Oh midseason malaise — it’s when the charm of the new anime season wears off and we’re at the nadir of excitement. I’ll just offer quick impressions of some of the anime I’ve been loosely following all season.
*****
Tiger & Bunny Ep. 5
This week, Tiger tries to throw a surprise party for Barnaby the only way a clumsy hero can. When the rest of the gang were having the birthday rehearsal and they fired guns with “Happy Birthday” banners, I thought it was kind of endearing in a way. Unfortunately, the original plan goes awry thanks to Barnaby’s griping and some strange, fat Dr. Doom, but all’s well that ends well.
I enjoy the fact that Tiger & Bunny is more character driven than by silly plot machinations. There are no mysterious figures in the dark, no prophecies from ages past, no descendents of some dying race, etc. Most of the time, this show is just genuinely entertaining banter with a goofy super hero theme as the backdrop. Barnaby’s past feels a little angsty and overwrought (POUND CAKE ALONE IN MY APARTMENT), but these moments are short and easily forgotten.
The only real negative I can say about this episode was that the animation looked sloppy at times.
*****
Hanasaku Iroha Ep. 5
You know how there’s only ever drama because people love to jump to conclusions and no one can ever be straight with one another? Yeah, that’s this episode. Continuing from last week, everyone thinks Tohru is dating the daughter of a rival inn. Now, there are rumors that he might just leave to be a cook at the rival inn instead. At one point, Minko straight up asks her boss Renji if Tohru was truly leaving. You’d think a no-nonsense adult like Renji would avoid beating around the bush, but no:
As a result, we get all this silly hand-wringing over Tohru possibly leaving for the better job (actually, he wasn’t — he was just filling in for a sick chef) and Ohana awkwardly barging into another business, making a scene of herself in general.
*****
Astarotte’s Toy Ep. 4
I keep following this piece of shit for anything remotely juicy to poke fun at, but this anime is like Valium. Poor Astarotte is always being neglected by her mother. At a school function, she stands and waits and waits… yet her dear mother never came (shh, she never even told her mother about it). Cue sad face:
Oh by the way, this is categorized as a seinen. Yeah, a seinen about a prepubescent girl being “alone” at a party full of the bourgeoisie. That’s it? Yeah, that’s it. Even in children’s cartoons, things happen. Your son goes missing, your father has just been usurped by your gay uncle, or a robot meets his true love, etc. Not in this anime though! What’s next? Lotte can’t get her mom to help her with her school project? Whoa, don’t get too carried away, guys. I’m not sure if my heart can take all this complicated emotional drama. Maybe we should go back to searching for the right milk for our princess to drink before bedtime — that plot was much easier on my nerves.
*****
Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Ep. 4
I see that the anime still hasn’t gotten over its sexual assault scene from last week. The show recaps the event in its entirety at the start of this episode in case you missed out!
Even better, however, was how the anime segued from Ritsu’s anguished face to the upbeat OP. Right before we got to the OP, we also got this:
Welp, I’m sorry your boss just pinned you to the floor and groped your junk, but buck up, kiddo — you’ll come outta this a wiser man. I just love how blase the story is about what its characters are doing. It’s as if we don’t have to care because it’s a cartoon. Sexual assault? They’re just boy toys! Honestly though, would we be so exploitative otherwise? I dunno, let’s take a look:
Stupid and offensive? You bet your ass it is! So shouldn’t we say the same thing about the anime? Apparently not, because it’s okay as long as you love your rapist!
For some context, Ritsu fell asleep on his boss’s shoulder while riding the subway — yeah, I don’t think I’d ride the train with someone who molested me, but I’m not an anime character — and when he woke up, he found himself shirtless and in bed with said boss. It’s not as if Ritsu is even a sympathetic character; he’s one of the dumbest assholes to walk this earth.
What does that even mean?
Flashback…
So… his dick aches? Hm, quite.
At this point, Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi is officially in train wreck status.
Iroha: I do miss the days where Ohana was actually feisty and knows when to snap. It was around until episode 3 that she turns into typical anime gal. *headesk* If she doesn’t snap in episode 6, I will probably drop this.
Extreme food insults are still open.
Sekai-itchi: Face, meet palm. That line was supposed to be: “Adversity makes a man wise… not rich.” And how does getting almost raped and sexually assaulted by a superior made the line meaningful?! And how does loving a rapist/sexual deviant turn all past and future rape assaults consensual?!
