Uncurrency Anime(s) – Dantalian no Shoka, UN-GO, BLOOD-C

Dantalian no Shoka

The thing that I like about this show is the individual little stories that it tells. Its fun figuring out the mystery in each episode and the episodic nature of the series really get into you. I mean, even the episodic characters get a lot of development in what little time they aired in. The downside to that is that Huey and Dalian ar as developed as paper. The whiny brat who insults everyone she sees in Episode 1 is still the same brat by the end of the series; same goes for Huey. But still I’m quite favorable to this series since the little stories it does tell are REALLY good. To bad it never overarchs and we probably will never see a sequel for this one. Still, it’s eons better than the likes of GOSICK and Memochou.

Execution: 35/40 (While it never really ties up together, the individual stories are quite a treat.)

Engagement:25/30 (I guess there’s minus points that I finished this so late.)

Characters: 17/20 (Main characters are as thin as paper but episodeic characters are unbelievable well fleshed out. Sometimes even better than Huey and Dalian themselves.)

Production:10/10 (GAINAX nailed it.)

Overall: 87/100

UN-GO

The thing that I like about this show is how witty it is. All the details for the mystery are there and all you need is to pick up on it. Unlike GOSICK in which Victorique has a script, UN-GO’s mystery-solving is more believable. You get really into it when everyone starts pointing fingers making you go “who the hell is the culprit?”. I would say the last arc has the best mystery I’ve seen for a long time with how layered yet conneced it is. Also the theme of War and Nationalism is strong in this series and it’s quite nice to actually see different views of it (especially in an anime). I would say one of the things to look out for is Kaishou Rinroku’s opinions which was subtley shown in the last episode (very creepy).

The downside of this series is that the characters are underdeveloped. With a series this thick, 11 episodes are totally not enough. We don’t even now any of the main’s cast actions or motivations since there’s too little time and everything’s all compact to gether.

At least in UN-GO, they manage to somehow conclude it and all the different mysteries actually come together.

Execcution:36/40 (Nicely-paced though it does cause problems in another department)

Engagement:27/30 (Those mysteries really hook you on, but its too short)

Characters: 16/20 (Very likable but the tight pacing doesn’t give them as enough characterization as you want.)

Production:9/10 (Its nicely made though the series doesn’t exacly require that much movement since everyone is just pointing fingers. Great OST though)

Overall: 88/100

BLOOD-C

The disappointment of the year, I’m still quite torn on how much CLAMP screwed up with this anime. On paper the story of Saya sounds extremely delicous but WHY OH WHY did it take so much time to reveal that ONE PLOT DEVICE which wasn’t exactly the most mindblowing thing ever. Adding insult to injury are the characters (except Saya) who were already terrible in the beginning and when their true identities came, it was as if CLAMP spit on me sayin “HAHAHA WE CAN DO WHATEVER WE WANT WE DON’T CARE IF YOU’RE LIKING IT OR NOT!”. To be fair, the last episode was well into my liking, and actually got me excited for the movie. I just wanna see Saya kick the hell out of those bitches for making her sing like a retard every single day.

If one thing, CLAMP should get advice from Urobuchi Gen on how to make engaging horror stories.

Execution: 20/40 (sigh.)

Engagement:21/30 (I actually had a fun time laughing at how bad it is in the second half.)

Characters: 13/20 (Saya was okay.)

Production: 9/10 (Admittedly good.)

Overall: 63/100

Terrible Fall Anime Award goes to. . .

not Guilty Crown but PERSONA 4 THE ANIMATION.

This anime is boring; all the characters look like they have beards and the fact that the MC doesn’t even talk makes all too boring. Its not BLOOD-C terrible but its just plain boring. Phi Brain is a runer-up

I actually kinda like Guilty Crown; the movie-like production really helps.

BLOOD-C Movie wins financial aid from Government

Link

So Ishihar- I mean the government wants more anime like Blood-C, a beautiful, kid-friendly, approachable, masterfully written anime.

