I’ve been busy and a bit distracted lately but I didn’t want February to pass without wishing everyone a Merry Christmas in February. Since Christmas in February is a holiday that my family created 16 years ago I don’t expect most of those reading to even realize I was late in the first place .

For those reading that have never heard of Christmas in February, it’s pretty much what you’d guess it would be.  The impetus to start came from the realization that there’s always Christmas cookies left over and normally a turkey (or ham or Cornish hens or some other holiday-type meat) that was bought cheaply during the holiday season still in the freezer and no real good way to finish them. So,  for fun, my family started with picking a day in February and having a Christmas-style dinner but, as things normally go, we slowly increased what we did for Christmas in February – we got a small 2 foot artificial tree and started decorating it then my parents started buying a small, inexpensive gift for us all. Which snowballed into a bigger Christmas tree and the $5 dollar gifts have now gotten to be $15 dollar gifts and now we invite extended family members to come .

One of the nice things about Christmas in February is that we get to pick when in February we want to celebrate it – this year, it was on February 19th but next year might be the second Tuesday or the last Saturday of the month. Another nice thing is that it gives the dreary month of February a holiday that’s fun. There’s also a near 100% chance of having a white Christmas in February though this year was the first time we had a green Christmas in February. Also, since it’s not the official Christmas, it has all the nice parts of the holiday without any of the stress.

And since this is an anime blog here are some Christmas themed anime pictures:

Filed under: anime, general anime interst, other news

I wanted this to be a single post but when I finished, a quick word count showed roughly 3000 words which is just too much to ask people to read in one sitting and also, who wants to scroll through such a long post? So a hasty cut was in order and here we are.

Let’s pick up where the last post left off with number 11 …

(11) – Aquarion Evol

Rating for episodes 1 to 7 – 9/12  A-

Even more fun then Symphogear has been this anime, Aquarion Evol – a sequel set 12,000 years after the original series. Normally, I don’t try to jump into a series but I figured 12,000 years was long enough to reset the series. The story is moderately interesting at this point; I’m most curious about the reason why two different dimensions are linked together and what these two dimensions mean to each other. What pushes Aquarion Evol this high is an interesting cast of characters, the high production values, and occasionally its dialogue. The noteworthy dialogue might be more of a function of the translation but I loved two lines in particular. The first was, ‘You stink deliciously,” which was what one of the antagonists said to the main female character; this has to be one of the oddest pick-up lines ever. The other is, ‘He’ll fly for anyone,’ said by a couple of female characters about the male main character’s habit of floating when being excited by a female character.

-

(10) – Last Exile – Ginkyou no Fam

Rating for episodes 1 to 16 – 9/12  A-

Gonzo has done a much better job with this sequel then I thought possible but, by being that good, this sequel of Last Exile is frustrating when it fumbles along when it clearly should be soaring. The world building is stellar; the politics is intriguing; the story is grand enough to showcase the world building and politics; and, the characters are a great mix of people who fit with the story and allow the story to accomplish what it wants to do. Yet, when examined closely, problems crop up with Last Exile 2. Probably the most disappointing is the vocal performance of two of the main characters – Aki Toyosaki and Aoi Yuuki. Both are personal favorites and have many great roles under their belts but here they are so lackluster. I don’t know if it’s that the characters are poor or if it’s the fault of the person in charge of the vocal recording for these lackluster performances but the result really saps the energy out of the show when either are on-screen. Many of the other problems with Last Exile 2 could be fixed if the person(s) behind the series composition and the individual episode scripts had been fired and more competent writers brought in.

-

(9) – Hunter x Hunter

Rating for episodes 1 to 19 – 9/12  A-

I fall into the category of people who have not seen the original Hunter x Hunter anime series nor read the source manga it’s based on which leaves me in a different state of mind over Hunter x Hunter then the majority of the people I have read talking about the strengths and weaknesses of this anime. For example, at the beginning when I thought the pacing in the episodes was dragging the series out I was constantly reading people who complained about how quickly they were flying through the source material. To me, Hunter x Hunter has really started to hit it’s stride during the current winter season and, as a result, is slowly bubbling towards the top of it’s anime brethren. A good shounen series is a nice change of pace sometimes.