That anime confuses me and enrages me. Dropped it.
I think it feels as though Minko has hijacked the show. Ohana doesn’t really feel like a main character. She seems secondary, i.e. you could kinda put anyone anime girl in her place and pretty much have the same show.
Yep, even yui from K-ON could replace her.
I feel like if there isn’t one serious antagonistic conflict going on in the next few episodes, I’ll consider this anime nothing more than a pretty face. And it would be nice if Minko does not demote herself to a typical tsundere as well.
Till then, I will find all disgusting extreme foods to use as insults. I have found maggot cheese, corn smut and human placenta to name a few good insults. :)
What bugs me is how the grandmother has completely phased out as any character whatsoever. It’s been the girls’ parade ever since the first episode.
There was an Anthony Bourdain episode where the locals literally cut out a boar’s asshole, put it over the fire for a few short seconds, and handed it to the man for eating. Since his philosophy was to never turn down the generosity of his hosts, yeah, that was pretty disgusting. Anyway, I’m sure the dish had a name.
Sekai-ichi isn’t just trainwreck status. It is the worst show of the season by far.
I dunno, there’s a lot of shit this season just by volume alone.
Half the season’s been shit so far. Astarotte’s actually become painfully boring to watch, and HanaIro’s become… well, not Hanasaku Iroha. It’s like it was murdered by its best friend and replaced with a flimsy disguise on the friend.
There’s a couple shows I watch and I don’t even know what to say. Like OreNai. Last time I tuned in, the female characters were doing their best to rival Dead or Alive in boob physics while they squirted condiments at each other. It’s like a special kind of shit.
OreTsuba’s just a whole ‘nother abomination. The latest episode was so rife with fanservice, it gave Rosario to Vampire a run for its money.
And, believe it or not, it was even more gratuitous. If you don’t plan on following, I commend you for it.
There’s just too much to watch, to be honest. I haven’t bothered to follow up on Hidan no Aria or that one anime where some girl was stuck in a rolled up futon. I still haven’t seen a single episode of Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi. What is the show about? I have no clue! I was going to watch Moshidora, but then Fin kept telling me she’d write about it (yeah, right) so I was holding off on that too. I’m sure there’s more anime I haven’t mentioned. The whole season is just too much.
Wow, that stuff from Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi just comes off as a line-up of excuses for why rape is OK. That’s not just inane in the typical anime sense, that’s straight up offensive and disgusting.
I think exploitative is the key here. The whole thing is especially ever the more galling because it tends to show up in the anime/manga subculture when dealing with minority groups already currently marginalized in society, i.e. homosexuals et al.
i bet now is the time to watch Kaiji 2nd season. although i could swear i have seen the same plot somewhere else…
and that anime with the futon girl was…by far less stupid than i expected it to be. it’s pretty much what i wanted to see “arakawa” become. so i recommend it. although it may go downhill soon. ending of ep 3 was kinda forced and rushed. but still…
on topic, though…i kinda got over the new season too. i’m holding off on watching ep 3 of tiger and bunny, ep 5 of Iroha, maria holic ep 3, nichijou ep 4. + gosick ep 13. the chars were introduced…and it’s all the same shit we’ve seen before, just tweaked a little. there’s only 3 shows i’m looking forward to, none of which you have blogged about sadly((.
correction. you haven’t blogged only kaiji and ao no exorcist. damn me and my shitty memory.
Too much stuff to watch and too little time. Usually, I don’t blog a show because it’s too boring to even watch. I can watch the bad shows, but it’s the boring ones that gets no mention. This season, there are shows I have yet to really watch. Speaking of which, you reminded me that I have three episodes of Ao no Exorcist and I still haven’t found the time to watch a single one of them.
I didn’t touch Kaiji 2 because I didn’t watch the first one and I really don’t have the time nor the motivation to power through a season of any anime at the moment.
well, imho its better than my situation, which is – alot of time and no interesting anime…i’m envious that you have whole seasons of anime you haven’t watched yet.
That anime with the girl wraped in futon is quite good actually, seriously.
Holy crap. I just realized that cat is what I’ve been using as my Youtube avatar for the past year or two. Wow. Interesting. Nyah.