The magic is here in more ways in than one.
Lush backgrounds, slowly building stories, ever-expanding casts, romantic (sub?)plots—all in a day’s work for a fantasy anime. Hit the jump for one Mesoamerican-inspired epic and one relaxing fairy tale.
reviews
Rule of Three Review, High School Digest: Classroom☆Crisis, Charlotte
Class is in session. Er, sort of.
To say these are two series that take place at high schools is technically true but also incredibly misleading. These are no realistic YA tales à la last season’s Sound! Euphonium or SNAFU. No, one is soft sci-fi series at a corporate engineering academy; the other, a supernatural School for (Slightly) Gifted Youngsters. Both have steady hands at the helm, and both have surprised me with their charms. Hit the jump to take a walk around the campuses and see if either is a good fit for you.
Rule of Three Review: Chaos Dragon – Episodes 2-3
You hear that? It’s the sound of whatever critical reputation I may have had flying merrily out the window.
Let’s get one thing straight: Chaos Dragon is not a good anime. It is a convoluted mess of fantasy rules, characters, powers, and political factions. A lot of those elements are at least kind of interesting and some are even pretty different from your usual fantasy fare, and if this series had had two cour instead of one, it might have been able to make all this work.
As it is, we’re having pro- and antagonists alike introduced in a flurry of special powers and absurdly complicated JRPG-style costumes, only to have them vanish again in 30 minutes or less. Similarly, important world-building details and sociopolitical schemes get explained in a blur of exposition that results in everything carrying about the same weight, which is to say, very little at all. (But hey, there is a dragon, and the writing is chaos, so give this one credit for truth in advertising at least.)
Rule of Three Review, Boys’ Club Digest: Ushio & Tora, Rampo Kitan – Episodes 2-3
It’s all fun and games until someone gets turned into a chair.
These two shows have exactly one thing in common, which is a male-dominated cast. Okay, two things: Both are pretty visually striking. Okay, three things: They both like to put damsels in distress, although even then the way they do it is pretty dramatically different. Past that, though, Ushitora and Rampo couldn’t be less similar, so it’s no wonder my reactions to the two are kinda disparate, too. Hit the jump to hang with the guys and see whose company is most welcome.
Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 122-123
WHAT HATH SCIENCE WROUGHT?!
Sailor Moon is so steeped in fantastical elements that I’m usually prone to calling it a fantasy, but this week takes special care to remind me that, technically speaking, it’s probably more accurate to call it science fiction. Pretty much every major plot point of the story is rooted in some kind of SF element, from interplanetary foes to time travel to alternate dimensions to li’l universes. The scouts themselves are the most magical thing in the series, and even then I’m sure there’s some kind of “technical” explanation for their powers involving microorganisms or elemental particles or some such.
Rule of Three Review: GANGSTA. – Episodes 2-3
You’ll want to check your expectations at the door, but that should by no means stop you from coming in.
I did this one a disservice in my Panning post by comparing it to Black Lagoon and Jormungand, when really the only thing they share in common is an interest in the less-than-legal underworld and the personalities that live there. GANGSTA is also not going to be the next Michiko & Hatchin or Cowboy Bebop (although it’s probably closest in tone to that last one’s more somber episodes)—although I want to stress that that is in no way a knock against it.
GANGSTA is damn good and has the potential to be damn great, but it’s also its own thing, and a much quieter show than any of the shows you’ll be inclined to compare it to. The tone is less grandiosity and more… well, melancholy, I suppose. But then, in a city called “Ergastulum,” named for the Roman buildings used to imprison or punish slaves, I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything else.
My Love Story!! – Episode 15: “My Girlfriend”
The Takeo Fan Club really ought to have its own membership cards at this point.
Yep, our protagonist gets a new admirer this week thanks to the school’s sports festival! After the 300m runner in the co-ed Swedish relay (which we learn all about thanks to Suna’s smart phone) sprains her ankle during practice, the class has to pick one of its less-than-stellar athletes to take her place, which is how we (and Takeo) get to know Saijou Mariya.
Panning the Stream: Sequels and Carryovers Edition (Summer 2015)
Styles keep a-changin’, the world’s rearrangin’, but some shows are timeless to me.
As is custom, I’m popping in to let everyone know the sequels and carryovers on my calendar. We’ve got (re)meet ‘n’ greets for those who’ve returned to the anime schedule (some from a very long absence), and a quick blurb for the rest. Hit the jump to welcome them all back.
Panning the Stream: SCHOOL-LIVE, Prison School, Himouto! Umaru-chan
And so the summer 2015 premiere week ends with a resounding: “Da fuq?”
I’ll have a “sequels and carryovers” panning post come out later, but this’ll be my last post for new shows this season (if the delayed God Eater makes the watch list, I’ll hit it up in a Rule of Three Review). Very few shows jumped out and grabbed me by the throat, but a whole lot caught my attention and suggested there were reasons to stick around. As of right now my “at least come back for Episode 2” list contains 18(!!) series. That number’s gonna have to go down at some point, but for now, I’m kind of… excited, actually. I feel like a kid in a candy store: Most of this stuff is sure to rot my teeth, but dang, I’m gonna enjoy munching on it.
Fittingly, we end with a trio of shows thick with WTFery, two of which (I am only slightly ashamed to say) are getting full meet ‘n’ greets, and one that didn’t make the cut. Hit the jump and know the depths of my poor taste.
Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 120-121
♪ Four little Witches jumpin’ on the bed… ♪
We’re quickly approaching the S finale, which means we need to get rid of all those pesky minions so the path to the Big Bad is nice and clear. In fact, go ahead and think of this as the clean-up week, since we’re also learning pertinent (tragic) backstories and restoring the ties between everyone’s favorite Doctor and her very favorite companion. Could this be the first step toward a team-up between our two gangs of roving Guardians? I sure do hope so. I miss hanging out with Haruka and Michiru almost as much as the scouts do.
The Josei Next Door 