character Design:-
It wasn’t that different really to what you can see in B gata H kei, which is just your standard shounen genre character designs, but not as good as B gata H kei is. Do not be mistaken by the shoujo-style designs in the first two screenshots above, there is nothing like that here. Black hairs are numerous, and of course this is a good thing considering the setting.

Voice Acting:-
Voice acting in this dialogue-heavy anime is good in general. The best gigs you can expect from this anime comes from Kuroneko, the bespectacled girl and also the childhood friend. The two main protagonists has done well too, although in the case of the main male protagonist, he could do with some more improvements. A positive aspect for this anime.


I’m not really sure the yandere girl appreciates being put on the same level as School Days is.

Music:-
The OST is decent, but not so for the OP theme. Each episode in this series featured a different ending theme, and the only good ones comes from episode 3, 6 and 13 (a success rate of 18%). The insert in episode 10 during the cosplay event is surprisingly good too.

Animation/Direction:-
The animation quality in this anime is good, even in fast-paced scenes. Integration between CGI and traditional 2D animations is excellent. Choreography in this slice-of-life anime doesn’t exist. The director has used some neat camera tricks in some scenes, although he should have done something about the pacing.


An ending that features her prominently is probably a better option for this series, storywise.

Conclusion:-
7 out of 10. The extra episodes alone gives at least a point to the final rating. Not really sure when the next review will come out…


This Meruru anime must really sucks if this description is correct. Even Powerpuff Girls Z doesn’t pull this DragonBall ripoff.

Shortlink: http://wp.me/prgSo-tT

Review: REDLINE (レドライン)

Posted by ranpha on 19th August 2011
Posted in: anime movies, anime review, sport genre standard. Tagged: . 1 comment


The main male protagonist.

Just like I have mentioned in my previous blog post just a couple of days ago, today’s review is going to be for the long-awaited feature-length anime movie titled REDLINE.  Seven years in the making, with all frames being hand-drawn, this 2009 title will then challenge the ‘Anime of the Year 2009’ incumbent Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. Not being saddled with the blurry animation technique penalty but has the sport genre handicap being applied to it instead, will this movie actually matches the hype I have heard about it and take the title?

Story:-
Set up far away in the futuristic future, REDLINE is an illegal racing tournament that takes place every 5 years at a random location, and watched by fans across the universe. The main male protagonist managed to get into the race after a couple of the original finalists withdrew from the race and he has to dodge missiles from competitors and the army while trying to win the race and getting the woman.

Storywise, this movie is no different really than the anime I reviewed here before Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou; the plot has very little substance. Basically this movie shows some racing at the start, then shows some preparations before the big race, and of course, the REDLINE itself. The pacing of the thin storyline is thick and fast (a good thing I guess), even during the part when there is no racing. But unlike Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou and just like the Ponyo movie, the flow of the storyline in this movie is excellent from the start until the end, despite its lack of substance.

Character developments in this movie is pretty minimal, mainly consists of some well-placed flashbacks. And only certain characters benefits from this, and they are the main male protagonist and his mechanic. I don’t think the main female protagonist get the same privileges that those two has. The ending (the REDLINE race itself) is predictable but is still a very good watch, if you like action.

Character Design:-
Character designs in this movie is excellent although not far removed from the designs seen in past titles in futuristic sci-fi shounen genre like Trigun or Cowboy Bebop. Lack of black hairs in this movie is forgivable because of the settings, I’m not even sure if the main protagonist is from Earth or not. Race car designs are also good, except for the main female protagonist’s. A positive aspect for this movie.

Voice Acting:-
Voice acting in this movie is good overall. But what really stands out in this movie is the voices of the female characters, because they are much better than their male counterparts. This is not to say that the male protagonist and the rest of the male lineup in this movie are bad, it is just that the female lineup are clearly superior. The main female protagonist and the racers from Planet Supergrass are some good examples of this female superiority phenomenon in this movie. A positive aspect for this movie.

Music:-
The bass-heavy OST of this movie is excellent and is integral in this movie’s watching experience. Better crank up those subwoofers and surround speakers when watching the racing parts of this movie, this movie has the best surround effects that is comparable to the Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Blu-ray I watched recently. The ED theme is forgettable though. Despite of that, the musical part in this movie is still a positive aspect for this movie.

Don’t watch this movie with stereo speakers. You miss a big part of the experience if you don’t have at least a 5.1 speaker setup.


The awesome kaleidoscope scenery in Europass, a sample of the visual pleasure you will get from watching this movie.

Animation/Direction:-
The hype that surrounds this movie mostly has to do with the excellent animation it has, and oh boy this movie does not disappoint. Seven years in the making? With hand-drawn animations? This movie easily topped what you can see from Studio Ghibli’s Ponyo movie, by some comfortable margin. Pristine animation overall even in fast-paced scenes. This apply even in very fast ones as is common in racing sequences. It is hard to overstate how good the animation is in this movie, you will have to see it by yourself. I’ll give this movie 2 extra points to the final evaluation just because of this.

Great animation, paired with thin storyline, this movie is basically the Japan’s answer to Avatar.

Choreography in the racing scenes is quite decent too, although I feel that this movie loses some steam in this regard after the appearance of the biological weapon in  middle part of REDLINE. The directing is flawless, and I have no problems with it at all. Although maybe the director could employ some of the great camera work that can be seen in the likes of Fractale’s first episode.

Conclusion:-
9 out of 10, a respectable score considering its nature. This anime would have replaced Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei if not for the sport genre handicap. The next anime I will review here is a overly familiar one, a title that will make you go ‘oh snap’! Not very long, only 15 episodes, so expect it to come next week or so, unless it is crap.

Shortlink: http://wp.me/prgSo-rs

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