Fall 08 Impressions PART I
GUNDAM FIGHT, READY GO!
Clannad ~After Story~
After a season of silence, KyoAni returns to blow our minds again, this time with… cute girls playing baseball! Sure, it’s not as good as Haruhi’s baseball episode, but it’s still pretty fun, and I enjoyed it a lot. I’m not sure if my attitude just changed between when the first Clannad series ended and now, but for some reason the show clicks with me more. Maybe it’s just because this is so good compared to that horrible Tomoyo-centric OVA from a while back. God, that was a piece of shit.
Sadly, once again, the beautiful work of KyoAni gets horrible treatment from the TV stations. Apparently the 16:9 broadcast looked worse than the 4:3 broadcast. wtf, Japan? Are you really going to force me to buy Clannad on DVD? Really? I haven’t even bought Kanon yet!
Hyakko
Hyakko is very awkward. It seems like it’s trying to be some charming and cute slice of thing but it isn’t quite hitting the right notes. Some things work (mainly Suzu) but the rest is kind of like watching some amateur play the piano, or something. Maybe it’ll get better in future episodes, but this first installment is just kind of weak.
Toradora!
Toradora may or may not become the best show of the season for me depending on how Taiga develops. I’ve read some of the manga (something like two chapters) and she just kind of came off as crazy. And in the anime she still comes off as crazy. Not really a good kind of crazy, but not a bad one either. I like the main character, and hopefully he can stay not useless for the 13 or so episodes that this is meant to run for.
Some things people are pointing out about this show are the framing of shots and its general pace, which I also find quite pro. Especially in comparison to Zero no Tsukaima , in which shots are meant to provide the best view of tits and ass (note: this is not a bad thing.) The storyboarding and directing in Toradora! is more film-like. I wonder if they’ll be able to keep it up.
Oh yeah, the character designs are mostly fine. Not as good as the light novel or manga, but they have their own charm. Very round, cute and bubbly.
I read the first two volumes of the fan translated light novel of Tora Dora, Taiga somehow develops and warms up to the main guy. She’s still crazy though, but not bad crazy. That’s what I think anyway.
KyoAni’s stuff is just is shiny as ever I see.
Ah dude, I can think of a new fall show featuring a snow white clad robot that you are gonna love!
Funny you mention Gundam Wildarms, season 2 of Gundam 00 just started…
I just watched episode 26 raw. I only understood a few lines but it was good. The pacing seems to be better now. Cloaked Exia reminded me of Crossbone Gundam,
Nagisa is adorable and that’s all that matters. Everything else in Clannad can take a hike. Well, maybe besides Kyou.
>>Admiral Muffin
Yeah, the pacing at the beginning of 00 season 1 was shit, hence why WAH thinks the entire thing to be shit (it isn’t, but I’ll never be able to prove that). I saw the RAW earlier, and yes, the pacing is far better this season.
Well, in an upcoming podcast I think I mentioned that I’d give 00 another spin /eventually/.
But the first episodes are still boring as shit and I hate all the characters.
Then, on the plus side, most of the characters die =)
>>I hate all the characters.
I’ll agree they were kinda stale in the beginning. For the most part they develop enough so they aren’t as thin as paper, with many of the ones that don’t to face the ultimate form of character development: death. Sestuna may start off as a Heero Yuy ripoff, but he becomes something more by the end of season one.
>>Then, on the plus side, most of the characters die =)
Unless you’re Lockon Stratos, then all you’ll do is transfer your title to your brother though old super robot plot tricks.
I think the characters aren’t all that bad. Like what Brendan said, they were kinda stale at first but they grow on you. Sure they’re no Char Aznable and Amuro Ray, but I find them decent enough.
The ultimate question is… in season 2, will they stop it with the full names?
This is the first anime I saw that ALWAYS uses full names. I mean come on, even in the last episodes they keep at it.
Setsuna F Seiei – by episode 3 I knew is name, they could have stopped it there
“I am Alexandro Corner!” – was said way too many times
Wang Liu Mei – just call her Wang, it’s funnier that way
^Come on, they didn’t do that that for every character. They almost always called Lockon, just Lockon (unless they called him Neil) or Allelujah and Hallelujah (though they kinda had to do that because they would actually talk to eachother).
Besides we got some really fun moments. HOWARD MASON!!!!!!!!