Hmmm, it's hard to put my finger on something specific. I like the generally goofy tone of it, the consistently good animation and the music. I'm not actually a big fan of most of the character designs (I think they're OK when the boobs aren't ludicrous), but there are quite a few characters I like, and the shows sense of humour sits pretty well with me (if not, perhaps, the actual plot). It is a show I felt got progressively more entertaining as it went along as well.
I generally enjoy these trashy Sunrise productions a great deal, though - I'm a big fan of My-HiME/ZHiME, Sora Kake Girl, Sacred Seven and even (or especially) Xenoglossia. I kind of feel like I should probably be watching Accel World for that reason, but I've not been thus far.
Well, er, I don't know if I'd call that an ending so much as stopping production on the series. They didn't even try to make it conclusive. That's...pretty ballsy I guess, but I imagine it annoyed a lot of people.
Everyone in this series is insane.
I whole heartedly recommend it, I just need to write a proper post about the series as a whole. It's a pretty amazing experience.
Still, adapting half the manga is a pretty, er, interesting decision.
Hmmm, it's hard to put my finger on something specific. I like the generally goofy tone of it, the consistently good animation and the music. I'm not actually a big fan of most of the character designs (I think they're OK when the boobs aren't ludicrous), but there are quite a few characters I like, and the shows sense of humour sits pretty well with me (if not, perhaps, the actual plot). It is a show I felt got progressively more entertaining as it went along as well.
I generally enjoy these trashy Sunrise productions a great deal, though - I'm a big fan of My-HiME/ZHiME, Sora Kake Girl, Sacred Seven and even (or especially) Xenoglossia. I kind of feel like I should probably be watching Accel World for that reason, but I've not been thus far.
I've never really minded the ending - as stupid as it is, it felt intone for a lot of the what the series was trying to achieve. It's a pretty classic farce, and most of what it was doing was done to deliberately get a rise out of the audience, be it positive or negative. It's pretty hard to get the proper context for it in retrospect (though not as difficult as it is for a newcomer to get a proper grok on Xenoglossia), but Sunrise deliberately played a lot of jack-ass mindgames with the audience with the way they released information even outside of the show itself, and all the red-herrings and deliberate misinformation they were throwing around. It made it a pretty fantastically entertaining show to watch whilst airing. The bullshit ending was really just an extension of that.
Not that I don't appreciate why people can't stand it, but it's just not something I've ever managed to get myself wound-up about.
Well, er, I don't know if I'd call that an ending so much as stopping production on the series. They didn't even try to make it conclusive. That's...pretty ballsy I guess, but I imagine it annoyed a lot of people.
Everyone in this series is insane.
I whole heartedly recommend it, I just need to write a proper post about the series as a whole. It's a pretty amazing experience.
Still, adapting half the manga is a pretty, er, interesting decision.
I've never really minded the ending - as stupid as it is, it felt intone for a lot of the what the series was trying to achieve. It's a pretty classic farce, and most of what it was doing was done to deliberately get a rise out of the audience, be it positive or negative. It's pretty hard to get the proper context for it in retrospect (though not as difficult as it is for a newcomer to get a proper grok on Xenoglossia), but Sunrise deliberately played a lot of jack-ass mindgames with the audience with the way they released information even outside of the show itself, and all the red-herrings and deliberate misinformation they were throwing around. It made it a pretty fantastically entertaining show to watch whilst airing. The bullshit ending was really just an extension of that.
Not that I don't appreciate why people can't stand it, but it's just not something I've ever managed to get myself wound-up about.
Yeah I'm aware that its a troll ending, but its just so "fuck it, let's end this now" that its kind of infuriating. and I don't say that about many anime series. Just this particular one ends with a kick to the nuts.
It's certainly a pretty short watch, although due to the nature of it's subject matter I wouldn't necessarily call it an 'easy watch'. It's pretty brilliant, in it's own demented way.
Just be warned that the whole show is leading up towards things that won't be resolved in the series because it just cuts off.
Upon completing my viewing of the series I don't think the most notable thing about Shigurui is it's violence. It's the tone, pacing, mood and characters. Lots of anime are extremely violent but none of them feel anything like this show. Which is probably a good thing.
Of course, it is also kind of obsessed with gore and mutilation.
Enters the former Auto club president.
All right episode, nothing big happens, just more motorbike love. Wasn't terrible but a little weak compared to the last episode, but I guess we are just going to introduce a bunch of different characters one after another now.