-

(8) – Tantei Opera Milky Holmes 2

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 9/12  A-

The first season of Milky Holmes was a hilarious, subversive gem that flew under too many people’s radars. For a successful sequel, Milky Holmes needed to use everything good about the first season and infuse that with fresh, new awesomeness. I didn’t know if the creators had it in them but the first four episodes have shown that somewhere in the dark, twisted depths of their psyches they were able to summon new reserves of insanity to make Milky Holmes 2 even better.

-

(7) – Another

Rating for episodes 1 to 6 – 10/12  A

I’m going to resist the urge to make a joke using this anime’s name – Another. It pains me to pass this over because I like jokes like that but we don’t need yet another blogger making the same joke. With Hanasaku Iroha, P.A. Works finally succeeded at producing a great anime series after a string of disappointing attempts. At the onset I was anxious to see if Another would continue in the footsteps of Hanasaku Iroha or would it fall back to being another frustratingly almost good series like their early works. Six episodes in and I’m relieved that, after a bit of stumble in the first couple episodes from trying to force the creepy/scary vibe, it’s found a pace that should end with Another being one of the best anime of the season.

-

(6) – Mouretsu Pirates

Rating for episodes 1 to 6 – 10.5/12  Strong A

It is indeed time for some piracy. Bodacious Pirates is about a high school girl who finds out her absent father was a space privateer (legal pirate) and with his death she’s inherited his ship and his title, if she desires them. She does, of course, because it wouldn’t be a show if she declined but it does take a couple of episodes for her to reach that decision. This made the show feel like it started off slowly but by episode 5 it started showing it’s potential and, egads, does this anime have potential. What it does with this potential remains to be seen but this anime has become the anime that I most look forward too each week.

-

(5) – Ano Natsu de Matteru

Rating for episodes 1 to 6 – 11/12  A+

Over the last several years, J.C. Staff almost always has done its best work when Tatsuyuki Nagai is the director (Honey and Clover 2, Railgun, Toradora). Last year when he directed AnoHana for A-1 Pictures I wondered if he had left J.C. Staff for good and what that would mean for J.C. Staff’s future but with AnoNatsu I can stop worrying about J.C. Staff. at least partly. On paper, even though AnoNatsu is an original anime production, it doesn’t appear to be that ambitious of a project – as opposed to other recent anime originals like Penguindrum or Madoka – however, what it lacks in ambition has been more than made up with impeccable execution. J.C. Staff is in the odd position this season of fielding two of the top series of this season.

-

(4) – Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou

Rating for episodes 1 to 6 – 11/12  A+

Extremely hilarious somehow still low-balls the comedic genius of Daily Lives of High School Boys. There are so many parts to this anime that are worthy of praise. There’s the comedy – it’s actually funny and there’s the characters – they capture high school boys and girls so realistically and the voice acting – they make the characters pop and then there’s the parts were NichiBros lightly lambastes common anime tropes to name but a few areas.

-

(3) – Nisemonogatari

Rating for episodes 1 to 6 – 11.5/12  Near Perfect

Watching Nisemonogatari provides a yard stick to measure how much Shaft/Shinbou has improved in the last 2.5 years since Bakemonogatari and it’s almost scary to see the level of improvement that they’ve accomplished. Everything from the scripting to the visuals have been fine-tuned to be tighter, sharper, and better able to deliver the goods with less effort exerted. The only question left at this point is will Nisemonogatari outsell Bakemonogatari or not?

