So, I am finally back from my holiday! I had a great time and went to Barcelona, visiting the Juan Miro Museum. A very fascinating and engaging trip, Barcelona proves to me once again why it's my favorite city in the world other than Bordeaux. It was lively, cultural and overall a very fun trip. But anyway, now I'm back I'll be able to keep up with my anime-watching again. Once again, I'm on my Spring Anime Season Track. As you know, this is usually week-by-week, but I've had to sift through them all since 9 a.m Parisian Time today! And I've literally just finished, so enjoy my thoughts on this last fortnight of anime.
My Opinion of the Two Weeks (14th - 27th April)
This has been an absolute turnaround of a fortnight as far
as anime is concerned. Many of the shows that I really liked at first have now
become less liked because of several factors, whilst other shows I hadn't held
in such high regard before have ultimately earned their respect from me as
decent, solid shows with a strong focus on characters, story and animation.
Bones and Madhouse still lead the rest of the studios easily,
as they are the two that have outmatched every other production studio this
season. No Game No Life, Captain Earth and Soul Eater Not! are now three of the
best shows at the moment. The effect that these shows have had demonstrates how
they are still the giants they have been since their inceptions.
Selector Infected WIXOSS (J.C. Staff) is now starting to make me feel
uncomfortable in how the audience is supposed to sympathize with the side
character Kuzuki’s incestuous desire for her brother Yuzuki. I don’t at all
agree with incest and if something has incest in it that’s supposed to make me
feel for the partners, it drops down massively in my book. This is a real shame
because I think the show overall isn't terrible and does have revolutionary
intentions.
Brynhildr in the Darkness (Arms) is suffering from the same
problems as its writer’s previous work, Elfen Lied: it became boring. The main
characters have not had any major fight scenes up until this previous episode
I’ve watched, which was a good comeback for the show. Unfortunately, this
pushes the show out of the top five for me. If a television program can't
maintain the consistency of substance that it had at the beginning, that
unfortunately means that it loses its edge.
I have now dropped two more shows: Kamigami no Asobi
(Brains’ Base) and Atelier: Escha and Logy (Gokumi). I dropped them simply
because they were incredibly boring, but for different reasons. Kamigami was
unoriginal. It’s a concept that’s been done to death, a basic reverse-harem
anime. The only interesting thing about it was that the men in this harem were
all Greek, Japanese, Norse or Egyptian Gods. However, many of the characters
have absolute zero personality, especially Apollo, who is just overall nice
with practically no depth. Atelier suffers from boring scenarios for episodes,
such as fetching water for a nearby village or doing jobs around the main
characters’ town. The characters are also especially weak, with Escha being too
“kawaii” for my taste and Logy just overall as blank-faced and expressionless
as Kit Harrington.
So these are my thoughts on what happened these weeks. Now, onward to the Top Five!
Top Five Ranking
1. No Game No Life (Studio Madhouse): This anime has just gotten better and better. Trust me when I say that if there's an anime whose main character reminds you of Lelouch Vi Britannia from Code Geass, then you should definitely watch it and sing its praises. No Game No Life isn't a show about action and fighting; overall it is an anime about intellect and combat with the mind. (Other recommended titles: Sword Art Online and Problem Children are Coming from Another World, aren't They?)
2. Black Bullet (Studio Kinema Citrus): Kinema Citrus have truly pulled out something wonderful with this Attack on Titan esque anime. The show has excellent story and character interactions between Rentaro and Enju allow the series space to breath before it's next animated action set piece. Developing the world and the mystery of Cursed Children also engages the audience. (Other recommended titles: Attack on Titan and Nobunagun)
3. Captain Earth (Studio Bones): An epic Mecha anime and the best by far this season, rising well above Knights of Sidonia and Daimidaler. Captain Earth has a great mech-building sequence that reminded me very much of Power Rangers. The characters are also fleshed out and allowed their own motivations and character traits to focus, with the center of the conflict being Humans vs. Aliens. (Other recommended titles: Eureka Seven and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann)
4. Knights of Sidonia (Sidonia no Kishi) (Polygon Pictures): Packing a serious punch with tense action scenes and an absolutely kickass opening, Knights of Sidonia has risen to become a personal favorite of mine. Maybe it's the opening, maybe it's the likeability of Nagate, our main protagonist, but something about this show keeps bringing me back and hopefully it'll get better and better as time passes. (Other recommended titles: Attack on Titan and The Sky Crawlers)
5. Soul Eater Not! (Studio Bones): Despite a sudden shocking drop in quality, Soul Eater Not! still has just about enough charm and intrigue to make it one of the best on offer this season. The introduction of a conflict with an organisation of Traitors helps the anime along much smoother than before. The three main characters are also funny and have interesting quirks that sustain the show's charm. (Other recommended titles: Soul Eater and The Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat)
Thanks for reading. Sayonara!
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