Im really starting to loathe these awful shows that have redeemable qualities to them. Its like reading a D-paper. Your mind keeps telling you to just fail the thing, but you gotta hand it to the kid. He stated his main idea at the beginning and he has a grip on the subject matter, but he completely goes on a tangent that had absolutely nothing to do with what he originally stated. The new points he comes up with establish an unrelated tone. Oh but then he briefly goes back to his original idea and then goes back off on a tangent. Thats how Id describe Okami-san and Her Seven Companions.
For those not familiar, Ill briefly explain. Okami-san is about these high schoolers at Otogi Academy who operate this school bank. This bank takes requests from its students where in exchange the students who made requests will eventually have to repay the favor to the bank. The bank is full of eccentric personalities, the three of which are Ryoko Okami (the titled lead), Ringo (her sidekick of sorts) and Ryoshi (the guy who loves Ryoko). They are supposed to be representations of the big bad wolf and little red riding hood, respectively (I dont know who Ryoshi was supposed to represent). The implied premise is that this show is supposed to be a spin on fairy tales. Theres even a very prominent narrator. That being said, I dont care about fairy tales so I couldnt care less about the premise. And you know what? Neither did the show because after about five episodes into it, Okami-san drifted into your typical action comedy primarily about a spineless male lead and the tsundere girl he has the hots for. It fails to live up to every genre it addresses or even hints at being.
The redeeming quality of the show is, at times, its cast. Seeing how the three leads approach situations is predictable albeit sometimes intriguing due to the added resources of the Otogi Bank. There is flow between Ryoko and Ryoshi with Ringo acting as the pushy friend who urges Ryoko to just reciprocate her feelings for Ryoshi. The members of the Otogi Bank are somewhat interesting. Most of them are given enough screen time to get a feel for who they are on the surface but thats it. A good portion of them get episodes revolving around them and their backstories as well. I feel the comradery between them is very natural. It doesnt quite reach the peaks of true group synergy but at the same time, with such a group of differing minds you never find yourself wondering how these people became friends. Given the amount of episodes, not all of the members are given time to truly shine. The true star of the show however is the snarky narrator who elevates this show higher than it should be. Id go as far to say that any enjoyment I got from this show was due mostly to the narrator.
Clocking in at 12 episode, the first half of this show was what I would call decent. Youve got some episodes here and there about the bank taking requests. Youve even got episode 3 which teaches us that being beautiful isnt about gaining fame and mass attention but rather, its about learning that only our friends know just how beautiful we are. Being that this is a J.C. Staff show with an art style similar to that of Toradora, I found myself constantly comparing the two. My comparisons were nothing serious, I just found that I liked Ryoko Okami better than Taiga at first. I liked that Ryoko was serious about her strength and I was very curious as to what made her that way
(This is not a screenshot from the show but man I'd like to see it happen. Spoiler:
Some of the Toradora cast make a SUPER BRIEF cameo on the show and you're better off looking it up on YouTube than going through the show to see it.
And then episode 7 happened. When the male lead finds himself in a Nagato-esque situation (a la Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya) at first but the episode soon turns serious... very serious. The mood changes so dramatically that I hope it will go down in history to all anime writers as how not to do backstories. At the very end of episode 6,
it is implied that Ryoko Okami, the shows titled lead, was raped or nearly was raped by the villain who went to her old school.
Let me remind you that up until this point, this show was unequivocally a lighthearted comedy. After this episode I felt like a complete and total asshole for laughing at Ryoko, a character who we now
find out is violent against men because its her psychological and emotional defense mechanism at work. And you know what? I dont care if Shiro said he was just lying after the exchange in episode 7. Just implying that he assaulted her completely destroyed the entire tone of the series henceforth. It also doesnt help that this villain in general just sucks. Whats his endgame other than to see the Otogi Bank crushed?
I guess you could argue that motive is in line with the shows premise. It isnt out of the ordinary for fairy tale villains to have shallow motives that simply involve crushing the heroes because they are heroes. I just dont get it though. Even when this show was violent,
it was never serious business so why drop rape on us now?
And what happens in episode 8? The show carries on like episode 7 never happened. Its just another episode of the Otogi Bank taking requests. Its never addressed again from there. I dont know about you guys, but when a show implies
that its main character got raped when she was younger
, Id want that to be addressed as soon as possible. Just a suggestion to the people behind this shit.
