animu

I've been watching some anime.

I know - shock revelation, what with it supposedly being one of my hobbies and all, but it’s been a long time since I really watched any anime.

I therefore thought I might revive my mini reviews:


attack on titan

I've read several volumes of the manga and basically enjoyed it.  The artwork is a bit rough around the edges and the story is all over the places, but I quite like it despite those.

It kind of goes without saying that the artwork in the anime is much better, but it is actually of quite a high standard.  They've also done a lot to smooth out the story - it's less 'high energy' because of that, but it also makes it easier to follow.

My only real criticism would be that the gore has been toned down - a lot happens off camera - and really it's this that's one of the key aspects of the manga: when the characters are whining about how scared you are, in the manga you've seen their friends be eaten alive, but in the anime you know it happened but didn't actually see how horrible it was, so you don't quite feel the same way.

But that's a fairly minor gripe - it's still worth watching.


flowers of evil

I've only actually watched 3 episodes of this.

It's drawn quite a bit of flack as it's actually rotoscoped.  I've never really been a fan of rotoscoping.  I think it's okay here, but I think much of what it brings could have been achieved with traditional animation.  Indeed, I think a lot of what people have been complimenting that they think the rotoscoping is the reason for is actually more to do with the sound design.  The sound is really creepy - there's a lot of bits that really ramp up the tension and atmosphere.

But the reason I've not really watched more than 3 episodes is I find he characters a bit annoying.  It also seems very unrealistic - and I think this is actually made worse by the rotoscoping.  You know it's been acted out in real life, so it's like a drama someone has drawn on, but it's therefore a very unrealistic drama.


gargantia on the verduos planet

I think this might actually be my favourite of the season.  It's certainly the most proper science fiction of the shows I've watched.  I like the premise, the plot and the characters and I think it looks great and has been done really well (it is a Production I.G. series, after all).

If I was pushed to make one criticism it's that it could have moved a bit swifter - there were some bits that could have been chopped out to move things along a lot quicker.  But even during those bits the show is entertaining enough.  Oh, and I suppose the fan service it has is a bit unnecessary too; given the overall SF nature of the show it can feel a little out of place.


majestic prince

I have to say my interest in this one has waned a bit over the course of watching it.  I think a part of this is that it's been quite samey.  I am actually a bit puzzled that this was listed as having 24 episodes where Gargantia was listed as having 13 as I'd have said the longevity of the two series feels the other way around (but not sure where I saw these listings so I don't know if they're true).

Another problem I had was that in the first few episodes I had the feeling that the show was actually a bit of a parody, or at least that it was making a few knowing winks at the story itself, but as the episodes have gone on I've felt this much less.

I did actually think it bore a resemblance to shows like GaoGaiGar - certainly the bad guys are the same sort of bonkers OTT bunch.  However, GGG had the advantage of a proper giant robot and a real sense of fun.  This tries to be a bit more serious than it needs to be to work properly.

Although saying that it could have worked if it had gone the other way.  I mean, I think the main characters are meant to be kids who have had their memories wiped so they don't remember their families or anything, but it doesn't really examine how dark this is.


yuyushiki

It's difficult to hate shows like this.

Yuyushiki is one of those girls in clubs shows like K-ON, only in K-ON the girls are meant to be in a music club but actually spend their time doing nothing, where in yuyu their club is basically searching the internet.

I dunno, as an example of the genre it's perfectly fine and I enjoy it, but it's hardly ground-breaking stuff.


This isn't all the stuff from this season; but it's the ones I liked the look of.  I might try sampling the other series from this season across the Bank Holiday weekend to see if they're worth watching.

I've also watched some stuff I bought (I was kind of forced to, because it's on Blu-Ray and, as my post earlier in the week said) I need the cash from selling them on e-bay.  I'll talk about those in another post.