Before I get to the awesomeness, I feel the need to get a little meta.

A quick look at the previous post’s title shows that I haven’t written anything for The Null Set in roughly 3 weeks. This was entirely unplanned and was the result of several factors falling into place at exactly the wrong time. The first was a general sapping of enthusiasm towards anime brought on by looking forward and discovering that the next season just looks appallingly abysmal. (The new series by Gainax and Shaft will probably turn out good and that’s probably it.)

Second, many of the series this season, both great and not-so-great, haven’t really played-out in a way that I feel like I have something to blog about. The sequels to Arakawa Under the Bridge and Sora No Otoshimono have gone the way I wanted them to (focus on Nino, explore the story behind Synapse) and I’ve really been satisfied with them. If they had failed or gone in an interesting direction, I’d have something to talk about; instead, all I got is saying that both sequels do justice to their respective franchises. Shows like The World Only God Knows, Amagami SS, Shinryaku! Ika Musume, Yosuga no Sora, Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru, Samurai Girls and Otome Yokai Zakuro have ranged from watchable to pretty good but have done so without creating waves. For example, Ika Musume is a decent comedy about a squid girl that shows up with the intent to invade humanity and really sucks at being an invader. This description more then adequately explains all 9 episodes of the show that I’ve seen so far; there’s nothing else I need to add. Soredemo turned into a fairly standard Shaft/Shinbou series and most anime fans already know where they stand in relation to Shaft/Shinbou. (That makes it cool in my book.)

There’s been a few new standouts this season – Milky Holmes (one of the best shows this season and one of the best comedies of the year) and Panty and Stocking (Gainax doing what Gainax does best) – but there is a limit to how often I’m willing to repeat myself. And other awesome shows like Jellyfish Princess that’s already getting tons of coverage. The third reason for the lack of blogging is the ol’ real life excuse, you know the one. In my case, suffice it to say that nothing horrible happened and it mainly dealt with getting ready for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. (For example, my family’s iron-clad tradition to have one’s Christmas tree up and decorated before Thanksgiving, even when it’s near impossible to find a tree farmer/seller that’ll open before Thanksgiving.)

Now onto the tenth episode of Panty and Stocking.

I haven’t been the only person to realize that the really awesome Part B half-episodes seem to be matched with very weak Part A half-episodes. I’m starting to think it’s done on purpose; either Gainax is stuck using the weak ones and figured they’d do the least damage when paired up with a great half-episode or Gainax is purposely making a few poor half-episodes because they just feel like it.

So upon finishing the disappointing Part A to episode 10, I hoped and guessed the pattern was going to hold and it did. Before hitting the pure awesomeness, the show took a detour through a middle mini-episode that was rather odd until I realized what Gainax was doing. The entire 3 part Chuck mini-episode was to set a joke up involving the final scene, namely, a literal mind screwing to cap off a figurative mind screw mini-episode. I got a good laugh at the slyness of Gainax in acknowledging their own often mind screw type endings.

The highlight of the episode was the final mini-episode, the animated music video for one of the insert songs that Gainax has been using in Panty and Stocking. This is a field that Gainax has been exploring over the last couple of years with Gurren Lagann and I’m glad to see Gainax is starting to do the same with this show. It was probably the most awesome 5 minutes of anime this season will see and quickly becomes one of the highlights of the year. Screenshots to follow with a poll at the bottom.

The parodies were awesome and this was just some of them.

The poll question deals with the following screenshots.

 

 

 

 

 

And because Stocking is my favorite character:

Filed under: anime, episode review, general anime interst

I think the above screenshot speaks for itself but, since I’ve never believed the whole “a picture is worth a thousand words” saying, I’ll add some of my own and post more screenshots of the best character in Panty and Stocking.