Then the quality dips from there and you realize any potential this show had was squandered. Theres an episode about Ringos childhood which is full of a bunch of plot contrivances. Then they try to get back to the main arc but of course, they want to sell light novels and manga so theres no closure. Then the last episode has nothing to do with the main arc but rather serves as a continuation of the romance arc but of course, they want to sell light novels and manga so theres no closure. Character development is practically nowhere to be found and I became uncomfortable as I laughed at someone who shouldnt be laughed at.
Oh, did I mention that I listened to the dub? Yeah, the dub is good. Brina Palencia voices a solid Ryoko Okami. She utilizes a similar (but not the same) tomboy voice she used for Hideoyoshi in Baka and Test and its just as fitting for that show as it is for this one. Ryoshis VA seemed more like an exaggerated Michael Cera than your typical spineless male lead. I think it made Ryoshi seem just a tiny bit more endearing as a result. Luci Christian does the voice of the narrator and shes as excellent as always. In fact, Id say her narration was responsible for the sheer majority of the genuine humor in the show and had the narrator not been there, the show would probably have been unwatchable. The only complaint I could see from sub-watchers about the dub is probably Ringos voice. Im not sure if she came off as moe in the original Japenese but Ringos English VA made her sound more like the mother or aunt figure of Ryoko than a moe character. I dont really care either way. Though, I mention this because Ive seen gifs of Ringo used on GAF that, without context, would make her seem very moe when shes probably only moe in design.
(I think this show is the closest thing I'll ever get to Saori from Oreimo being dubbed, a shame.)
In any case, the show is failed potential. Thats all there is to it. The cast, especially the narrator will keep your attention but all it will do is lead you on. There is no make-out session after this first date. Just teases. Its awkward failed potential. The type that you dont ever want to revisit again, especially considering the backstory bomb that hinders any little enjoyment you have left for the show. I tried looking for GAF impressions on this show and the scarce impressions I did find categorized this show from average to awful. I suppose I agree. Okami-san and Her Seven Companions gets a 2 out of 5.
I could have told you how shitty it was before you watched it. The villain himself is a smirky little shit that the ending of the anime doesn't resolve at all despite the characters having the ability to crush his ass and end his whole story arc.
The premise wasn't really that interesting anyway. The main male character is utterly forgettable in both his personality and dynamics with the rest of the cast.
The tone shift in the show would have been ok if it had signified a switch to darker material. Instead it feels like the author didn't know what the fuck they wanted to do thus ending with a show that has attempted rape (someone clarified it was only that on another forum) and psychological issues but also lighthearted comedy.
How scandalous!
Fun episode, featuring Urd's old flame and lots of thunderbolting. But besides that, I was more excited by the new ED, as it featured lots of characters that I'm glad are being featured later on in the series.
Im really starting to loathe these awful shows that have redeemable qualities to them. Its like reading a D-paper. Your mind keeps telling you to just fail the thing, but you gotta hand it to the kid. He stated his main idea at the beginning and he has a grip on the subject matter, but he completely goes on a tangent that had absolutely nothing to do with what he originally stated. The new points he comes up with establish an unrelated tone. Oh but then he briefly goes back to his original idea and then goes back off on a tangent. Thats how Id describe Okami-san and Her Seven Companions.
For those not familiar, Ill briefly explain. Okami-san is about these high schoolers at Otogi Academy who operate this school bank. This bank takes requests from its students where in exchange the students who made requests will eventually have to repay the favor to the bank. The bank is full of eccentric personalities, the three of which are Ryoko Okami (the titled lead), Ringo (her sidekick of sorts) and Ryoshi (the guy who loves Ryoko). They are supposed to be representations of the big bad wolf and little red riding hood, respectively (I dont know who Ryoshi was supposed to represent). The implied premise is that this show is supposed to be a spin on fairy tales. Theres even a very prominent narrator. That being said, I dont care about fairy tales so I couldnt care less about the premise. And you know what? Neither did the show because after about five episodes into it, Okami-san drifted into your typical action comedy primarily about a spineless male lead and the tsundere girl he has the hots for. It fails to live up to every genre it addresses or even hints at being.
