The Impression Series: Spring 2010 anime; part 1

Time for this kind of post. New season syndrome doesn't affect me much this season, just like previous season, and the season before, and before...Anyway I was thinking of posting my sumemr anime impression last week, but with all the uni assignments going while there's also numerous dota-related things I need to focus, I finally got the time to write this entry. Things I watched, dropped and will probably continue to watch this summer, in reverse order:

Shiki
MAL/Official Site
Number of episodes: 22
Studio Production: Daume

Comments: Earlier in the Summer 2010 list entry I did make a comment stating how I'm kinda anticipating this show, and thus far it didn't disappoint my expectation. The art was mediocre at best (the same applied to the manga too), but I really like the thrilling, Higurashi-style approach. Sotoba village, an isolated settlement surrounded by mountain suddenly faced strange phenomenon when the villagers, especially elders died mysteriously in heat of the summer. Then rise the protagonist, Natsuno who just moved into the village from city, and with things going around, he decided to solve the mysteries behind this strange occurrence. Sounds familiar, huh? Nevertheless, I am in no way expecting this show to give the same impression as Higurashi, I am just expecting good horror/thriller from the series.
p/s: Gackt as seiyuu, lolwhut.

verdict: 4.5/5 (must watch)




Seitokai Yakuindomo
MAL/Official Site
Number of episodes: 13
Studio Production: GoHands

Comments: The title alone just remind me of a very similar show from last year that made me facepalm till the very end, hence I initially doesn't have much expectation toward this one. But thank goodness this show doesn't went downhill, at least not yet. Seitokai Yakuindomo is about...well...everyday's random life at the student council, and there you have similar things you saw in Seitokai no Ichizon, except that there's more things to my liking in Yakuindomo compared to Ichizon. Especially the ecchi jokes, which so far didn't get lame as the episode went on. There's really nothing spectacular about the series, but the jokes are quite funny, or should I say it's the type of joke that I would LOL to. Amakusa the president really made me laugh with all her perverted thoughts :3

p/s: At a glance, the animation really remind me of Princess Lover. Well, given the studio production and Character Designer, I guess it's no surprise.
verdict: 4/5 (definite watch)




Seikimatsu Occult gakuin
MAL/Official Site
Number of episodes: 13
Studio Production: A-1 Pictures Inc.

Comments: Year 1999, a man came from the future (2010) claiming that the world is ruled by the aliens in 2012, and hence he need to go back to the past and search for the key to save future humanity. There exist a girl named Maya (who apparently really, really hate occult), the daughter of the deceased Occult Gakuin's headmaster, and together with this man from the future named Uchida, they combined force to seek for the keys. While at that, the people at the occult school also had their own agenda.... The animation was pretty neat, and some of the bgms early in the episodes are quite memorable. Nice story so far with the blend of some "horrors", magics and occult stuff, and I certainly love some of the humours. Interesting characters employed in Maya, and to some extent, Bunmei. Nostradamus Prophecies, eh.

verdict: 3.5/5 (Watching)




Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi
MAL/Official Site
Number of episodes: 13
Studio Production: J.C Staff

Comments: "The series parodies many famous fairy tales, either with puns relating to names or fairy tale themes being used in creative and funny ways." Pretty much summed up the series. The story mainly tells about Otogi Bank, a school club consisting of some odd peoples that helped student to solve their problem by doing various dangerous jobs. I thoughts the plot was average at best, but they way they adopted popular fairy tales ("The Ant and the Grasshopper", "Snow White", "Cinderella" etc) into almost every inches of the story made the series quite unique, coupled with some interesting characters like the the wild, flat-chested main character Ryouko (obviously) and scopophobic Ryoushi. With "Kuroko" as the narrator, you can't get any funnier than that. And coming from J.C. Staff, the animation quality is pretty much guaranteed.

verdict: 3/5 (Watching)




Nurarihyon no Mago
MAL/Official Site
Number of episodes: 24
Studio Production: DEEN

Comments: Rikuo, a boy with 1/4 youkai blood in his vein is destined to be the third heir of Nara, a famous youkai clan. He desperately insist that he want to lead a normal human life, but despite that he can unconsciously transform into his fearsome, true youkai form. This series kinda remind me to Wagaya no Oinari-sama. The mix of seriousness and comedies in a world where human and spirits existed, while the ED sequence featured some dancing, Wagaya-esque style. Er..you know what I mean. Talk about animation, I thought it was typical of DEEN - sometimes they can produce something awsm (read: Hakuouki) and while others can be terrible (read: Giant Killing), but Nurarihyon no Mago, imo is in between of the two. Lots of known seiyuus involved too (Jun Fukuyama sure did a lot this season). Yui Horie as yuki onna can only made things better :3 Nevertheless, I do find myself enjoying the show.

verdict: 3/5 (Watching)


That's it for part 1. Part 2 coming this weekend, perhaps.