Mistakes of Youth: The Blog (Powered by EXCELLENCE!)

With the dead arts, the forgotten ones, and the old 2007 shows behind us, it is now time to move onto the shows that both began life and ended life in 2008. As usual, I start from the bottom and work my way up…

While we all love anime (we all do, right?) often times we must admit that there is a fair amount of crap amongst all the good stuff. Smart people drop these shows. I don’t. Here’s a rundown of shows that I should have dropped, or shows that just didn’t do it for me, but I finished them against my better judgment.

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The other show I finished yesterday was ef – a tale of melodies. Ugh.

ef – a tale of memories, the series that precedes melodies, was all around okay, and ended rather strongly. I was primarily interested in it because it was the first eroge adaptation Shaft had done after the most dangerous Akiyuki Shinbo joined forces with them, and started mixing shit up. Sure, they had done things like Popotan, but post-Shinbo Shaft is all about Art with a capital A, and I wanted to see this studio’s take on the tried and true genre that is “visual novel adaptation.”

Sadly, Shinbo wasn’t the director of memories–some guy called Shin Oonuma was. He did pretty decently with memories, but the show had way too many outer glows and cloud filters for my tastes. I figured by melodies he would have improved, but… no.

The main thing that kills melodies however is not its directorial strangeness, but its terrible writing. The writing in memories wasn’t stellar, and quite frankly it bored me half of the time, but it wasn’t all that bad. All of melodies is relentlessly boring. The plotlines are also incredibly lazy–they expect you to feel for these characters for no reason at all, then meander for a bit, and finally come to an asinine end. It doesn’t help that Oonuma and crew try to distract you from the lazy writing by chopping everything up and mixing it together, forcing you to piece together these clichéd narratives on your own.

When the show wasn’t killing me with its poor writing, Oonuma’s overuse of strange and inconsistent imagery made the show really difficult to watch. Now, as any long time reader of this blog will know, I love strange imagery in my anime. I’m a big fan of Hideaki Anno’s work on Eva, and I love everything Akiyuki Shinbo directs. However, whenever those directors get weird, the weirdness is unified, focused, and never overstays its welcome. Oonuma’s crew saw it fit to use every single cool visual style they could think of, which lead to a production that looked not dissimilar to a kid’s first time in Photoshop. I did appreciate the wide variety of animation styles and visuals on display, but they never meshed and the entire thing came off as amateur.

All that said, there was one part that I liked about this show, and it was Kuze’s struggle. Most people got sick of him, but I found his inner battles to be quite compelling. It’s too bad it was all brought down by Oonuma’s shotgun approach to “artistic” directing. Oh well.

• Since I was two episodes behind, I dropped Yozakura Quartet. Despite the harsh things I say about it elsewhere, it’s not an altogether bad show. The character interaction is great, but that’s not really enough to save it from its really bad plot. The show also has some slick character designs, it’s just that the bozos over at Normad can’t present them properly at all. What’s with all those dumb bright colours? Man, it’s like the only good show they’ve ever made is Chocotto Sister! *CONTROVERSIAL STATEMENT*
• I am also two episodes behind on ef – a tale of emo losers but I won’t be dropping that, even though I think the show is terribly written. It’s a SHAFT show, so I have some moral obligation to see it through. That said, the SHAFTness of it sucks, too. Shin Oonuma really is a talentless hack who is simply a mere shadow of his master. I guess the openings and endings are neat, though.
• To Aru Majutsu no Index has finally come out of its funk and is entertaining again. The latest arc wasn’t especially great, but it was fun and lacked the menacing walls of text that plagued the first six episodes. The show still needs to bring in more of the girls, but I guess Index is enough for now~
• Michiko and Hatchin is a really great show, and I should write a longer entry about it eventually. What sets it apart from the rest is its film/TV drama like nature. The directing is that of a live action piece, and never feels too cartoony. However, I do think the direction falters in some areas, but we can forgive Sayo Yamamoto for that, right?
• Speaking of me missing images on Danbooru, how did I miss this (very not safe for work) work of art? This is the best piece of Mikuru porn I’ve seen in a while, and every naked picture of Mikuru I have is amazing.
• So I guess that Touhou anime has a cast of real voice actors. My Touhou-Fuhai is still weak, but this seems pretty cool.
• I don’t really mind the art in ChäoS;HEAd, but I guess I’m speaking as someone who draws worse than that.