The redeeming quality of the show is, at times, its cast. Seeing how the three leads approach situations is predictable albeit sometimes intriguing due to the added resources of the Otogi Bank. There is flow between Ryoko and Ryoshi with Ringo acting as the pushy friend who urges Ryoko to just reciprocate her feelings for Ryoshi. The members of the Otogi Bank are somewhat interesting. Most of them are given enough screen time to get a feel for who they are on the surface but thats it. A good portion of them get episodes revolving around them and their backstories as well. I feel the comradery between them is very natural. It doesnt quite reach the peaks of true group synergy but at the same time, with such a group of differing minds you never find yourself wondering how these people became friends. Given the amount of episodes, not all of the members are given time to truly shine. The true star of the show however is the snarky narrator who elevates this show higher than it should be. Id go as far to say that any enjoyment I got from this show was due mostly to the narrator.
Clocking in at 12 episode, the first half of this show was what I would call decent. Youve got some episodes here and there about the bank taking requests. Youve even got episode 3 which teaches us that being beautiful isnt about gaining fame and mass attention but rather, its about learning that only our friends know just how beautiful we are. Being that this is a J.C. Staff show with an art style similar to that of Toradora, I found myself constantly comparing the two. My comparisons were nothing serious, I just found that I liked Ryoko Okami better than Taiga at first. I liked that Ryoko was serious about her strength and I was very curious as to what made her that way
And then episode 7 happened. When the male lead finds himself in a Nagato-esque situation (a la Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya) at first but the episode soon turns serious... very serious. The mood changes so dramatically that I hope it will go down in history to all anime writers as how not to do backstories. At the very end of episode 6,
it is implied that Ryoko Okami, the shows titled lead, was raped or nearly was raped by the villain who went to her old school.
Let me remind you that up until this point, this show was unequivocally a lighthearted comedy. After this episode I felt like a complete and total asshole for laughing at Ryoko, a character who we now
find out is violent against men because its her psychological and emotional defense mechanism at work. And you know what? I dont care if Shiro said he was just lying after the exchange in episode 7. Just implying that he assaulted her completely destroyed the entire tone of the series henceforth. It also doesnt help that this villain in general just sucks. Whats his endgame other than to see the Otogi Bank crushed?
I guess you could argue that motive is in line with the shows premise. It isnt out of the ordinary for fairy tale villains to have shallow motives that simply involve crushing the heroes because they are heroes. I just dont get it though. Even when this show was violent,
it was never serious business so why drop rape on us now?
And what happens in episode 8? The show carries on like episode 7 never happened. Its just another episode of the Otogi Bank taking requests. Its never addressed again from there. I dont know about you guys, but when a show implies
that its main character got raped when she was younger
, Id want that to be addressed as soon as possible. Just a suggestion to the people behind this shit.
Then the quality dips from there and you realize any potential this show had was squandered. Theres an episode about Ringos childhood which is full of a bunch of plot contrivances. Then they try to get back to the main arc but of course, they want to sell light novels and manga so theres no closure. Then the last episode has nothing to do with the main arc but rather serves as a continuation of the romance arc but of course, they want to sell light novels and manga so theres no closure. Character development is practically nowhere to be found and I became uncomfortable as I laughed at someone who shouldnt be laughed at.
Oh, did I mention that I listened to the dub? Yeah, the dub is good. Brina Palencia voices a solid Ryoko Okami. She utilizes a similar (but not the same) tomboy voice she used for Hideoyoshi in Baka and Test and its just as fitting for that show as it is for this one. Ryoshis VA seemed more like an exaggerated Michael Cera than your typical spineless male lead. I think it made Ryoshi seem just a tiny bit more endearing as a result. Luci Christian does the voice of the narrator and shes as excellent as always. In fact, Id say her narration was responsible for the sheer majority of the genuine humor in the show and had the narrator not been there, the show would probably have been unwatchable. The only complaint I could see from sub-watchers about the dub is probably Ringos voice. Im not sure if she came off as moe in the original Japenese but Ringos English VA made her sound more like the mother or aunt figure of Ryoko than a moe character. I dont really care either way. Though, I mention this because Ive seen gifs of Ringo used on GAF that, without context, would make her seem very moe when shes probably only moe in design.
In any case, the show is failed potential. Thats all there is to it. The cast, especially the narrator will keep your attention but all it will do is lead you on. There is no make-out session after this first date. Just teases. Its awkward failed potential. The type that you dont ever want to revisit again, especially considering the backstory bomb that hinders any little enjoyment you have left for the show. I tried looking for GAF impressions on this show and the scarce impressions I did find categorized this show from average to awful. I suppose I agree. Okami-san and Her Seven Companions gets a 2 out of 5.
