Shows discussed: Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin; Black Bullet; Mekakucity Actors; Jojo’s Bizzare Adventure – Stardust Crusaders.
Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin – 01
I have some very mixed feelings about this. The show is a pleasure to watch. The animation is fluid, and scenes are generally well made. On the other hand though, there are moments that are very upsetting – fanservice (and not only familiar visual eyecandies, but actual protagonist’s dilemma whether gropping a boob is worthy a dislocated shoulder… And it turns out it is); shameless NGE’s Katsuragi Misato copy; and so on.
Not to mention that the story itself is not really that much engaging. Or rather, that there won’t probably be many innovative – or even mildly fresh – aspects to it.
I’ll watch the second episode, but I’m pretty sure that’ll be the last I will.
Black Bullet – 01
There was once a man who worked as an accountant. He wanted to write a novel, and he spend weeks learning how to make a good novel. The story he wrote was flawless – there were interesting characters, there were plot twists, there was romance, and there was action.
But it was dull, so very, very dull.
This anecdote came to me when I was watching Black Bullet. If I were given a synopsis of the episode, I guess I’d think that the show itself is good. The problem is, it’s not. It’s uneven, there are logic errors, and the plot feels cheap at times. I’m dropping it.
Oh, the music within the episode was good. Big thumbs up. The OP however felt really generic and not innovative in any way.
Mekakucity Actors – 01
You might love SHAFT or hate it, but one thing’s is for sure – what they do stands above the crowd. First couple of minutes was heavily intriguing, but then it quickly returned to their staple Monogatari-like high-speed, half-witty dialogues. It helps to perceive them as a clever way to parody their work, but it’s rather closer to self-plagiarism.
I’m pretty sure they’re reusing assets.
Then the feeling suddenly changed. It was a clever move, the terrorist attack – the scenery changed from what I’d expected from this show to what I certainly did not, momentarily. It was similar to stepping out of a comfort zone of sorts – I’ve a feeling that the first half of episode was to remind the audience who are the creators, and what do we know them for, and the second one – that the image the audience (I) had was wrong. That there’s more to them.
The episode itself wasn’t perhaps as strong as it could’ve been, but I’m hooked.
Jojo’s Bizzare Adventure – Stardust Crusaders – 01
I’ve had no experience with Jojo before, none whatsoever. And all I can say is: no way. No series can be that stupid, can they? Everything is so exaggerated, so comically silly, but there’s not much behind that parody. Plot seems uninteresting. Characters – paper-thin, every one of them. I admit, for the first 5 or 10 minutes I had fun, but later on it was rather tiresome. Dang, I saved it for last, hoping that it will somehow the emptiness KLK left, but I don’t think it will.
I’ll check out the next episode, though. Maybe the comedy aspect will be enough to get me going, or maybe other stuff will get better.
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This concludes (hopefully) first impressions for now, there’ll be regular weeklies from now on.
Rapid Brush Movements 