I’m of two minds with this show. I’m completely not surprised that I’m enjoying the fun romp  that is Panty and Stocking because it’s Gainax doing the organized-chaos thing they do best but I’m also completely surprised that I find this show so much fun when I don’t normally find shows that revolve around bodily fluids and comedy funny. Maybe Gainax makes that much of a difference or maybe I just like shows that it’s impossible to know what’s going to happen next time. For example, in the first half of episode 7 …

… we get the story of what happens when two competing factions of sentient robots come to Daten City and our heroes, Stocking and Panty, get turned into robots. A shoujo robot series threatens to break-out during the course of the the story …

… but a ghost shows up and ruins the fun. (And we get yet another variation to the transformation sequence by our heroes. Sadly they only show Panty’ s part   .)

The second half follows what happens when Stocking and Panty need to raise a load of cash in only three days.  They start with those part-time jobs that seem always in need of filling like waitress, traffic cop, car washer, and geriatric nurse.

And finally as hostesses at a bar, (I knew Gainax would work in the bunny-girl suits eventually) when they learn that it’s possible to make loads of money at the casino and change for the occasion.

The only predictable thing about this show is that a ghost will inevitable show up but even then, Gainax keeps showing creativity. I think the ghost inside the casino was my most favorite yet.

Chalk up another great episode of Panty and Stocking by Gainax and I’ll have to wait another week to see what new surprises are in store.

Filed under: anime, episode review, general anime interst

Earlier this year Gainax shocked many (including me) with Hanamaru Kindergarten; first because it was so un-Gainaxy and then because it was so good. It was like Gainax decided to show that not only they could be masters of giant mechs and frantic action but they could also outdo J.C. Staff’s watercolor-look, slice-of-life/light comedy anime series. Fast forward a couple of seasons and Gainax is back and this time they’re on a mission to showcase their mastery of contemporary American-style animated shows.

Rating for episode 1 – 8/12 B+
Rating for episode 2 – 10/12 A
Rating for episode 3 – 10.5/12 Strong A
Anticipation Level: 3.5/5 Medium

The Story

Every city needs a super-powered protector and Daten City, at the crossroads of Heaven and Hell, is no different especially since the citizens are beset by rampaging angry ghosts on a frequent basis. It’s a shame, then, that all the good superheroes have apparently already been taken and only two misbehaving angels, on their last chance before getting sent to Hell, are all the protection that Daten City will get. The first angel has the ability to turn her underwear into a gun and goes by the name Panty and the second angel has the ability to turn her striped stockings into katanas and goes by the name Stocking (imagine that). Together with a black priest, Garterbelt, they keep Daten City safe.

-

The Fine Print

The summary of my thoughts on Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt (PSG) is that it’s the next hit for Gainax. It’s very funny and lots of fun; it’s different in a good way and it isn’t resting on it’s laurels.

The most pleasant revelation from the first three episodes of PSG is how great the music has been. Normally, I find it difficult to recall individual pieces of background music from even the best series and I have only a mild interest for the music of an anime outside of the opening/closing songs; but here, I’m already desperately wanting the soundtrack album to get released. Coming in a close second is the continued focus by Gainax to mix different animation styles into their works. I wish I knew more about the individual animators behind Gainax but, even as a neophyte animation fan, I can appreciate them. Strangely, it was this trait that most reminded me that PSG was not an American animation series.

Speaking of the origin behind PSG, after the first episode I had a hard time articulating what I thought about the show. (Making it difficult to write a first impression post. ) At first, I thought I was a bit shell-shocked trying to reconcile the successful effort on Gainax’s part to get the look and feel of PSG to match that of shows like Power Puff Girls, Johnny Bravo, and Dexter’s Laboratory and having the subject matter being far removed from those same shows. I knew I didn’t dislike it but it didn’t feel like I really liked it. This happens sometimes and one remedy for me is to rewatch the episode a few times and focus on the different parts. These rewatches helped but it was only with the second episode that I started to really like PSG. This makes me think that the animators might have been trying too hard with the first episode to get us to understand what the series was going to be like and relaxed during the subsequent episodes and just let the characters and comedy carry the show.

I highly recommend Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt as being one of this season’s top comedies and I’d suggest watching at least 2 episodes before deciding one way or the other about liking PSG. There will be many people that’ll drop this because of the level of crude humor which is understandable but I hope no one will pass of PSG because of the animation style.

Gainax changing up the animation style.

Stocking is my favorite character.

