Impressions of Summer ‘07: Not your everyday buffet
Posted by: Owen S in Anime, tags: First impressionsI’m sure you’ve been to a buffet before. If you aren’t paying through your nose for it it’s generally a mixed affair, with the quality of food varying from one degree to another, and in the same way too do I liken this Summer to it, because the manner of dishes served at the table more often than not vary in their composition and presentation, and make for a confusing contrast.
The most delicate and compact things can fill you up and leave you wanting more than just a lingering taste, while the larger, flashier ones don’t usually do much beyond the pre-requisite of filling you up. Then there are those who look and taste great while being available in large quantities, which are rare yet.
Code-E sent me mixed signals. On one hand, it’s doing nothing wrong. I like it for what it is, which is harmless fun, good visuals, and a mildly interesting, if not yet overbearing storyline. True enough, it’s an everyday school life setting that’s presumably going to turn upside-down, from what I can make of the meteor and those two blondes in the OP animation, but it’s too early to make learned guesses at this point.
On the other hand, it’s not doing anything right either. To do no wrong in this day and age of outsourced Korean and Chinese labour accomplished animation is simple, really, there just has to be a bit of quality control with regards to the production values — that, sadly, doesn’t mean there’s an interesting or engaging story beneath it all. It’s looking to me like of those in-betweens we’ve been having as of late, a genre-blending production that might just turn out to be a generic show, or maybe not. The jury’s still out on this one.
Mushi-Uta’s living in Darker than Black’s shadow. I wasn’t really paying attention when someone made that comparison, but as far as the plot goes it’s there. A shadowy faction with supporting team members. A solitary hero with a tragic past, who maintains a veneer of normalcy by day, super powers and a mask by night. A confrontation with another organization, and maybe even more to come. Brooding shadows abound.
It’s really a case of brand dilution if it’s going to be compared to DtB though, because it’s not as dark, or gritty, or as violent. While DtB has most of its action stemming from its no-holds-barred, uncensored gory battles where people die ala Death Note or in B-grade horror movie fashion, Mushi-Uta has people and bugs. Huge bugs, which appear to be the source of the conflict, and a vaguely explained backstory (as of now) regarding their origin.
The character designs are soft and feathery in a CLAMP-sque sort of way, pleasing on the eyes, non-generic, and most definitely not subjected to the cookie-cutter treatment some artists are wont to do. The OP and ED are consistently good, with no meandering melody or vapid vocals to deal with (unlike the travesty that was Moetan’s ED), and could be considered one of the best I’ve heard so far. There are two very enchanting classical pieces that play during the pilot episode, and if that doesn’t make you want to hear more of it I don’t know what will. I’m sold on this one.
the best thing to happen to harem since Love Hina imo
School Days was as good as I expected it to be. At first I thought this would be the sola of Summer, (e.g. a lacklustre bishoujo anime) but it’s great to know I was wrong with regards to that. The subject of a love triangle is a new one, I believe, at least with regards to its seriousness and how the subject matter is handled — most love triangles usually sort themselves out by means of mutual resentment (in a harem) or passive antagonism (love rivals).
Going through the first two episodes reminded me of what I hated about Bokura ga Ita so much. BgI was full of whining and teenage angst which was surprisingly accurate in its portrayal — which was what made it so awful. 26 whole episodes of emo drivel does not a good anime make; neither do 16 year-olds good lovebirds make, for that matter.
Watching Makoto’s disastrous first date with Kotonoha made me wince in agony. Guys that age usually treat girls like possessions and would have even less respect for them if not for trashy love manuals like the one he was reading — it was a good piece of realism that digressed from the “spineless wimp loser who’s otherwise perfect” norm we’re so used to in a harem flick. Definitely something I’m following closely this season, and yes, like everyone else too, I’m crossing my fingers for a bad end.
Zombie Loan is pretty, but what does it do? I heard people have been grousing about the “cheap animation” when it comes to the fight scenes. I’m not really bothered, though, because I’m waiting rather sceptically to see what they’re going to do with regards to characterisation, and I’m watching it because I’m bored.
A note of interest: I did a bit of checking since there was this piece playing that sounded annoyingly similar and it turns out my ears were right — Hiroyuki Sawano, who did the music for Gigantic Formula, is doing the music for Zombie Loan too, which was why I felt so confused when Susanoo’s theme started playing in one episode. So much for originality.
The premise, while initially intriguing, quickly wears off into generic territory, something any seasoned otaku should be able to predict with startling accuracy. However, for some odd reason I can’t seem to get enough of it, so I guess I’ll watch this till the bitter end and whine about it in a later post. Or something.
Sky Girls, like Google, can do no evil. For some reason the not-exactly-outstanding OVA grabbed my attention, and when I heard that a TV series was in the works, I rejoiced. There’s some effort here being made to make this not be just another girls-with-guns series, and it shows.
I’ve a soft spot for the catchy OP. When it isn’t trying to sell you on a song humorously titled “Virgin’s high”, Sky Girls has everything you’d come to expect from an anime of its calibre nowadays — music, art, character design, animation, voice acting. There’s a lot left to be desired on how they’re going to tackle this done to death topic of alien invasion, but I’m suspecting that having lithe teenage girls as a main cast will somehow take care of that problem by itself.
Finally, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai looks set to be a solid performer. Second seasons are always a tricky affair — rehash too much of the formula, or digress too far from what made the original great and you run the risk of the audience. There’s no such problem with Higurashi ni Kai here, and despite it having just three episodes aired so far, it looks like it’s destined for big things.
While there isn’t much horror or suspense going on at the moment thanks to the custom of Higurashi being to have the lighthearted scenes and setup during the first half of the arc before degenerating into full-blown gore and horror in the second, the animation inconsistencies that plagued the first season aren’t present here. The comedic classroom scenes no longer have the characters being disfigured to hideous extremities, thanks to what seems like quality control in the super-deformed department, at last.
To be honest, I suppose this Summer season’s rather underrated due to the number of episodes — the big names in Spring all have 24-26 episodes as opposed to Summer’s average of 12-13. I’m not complaining though, since that leaves more space to accommodate Autumn’s shows three months down the road. What are you watching this season?
July 30th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
[...] anyway, Mushiuta is a pretty offbeat show. Not really your standard fare. saturnine compared Mushiuta to Darker than Black, and, based on my limited experience with DtB, I’d say [...]
July 31st, 2007 at 2:54 pm
It seems to me like the summer season was/is well… sparse… lending justification mainly from the bounty that was this spring. The exception of course being Sky Girls, the show that had me clawing at my own eyes screaming “Why dear god why!?!?! Why is it so good?!? Why can I not look away! it’s so unnecessary!!!” Watching that show is like screaming inside of your own head because of how readily you gobble down the pandering to an audience that wants to see young girls with tails and booty shorts piloting mecha.
DO WANT… DO NOT WANT… CAN’T TELL!!!
I think though, it should tell you something, that I’m still just biding my time till KnJ releases as a show and the most interesting offering is I hear there is a Bokusatsu Tenshi 2 on the way next month.