I envy you guys who can understand Japanese. Honestly if I knew enough to watch shows without subtitles, I would gladly import things just for the extra schwag. So much stuff the US doesnt get when it licenses something. I really feel like Im missing out sometimes
Like the Fate Zero box. It costs a bit of money but like the Madoka set I really feel like the extra stuff makes it more collectible and fun. Its also very high quality and the artwork everywhere is just so nice to look at. I may very soon start trying to at least attempt to learn some japanese so that I can enjoy this long time hobby to its fullest.
For me it was unquestionably worth the time. I couldn't stand being limited to the tiny sliver of stuff that gets translated into English.
Anime itself gets translations, but that's the only thing that has a good percentage, and even that's not 100%. Manga is really limited, and everything else is a joke.
Video games, drama CDs, doujin/indie stuff, song lyrics, novels/novellas, anime industry/culture non-fiction books, magazines, guide books, and all the "extra swag" that comes with those. Then there's the whole online world, websites, blogs, twitter, net radio shows, forums, NicoNico, 2ch. So. Much. Stuff.
And, it's probably obvious, but the fan population is so much bigger than in English.
Check out the posting speed for the Currently Airing Anime board on 2ch: http://i.imgur.com/F6clj.png (speed info on far right)
And that's just one board (see partial list of other boards on the left)
I just wonder if I can do it and if you guys know of some good programs/CDs/ whatever that teach it well. Im fully aware that its very difficult to learn.
It's funny; you hear people say it's difficult, but because it's the only language I actually had motivation to learn, I had a way easier time with it than the other languages I've tried and forgotten (Spanish, French, Latin).
I won't be much help on getting started because I got started via classes when I was in college, but there's a Japanese-learning thread here on GAF: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=232671
Average sales per volume for Gundam series since 2000:
68,735 - Kidou Senshi Gundam SEED Destiny
58,589 - Kidou Senshi Gundam SEED
39,353 - Kidou Senshi Gundam 00
34,601 - Kidou Senshi Gundam 00 S2
*1,999 - Kidou Senshi Gundam AGE (Vols. 1-2) (this third volume sold even less lol)
What makes me even happier is that it's not just the anime BD/DVDs which are super bomba. The entire franchise is a fucking disaster for Level-5 and Bandai in general. The model kits aren't selling, there aren't any good insert songs or OP/EDs, the manga spin-offs and side stories totally tanked, etc. Nothing, I repeat, NOTHING about Gundam AGE is anything close to even a decent success.
Poor Hino. It must suck to be responsible for the biggest failure in a 33 year old franchises history on every possible level. That has to sting even worse than all of the loltastic bombs Level 5 has released in the past year.
On the bright side, I doubt many other companies will be turning to Hino to reboot their franchises.
The One Piece TV viewership skews a lot younger than the manga. Whether that's because adults don't watch cartoons*, or because there's a big group of kids who watch free TV but don't want to spend their allowance on Jump, I dunno. Probably both.
(*There's actually a decent number of adults watching One Piece, according to those TV ratings; just not to the degree it is with the manga.)
I think the timeslot probably has a lot to do with that. One Piece used to air in the evenings, but for the past six or so years it has been airing Sunday mornings. I don't think it's that surprising that more kids are going to be tuning in at that time.
For me it was unquestionably worth the time. I couldn't stand being limited to the tiny sliver of stuff that gets translated into English.
Anime itself gets translations, but that's the only thing that has a good percentage, and even that's not 100%. Manga is really limited, and everything else is a joke.
Video games, drama CDs, doujin/indie stuff, song lyrics, novels/novellas, anime industry/culture non-fiction books, magazines, guide books, and all the "extra swag" that comes with those. Then there's the whole online world, websites, blogs, twitter, net radio shows, forums, NicoNico, 2ch. So. Much. Stuff.
And, it's probably obvious, but the fan population is so much bigger than in English.
Check out the posting speed for the Currently Airing Anime board on 2ch: http://i.imgur.com/F6clj.png (speed info on far right)
And that's just one board (see partial list of other boards on the left)
It's funny; you hear people say it's difficult, but because it's the only language I actually had motivation to learn, I had a way easier time with it than the other languages I've tried and forgotten (Spanish, French, Latin).
I won't be much help on getting started because I got started via classes when I was in college, but there's a Japanese-learning thread here on GAF: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=232671
Thanks for the info. And you have some good points that are part of why I am considering this.
