A Fresh View

With last year, we had plenty of anticipated and outstanding series, such as Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Stein;s Gate, Fate/Stay Night, Mawaru Penguindrum, and so many more! Now, can 2012 live up to the amazing series from 2011? Well I certainly hope so, but so far, each title has potential.

Since around New Years Eve, I’ve kept track of each series new to the anime world (so no sequels yet, sorry! I will catch up on those, granted school isn’t rough), and they have interesting stories, here’s what I have to say about them so far (alphabetical order, and it will be updated if possible):

• Area no Kishi (Knight in the Area)- I’m not really one for sports themed…anything, but I used to play soccer a few years back, so this reminds me of some…Uh, so the story starts with the two Aizawa brothers, Kakeru –the youngest, as well as our main character– and Suguru– the oldest of the two. Kakeru is that generic younger sibling of a prodigy; when the two were younger they got along just fine and would be the team’s winning combo, but due to an injury, Kakeru had decided to stop playing and chose to be the manager. Suguru gets pissed about this and eventually decides to take matters into his own hands (mainly after an old friend of their’s shows up and really makes him think), and so, Kakeru’s journey back into soccer begins. It’s pretty decent, I mean it didn’t stand out all too much honestly, but it’s only episode one, so, you know, it has plenty of time to change my opinion, but I see it as one of those heartwarming stories for some odd reason. It did make me wish I still played soccer but I’m too lazy now and school gives me too much to do to even attempt sports, so I can only dream~
• Brave 10– Ninjas! It’s been so long since I’ve seen anything with ninjas, mainly due to when I realised how much of a weeaboo I was when I was little (hey, we all go through that stage at some point!) and stopped watching Naruto because I realised how nonsensical it was. Anyways, so according to the summary given out, I’m going to take a guess and say we’ve only met a few characters in the first episode, as there are ten major warriors (hence the ten in the title), but I’m honestly not too sure if they even play a part in this all too much. The first episode was a tad bit predictable,there’s a damsel in distress with a tragic background and a hidden ability and a rogue ninja who saves her while she’s running to find help. The girl whines and complains the whole time refusing to leave the ninja’s side even after she reaches her destination, and other stuff goes on that isn’t really unpredictable. I’m not saying this one is terrible or like Naruto (and no I’m not saying Naruto is terrible *trying not to start flame war with someone*), but it’s not really special at the moment; however the opening/closing and artwork aren’t bad, so I give ti props there. All in all it’s pretty average.
• High School DxD– Oh God…I don’t know what to say about this series other than that it’s not really something I want to watch. I thought HOTD was bad in concerns to fanservice, but I was horribly wrong. Boobs, boobs everywhere, and they only censor things when the panties/pants come off, everything else is shown. I’m not even sure what the story is, I mean I remember that it starts out with three horny teenage boys in a former all girls’ school, and they’re being obvious prudes: peeping, discussing “things”, and griping about never having girlfriends. Then one of them sees a girl with “beautiful red hair” (which bothered me, I didn’t really like the color they chose, it was a bright red orange color in the first scene), he drools over her for a while, gets asked out by some random girl he’s never met that attends a different school, she transforms into a devil and kills him because he’s “the one”, and the girl with red hair saves him due to some free wish he got somehow. I know I’m leaving out a lot of details, but geez I couldn’t stop laughing at how much they tried to pull in fanservice, I could barely pick up the plot line (if there even is going to be one) even if I tried. Don’t count on me finishing this series, but there is a possibility I will since I’m a teen with no life.
• Moretsu Pirates (Bodacious Pirates)- There are legal pirates?! No, not pirates like us, these are space pirates. So we start with two people watching a girl practice piloting, saying things about how excellent her skills are and that she is his daughter. They follow her to work  (a maid cafe, but more of an old fashioned one) and start talking
  about her other skills such as how she memorized the specials and recommendations so well after working there for only a short time. She is informed by them that they are her mother’s friends, and is asked if she would ever like to fly into space to which she eagerly responds yes. She goes home and talks to her mom a bit, bringing up those two people and her mom isn’t entirely shocked, and they come over for dinner at some point and they talk more about who her father is and what’s going on. If anything, the synopsis for the series pretty much eliminates the need for the first few episodes (though it makes a nicer platform to build on) and makes it extremely obvious; her father was the head of the ship and since she’s his kid and he died she, so gets his job. It does have potential for something much more interesting, but I can only imagine it having to do with the jobs they’re given, or maybe some extraordinary battle, but for now we have to wait and see. What I can say for sure is the opening somewhat irritates me and the translation of the title makes me laugh a little, as when I googled it to see if it was sequel, I found it was an adaptation of “Miniskirt Space Pirates” and that alone makes it sound ridiculous to me.
