neko's thinkbox

There ya go!

And here’s the last part, already! Didn’t expect me to pull this project off this quickly^[1] did ya? Now, reward me with hits and comments, you puny little humans! …j/k.

I wouldn’t mind a few comments though, to see if my first impressions matched yours. But that’s stating the obvious (why would I keep writing if there’s barely no feedback at all), and apparently that’s asking for too much anyway. Bah, I’ll address this ever recurrent problem some other time, the main dish comes after the jump!

Besides, this is the 200th post on this blog! Yay~

List of series in Part Four:

Sengoku Basara
Shangri-la
Souten Kouro
Tayutama
Tears to Tiara
Valkyria Chronicles

Sengoku Basara

Heh. Other anime would have used naked women. I guess exceptions like this do exist after all.

So unexciting. Though, other anime would have used naked women without hesitation. I guess exceptions like this do exist after all.

I have to admit, I went into this series with some kind of distance. From past PS2 game ads, I already knew what Sengoku Basara was about, and I really wasn’t interested at all. Nevertheless, I figured I might like it after I give it a watch.

Well, I didn’t. I am very impressed by the outstanding animation quality, but that alone didn’t really make the cut for me. Let’s put it like this: I don’t really give a dime about historical wish-wash, even though sometimes I do express a faint interest in it, like the notorious hypocrite I am. Which is why I faintly remember names like Oda Nobunaga, Uesugi Kenshin, Sasuke^[2] et al, but nothing more. But I figure that many people must be in the same case, and luckily, this anime spares us neophytes: it doesn’t just sport Japanese history, but also an original story, and a good deal of humor.

Sadly though, I could not connect to any of these at all throughout the entire episode. I noted that the anime doesn’t seem to take itself much seriously either, which was duly reflected by the “Oyakatasama!!! ↔ Yukimura!!!” tandem running gag and others, but I couldn’t really laugh at it either, it was just… not funny. And it didn’t help at all with making me focus on the story, which was just… well, boring. Lots of fireworks, but I don’t get any kicks from that.

It might be a great anime to some, and once again it looks very well made, but I simply don’t think it is the right anime for me. I guess I kind of grew out of the traditional fighting action epics.^[3]

Shangri-La

Hallo nee-chan, we can see your pantsu- oh you forgot them today as well! *giggle*

Hallo onee-chan, we can see your pantsu- oh you forgot them today as well! *giggle*

Uhm, I have no clue why that girl was locked away for 2 years, but let me have a guess: she was lolilicious. Because apart from that and her superhuman movements, I can’t really think of any arguments why I should find this main character interesting, let alone the story itself.

Sure, it might deal with some kind of contemporary issue in a futuristic post-apocalypse setting, world crisis, carbon emissions, taxes and economy, etc. I’m fine with that. But trying to involve genius prepubescent lolisBet ya 100 bucks she’s a goddamn emo loli because she’s abandoned by her parents. who hack into some kind of carbon tracking database, lolis with yet another case of heterochromiaOh come on, this is boring now. How about eyes which change color from every different POV, like chameleon painted cars!, and pink-haired lolisAlmost thought there’d be Bullet Time. But instead, it’s just NINJA REFLEXES. Nin nin!^[4] who swing gun-cutting boomerangs is pretty much saying “hi, we herd u liek generic lolis so we put lolis in your animu so you can fap while you fap” and indirectly admitting that you utterly suck at creating an interesting story. Oh, and the trapFucking traps are everywhere, especially those vicious green-haired ones.. Holy shit, that was so transsexually shockingThat’s so irresistibly bad, anyone would definitely die of such an attack.. Because it’s so importantIf you don’t do this, you’ll never win a fight. to put on lipstick while some alpha blokes are shooting pew pew bullets at you. /facepalm

Quality was ok-ish, the backgrounds were nice, but some explosion detailsLOL MY HOUSE IS MADE OUT OF GREY CONFETTI were rather… bland. Apart from that, uh. I don’t really know. This anime really didn’t ignite my curiosity at all, and I shall not care about it any further either.

