Winter Season Mini Review (First Impressions)
January 12th, 2010
Shokkeru here. Back after a long hiatus with a mini review of various shows of the Winter Season. Keep in mind that these are merely my impressions based on the first episodes of these series.
Today’s Menu:
Baka to Test to Shokanju
Dance in the Vampire Bund
Durarara!!
Ookami Kakushi
Seikon no Qwaser
Baka to Test to Shokanju
Students are divided into six different classes based upon their placement exams. Each class serves as a ranking within the school ranging from rank A all the way down to rank F. The facilities in each class are also a reflection of their rank with rank A being the luxurious suite and rank F being the run-down shack. Classes may also battle other classes in order to have their classrooms changed using summoned avatars. The power level of these avatars are based upon the student’s test scores, thus motivating the student to do better theoretically.
The Good:
-Test scores are the key to victory!: I kind of like the idea behind this series. Having students’ battle powers be based on how well they score on tests certainly does seem like an interesting idea. If only our education system was like this, maybe some people would be more motivated to do well in school… maybe.
-Transformation!: While some of the character archetypes are rather cliché, I still find them enjoyable. Hideyoshi being the obvious trap character even has his own “mahou shoujo” transformation scene. My favorite characters so far have to be the clever Yuuji, who appears to always have a plan and the perverted Kouta, who tries so desperately to sneak a peek.
The Bad:
-Idiot Main Character: I understand that these guys are supposed to be the “worst” students in the school (one of them being the obvious exception) but Yoshii is a little too dumb for my tastes. Not to mention, his summon seems to be a bit useless as well.
Verdict:
Not too shabby even though the first episode did seem a little rushed… well maybe not. Regardless, this is a show that I probably will continue to watch if not for the character interactions then for the interesting battles.
Dance in the Vampire Bund
Thanks to a series of murders where young females are left with bite marks on their necks, rumors begin to surface of the actual existence of vampires. The rumor makes its way onto a TV show where five judges decide whether or not it’s true based on discussions and evidence presented to them. Despite the notion that vampires are not real, one of the judges turns out to be a vampire himself. He is then pursued by other vampires as well as the vampire princess herself. After disposing of the “criminal”, the princess, Mina Tepes, officially announces the existence of vampires and their new home.
The Good:
-It’s SHAFT: I’ll be honest, if it wasn’t for the fact that SHAFT is producing this, I probably wouldn’t have given this a chance. The first episode was a bit slow paced, character designs are a little bland and I wasn’t sure what to think during the whole TV show portion of the episode. But, in the end, it did turn out to be something interesting and I’ll have to check out the next episode for sure.
The Bad:
-What is that, an iguana?: Vampires are cool an all, but transforming into lizards wasn’t something I expected. I understand that this guy happens to be one of the lesser vampires, but I hope not all of them turn into lame animals.
Verdict:
It wasn’t a spectacular first episode, but I’ll be checking out the second for sure.
Durarara!!
Mikado Ryugamine moves to Ikebukuro to attend a new school with his childhood friend Masaomi Kida. When he arrives, Masaomi takes him around town showing him the sights and introducing him to a few acquaintances. While taking his tour of the city, Mikado happens to be “lucky” enough to see the appearance of what appears to be a modern day headless horseman (except that it’s female and rides on a motorcycle).
The Good:
-Awesome OP: The OP for the series is just so cool. It’s probably my favorite of this season so far. Very hip indeed.
-So many characters you won’t know what to do with.: Just judging based on the OP sequence, the amount of characters that would appear in this show is just amazing. Some may see it as a bad thing just by having to keep up with all the names and such, but I for one think it opens up a lot more possibilities with character interactions. Let’s just hope I’m right.
-We’re just so hip and cool.: I just absolutely love the character designs but then again I am a sucker for a lot of things urban themed in anime.
The Bad:
-Are we there yet?: This seems to be a trend amongst shows recently. The first episode just seemed to go by so slowly for me. It seems that they spent a lot of time explaining things while not really explaining anything at all. We got to meet a few of the characters and the modern day headless motorcyclist in action, but despite all that, I’m still not sure what this whole show is about. In short, I kind of feel annoyed by having to wait till episode 2 to fully understand the basic flow of the series.
Verdict:
Definitely a candidate for one of the best shows this season. I’m watching this show till the end and may even end up blogging it if I find the time to.
Ookami Kakushi
Hiroshi Kuzumi and his family move into the town of Jouga (seems to be a popular opening to a story) where everyone seems to be more than welcome of his arrival. The town is divided into the old town and the new town and apparently residents of each are not too fond of each other. At night it seems that people are killed off by a strange wolf cult just before going mad.
The Good:
-Something’s strange in the neighborhood.: I got to admit, I can’t say no to a good mystery. Despite the mood the beginning part of the episode conveyed, you could feel the eeriness of the entire town especially when all the of the students were drooling over our main protagonist. It had a very “Twilight Zone” feel to it. However, I have a feeling that it’s going to take a majority of the series to find out just what the hell is going on in this town.
The Bad:
-Too sweet for my tastes.: I’m not a fan of the character designs at all. They’re much too cutesy for me and I find it very hard to watch the show because of it.
Verdict:
I don’t know if I’ll be watching this show for very long. The only thing keeping me attached to it is simply the mystery itself. Once that’s solved, I may not care for the rest of the show… if I even make it that far.
Seikon no Qwaser
Alexander “Sasha”, a Qwaser, is able to manipulate metal (Iron I think) and use it however he wishes. He does this in order to chase down a criminal who can control magnesium. What fuels their powers, you ask? Why it’s Soma of course… in other words, breast milk…
The Good:
-At least the main character is kind of badass?: The only reason why I decided to even try this show was because of the main character and just how badass he looked. I also liked the idea of alchemy. But sadly, this alone won’t save this show.
-Ending theme is catchy.: The ED song is actually kind of good even though the visuals are quite questionable… well nothing compared to the actual content of the show.
The Bad:
-Seriously? Breast milk?: I heard that breast milk as a main plot device for the series, but I never imagined to this extent. Now it just seems to be an excuse to show as much boobies as one possibly can and still try to take itself seriously. I mean breast feeding to power up just seems a bit wrong does it not? Not to mention all the other fanservice in this show just disgusts me and I’ve watched and read To-Love-Ru all the way through.
-Censorship is bad ‘mkay?: Fanservice is one thing, but I absolutely cannot stand censorship. If the show is bad enough that you’d have to censor 1/3 of it then you might as well not show it at all. Not to mention that the censoring job on this was so terribad. However, I do hear that there will be an uncensored version airing 2 week after the censored version. So, if you still want to feel a little hot and bothered, you can get your jollies there.
Verdict:
A big no thanks on this one. I may just watch the uncensored version just to see how bad it is and for a few laughs, but other than that, I’m staying away from this one.
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