Current
Casshern Sins: Great art direction but the writing is so boring. I’m pretty sure Casshern says JUST WHAT AM I in every fucking episode.
ChäoS;HEAd: It’s always super special! I like this one a lot.
Clannad ~After Story~: Hit and miss. Needs more Mei and/or baseball episodes.
ef – a tale of melodies: This is like a Shinbo show except not good.
Ga-Rei-ZERO: I mostly like it. Really dig the opening/ending tunes.
Golgo 13: ….
Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae: It’s like the writers on this show compete on who can write the crappiest episode.
Kannagi: Yamakan’s direction is great, and the production values are flawless, but the plot stuff lets it down.
Kemeko DX: Nice tits. Humour is hit or miss.
Kurogane no Linebarrels: This show is about man things like robots, tits and giant black men named JACK SMITH who cut airplanes in half.
Kyou no 5 no 2: I guess it’s fine but I still don’t know any of the character’s names.
Michiko to Hatchin: Uneven, but on the whole extremely well done.
Rosario + Vampire CAPU2: This show has moments of genius, actually. Moments of genius mixed with many moments of utter stupidity.
Shikabane Hime: Aka: This show is incredibly trashy, but it takes itself so seriously that I can’t help but take it seriously too. Gainax’s work also really helps it.
Tentai Senshi Sunred: Mostly funny. Some moments fall flat, but mostly funny.
To Aru Majutsu no Index: Pretty entertaining fluff after a string of terrible opening episodes. Let’s hope it stays this way!
Toradora!: I really like this, even though I can’t find a character to like. Taiga is almost cute, but she’s too violent.
Tytania: :V
Yozakura Quartet: This has a really shitty plot, but the direction is ok. Good voice acting, too.
Zettai Karen Children: Not as good as Hayate, but a thoroughly enjoyable year-long show.

Not Current
Windy Tales: Finishing this soon.

Reading
Hayate no Gotoku: Comic version is pretty good so far, but Kenjiro Hata is kind of a bad artist but works around his failings well.
Ikoku Meiro no Croisee: What? There’s only one volume so far? It’s been a year! Where’s volume two :(

I guess I’ll read more of the Tsukuyomi manga soon.

Current
Casshern Sins: Arty retro stuff. Sometimes boring, but mostly good.
ChäoS;HEAd: Moe psychological thriller. I can dig it.
Crannad ~After Story~: The first arc was great, but now it’s getting into “NOT THIS SHIT AGAIN, KEY” territory.
Detroit Metal City: Hahahaha, the rapping episode.
ef – a tale of melodies: Behind on this already.
Ga-Rei -Zero-: I dunno. Kinda good.
Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae: Lesbians send you to hell.
Kannagi: JIMI, DA NE. The opening is almost the best part of this show, but the real stuff is mostly good. I wish Nagi and Jin would argue less. It’s not funny like when Kohei and Hazuki do it.
Kurogane no Linebarrels: This show is just funny.
Kyou no 5 no 2: Not as good as the porno OVA, but decent. Kind of boring at times.
Michiko to Hatchin: SASSY, CRASSY, ASSY. Need more episodes~
Rosario + Vampire Capu2: You know those people who hate 0nT but watch it anyway? That’s how I am with this damn show.
Shikabane Hime: Aka: On hold because of FUNimation faggotry. I like it, though.
To Aru Majutsu no Index: Hey let’s talk for 30 minutes then make something exciting happen at the end of the episode only for the following episode to be more talking. This show needs to be fixed soon.
Toradora!: I think I love it. Such great character stuff here.
Tytania: I almost love it. Too gay, though.
Yozakura Quartet: I feel the Kurenai magic every now and again, but overall not that great. Good ending song, though.
Zettai Karen Children: Absolutely Lovely! That’s why it doesn’t lose!

Not Current
Gankutsuoh: Pretty good except all the characters who aren’t the Count are dumb cunts.
Mushishi: Pure brilliance.
Windy Tales: Almost pure brilliance.

Manga
Slowly reading through some manga in both Japanese and English.

V V V VICTORY

ef- a tale of melodies

While I appreciated the artistic merit in the first ef series, I only half liked it. This is not to fault the geniuses at SHAFT or supervisor Shinbo– I just thought the story was boring half of the time. I came into melodies with lowered expectations, and like most of the sequels hitting this season, I liked it a bit more than the first one. This opening episode focuses on characters who were more secondary players in the first series, and honestly, I’m already finding them more interesting than the goofs we had to deal with in series one. Chihiro was cute, though.

Bonus: ZETSUBOU SHITA!!

Kemeko Deluxe

I enjoy Tsutomu Mizushima’s style, but I think he may be only as good as the material given to him. That said, my experience with him is limited to Dokuro-chan and Dai Mahou Touge. His work in Kemeko carries the same sort of feel present in those two, but much like Dai Mahou Touge, it’s not terribly funny. At least not yet. What really grabbed me here was the character designs and animation quality, which I think are really top notch. Some jarring 3D work is present here, but isn’t much of a distraction. This seems like a show I could potentially like, but it’s not quite there yet. Episode two will probably be better.

Seiyuu fans will go on about how GREAT this voice cast is, but I guess I couldn’t care less? It has a lot of people I like in it, though.

Yozakura Quartet

If there were a list of disappointing first episodes, Yozakura Quartet probably wouldn’t be at the very top, or near the top at all; but it’d be on there. Somewhere. I really wasn’t expecting much out of this, either. At the very least I expected some stylish action, but what I got was pretty bland. There are hints of genius scattered amongst the first episode, but they don’t really come together. At least the character designs are nice, and it’s refreshing to hear a new Round Table Feat. Nino song after a good while. Seriously, what was the last thing they did? I’m waiting for their next album to come out already!

A part VI may or may not materialize depending on what gets subs in the next week. It’s kind of sad that no one’s jumped on Jigoku Shoujo 3 yet, since that one actually looks good.