-

(2) – Chihayafuru

Rating for episodes 1 to 19 – 12/12  Perfect

Residual respect for the animators, Madhouse, and my new-found respect for the voice actor Mamoru Miyano lead me to try Chihayafuru which is about a group of teens that play Karuta – a game where players compete over collecting cards featuring verses from 100 different poems. I’m glad I did because Chihayafuru started off excellently and has steadily gotten even better. Normally, I’m not a fan of “sports” anime but I love the characters and how they’ve grown over the course of the series and the creators have somehow even made a game like Karuta interesting to watch. The only potential fly-in-the-ointment is that the source material is a continuing manga and the animators have to give the anime some sense of conclusion while leaving the door open for a second season (fingers crossed for that).

-

(1) – Natsume Yuujinchou Shi

Rating for episodes 1 to 6 – 12/12  Perfect

How does this series continue to find the room to get better? The creators should have already hit the asymptote of possible quality by the fourth season but they continue to push ever upwards. At this point, future seasons are probably a given and, though, I’m tempted to want countless more, I’ve started wanting to see an ending. I’ve even been thinking about how I’d love to see it end – an adult Natsume, happily married, sitting on the edge of one those short open porches that Japanese houses have and explaining to his young son/daughter not be afraid of the strange creatures he/she has started noticing and he then pulls out the now empty Book of Friends and starts into the story of his grandmother, Reiko, and the camera would pan up over a lovely bucolic scene, we’d hear Nyanko-sensei call out for some food item and the screen would fade out.

-

Filed under: anime, first impressions

Oh wow, this was quite the episode. I would expect this type of development in the last few episodes. But …

Continue reading »

Oh wow, this was quite the episode. I would expect this type of development in the last few episodes. But …

Continue reading »

Eagle-eyed readers will notice that I intend to review not just the most recent anime season but also the previous season as well. The reason for this is two-fold. The first reason is because these awards are my short-cut method in highlighting which anime I would recommend to potential viewers and I’d be failing in what I see as my duty if I passed over a season that contained praise-worthy shows. (Even though by now I’m incredibly late in covering the summer season. ) The second reason is writing this post will help me better remember this batch of anime shows in the future and it will also serve as a written record I can use if need be.

So, sit back, relax – it’s time to cover 32 anime over 2 seasons with 29 award categories and one countdown bursting at the seams with awesomeness.

Summer Season

Carry-over shows watched this season (4): Katanagatari, Kaichou wa Maid-sama!, Rainbow – Nisha Rokubou no Shichijin, K-On!!

New shows watched this season (10): Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi, Amagami SS, Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu, Mitsudomoe, Highschool of the Dead, Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin, Shiki, Asobi ni Iku yo!, Sengoku Basara 2, Moyashimon Live Action

Shows that got dropped (1): Seitokai Yakuindomo

Fall Season

Carry-over shows watched this season (4): Katanagatari, Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu, Amagami SS, Shiki

New shows watched this season (14): Ore no Imouto, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, Sora No Otoshimono Forte, Tantei Opera Milky Holmes, Otome Youkai Zakuro, Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru, Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls, Shinryaku! Ika Musume, The World God Only Knows, Arakawa Under the Bridge 2, Kuragehime, Star Driver, To Aru Majutsu no Index II, Yosuga no Sora

Shows that got dropped (3): Bakuman, Hakuouki Hekketsuroku, Shinrei Tantei Yakumo

Note: For shows that run multiple seasons, only the part that ran during the season is under consideration for that season’s awards. (s) denotes the summer season and (f) denotes the fall season

-

Best Female Main Character

Winner: (s) – Azunyan from K-On!! ~ (f) – Nino from Arakawa Under the Bridge 2

Runner-up: (s) – Togame from Katanagatari, Yui from K-On!! ~ (f) – Stocking from Panty and Stocking, Tsukimi from Kuragehime, Nymph from Sora No Otoshimono Forte, Togame from Katanagatari

Azunyan was the linch pin that held K-On!! together and she gave it the needed dimension to turn K-On!! into one of the best slice-of-nostalgia anime ever. (Slice-of-life is just too broad of a term since it covers at least three different types of shows: the nostalgic like K-On! and Hidemari Sketch, the relaxing like Ichigo Mashimaro and Aria, and the contemplative/ambiance type like Natsume Yuujin-chou and Haibane Renmei.) And she was just so likable as a character, as was Nino, the fall season winner. Nino squeaked past a very tough field of contenders this season to repeat her win of this award. It seems like the more time she spends with Ric, the more expressive and human she becomes.

