Fall 08 Impressions PART IV

Posted On October 8, 2008

Ga-Rei -zero-

I’m not sure what shocks me the most– the ending of this first episode, or the fact that asread is making an action show! Well, it’s asread along with AIC Spirits, but I’m still impressed.

Ga-Rei’s setup is pretty risky. This is something that would be absolutely horrible in the hands of another studio (sup Gonzo) but somehow asreadXAIC gets it right. In this first episode, anyways. There’s a lot of stuff here that’s been done before, but the execution is so good that it doesn’t really matter. The real shining achievement in this first episode is how it ends. What a cliffhanger! If the rest of the series can be at least half as good as this first episode is, then I’ll keep watching.

Macademy WAsshoi

You know me. You know I like panderiffic anime. I like fun, fanservice-laden affairs as much as the next guy. Some of them even manage to touch my heart.

Macademy WAsshoi, however, does not do this.

I’m fine with shows planned by committee. I’m fine with characters written just to appeal to a certain kink. That’s all cool with me. But, what you need is soul. Maccademy WAsshoi, thus far, is devoid of all soul. This is the most insipid, cliche and heartless thing I’ve ever seen. It’s even worse than Rosario+Vampire. It’s that level of mediocre.

I’m a softy though. The last few minutes of this first episode kept me kind of interested, so I’ll give this one a three episode test. It probably won’t get better though, looking at Studio Zechs ZEXCS’ track record.

But hey, if all else fails, at least they have Olmec on their side.

Shikabane Hime: Aka

This is much like Ga-Rei -zero-; if some other studio were to do this, there’d be a pretty high chance of it being terrible. The guys at Gainax are animation pros. Their signature style of direction, animation and art supervision made this one for me. The plot is pretty typical, but I have confidence Gainax can keep it interesting.

One thing that put me off about this one was the main girl’s voice– her acting seems flat and awkward so far. Not really a surprise, considering her resume. She’ll probably get better, though. The main male lead is a newbie, too.

At this rate, there will probably need to be a PART V! I don’t think I’ve ever gotten that far before.