There’s so much fail to that project, my facepalm meter can’t go higher.

 

 

JULY ROUNDUP

So it’s July and it’s time for a roundup! I decided to screw the Mid-month impressions since I realized it was a bad idea so I just tried to stick with the traditional monthly impressions. The total score per month would be 50 and by the end of the season, I’ll add everything up and do a seasonal ranking. I love rankings btw.

16(new) BLOOD C – (15/50)

The fourth episode was very interesting, a step up from the disappointment of the first three. It’s still a disappointment though, these four episodes, and CLAMP needs to give better execution for me to rate this any higher.

15(new) Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi – (18/50)

I think I’m gonna hold this for a while. While it has an interesting story, it doesn’t execute it well. The characters are bland, there’s the bad type of fanservice, and it has a problem of telling and not showing. For now, I’d consider this dropped.

14(new) Baka to Test To Shoukanjuu Ni! – (22/50)

I love the first season a lot. I guess this one is much of the same but those first two episodes were very lukewarm and boring in terms of making me laugh. I just hope it doesn’t go to the same pile as Maria Holic.

13(new) Sacred Seven – (23/50)

It has an interesting premise but not executed well. I’m very engrossed to the series but it has a lot of glaring faults. There’s still a lot more episodes to fix that though.

12(new) Mayo Chiki – (27/30)

It would’ve made it to the passing mark but the third episode sucked. I think this is my guilty pleasure series this season though so I’m tentatively positive about this one.

11(new) It’s the NEET thing to do – (34/50)

The dialogue and the mystery is the main hook for me. It’s well done and it’s just so witty. There’s still something lacking though and I can’t point my finger at it but it’s a nice start for this series.

10(new) Dantalian no Shoka – (34/50)

The GOSICK this season, Dantalian doesn’t disappoint at all. Animation-wise it;s the best this season, and the plot is also pretty good. The main characters have great chemistry (the fact that they’re both smart is already a win factor) and its building up to something interesting. Again though like the other mystery-solving series before it, there’s something lacking that I can’t point my finger at.

9(new) Moe in Paris – (35/50)

It has a solid start for a heartwarming, educational, and cultural story. It is very laidback, the soothingness creeps to you slowly making you go AWWWW and Dawwwww. I realized though “WHY THE HELL AM I BLOGGING THIS?!!?”. It didn’t cross my mind until now that it gives me the same feeling as Usagi Drop and would be hard to blog. AHAHA I’m dumb.

8(new) No.6 – (36/50)

This is the BL Dystopia fantasy anime of the season. One moment everyone’s serious and then the next moment everyone’s hinting BL undertones on each other. Not that it’s a bad thing since it’s so LOL and they are chugging in an awesome plot. . . I’m very excited for this!

7(new) Kamisama Dolls – (38/50)

This series is completely appealing to all my Anime tastebuds. Interesting story: Check!, Interesting Characters: Check!, You know it will explode sometime soon: Check!, There’s the intrigue you really like in anime: Check!. This is how awesomely Kamisama Dolls rolls.

6(4) Hanasaku Iroha – (38/50)

I think I went overboard in praising this. Episode 16 I was all like, “It reminds me of Toradora! This is the shit!”. Then episode 17 came in to ruin he day. Damn episode 17, Hanairo was getting really consistent! I do hope they start tackling the main characters again now. It seems that the series is at its best when they put Kou-chan (though I personally lost interest in him when he dissed Ohana). Besides it was gonna be hard topping last month’s awesomeness.

TOP 5

5(new) Mawaru Penguindrum – (40/50)

There’s actually two new series I’m in love with this season. This is the one of them. Now that I’ve watched Revolutionary Girl Utena, I totally get why people are so excited about this. It’s very layered with symbolisms (not as bombarding as Utena) and there’s a good story to be told. It seems that the series is concentrating on beliefs; Fate or no fate. It’s not technically bltantly pointed out, but it’s something to realize. Also, those penguins are awesome.