Assorted screenshots that I just feel like including.

Filed under: anime, first impressions

With the Summer season all but over and the Fall season starting within a week, now is a good time to start getting excited about the new anime shows that will take the baton from the Summer shows and attempt to win the hearts and minds of anime fans around the world.

If the Fall series succeed will only be answered in the course of the next few months but that doesn’t stop some, including myself, from trying their hand at prognosticating the results now. My gut tells me that this season will be a strong one, maybe even on par with this past Spring season (which was probably the best season for the last couple of years), and I want to get my somewhat educated guesses written down to see how I did later as well as push the adventurous souls out there to try an anime they probably wouldn’t otherwise.

Therefore, below are my picks for the Fall 2010 season, sorted by how good I think the show will turn out and broken into 4 broad tiers. Platinum Tier shows are those anime that I believe have a virtually 100% guarantee of being good. Sometimes I’m wrong like with last fall’s Natsu no Arashi 2 and when that happens it’s always very disappointing. The next level is the Gold Tier. This level contains those shows that I think have a very good chance of being, at a minimum, “good” shows. Anime at this level usually miss out on being Platinum Tier because I don’t know enough about the source material or the studio animating it has been known for doing variable work or some other small thing that makes me less then fully certain. Silver tier shows still have a lot going for them but bigger potential problems start showing up. The problem might be in the source material, animation studio, or director and it’s a big enough one that I think the show could go either way. Bronze tier shows have something that makes me think it possibly could be a decent show but I’m not holding much hope. Sometimes there’s a surprisingly good show from this group, last fall I had Armed Librarians – The Book of Bantorra, Sasameki Koto, Sora no Otoshimono on this level and all three turned out great but that same season saw Kampfer and Miracle Train also start at this level but finish very poorly.

If you want a second opinion about the upcoming shows try out the previews by Ani no Miyako, Simplicity, The Deathseeker, That Anime Blog and Rabbit Poets and if you want the most complete coverage of all the new Fall anime, including OVAs go to hashihime’s most excellent preview.

The final item of business before moving to the Fall preview/watch list is the anime that are continuing into the Fall season that I’ve been watching and plan on watching in the upcoming season. The first is Katanagatari; it’s been awhile coming but we’re now down to the last three episodes and I’m excited to see how it ends. Next is Shiki. I love the atmosphere of this show and the animation quality but, so far, it’s been more build-up then anything else, though this season will finish the series so the plot should be getting good shortly. Amagami SS continues with three more stand-alone story arcs covering three different female characters. This show has been strangely watchable and I’m kind of looking forward to see what new weird scenes they can cram into this show. I was so sure that Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu (The Legend of the Legendary Heroes) was a comedy that I was really disappointed to find that it’s actually a straight-up medieval fantasy series. I’m not really a fantasy person but it’s been able to keep me mildly interested in the story with the vocal work being the thing I enjoy most from it.

Platinum Tier

Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge

Director: Akiyuki Shinbou
Studio: SHAFT – Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Maria+holic, Hidamari Sketch, Bakemonogatari

The second season of the anime that was my favorite of the spring season definitely deserves to place in the platinum tier. Arakawa Under the Bridge 2 gets top spot because it’s quirky mix of comedy and reflection on the important things in life was a perfect match for Shaft/Shinbou’s talents and I’m ecstatic over the chance to revisit the characters and setting. If making a person wish he could live under a bridge with Nino isn’t a good enough marker for a great show, I don’t what is.

-

Sora no Otoshimono: Forte

Director: Hisashi Saitou
Studio: AIC A.S.T.A. – Bamboo Blade, Tentai Senshi Sunred, Sora no Otoshimono

The anime that completely surprised me by being both a fan-service show and an intelligent, inventive, fun show is getting a sequel and I’m positively giddy. If it can hold up to the first season, it’ll be one of the top shows of the season; if it can somehow surpass the first season, it’ll be one of the top shows of the year and probably “break” more then a few anime fans. It’s secret (which I wish more shows would pick up on) is that it works on many different levels. Heck, even the plot about the “heavenly” creatures that create the all-powerful angel servants pulls one in, if only because we want to see the main character defeat those the decadent and depraved “higher” beings.