Holy shit goddamn that thread is a wasteland of bannings *hides under a chair.
For me it was unquestionably worth the time. I couldn't stand being limited to the tiny sliver of stuff that gets translated into English.
Anime itself gets translations, but that's the only thing that has a good percentage, and even that's not 100%. Manga is really limited, and everything else is a joke.
Video games, drama CDs, doujin/indie stuff, song lyrics, novels/novellas, anime industry/culture non-fiction books, magazines, guide books, and all the "extra swag" that comes with those. Then there's the whole online world, websites, blogs, twitter, net radio shows, forums, NicoNico, 2ch. So. Much. Stuff.
And, it's probably obvious, but the fan population is so much bigger than in English.
Check out the posting speed for the Currently Airing Anime board on 2ch: http://i.imgur.com/F6clj.png (speed info on far right)
And that's just one board (see partial list of other boards on the left)
It's funny; you hear people say it's difficult, but because it's the only language I actually had motivation to learn, I had a way easier time with it than the other languages I've tried and forgotten (Spanish, French, Latin).
I won't be much help on getting started because I got started via classes when I was in college, but there's a Japanese-learning thread here on GAF: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=232671
I've never really minded the ending - as stupid as it is, it felt intone for a lot of the what the series was trying to achieve. It's a pretty classic farce, and most of what it was doing was done to deliberately get a rise out of the audience, be it positive or negative. It's pretty hard to get the proper context for it in retrospect (though not as difficult as it is for a newcomer to get a proper grok on Xenoglossia), but Sunrise deliberately played a lot of jack-ass mindgames with the audience with the way they released information even outside of the show itself, and all the red-herrings and deliberate misinformation they were throwing around. It made it a pretty fantastically entertaining show to watch whilst airing. The bullshit ending was really just an extension of that.
Not that I don't appreciate why people can't stand it, but it's just not something I've ever managed to get myself wound-up about.
I was spoiled on the ending, which resulted in me enjoying the show.
I sometimes think everybody should read about the ending before they watch it.
Then they can enjoy the characters' reactions to events without having to worry so much about their own.
Kaimu's bitchiness was transferred over to Paraietta. She's done nothing but hate on Aaeru for the last few episodes. She can keep hating though, as Aaeru will eventually take her spotlight and her girl. Hold dat shit.
I was spoiled on the ending, which resulted in me enjoying the show.
I sometimes think everybody should read about the ending before they watch it.
Then they can enjoy the characters' reactions to events without having to worry so much about their own.
I don't know if your statement is only in regards to My-Hime, but if a story requires the viewer to have prior knowledge of how it ends before attempting to watch the show in order to be entertained by it, then that is a major flaw in the structure of the project.
A few weeks in, I reevaluated this seasons shows. Turns out my gut was spot on once again: I still tremendously enjoy the two shows I knew I absolutely, positively wanted to watch: Jormungand and Nyarko. And I'd like to give Nyarko props for being the most enjoyable guilty pleasure in quite some time, with an absolutely adorable, extremely fun lead. The two sequels, Of the Dead and Rebellion, are OK. Not great, but still enjoyable - as expected. Everything else ranges from "when I feel like it" (Lupin, Sankarea) to "when I'm extremely bored, will probably never finish" (Accel World, Zetman, other shit). Fate/Zero did nothing for me, so I dropped it (it's well made and all, but I simply don't like the characters nor do I care for the story). Aquarion had a strong start, but the direction it took about ten episodes in scared me off for good, so I think I'll never finish that one, either.
Well, that was a thing of which I shall not speak again. Eeew, nyaaa.
Tenshi ni Narumon! 1-13
I'll give you the tl;dr version first - many of the Utena staff did a magical girlfriend show that wasn't Oku-sama wa Mahou Shoujo, and it was pretty cool.
And now the long version:
So as to prove I don't dislike all magical girlfriend stories, I'm really enjoying this.
Tenshi ni Narumon! (I'm Gonna Be An Angel!) shouldn't work. The tone of the show is all over the place within a single episode, and ostensibly it's a cutesy little magical girlfriend story about a wannabe angel called Noelle and her crazy monster family that move in with the harem lead and have silly hijinks.
I mean, look at Noelle.
This show aired at 6 o'clock on Wednesday evenings. Just imagine what kind of horror Noelle would have turned into for a late night anime ten years later.