I’m so glad all of this stuff is starting in October, rather than in September like I originally thought. I was wondering how I would be able to handle twenty more shows on top of of the fourteen I already have going. Thanfully, that is not the case, and by the time this new season rolls around, about everything I’m watching right now would have concluded.

This season isn’t looking all too hot. While nothing looks super horrible, nothing looks totally good either. With most seasons I can usually pick out one show that I know I’ll love (eg Kodomo no Jikan, Kure-nai, Gurren Lagann) but there’s nothing really like that this season. I hope at least some of these can surprise me!

Man, I just gotta watch this

• Goku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei: More Zetsubou Sensei cannot be a bad thing.
• Kannagi: Watching for the KyoAni connection alone. The plot seems fairly standard but will be good with the correct execution.
• Kyou no Go no Ni: I actually really dig the new art style– it seems closer to that of the original manga. But considering the OVA covered all of the manga material, I hope this anime-original stuff isn’t bad… or maybe they’ll just adapt the manga again, I don’t know. I just hope for tight loli asses.
• Michiko to Hatchin: Ok, maybe I lied when I said I wasn’t able to pick out one show this season that I’ll just love. Michiko to Hatchin just might be that show. It bleeds Cowboy Bebop (Watanabe is the “music producer”), and just seems like tons of fun. The only problem is that Manglobe is working on it. They made Samurai Champloo, which was a good show– but they also made Ergo Proxy. Yeah.
• Tytania: This is apparently Legends of the Galactic Heroes sans ten billion episodes I have to watch. Sold. (Though, it looks kind of gay)

Man, I should probably watch this

• Casshern Sins: These character designs, man. They’re like retro and modern at the same time. I’m interested in this simply because it’s a remake of an old property, and it may even be good considering Madhouse is behind it.
• Clannad ~After Story~: Ah, so this is the part where things get all depressing and mellow-dramatic. Sweet! After Tomoyo’s OVA, I’m a little sick of Clannad, but hopefully with this series it’ll redeem itself.
• ef – a tale of melodies: I wasn’t totally taken with the first ef series, but I liked it well enough, so I don’t see why I shouldn’t watch the sequel. Also it’s by SHAFT, so it’s basically guaranteed to be good.
• Hyakko: Random school girl comedy. None of these can live up to Azumanga Daioh in my book (yes, point and laugh) but these types of shows are always fun. I kind of like the character designs.
• Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae: Jigoku Shoujo is such trash, but I watch it anyways. If the writers can keep things mildly entertaining, I’ll be happy.
• Shikabane Hime: ZOMBIE SCHOOL GIRL KILLS ZOMBIES AND GAINAX ANIMATES IT. Should be good.
• Ride Black: I’m not totally sold on the premise, but the combination of a Gainax and Ghibli director, plus Madhouse, along with some cool artwork knocks this one up a notch or so.
• Tentai Senshi Sunred: No one will sub this :(
• To Aru Majutsu no Index: I’m all for moe nuns and J.C. Staff.
• Toradora!: I tried to read the manga, but the translation was just soooo bad. Hopefully the anime will be good, so I can just watch that instead. J.C. Staff make good stuff, so it probably will be. I like the character designs, even if they are wildly different from the originals. Main girl is cute.
• Yozakura Shijuusou ~Yozakura Quartet~: Watching entirely for the character designs, but the premise has potential to be entertaining.

Man, I probably shouldn’t watch this

• CHAOS;HEAD: The premise is amazing, but the character designs seem too generic for even me. It’s by Madhouse, but they’re doing like five-thousand things, and this show will probably get shafted on the animation budget.
• Ga-Rei Zero: I like the character designs, but I probably won’t watch this unless it gets rave reviews.
• Kurogane no Linebarrel: This show had potential to be s-CRY-ed 2 with awesome missile spam and robots, but it’s by Gonzo so it’ll suck. Has an English site for some reason.
• Kemeko-DX: Romantic comedy with good artwork. Hopefully it’ll be above average, but my expectations are low.
  
• Macademi Wasshoi!: This looks really panderific in a bad way, but I’ll give the first episode a shot since I have a poster of it up in my room.The artwork is kind of weird.
• Rosario and Vampire CAPU2: Why do I subject myself to pain? But who knows, maybe this one will have an animation budget or something.

Man, fall’s gonna be busy!

2007 was really fucking uneven. The first few months got by on the better titles that carried over from 2006, but between April and August it was something of a wasteland. I managed to get my fix for good modern anime by way of genius works such as Gurren Lagann and Hayate no Gotoku, but all the other offerings during that period of time where somewhere between mildly amusing to plain bad. Thankfully, August saw the debut of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and Zero No Tsukaima 2, both of which restored my faith in the industry somewhat. October once again impressed with Minami-ke, Kaiji and Clannad.

What follows will be something similar to my monthly posts, but for the Year In Review, I’ll be ordering things by quality using letter grades, starting from the worst to the VERY BEST. I cover a lot of shows in the post, but it’s not everything I watched during the year.

Here’s my rankings.

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