-

Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt

Director: Hiroyuki Imaishi
Studio: Gainax – Gurren Lagann, Hanamaru Kindergarten, Evangelion

I think this show is just going to be a really fun and awesome anime. This puts me, sadly, in a very small group of people. Which I don’t quite get, it’s Gainax and it’s the part of Gainax behind Gurren Lagann and, if the trailer is to be believed, it’s going to be high-energy and full of fighting with plenty of humor involved. Actually, I know why; I noticed in the past that if an anime falls outside of what’s considered “anime style” it’s instantly regarded with suspension. Happened with Sarai-ya Goyou, Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei, Kaiba, etc. and it’s happening here which I find funny because there’s always so much complaining about how anime is always the same.

-

Gold Tier

Kuragehime

Director: Takahiro Oomori
Studio: Brains Base – Kamichu, Baccano, Durarara, Spice &Wolf 2, Natsume Yuujin-Chou

One of anime’s most consistently great studios is back this season with the latest show to be featured in the Noitamina anime block. The story for this one follows a young woman who’s an aspiring illustrator and lives in a female-only apartment complex. She gets a beautiful, fashionable woman to be her roommate and discovers her roommate isn’t quite what she appears to be. I have a very good idea what that means – “isn’t quite what she appears to be” – and, thanks to anime, I can’t wait to see if a trap is involved. I hope so and I hope there’s at least a little slice-of-life feel woven in somewhere. Brains Base does one of the best jobs with that relaxed, introspective, slice-of-life feel that I miss it when I go a season or two without it.

-

Sorademo Machi wa Mawatteiru

Director: Akiyuki Shinbou
Studio: SHAFT – Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Maria+holic, Hidamari Sketch, Bakemonogatari

The second Shaft series this season features the story of a clumsy young woman that loves mysteries and works at a highly unsuccessful maid café. The set-up sounds like a good fit for Shaft/Shinbou and the trailer really gave off good vibes. I’m also excited to see Chiaki Omigawa (Maka from Soul Eater, Jun from Natsu no Arashi) voicing the main character. The sole reason I left this out of the top tier is because this is the second series that the perpetually under-funded and undermanned Shaft is working on and in the past it’s been difficult for Shaft to do 2 series at once. (Though, maybe, the success of Bakemonogatari has increased the coffers at Shaft which will translate to more help in finishing their work on time.)

-

Bakuman

Director: Kenichi Kasai
Studio: J.C. Staff – Hatsukoi Limited, Toradora, Potemayo, Shana, Index, Railgun

One of the most talked about upcoming anime, Bakuman follows the story of two high school friends that decide to try to make it as manga artists with one of the main character’s love life and familial pride hanging in the balance. I was going to leave this in the silver tier except I caught that Kenichi Kasai (Honey and Clover S1, Aoi Hana) is going to help direct this.  That’s a pretty strong guarantee for the quality of Bakuman and enough to bump it up a level.

-

Shinrei Tantei Yakumo

aka: Psychic Detective Yakumo

Director: Tomoyuki Kurokawa
Studio: Bee Train – Phantom, Blade of the Immortal, El Cazador de la Bruja

I don’t have a lot of experience with Bee Train but something about this anime makes me think it’ll turn out very good. It could be the premise of a supernatural detective with the ability to see ghosts that’s doing it or maybe it’s because Daisuke Ono is voicing the main character (and apparently doing the opening song) or both or neither. Whatever it is, let’s hope that Bee Train won’t completely flub in the final 30 seconds of the show like they did with Phantom.

-

Silver Tier

Iron Man

Director: Yuuzou Satou
Studio: Madhouse – Death Note, Kaiba, Kurozuka, Rideback, Kobato, Rainbow, Tatami Galaxy

The trailer for this looks completely awesome and would normally make me really excited to watch it but I’ve noticed these cross-oceanic projects between the USA and Japan never seem to really work. Look at Heroman, for example. There is the potential for a decent show and, at the minimum, Marvel should have given Madhouse enough money to make the animation look very good. We’ll see very shortly.