-

Best Male Main Character

Winner: (s) – Shichika from Katanagatari ~ (f) – Kuranosuke from Kuragehime

Runner-up: (s) – Mario from Rainbow ~ (f) – Tomoki from Sora no Otoshimono, Takuto Tsunashi from Star Driver, Shichika from Katanagatari

Shichika turned out, much like Katanagatari, to be a lot more interesting then those first couple of episodes that ran last winter lead us to think. He almost won this award twice but couldn’t quite overcome the cross-dressing, protector of interesting historical buildings – Kuranosuke.

-

Best Supporting Character(s)

Winner: (s) – Assistroids from Asobi ni Iku yo! ~ (f) – The Phantom Thief Empire (Arsene, Twenty, Rat, and Stone River) from Tantei Opera Milky Holmes

Runner-up: (s) – Ui from K-On!! ~ (f) – Kuroneko from OreImo, Sugata from Sora No Otoshimono Forte, Briefers Rock from Panty and Stocking

Asobi ni Iku yo! was a really fun series to watch in part because the people behind it knew their SF and the assistroids were a great example of this knowledge. Likewise, Milky Holmes was a really fun series in part because it was so over-the-top and that included the villains which made picking just one villain impossible.

-

Best Screen-grabber

Winner: (s) – Father from Mitsudomoe ~ (f) – Kurara from Kuragehime

Runner-up: (s) – Microbes from Moyashimon Live Action ~ (f) – Mom from Ore no Imouto, The spirits of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot from Tantei Opera Milky Holmes, Amazoness and Billy from Arakawa Under the Bridge

Just because a character has a small part doesn’t mean he/she/it can’t become a memorable part of that show. Both winners (Father and Kurara) were prime examples of this.

-

Best Couple

Winner: (s) – Togame and Shichika from Katanagatari ~ (f) – Togame and Shichika from Katanagatari

Runner-up: (s) – none ~ (f) – Ko and Nino from Arakawa Under the Bridge 2

Togame and Shichika made a good couple but I wanted to take this chance to mention the worse couple was definitely Usui and Misa from Maid-sama, not because I wanted some other pairing but because I really didn’t like how this shoujo series depicted the relationship between the two of them – you’d think a series aimed at girls would show the main female in a more empowering light.

-

Best Character Ability/Power

Winner: (s) – Seeing microbes from Moyashimon Live Action ~ (f) – The ability to make super-powered samurai with only a kiss from Samurai Girls

Runner-up: (s) – Glasses girl’s ability to get mixed up with the supernatural from Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin ~ (f) – Arsene’s Toys of Resplendence from Tantei Opera Milky Holmes

Moyashimon Live Action is only here because of where it ran and because the microbes were animated. It wasn’t a particularly good show but the ability to see and communicate to microbes remains a very cool power. And speaking of squandered potential, Samurai Girls was set in a very interesting world with a very interesting animation style and it wasted both by being a boring harem show. It was still a cool power, though.

-

Best Cast of Characters

Winner: (s) – K-On!! ~ (f) – Arakawa Under the Bridge 2

Runner-up: (s) – Sengoku Basara 2, Rainbow ~ (f) – Kuragehime, Sora No Otoshimono Forte

These were two relatively easy picks to make. I just noticed that Kuragehime is the only completely new show (neither a sequel or continuing from an earlier season) listed. In a certain way, that makes it the best because it accomplished the most.