Souten Kouro

This guy is not amused. And I really thought he was a she at first.

This guy is not amused. And I really thought he was a she at first.

As much as I have tolerance to watch series like this, I just couldn’t last more than 10 minutes watching Souten Kouro. As I said earlier in my Sengoku Basara review, I don’t dig historical anime about warlords and shit. But especially in this case, it’s just dragging my boredom from minute one with a hideous introduction with little philosophical worth, over to gratuitous gory violence with absolutely no interest value at all. Plus the design is not really my thing, but that lies usually within the eye of the beholder – I don’t like it.
Under normal circumstances, I most likely would have zapped after 4 minutes, but I tried holding out. No go.

Tayutama

Hey miss, there's a ghost poking out of your arse. Can I please pull it out?

Hey miss, there’s a ghost poking out of your behind. Can I please pull it out?

For some reason, I almost lost my patience earlier in the episode. I was close to dropping Tayutama because that one scene with the scooterDon’t let a girl touch a scooter. Bad things might happen. Like, SHE MIGHT ACCIDENTALLY DRIVE IT INTO A 10-FEET TALL GRAVESTONE. Whoever came up with this idea should be lynched. was so astronomically stupid, I almost got a headache from all the violent facepalming. But then I realized how foolish it is to anger myself about such a trivial matter, and I watched on.

Right now, I wonder if I did right. A fox goddess with a 10t hammerSTOP! HAMMER TIME! (BTW, feels like that hammer doubled in size in that image…) and a shmall shpeech dishorder emerges and smashes small Tayutais, uhh… Pedo Yuuri lets loli fox sit on his lapTen bux that he’s got a hard-on. I win. I always win. (read: ween) and feeds her Marshmallows, and in return she wants to be his bride, kisses himBeing kissed by a loli, normal in Japan. I wouldn’t mind, either!, pedo perfect, uhh… The next day she’s already grown a pair of boobs and suddenly the childhood friend isn’t so much osananajimisauce anymore, that jealous Ameri… ka?^[5] And apparently, they’re now going to hunt three über dangerous Tayutatütatas blabla. Uhh… that’s enough.

No, seriously, I tire of anime like these. Story is meh; characters are naive, superficial and meh; design is too colorful for what it’s worth and generally meh. So to compensate for these weaknesses, add: fox earsYeeeeah, couldn’t have been wolf ears, because Horo claimed those already., fox tailHoro’s is bushier. And sexier. Mmm furries., and titsI’d rather have a flat chest over these anytime.. And the loli, but she evolved. Notice the trend? It’s the same old story again and again. I lost count of the times I :eyeroll:‘d throughout this entire episode^[6] and by the end, it naturally occurred to me: I don’t need to watch this anime!

Tears to Tiara

Seriously, just killing yourself would have been the best option. Think long-term, you dimwit.

Seriously, just killing yourself would have been the best option (though perhaps not for you nor the 2 children there). Think long-term, you dimwit.

The chances of finding a good series in the last stretch being rather slim, I thought Tears to Tiara would finally bring me some peace of mind for today. And fortunately, it did, sort of.

Let’s say, this episode was average. There aren’t that many introductions, and the events are pretty much summarized in a few words. However, I found myself interested in what will happen in the next episode, I can’t really explain why. I suppose it’s because there is absolutely nothing I can reproach to this anime so far! And no points of complaint mean, suspense is unharmed, and curiosity still remains. The action was okay, the quality as well. And it didn’t try to be stupidly facetious either, so far at least. It’s just the old power-greedy priests who want to rule the world by destroying it. Oh yes, so serious. Some elements remind me of Utawarerumono though, I have yet to locate what it is – most likely the period in time it takes place in, or so. Or perhaps that both games were made by Leaf, too.^[7]

Just why would a freshly summoned demon god who initially appeared like a huge monsterOMGWTFBBQXBOXHUEG take the shape of a petty human beingNow doesn’t he look just plain boring? You demons are clueless and unimpressive.. Why, is it easier to eat a girl like that? Or did he understand “eat” wrong…? Hah. He probably won’t though. I guess.
Anyway, I may watch on, for the time being. The first impression is relatively good, after all.