-

Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto

Director: Takuya Igarashi
Studio: Bones – Soul Eater, Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, X’amd, Heroman

Taking over for Sengoku Basara 2 in the Sunday early primetime spot is an original work by Bones named Star Driver. The placement ensures that it’ll look really pretty but I’m not a big mecha fan and Bones seems to have a problem with how it ends it’s shows. One would think that since they don’t have to adapt something for Star Driver how it ends wouldn’t be a problem but X’amd showed it’s still a problem that the viewers have to worry about.

-

Toaru Majutsu no Index 2

Director: Hiroshi Nishikiori
Studio: J.C. Staff – Hatsukoi Limited, Toradora, Potemayo, Shana, Railgun

I really wish this was Railgun 2 instead of Index 2. The first season of Index was a pain to complete and I almost didn’t include this at all because I seriously doubted I could stand more Touma and the child teacher and Index. What saved this is the trailer showed both Uiharu and Saten from Railgun as well as the white-haired good bad guy (which was the best story arc) from the first season. It’s probably getting my hopes up but maybe this time it’ll be a better show.

-

Bronze Tier

Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai

aka: The World Only God Knows

Director: Shigehito Takayanagi
Studio: Manglobe – Michiko to Hatchin, Samurai Champloo, Seiken no Blacksmith

This is a rare anime where I’ve read some of the manga before watching the anime. It didn’t blow me away but in the right hands, it could a decent show and sadly, I just don’t think Manglobe is the right hands. I’ve liked their high quality anime, Samurai Champloo and Michiko to Hatchin, but when they went slumming with Seiken no Blacksmith it flat-out stunk and TWOGK falls a bit outside of “high quality”. AIC was probably a better fit to squeeze the best possible anime from the source material. I guess it could have been worse, Xebec or Feel or Studio Deen could be the animators.

-

Otome Youkai Zakuro

Director: Chiaki Kon
Studio: J.C. Staff – Hatsukoi Limited, Toradora, Potemayo, Shana, Index, Railgun

The story for this one really interested me. Namely, Otome Youkai Zakuro is set in an alternative 19th century Japan where humans and youkai (spirits or monsters) co-exist easily. The humans move to change the calendar to match that of the Western world and upset the youkai. To calm nerves, a goodwill mission is implemented featuring both humans and youkai and we end up with a historical, romantic comedy as a result. I’d’ve ranked this higher but I read that the manga writer for Otome Youkai Zakuro is primarily a BL written and that’s a genre I really don’t like. If the anime has BL elements or not is something that only the watching the anime can answer but for now, I’m keeping my anticipation low for this one.

-

Ore no Imouto ga Kannani Kawaii Wake ga Nai

aka: My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute

Director: Kawaguchi Keiichirou
Studio: AIC – Onamori Himari, Mayoi Neko Overrun, Sasameki Koto, Amagami SS

The story for this one – a H.S. age boy has a younger sister who’s an otaku for little sister ero-games which somehow creates much hilarity  – actively turns me off but I find myself liking the character designs enough that I’m willing to give this show a couple episode chance. I’m probably going to hate it and then pretend I never watched it but there is always the slim chance it’s actually good.

-

Hakuouki Hekketsuroku

Director: Osamu Yamasaki
Studio: Studio Deen – Hetalia, Higurashi, Seitokai no Ichizon, Giant Killing

The final show that I plan on catching is a sequel to the spring anime – Hakuouki: Shinsengumi Kitan. It wasn’t a great show by any stretch of the word but I liked the setting (1860’s Japan and the Shinsengumi) and the voice acting. I mention it here for completeness sakes because there are very few out there that are even in the position to give this season a chance. Not that I can really find fault in anybody, Hakuouki: Shinsengumi Kitan was done by Studio Deen and there was so many other good shows to watch.

-

There’s my list. If I missed something that you think I’d like then, by all means, post a comment to suggest it. I still remember having Cross Game suggested to me in a comment on this blog and discovering one of my favorite shows of the year. I’d’ve never picked it up since it was technically a sport anime, a genre I don’t normally like.

Filed under: anime, season preview