-

Best Character Development for Cast

Winner: (s) – Highschool of the Dead ~ (f) – Kuragehime

Runner-up: (s) – Rainbow ~ (f) – Arakawa Under the Bridge 2

Count me as the odd one that enjoyed Highschool of the Dead not for the fan-service or for the zombies but for it’s social commentary and character development. My favorite example was the gun otaku who went from social outcast in modern society to local hero and ladies man when the zombies arrived. Thinking about it, both of the winners share a commonality; if it wasn’t for the extraordinary event at the beginning – zombies appear and Kuranosuke saving the jellyfish – neither cast of characters would have had the opportunity for growth that they had.

-

Best Character Development of a Single Character

Winner: (s) – Sanada Yukimura from Sengoku Basara 2 ~ (f) – Tsukimi from Kuragehime

Runner-up: (s) – Scam from Rainbow ~ (f) – Garterbelt from Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt

One of the most important threads in Sengoku Basara 2 was the development of Sanada Yukimura into a man capable of being a general. It wasn’t always pretty to watch but it turned him into a real man; a really cool and epic one that can fight the Japanese equivalent of a Archimedes’s Death Ray and win. And for a complete change of pace, Kuragehime’s Tsukimi was the obvious pick for the fall season. All the characters in Kuragehime have had the chance to grow but Tsukimi’s transformation has been the most pronounced and the most heart-warming to see.

-

That’s the end of part 1; I hope to have the second part up within a day. Comments and feedback are always appreciated – I’d love to see what others would pick.

 

Filed under: anime, awards

Woah, those last two episodes were pretty good! If only the rest of the anime was as bad-ass as those two. Oh well, retarded fun is all good too! What I found dumb was that they got their toys back, they figured out Arsene was Henriette because bewbs (great evidence gathering detectives!), and they didn’t [...]

I’ll start this post off with a confession: I have a thing for side characters. You know, the ones who don’t get as much of a turn in the spotlight as the lucky main few; the ones who aren’t the stars of their series. Maybe they’re the ones who should be or could be, though, and at the very least, they help the stars shine brighter. I love these characters. I’m not sure why, either. Perhaps it’s that the lack of character development allows me to theorise endlessly about potential hidden depths. Or perhaps it’s just the fact that if a character has less screen-time, there’s less potential for them to be irritating. Regardless, this side character fascination is certainly there. Throughout 2010, we were presented with a wealth of delicious flat characters – ‘flat’ in the sense of a lack of character depth, of course – in anime, and I want to take a look at some of them here.

I suppose the girl featuring in my current avatar is as good a place to start as any, eh? Aoi Yamada of Working!! is largely a mystery. What we do know about her is as follows: she’s a klutzy, incredibly blunt, drama-mongering, supposedly sixteen-year-old girl who fancies herself a ‘super waitress’, has a huge collection of disguises and is inexplicably good at bugging people. Aoi is also a fantastic comedic side character. She’s entertaining and charming, and she also brings out the funniest in everyone around her, whether they’re members of the main cast or not. To quote what I said in my final post on Working!!, “I honestly think that her addition [to the cast] directly or indirectly led to each character’s funniest moment of the series”. One more Working!! character who definitely deserves mention is Maya Matsumoto, who only had her first real lines in the last episode of the series. Her obsession with normality was what set her apart from her bizarrely-behaved coworkers… and it was also what makes her fit perfectly among them, as it caused her to act as strangely as the best of them.

Another creator of hilarity and easily one of my favourite side characters of the year was Railgun‘s Mitsuko Kongou. Mitsuko toed both the fanservice character and gag character lines, but got a bit of development as well and a crowning moment of awesome (or two, arguably) to boot. She’s essentially presented as the ojou-sama with the giant ego. She’s confident to the point of boastfulness, and self-assured to the point of narcissism, and I loved her for it. We got hints, though, too, of her private persona being quite different to this – she seemed a lot milder and kinder to her friends, albeit not less boastful, telling them stories about how she single-handedly brought down one of Railgun‘s primary antagonists with ease. I think she’s fantastic, but I don’t at all think she could have carried Railgun. (For the most part, it was too laid-back for all Mitsuko all the time.) She was, however, both an excellent rival to Kuroko and an excellent unknown rival/self-proclaimed friend to Mikoto.