As it is, she's a total moron, frequently repeats herself, and is mostly redeemed because she's quite sweet really and is voiced by Tomoko Kawakami (RIP) who somehow manages to pitch her at a tolerable level.
I shan't bore you with talking about the male lead, Yuusuke; he's a nice enough bloke and has a ponytail, which I suppose is something a bit new. I'll also skip over Noelle's extended monster family, because although they're entertaining they're not the good stuff.
So, to stick with the "wacky" side of the show first, let me present the "bad guy" designs as featured in the OP:
So we have a giant rice cooker, an inflatable wrestler, and the rice cooker's wife. All of whom are "puppets" sent to capture Noelle and stop her from becoming an angel. I didn't screengrab the squid that says "paparapuu!" a lot and pretends to be Noelle for a whole episode, but that doesn't diminish her amusingness. Or the ukelele that turns everyone into frogs. Or...
While the show doesn't have a huge budget, the "monstrous" elements of the show are really imaginatively designed and drawn. The puppets are all drawn with chunky black outlines and the colouring and the way they move is somehow more "cartoony" than the rest of the show. There's a great bit in the OP where Yuusuke's house "dances" that really conveys the spirit of this side of the show.
HOWEVER!
These are not the elements that have really endeared me to the show - bear in mind I'm only halfway through so it may be that things get better or worse, but the key elements that are what makes the show much more interesting are:
The subplots
So, as is common with magical girlfriend shows, there is a rival - Yuusuke is actually in love with his sexy classmate, Natsumi. She basically hates him to start with, and the basic storyline seems pretty clear because obviously Yuusuke will fall in love with Noelle and so on while Natsumi provides a bit of cheesecake for the older male audience by posing in swimsuits etc.
Then we get to episode 6, directed by Takuya Igarashi. This episode is mostly about Natsumi, and it is really very good indeed. Some favourite shots below:
Natsumi is surprisingly damaged due to plot circumstances I won't go into, but she's a far more interesting character than I expected her to be, and she gets another nice little arc from episodes 11-13 alongside a few other great moments.
I'm also pretty hopeful that Mikael, the strange blue-haired bishounen who keeps cropping up, is going to be interesting, but all he's done so far is read a magic book and say cryptic things about suns and moons at the end of every episode so it's hard to say, really.
except in episode 13 when his gay one-winged angel teacher turns up at the end with a guitar, which pleased me immensely.
We also have some peculiar antagonists. I'm not talking about the puppets, or even Miruru, the chief catgirl henchman who is pretty much like every other catgirl ever. I'm talking about Dispel and Silky:
Dispel and Silky sit in a cave with ANGELS IN EGGS in, plotting to stop Noelle from becoming an angel for reasons currently unknown. What's particularly interesting is that not only are their scenes mostly weird Student Council-esque nonsequiturs where their actions are only thematically linked to what they're saying, but the balance of power keeps shifting between them. Silky looks like a creepy dead-eyed doll most of the time and suffers crazy amounts of abuse at Dispel's hands, but whenever Dispel's plots fail he goes running to cry on her lap while she looks at him with barely disguised hatred. Plus there's one scene where
Noelle does something particularly angelic and it causes Silky to writhe on the floor in agony
...
So, the various layers of the show are what makes it entertaining for me. The silly hijinks are fitfully amusing and at least imaginative, but the somewhat more melancholy subplots are much more entertaining for me personally and there are some nice artistic touches.
Later in the series apparently I even get a couple of Mamoru Hosoda episodes to watch.
A few weeks in, I reevaluated this seasons shows. Turns out my gut was spot on once again: I still tremendously enjoy the two shows I knew I absolutely, positively wanted to watch: Jormungand and Nyarko. And I'd like to give Nyarko props for being the most enjoyable guilty pleasure in quite some time, with an absolutely adorable, extremely fun lead. The two sequels, Of the Dead and Rebellion, are OK. Not great, but still enjoyable - as expected. Everything else ranges from "when I feel like it" (Lupin, Sankarea) to "when I'm extremely bored, will probably never finish" (Accel World, Zetman, other shit). Fate/Zero did nothing for me, so I dropped it (it's well made and all, but I simply don't like the characters nor do I care for the story). Aquarion had a strong start, but the direction it took about ten episodes in scared me off for good, so I think I'll never finish that one, either.
Jormungand seemed to be a surprise for me, thought it was standard and typical but once episode one aired it seemed pretty fun. Jonah is the one to watch to see how he develops. And Koko is crazy.