4(5) Ao no Exorcist – (42/50)

It had an awesome mid-season climax; not to mention how it’s getting more and more exciting with the plot starting to finally roll. Big-boobs is a great addition to the cast. The awesome thing about this series that differentiate this from other Shounen action is the focus. It’s very character-oriented. Friends are a dominant team as also is teamwork. Also one must note that this series is really coll. Saying it’s not cool means your blind or something.

 3(new) Usagi Drop – (42/50)

When I watch this series, the thing that keeps coming out of my mouth is the word “DAWWWW”. Damnit the parenthood being shown in this series is so realistic and down to earth. It can really attack anyone who’s watching this. Rin is the most adorable thing ever and I’m glad 2ch isn’t into boning her because if they did, Imma kill all of them. Nice to know that sometimes, people like the idea of parenthood. Afer a long meditation, I realized I liked this quite a bit more than Penguindrum, thus the high score.

2(3) Steins;Gate – (49/50)

The series is completely chugging the plot. . . it’s getting more and more interesting as the episodes progress. I love the idea that Okarin and co. is trying to reverse engineer everything to the point that Mayuri wasn’t endangered at all. But yeah “No hope goiys” so far. . . SUZUHA!!!!!!!!! L

1(1)Nichijou (50/50)

So it manages to be funnier than it already is. . . WHATTUP! I think Mio’s wrestling spree propelled this into a perfect 50.

Addendum:

It seems that the gap between second and third place is getting bigger. Steins;Gate and Nichijou just keep on getting better and better! The new series are sure to challenge that though, especially Ping Duramu and Usagi Drop. So far no disappointments besides BLOOD CLAMPYCLAMPCLAMP.

BLOOD C – 04

I C WUT U DID DER CLAMP. HURHURHUR.

Infinitely better than the first three episodes. It’s still far from the caliber I expect this series to be. . . but it’s getting there I guess. The “everday life” really is done on purpose and it looks like Saya’s now wondering why. I think there was a second we saw a bit of Blood: The Last Vampire in Saya’s memories, but obviously, this series is concentrating on its own story. The action finally got to a point where stuff needed to be censored so yeah. All positives this time around.

Now if only the characters weren’t so CLAMP copy-paste…

BLOOD C – 03

TELL ME?!?! WHERE IS IT?!!?!?

Heh. Well at least I’ve gotten into a point where I won’t drop this. I can definitely see the potential, but if these three episodes is what you would call an introduction, this is ONE SUCKY INTRO. It is getting better; I’ve gotten used to the fight scenes and the singing is getting less and less annoying. But still. . . I AM DISAPPOINT.

BLOOD C – 02

Shove this in your-

Well at least it got a bit more bearable. . . A BIT. First of all, I finally get Saya’s battle strategy. She fights first, calmly but not with full power. The monster then overpowers her a bit, leaving it a bit open in which Saya can take advantage and attack on full power. Still though, weird choreography (there was one part I literally laughed). ALSO GODDAMNIT STOP SINGING MIZUKI NANA. I mean I know you’re a good singer and all but it makes the whole series feel all awkward. Even Saya admits it’s embarrassing. For the school life, COME ONE CLAMP WHY SO GENERIC? It’s like they copy pasted all the characters they knew and just pretend it’s a different character. UGH PLEASE BLOOD C. . . A bit more bearable then I’lll move this into the “not shit yet still pretty crappy” category.

Blood-C – 01

Kinda creepy shot.

Lol Blood Clampy-clamp-clamp. For a first episode this is pretty disappointing. I mean I love Clamp and I love Blood+ but what happened to this one? I was really anticipating this series. Even the fight scene was disappointing. I mean half the time I was laughing at how weird the choreography is even though technically it looks good.

Well it is just the first episode. I trust CLAMP and CLAMP series don’t always have the best introductory episodes (Tsubasa Chronicles, Kobato.). Just hope IT GETS BETTER I SWEAR. sigh.

Again: I was really anticipating this series!!!! WTF CLAMP?

PS. The OP is epic though. Just like the BLOOD+ ones.