Sometimes, side characters don’t have terribly much to say or do. If we’re lucky, though, whatever they do end up saying or doing is hilarious. Angel Beats! had TK with his nonsensical English backed up by an array of dance moves, Seitokai Yakuindomo had Satomi Arai playing another schoolgirl lesbian in the snarky and slightly depraved Ranko Hata, and B Gata H Kei had the permanently cheerful and cheerfully frank Mami Misato. But perhaps the ultimate scene-stealer of the year was Milky Holmes‘ unforgettable Twenty. Milky Holmes actually had a few characters like this – another notable example being Arsene/Henriette’s chest, which seemed to have a mind of its own - but even in a show full of people with little tethering them to reality, Twenty managed to stand out the most. Whether he was stripping at an alarming pace, showing off his incredibly pointy nipples to the camera, moaning and screaming in Engrish about how beautiful he was, or going on a date with a hug pillow of himself, he demanded attention.

There were the usual side character duos, too. Occult Academy‘s sardonic janitor Smile and cheerful goth JK begged many questions. Why were the two of them always together? How was JK able to consume so much pudding? Why was Smile permanently wearing a smiley face badge, and what the hell was up with his giant spanner? Even more mysterious were Durarara!!‘s Erika Karisawa and Walker Yumasaki. Prone to fast-paced banter and off-the-wall conversations on topics ranging from fandom to philosophy, the two also displayed a wide variety of skills and prominent sadistic streaks. In addition, they made an excellent couple.

Lastly, we had – or should that be ‘have’, given she’s in a still-ongoing show? – Ruri Makina of Star Driver. … Yeah, she’s kind of only here because she reminds me of Utena‘s Wakaba, somehow. I’d love for her to get even comparable character development to Wakaba; I really want there to be more to her than “Her specialty is meat and potatoes!”. Star Driver, I have faith that you’ll deliver. Don’t let me down!

Okay, that concludes day five of Borderline Hikikomori’s twelve days of Christmas. Who were your favourite anime side characters of 2010?

 

Both of these anime come from the capable hands of J.C. Staff but one was hyped, Bakuman, whereas the other, Milky Holmes, was ignored and/or derided (include me in the ignored category). One is a shounen anime and the other is a shoujo anime. One sets itself in a fantasy alternative-history Japan and the other sets itself in a realistic modern Japan. The two really don’t seem to have anything in common outside of the animation studio but watching one reminded me of the other and vice versa so I’m going to roll with it and review them together.

Bakuman

Rating for episode 1 – 5/12 C+
Rating for episode 2 – 4/12 C
Rating for episode 3 – 4/12 C
Anticipation Level: 0.5/5 Very Low

Tantei Opera Milky Holmes

Rating for episode 1 – 7/12 B
Rating for episode 2 – 7/12 B
Anticipation Level: 2.5/5 Average

-

The Story

In Bakuman, we follow the efforts of two middle school boys as they aim to become published manga artists and have their manga turned into an anime by the age of 18. On the surface this seems very, very unlikely except one is already winning national writing competitions and the other is a gifted artist that had an uncle that was a manga author (mangaka). To add urgency to their quest, one of the boys proposes marriage to the girl he likes and she accepts under the condition of they make a manga that gets turned into an anime and that she gets to voice a character in that anime (she wants to be a voice actress when she grows up).

The world of Milky Holmes is an alternative 20th century world where people are born with magical abilities and these ability users become either gentlemen thieves or great detectives (making the cops look like the Keystone Cops as a result). The Holmes Detective Academy (HDA) is where the future great detectives learn their craft and the most promising group at HDA is a 4 female group known as Milky Holmes. As the curtain raises on episode 1 we find out that our heroes, Milky Holmes, have mysteriously lost their powers and are now on the cusp of getting expelled from HDA.