Valkyria Chronicles

Young army girl, I salute you.

Young army girl, I salute you.

I haven’t been all that impressed by this episode. It’s some in kind of war of ressources between the East and the West in a post-WW1 setting, and the neutral party has an insignificant army with female volunteers and children, and they’re preparing for an attack. Alicia thinks Welkin is a spy, while he’s just a naive man who likes drawing living nature. They’re both attacked by the Imperial Forces^[8] and at Welkin’s house, they meet a blue-haired imoutoY M C A – HANDS UP, I SAID. who loves her WW1 weapons and grenades. Nothing out of the ordinary there. It’s not really eventful, but introductions were okay.

The Valkyria in the intro was a possible allusion to the Valkyrie from the Norse mythology, but her purpose is different here. And so far, there is no link between the actual plot of this episode and the Valkyria yet. But as far as generic story logic goes, Alicia might eventually probably emerge as the Valkyria, or something. She’s the tsun shuujinko after all.
I kind of fail to see why Isara (the imouto) would mention the tank only one second before they’d have left the house, considering that her house has been hit a couple of times by flying bombshells, and that the tank is the biggest and safest object there… Guess she loves suspense huh. Also, where did she learn to shoot and kill like that?^[9] Must be related to the fact that she’s a Darcs (?) or so.

I am quite interested. This relatively weak story doesn’t seem blown out of proportion yet, the characters seem likable, I like the animation quality^[10] and the nice design.^[11] However, the next episode has got to prove me a little more of its worth.
(And what is this in the ED? Dat sum cooking KoohYou wouldn’t want a Pumpkin Phoenix soup – wait! They’re now called differently in Pangya US.?)

—

Finally done! If the last few reviews feel inconsistent, it must be because I’m having a weird sleeping pattern as of lately, and I’m a little out of my mind.

Anywho, did I miss any series this season, besides DBK, FMA:B, and Jewel Pet^[12]? Make sure to tell me!

My pick for this season is: Basquash!, Cross Game, Eden of the East, K-On!, Natsu no Arashi, Phantom Requiem, Ristorante Paradiso, Saki, Tears to Tiara and Valkyria Chronicles. Titles in bold are likely to be blogged about as well, for better or for worse (read: I want to bitch about K-On!)
I may or may not watch the other series, but that depends on how much mediocrity I need to fill my moments of boredom with.

Looking at the usual figures (read: views/comments), seems like my posts weren’t that interesting^[13] but I still hope you guys had as much fun reading my reviews as I did while writing them! Now I can finally get moving to catch up to these series, and perhaps give you guys more up-to-date reviews to those.

1. It’s relative. [↩]
2. Why must ninjas always be called Sasuke? Naruto, Ranma, etc… Oh wait, must be historical again. IDC. [↩]
3. Besides, I immediately recognized the OP singer (the band is obviously implied). Because there’s only one singer who has such a distinctive vibrato in their voice. [↩]
4. Must be Komoe-sensei’s cousin. [↩]
5. Sorry, this was an awful pun. I’ll never do it again. [↩]
6. my eyes almost got stuck on the ceiling!!! [↩]
7. Just looked up at anidb, lolol. [↩]
8. Where are the Stormtroopers? …gosh, my jokes suck today. They always do, but today more than ever. [↩]
9. Susie would have collapsed ten times before even holding that gun, let alone the chopper. [↩]
10. I felt it was a little choppy though, but that may be because of bad framerate raw [↩]
11. I find those pencil-like strokes original, doesn’t make the colors block solid and gives the whole a little artistic flair. [↩]
12. Magical girls series like PreCure and Doremi FTL [↩]
13. Why, is it because it’s tl;dr? old? because it’s me? because others do it better? Tell me! [↩]