• Kill Me Baby (Baby, Please Kill Me)- Every season needs a slapstick comedy about school girls, right? Well this isn’t exactly the same as the usual school girl comedy, it’s about two friends, however one claims to be an assassin. It’s pretty much laid out like most other ones like Lucky Star or Seitokai Yakuindomo, clip after clip of their misadventures. It’s still pretty cute and enjoyable personally, it’s drawn in a chibi-like style and it has silly little jokes played throughout that would be found amusing (who wouldn’t laugh at someone getting hurt?). The opening is annoyingly catchy and very…err strange I guess. All in all I enjoyed this, definitely looking forward to the next episode, but in the meantime I’ll read the 4koma.
• Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki– He’s so round… This isn’t really a series rather than a short inserted between shows (I would guess), but it’s so cute! This, too, is drawn in a chibi-like style, and it adds to the appeal of this show. The only thing you really need to know is that tis is about a cat, and that cat is totally round. He is picked up by a drunk lady who happens to fall on him and use him as a pillow, and no one realises he is a cat because he is so round! The idea of this little series is about Poyo’s life in his newfound home. It’s only three minutes long, so why not check it out? Of course if you aren’t into cute things you probably won’t want to, but if you like cats, DO IT.
• Recorder to Randoseru– Have you ever met siblings where the oldest looked like the youngest and the youngest looked like the oldest? Maybe you were in this scenario, I know I certainly have experienced it ::coughs::Mimi. Well that’s the basis of this two minute long short, but it is very exaggerated. The younger brother is an elementary schooler and the older sister is a high schooler, but their age is often mixed up for obvious reasons. In the first episode, the poor boy’s appearance as well as innocence get him into deep trouble. The idea is extremely relatable, just not exactly to that extent. It’s another one to you might want to give a shot if you want a quick laugh.
• Rinne no Lagrange– You can’t have anime without mechas. I’m not sure why but this was one I liked quite a bit, it may have been the mood the anime gives off. I guess you can compare it to the mood of Eden of the East. It wasn’t entirely cheerful yet it’s not dark. The story begins with a girl, Kyouno Madoka, heading to school only to see someone who had crashed and might be drowning in the sea, so like every other school girl, she strips off her uniform to reveal a swimsuit and dives in to save the girl, only to find her uniform gone. Well later, the girl that was saved returns the favor (and the uniform) and begins to mention Madoka having a talent, which is to pilot a robot to defend the planet from aliens who oppose her kind(which I’m pretty sure she’s human…). My description probably is pretty bland, so I highly encourage you to take a look at it yourself.
• Senki Zesshou Symphogear– This one is my absolute favorite so far, hands down. It all started with one concert from the duo Twei Wing, they’re one of the most idolised bands, but their fame comes with a price. Noise; creatures that will appear any time the level is high enough. They will cause chaos and destroy anything that gets in their way until it is defeated. One unfortunate girl gets caught up in the chaos but is saved thanks to one of the singers, Kanade, who sacrifices herself while battling these beasts. Ever since then, that girl, Hibiki, has dedicated herself to music as it reminds her of the bright side of things. One thing I absolutely loved was obviously the music. It’s not all that j-pop/rock you’d expect,enchanting melodies that can put you at peace are placed in at just the right moment, and since it is a music based series, the music has to live up to its expectations. Of course I enjoyed this series. Now will it be a Madoka? Honestly, it might not, but it looks like it will be very high up on the list for me. If you enjoy mecha and music, this is a must watch.
• Sengoku☆Paradise Kiwami– I’m not sure what this is…This is a three and and a half minute long short, but I don’t understand…reading the synopsis adds a little bit more sense. A little bit. So it is based off of an otome game (you know, girly dating sims, so it’s full of “bishies”), and I guess it’s just random adventures the characters get into. I’m not a history person, so all I’ll say in that regards is that it takes place during an imperial rule, and they tend to tie in some little tidbits about Japanese history sometimes. I’m honestly not sure what this is about if you haven’t realised it by now. According to the synopsis posted around, the entire thing is ten minutes an episode, with seven minutes of the seiyuus in cosplay of their role, however everything I find on it is three and a half minutes. Overall, I don’t know what I’m looking at so, if you want a better idea of it, just watch an episode. I’ve seen two and I still don’t get it.