The Fine Print

Marvel of marvels, Bakuman is the tiresome one to watch and Milky Holmes is the entertaining one.

The biggest problem with Bakuman is a combination of it’s main characters and how the story is unfolding. There’s been zero character development in three episodes that makes either of the main characters into anything other then snot-nose brats. At their best I find the duo of would-be mangaka very unsympathetic as main characters and at their worst I actively loathe them and hope they’re unsuccessful in their dreams of becoming published manga artists. At this stage of the story, I can stand the main characters if it looked like the trials and tribulations of becoming mangaka would drive the main characters into becoming more mature and better all-around people, like in Spirited Away, but that doesn’t appear likely. Instead, everything is lining up perfectly and just being handed to them – is there any doubt how this series is going to end??? They might as well queue a montage sequence of the boys writing a manga, having it become huge and the girl doing vocal work on the anime adaptation and ending with a white wedding in a cute Western-style chapel that seems to abound in manga/anime.

Milky Holmes, on-the-other-hand, has four main characters used to having everything perfect for them until they lose their power and become the school screw-ups. This turn of events has already made for a more interesting show and will continue to make a more interesting show. Will the four members of Milky Holmes regain their powers and their place as top detectives or if they learn to become detectives without relying on their special powers or will they get kicked out of HDA and never become detectives? The show could go in any of these three directions or some other direction but however it turns out, it’s a more interesting show and the characters are going to end up being more interesting, more watchable and more likeable.

I have enjoyed both episodes of Milky Holmes and see myself remaining interested in it for the season. I’m not really a fan of shoujo but I have finished Kobato and will finish Kaichou wa Maid-sama when a certain sub group that I love gets it done (no pressure ) so I know I can enjoy shoujo series when they don’t rely on clichés of the subgenre. For me, the biggest impedance to Milky Holmes from receiving real high marks is it’s genre. I dislike myself for that being the case but in my defense, at least I’m trying to make allowances for my personal bias in this review.

At least one thing I won’t have to worry about with Milky Holmes is getting offended by sexist writing like in Bakuman. I read this article before watching episode 2 (but after episode 1)  of Bakuman and knew the scene where the Mom relays the Dad’s words “Men have dreams that a woman wouldn’t understand,” to the son as the Dad’s way of telling his son that it’s perfectly okay for a middle school student to become a manga artist was coming up. I reserved judgment till I saw the actual episode and now that I saw it, I have to concur – that’s an incredibly sexist and demeaning thing to say and it really gets my blood boiling when I think about it.

Which turns out to be the final nail needed for me to decide to drop Bakuman and as soon as I get a couple of screenshots for this post – I’ll delete the episodes off my hard drive and feel good about doing it.

The one area – animation style – that might have gotten me to watch a few more episodes of Bakuman turned out to be another disappointment. It’s J.C. Staff’s watercolor look but it’s the most generic, stripped down, dull version of this style that I’ve seen in a very long time from them. Compare Bakuman to Otome Youkai Zakuro, another show done in the same style, and the differences are so glaringly obvious. Heck, even Milky Holmes which obviously received a smaller budget and can’t compete in terms of animation quality has been more visually interesting.

So, in conclusion, Bakuman is getting dropped and Milky Holmes is surprisingly entertaining and has earned a spot on my watch list. I like Milky Holmes enough that I recommend everyone giving it a one episode chance (though if you only watch one episode you’ll miss the adorable cat named Fish Paste that appears in the second episode).

 

Filed under: anime, first impressions

Soredemo Machi ha Mawatteiru MAID! We like maids right? Yeah we do! But sadly, I won’t keep up with this for now. Which is weird considering I like these type of anime where not much goes on and jokes are odd and dumb. But I got Arakawa for this season so I’ll skip on this [...]